Port Cities
Port Cities is a Canadian band based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Formed in 2015, Port Cities is composed of Dylan Guthro, Breagh MacKinnon, and Carleton Stone —each already a singer/songwriter with an established solo career. The band signed with turtlemusik/Warner Music in 2016 and released its debut album in 2017. History. Guthro, Mackinnon, and Stone met in 2011 at the Gordie Sampson Song Camp, an annual event in Cape Breton that gathers promising songwriters from across Nova Scotia. There they formed a three-way friendship that soon led to various collaborations in the context of their  individual musical lives. Eventually they were writing and playing together often enough that the idea of forming a band arose naturally. "We just thought, there’s such a great chemistry between us, why not try to join forces and do something that’s bigger that any of us could do on our own?” said Carelton Stone in a 2015 interview. Port Cities officially launched in 2015. In 2016, the band was signed to turtlemusik/Warner Music; their debut album was released in February 2017. As individual musicians, the three members of Port Cities had collectively released six solo albums prior  to the band's first release. As a group they write songs to take advantage of each member's strength and experience as a vocalist, often employing two- and three-part harmonies in their music. In 2016, Port Cities won Casino Nova Scotia's third annual Artist in Residence competition, which awarded them $20,000 to assist them in their ongoing musical development. Also in 2016, the band released its first two songs, "Astronaut" and "Back to the Bottom." The debut album, produced by Gordie Sampson, was released February 10, 2017. On February 23, 2017, their debut single "Back to  the Bottom" reached #1 on CBC Radio 2. That same year, Port Cities took the lead at the 2017 Nova Scotia Music Awards, winning five, including Entertainer of the Year, Digital Artist of the Year, Group Recording of the Year, Pop Recording of the Year, and Recording of the Year. In February 2018, Port Cities released their single “Idea of You”. That spring, they toured across Canada, as well as Germany and the United Kingdom. Port Cities were among the 2018/2019 Allan Slaight Juno Masterclass Winners, Canada’s premiere artist development program selected by a “super-jury” of music industry  leaders, allowing them to transform their careers with crucial tools and invaluable experiences. Of the four master class participants, Port Cities was chosen to perform at the 2019 Juno Gala Dinner and Awards on March 16. Their most recent single is titled “Montreal”. On Friday, September 20, 2019, the band stated keyboardist and singer Breagh MacKinnon of Port Cities would be leaving to pursue “new creative opportunities” and that they would miss her. The three original band members are set to release one final song together in October 2019 and will have three final shows with MacKinnon in December 2019 . Guthro and Stone have confirmed that they will be continuing as a band under the name Port Cities and that they would be taking the fall to decide how to best move forward.