Research is one of those terms that gets thrown around in the arts, but for singer Ruby Kato Attwood of Yamantaka // Sonic Titan, research is part of what she does as a musician.

“We’ve all sort of been through the university rigamarole, so it’s been drilled into our heads that you have to look into what you’re presenting,” Attwood says. “It’s an enjoyable process also.”

With the music industry changing so rapidly, musicians have to do something innovative to stand out. Local duo Brandi Sidoryk and Krista Wodelet of Sidney York are doing just that with their unique blend of electronic and orchestral music.

More memory than reality, drive-in cinemas are largely a thing of the past — their grainy projections and crackly car-stereo delivered sound long replaced by HD projectors and surround sound.

But TRUCK Contemporary Art in Calgary is modernizing the drive-in with their Bike-in Cinema film series. Returning for its third year, Bike-in Cinema encourages moviegoers to trade four wheels for two and enjoy an evening of cycling and outdoor film.

The Strumbellas have been garnering quite a bit of recognition since their latest album We Still Move On Dance Floors was released in Canada last fall. They won a 2014 Juno for Roots and Traditional Album of the Year and a SiriusXM Indies award for Folk Group of the Year. Most recently they made the Long List for the Polaris Music Prize.

Lead singer Simon Ward says the recognition helps when you’re spending so much time on the road.

“It gets a little discouraging,” Ward says. “So that kind of stuff just keeps you going.”