AV & the Inner City Biography

AV & The Inner City— Biography

"AV & The Inner City" has once again proven why they are one of the most exciting acts to emerge from Canada’s vibrant Soul and Roots scene." -- The Sound Café

AV & the Inner City is a soul/roots vocal group which formed during the COVID-19 pandemic in Edmonton’s inner city.  Led by multi-award winning soul/blues artist AV (Ann Vriend) the group is a vibrant reflection of Canada’s musical diversity, with its’ all-female cast hailing from a very wide range of backgrounds.  In addition to AV their current line up includes Edmonton singers Jenn Dahlen, Debbie Houle, Alenka Lundell, Crystal Eyo, Mira Angela, and Laurelle K.  Their coveted stage performances are marked by emotional depth and vocal power, and though lyrically they often tackle tough social topics their concerts are also full of entertaining personal stories and typical self-deprecating Canadian humour.

Strangely, the group was formed during the COVID19 pandemic, when bandleader AV’s tour schedule for her own material was abruptly cut short.  One Sunday in April 2020 AV decided to perform some music for free to her neighbourhood from her front porch, and the next week some singers joined her— socially distanced— and it grew from there, sometimes resulting in hundreds in attendance on the street and boulevard, coming from far and wide across the city, as well as from the immediate McCauley neighbourhood, which is Alberta’s poorest, and notoriously known for its struggles with the opioid crisis, homelessness, and crime.  In total, between 2020 and 2021 AV and other musicians performed over 60 free “porch concerts,” offering live music and connection in a time when that was extremely challenging, and bringing attention to the social issues facing the inner city.

By summer 2021, the core set of vocalists who had been performing each week had become a polished ensemble, and in the 3 years since then AV & the Inner City have performed at major festivals such as the Vancouver Island Music Festival, the Calgary Folk Festival, Bear Creek Music Festival, and the Edmonton Folk Festival; at which they received an Emerging Artist Award. At the Calgary Festival former Nickelodeon promoter Vic Bell praised their set by saying: “This was an act that could have closed the Main Stage any night of the festival.  They earned a full house standing ovation,” and promoter Stuart Muir wrote: “Edmonton’s own supergroup AV & the Inner City is taking the Calgary Folk Music Festival by storm.”

Though AV & the Inner City have yet to release a full album their first released single has already garnered over 20,000 Spotify streams, and have been featured articles in Edify and Porter Airlines In-flight Magazine, and garnered commercial and community radio play from within and beyond Canada.

In the meantime, the porch concerts are still well remembered and requested by many in McCauley, and have served as a continual way of strengthening ties of cooperation and positive camaraderie, and therefore “AV & the Inner City” have committed to continue to perform at least 1 per year, pandemic or not.

And if you happen to pass by “the hood” you might hear their music blaring from a neighbour’s speakers, or the singers themselves practicing their harmonies in AV’s yard— or on the front porch.

Here is a mini-documentary about the group's formation, and their 1st out-of-province performance, which led to many festival bookings the following year: