By Lindsey McIntyre, Creative Control

There’s a venue in Halifax, Nova Scotia where bikes, mannequins and stained glass adorn the ceilings and you only have about a handful of options when it comes to beverages. Also, the bathrooms and the ATM are both in the basement (which is another bar completely). These characteristics don’t sound like they’d belong to one of the city’s top music venues, but the weird decor, dingy atmosphere and of course the many, many awesome artists who have stood on the stage make The Marquee the place that so many Haligonians cram into to catch their favourite local and out of town acts.

On April 1st, The Marquee hosted a show called “Cape Breton Rocks the Marquee.” Cape Breton is a small island about five hours away from Halifax. The island may be battling decreasing population and lack of employment, but Cape Breton is home to some of the most beautiful scenery in the world and some kick-ass musicians. Cape Breton rock stars Port Cities, Dave Sampson and Jordan Musycsyn (along with a few other awesome acts) came together Friday night for an awesome show full of foot stomping, hand clapping and some incredibly sincere and real songs.

Port Cities is made up of three artists who all have solo careers, but knew that combined, they’d be unforgettable. Which is exactly what they are. They’re a pop-rock trio equipped with a rock-star frontman, Carleton Stone, a keyboardist with the voice of an angel, Breagh MacKinnon, and swoon-worthy guitarist/vocalist, Dylan Guthro. The entire time Port Cities was on stage, I felt like the heart-eyes emoji. The three bandmates are so technically talented musicians that when they’re all on stage together, it’s almost overwhelming.Read more

Until April 20th, you can now vote daily for Port Cities in Round One of the CBC Searchlight Competition, and also catch a sneak peek of a track off the upcoming debut record by watching the live video submission of “Back To The Bottom”!

10 finalists from each region will be selected to move on to Round Two (regional semi-finals) which will be announced April 25th. Please VOTE HERE to help us get to Round Two!