Miesha and the Spanks

Poetic, leather-jacked and wicked, the Calgary-based garage rock duo, Miesha and the Spanks will grace the stage of the Fox Cabaret along with Vancouver singer-songwriter Francis Baptiste on Thursday, November 5, brought together by VIM curator, programmer, musician and community organizer Rob Thomson (Haida).

Singer/guitarist and beloved fixture on the vast global musical landscape, front-woman Miesha Louie is the driving force behind Miesha and The Spanks, supported by her psychic counterpart, percussionist, accomplished singer/ songwriter Sean Hamilton — intuitively punctuating her soulful choruses with a pounding intensity that elevates heart rates and ceiling rafters.

A mixed-Secwépemc artist living in Treaty 7 Territory, Miesha is devoted to inventing and playing instrumentally brilliant melodies that unleash her passions and full-throated vocal tones. With a serious dose of spirit and charisma, Miesha makes every song resonate with her own jagged signature. Whether confronting raw subjects or slaying misogyny, each song is a sonic statement mastering the noisy with a no-nonsense approach.

Their latest album “Unconditional Love In Hi-Fi” was released on Mint Records, commanding great success on Sirius XM stations, The Verge and Indigiverse; support from Calgary local FM Rock-Alternative X92.9, CBC Radio 3, and alt-commercial and campus stations across Canada; and chart success on Mediabase, Indigenous Music Countdown, Earshot!, NACC Canada, CBC Radio 3 and Breaking Alt.

Their last release cycle took them across Canada and into the US, UK, Germany, Sweden, and Poland. Recent highlights include the Burt Block Party with Billy Talent in Winnipeg MB, CBC’s “Come Toward The Fire” Indigenous showcase at the Chan Centre in Vancouver with Black Belt Eagle Scout and Zoon, support to Bif Naked on her Alberta club tour dates, and performing at Different Sounds Festival in Poland as part of Keychange.

Comparisons are inevitable; Kim Gordon; PJ Harvey, Joan Jett, Melissa Auf der Maur, Sleater-Kinney, St. Vincent – all expected, never taken for granted. Perfectly frank, Miesha and the Spanks don’t shy away from the darkness. With a dark sense of humour and a serious howl, nothing is beyond their grasp. https://mieshaandthespanks.net/

Described by CBC as “unsparingly candid” and “lushly hypnotic”, Syilx songwriter, Francis Baptiste covers topics of cultural reclamation, addiction, and fatherhood. In 2022 he released his debut album, Sneqsilx (Family) [Snek-silx], an album that features songs sung in his native language Nsyilxcən [ne-see-ilk-chen], the endangered language of the Syilx [see-ilks] people. The 10-song album was his effort to preserve and connect with his heritage. In 2024, Baptiste released his second album, Senklip, the Trickster. The 10 new tracks covered topics like Oral Traditions, the struggles of being a recovering addict and a father simultaneously, and intergenerational trauma. 

His new album, Lived Experience in East Vancouver, was released in 2025 and focuses solely on his battle with addiction. Currently, Baptiste works in the Downtown Eastside for a men’s health organization called the DUDES Club (https://dudesclub.ca/). https://www.francisbaptiste.ca/

“visceral and full-on rocking” - The Vancouver Sun

This Concert takes place on the traditional and unceded territory of the ʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh) First Nations.