Let’s set the record straight: calling Ottawa’s music scene boring is a dashingly inept way of assessing the capital city’s culture.
If you’re a student musician looking for the best spots to play in Ottawa, then you’ll be relieved to know that my experiences have been universally positive.
I’ve played a good handful of Ottawa’s musical haunts, both solo and with a band. I’ve played half-hour sets for a rowdy room, and three-hour sets for just the sound guy. I’ve clambered onto Zaphods’ stage, huddled in the corner at Quinn’s Ale House, and crammed with five other bandmates onto the stage at Mavericks.
But I’m in no position to rank and critique each Ottawa music venue on its various merits and demerits. Rather, I’m interested in sharing where I’ve had some pretty stellar evenings as a student musician here.
There’s truly no better way to start your involvement than at open mics. Check out Lunenburg Pub on Wednesday nights and Quinn’s Ale House on Sunday evenings.
Ashley Newall, the Lunenburg host/booker, is perhaps the most welcoming and rad host you could ask for. Week in and week out, he packs the downtown bar for four nights straight of live music, including an awesome Battle of the Bands every Friday night.
First timers at Lunenburg get a $25 gift card to St. John’s Music. Nifty gifties! Lunenburg’s open mic crowd is a reputable testament to the city’s talent: diverse. With a heavy tilt towards acoustic acts, you’ll catch duo-sung pop-punk covers alongside Stan Rogers renditions.
The age range is truly remarkable, as is the calibre of performances on a regular basis. In fact, it’ll probably make you want to step your game up a bit.
Brad Alford, who hosts at Quinn’s every Sunday, has perhaps the most honey-sweet, sultry-ass voice in the whole city. Besides getting to play at one of Ottawa’s most intimate bars and enjoy their Ashton Brewing Company micro-brews, you get to listen to one of the city’s best.
Quinn’s is a quieter affair. Featuring almost exclusively solo artists (the place can hardly accommodate more), it’s cozy and enchanting.
You’ll see Old Ottawa South folks strumming out acoustic sing-alongs and originals, along with Carleton students out for a Sunday night pint. It’s a great place to connect with Carleton musicians thanks to its proximity to the school. Members of Paterson Hall—a local band made up of Carleton students—even popped in one evening.
It’s wickedly fun to go see shows at Zaphod’s, Ritual, and Mavericks, three of the city’s bigger venues downtown, and even cooler to play there.
If you choose to book one of them, you’ll want to consider where you’ll be making up the booking costs, be they merch, ticket sales, or otherwise.
While they’re big rooms with lots of prestigious and unreal acts playing on a regular basis—Against Me! slayed Ritual in August—it’s not as cool if you can hear yourself echo off the back wall. I have, it blows.
Besides, what’s the fun of throwing a huge party if you can only get 10 friends out? If you’ve got your heart set on one of these venues, check out local bands similar to your style. Get out to see some shows, check out their sites and music, and see if they’d gig with you.
The experiences that have made my time in Ottawa so special are the connections I’ve made at holes-in-the-wall like Quinn’s, or a pub like Lunenburg with musicians like me—they’re passionate about music and passionate about people.
If you can turn that into something more, that’s awesome. But it’s a damn good place to start and a damn good place to stay, too.
