“Sometimes I think I like the pain”, the opening line from Soul Filter’s debut single Armor hits like an “Aha” moment from the psyche to the soul.  The four piece Alt-Rock/Pop band's often nostalgic 90s vibe derives inspiration from artists such as Alanis Morissette, The Cranberries & Sheryl Crow.  Lead singer/songwriter Karen Penton writes with intention to find the silver linings in love and misery and put it in a catchy melody.

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The Summerside PEI band recently released their latest single "Quicksand Town".  The self produced track is a fiery high-energy rocker about escaping the weight of expectations.  Written during the uncertainty of the pandemic, it's the follow up from Music PEI's 2022 Golden Ticket song "The City Knows"  Produced by John Angus MacDonald of The Trews, The City Knows is a dark & edgy fairy tale about the sobering realization of self doubt. It's best described as the introspective confessional of Fleetwood Mac meets the anthemic intensity of Florence & The Machine.  " 22 and broke I just graduated from University with no clear direction of what I wanted to do with my life.  I moved to Halifax to start fresh, and crashed on a friend's couch hoping to make the city my home. Nothing went as I intended and the self-doubt I had tried to run away from caught up to me.  My lowest memory is when I got locked out of place I was crashing and spent the night sleeping in the driveway" says Karen.  The song was produced and co-written by John Angus MacDonald of The Trews and co-writers Colin MacDonald of The Trews and Halifax producer and singer / song-writer Chris Kirby.   A semi-finalist in 2023's International Song Competition, it also spent 7 weeks on CIOE’s East Coast Top 30 reaching the #2 spot.

 

Soul Filter is Karen Penton - lead vocals and rhythm guitar; Mike Penton electric lead guitar, Ronnie Arsenault on bass, and Marc Robichaud on drums. 

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Since releasing their debut album A Minor Conspiracy in January 2019, Soul Filter has attracted attention with their catchy, soulful music and impassioned performances. They’ve had internet, CBC & mainstream radio play with singles “Armor”, “Like Water”, “How Do I Forget You”, “Illogical Heart”, & “On My Own”.  In 2019 they reached the Top 100 in CBC’s Searchlight, opened for one of Canada’s biggest rock bands Big Wreck at one of Atlantic Canada’s largest music festivals Rock The Boat, and received a nomination for Music PEI’s 2020 Rock Recording of the year.  Their Facebook “Live At Home” performance hosted by Rock The Boat garnered one of the largest online audiences in the series with over 12.5k views. 

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When founding members, husband & wife duo Karen & Mike Penton, first met in 2001, she didn't know he was a performing musician and he didn't know she had a secret life long desire to be one.  To Karen’s delight, their second date consisted of 2 bottles of wine and an acoustic guitar – the deal was sealed.  After a few years of singing Beatles’ covers (and other classics) together at home, Mike decided it was finally time to coax Karen into the spotlight.  The two went on to create several popular cover bands (Junkmale, Pretty Tragic,  No Doubt & Alanis Morissette tribute show, Karen & Mike acoustic duo), performing all over PEI before forming Soul Filter in 2017.

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With themes of self-discovery, adversity, love and loss, A Minor Conspiracy infuses pop, blues and folk into a soulful rock sound.  Acoustic rhythm serves as the backbone to melodically sweet electric guitar riffs and punchy choruses.    Dynamically weaving between soft falsetto and soulful powerful vocals, Karen embraces vulnerability and delivers empowering, emotive lyrics through alluringly catchy melodies.

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The band is currently hibernating in the studio over winter, working on new material.

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