Ginger Beef on the Road, and on the Menu: Calgary Duo Serves Up Sweet Sounds Across Western Canada
Ginger Beef at Eastern Slopes Music Festival. Photo credit: Dianne Miranda.
When mentioning ‘Ginger Beef’ to other people, three things always seem to come up in the same order: this delicious sweet-and-savoury dish, how it was created right here in Calgary, and of course the amazing producer/multi-instrumentalist husband and flutist wife (a whole different kind of Ginger Beef).
Ginger Beef is the creative collaboration between Jiajia Li and Warren Tse, (also known as MSG for the project’s purpose). The pair make up an instrumental pop band focusing primarily on playing instrumental music.
“We use our instruments to sing,” Li says. “Sometimes if we do use vocals, we just use it as another instrument, not really elevating it above the instruments as usually happens with singing music,” Tse adds.
What started off as somewhat of a COVID project with an invitation to Jiajia to be a part of Camp Sled Island in 2021 to create a video quickly became the happy and humorous accident that blossomed into the Ginger Beef we know today.
Their self-titled debut album, which is a vibrant mix of groove, synth, flute, guitar and heart, was released in October 2023. This record — full of passion and a clear, deep love for playful experimentation — earned a JUNO nomination earlier this year, putting their unique sound on the national map. Since the band’s full commitment to creating music, they've played music festivals, Calgary Folk Music Festival (CFMF), International Jazz Days Festival and Eastern Slopes in 2025, to name a few.
Now, they’re headed to hit Western Canada on the road with a Fall tour this month, joined by psychedelic-pop-fun rocker Barry Mason Jr.
“We’re really curious to see if we have any fans at all outside of Calgary,” Tse laughs. “I think we’ve been lucky in the last couple of years to kind of establish our name in Calgary. We’ve been pleasantly surprised all the time by how many people have heard of Ginger Beef, the band.”
Ginger Beef’s Western Canada Tour.
This fall tour takes them through Kamloops where they’ll be playing the Effie Arts Collective, Edmonton in 9910 and Lethbridge in the Owl, with each stop featuring a few friends and surprises along the way.
In Lethbridge, they’ll share the stage with Cool Cats for the jazz combo’s album release show. And, as it turns out, this collaboration also comes with a twist that couldn’t be more fitting.
“I was talking to Ray, the front man of the band, and then I was like ‘hey, I found out that you’re asian because I was looking through social media and I was really excited to see a friend’, and he was like, ‘I was actually going to wait to tell you this but you know [how] ginger beef, the dish was invented in Calgary? My grandpa invented the dish!’” Li laughs as she retells this story of how the former beloved restaurant Silver Inn, where the dish ginger beef was created, became an unexpected but delightful thread connecting their worlds.
Mid-tour, Ginger Beef will return home for a Wednesday show at the Ship & Anchor.
“We’re really excited about that one too because we still haven’t played the Ship in the entire history of the band, but it’s such an institution,” Tse says. “I think it’s also kind of its own scene, so it’ll be a lot different, it’ll be a totally different kind of crowd.”
I have had the pleasure of witnessing Ginger Beef live at the 2024 CFMF and this year at Eastern Slopes Music & Arts Festival. What I remember most about these sets is the way they completely captivate an audience, with each member of the band on the stage commanding attention in their own way. I remember my jaw hurting from both chuckling in between songs at Tse’s jokes and from being utterly mesmerized by the duo’s incredible skill to hypnotize you and pull you in simply by their art. For those who have not had this experience, their performances are indescribable, a mix of humour, heart and hypnotic musicianship that leaves you feeling every note, every groove and every ounce of their passion. Being in the crowd feels like witnessing fireworks up close: electric yet intimate, and truly unforgettable.
“We’re very proud of this album and the fact that we’re releasing it again on vinyl, but I think it’s our live shows that are where we really come alive,” Tse says. “I really love playing live because we have such masterful instrumentalists like Li, of course, she has a Master’s in flute performance, but what she does is utterly unique. Not just from a classical and technical perspective, but Li is also a really experienced improviser. On top of that, we have this, I call them our secret weapon: it’s our rhythm section. They come out of a totally different scene that I feel like most people in Calgary don’t even get to witness, and that’s the gospel scene.”
This fall tour is just one part of Ginger Beef’s bigger picture. The duo is already looking ahead to new projects and collaborations that will expand their sound beyond the stage, as they signed a new label with Ba Da Bing Records.
On October 6, they released the official music video for Takeout, one of the standout tracks featured on the upcoming “XTRA LARGE Edition” of their self-titled album — available on preorder now and set to drop at the end of this month.
Fans can also look forward to a collaboration with K The Chosen on a remix of Golden Hour. “We’re really excited to release it in November. We already have a music video shot!,” Li shares, speaking about this fresh take on a fan favourite.
“We’re also currently writing some new songs and new tunes, and then we’re opening maybe at some point early next year, we can get into the studios and do some recordings,” Li adds. “We also have worked on this soundtrack for our friend, Vicki Van Chau’s new film, which will be released next year as well.”
Another highly anticipated release is a music video they premiered earlier this year at the Chinatown Pop-up Movie Club. “We’re going to release the music video [for this song] during this whole album re-release,” Li says.
This music video to keep an eye out for will feature the Lion Dance Group, Jing Wo, and Ginger Beef’s long-time collaborator Barbara England, who choreographed a piece, blending tradition and modern performance in true Ginger Beef style.
Beyond the immediate excitement around the Fall tour and all the projects they have in store, they reflect on the surprising momentum that has carried them forward.
“Warren and I kept talking about working with a label together, it’s kind of life… making us feel like ‘oh we have a partner’,” Lishares. “It keeps us accountable, keeps us working on things and keeps us moving forward.”
“The kind of the through line of our short career with Ginger Beef so far has been this domino effect or kind of a snowball thing. [...]. We’ve been dragged along by the reception of everything,” Tse adds.
From humble beginnings, their journey is truly a testament to the power of passion, the joy of playfulness and the magic that happens when creativity takes the lead.
To keep updated and find more information about where and when you can catch Ginger Beef and friends on tour, check out their website or follow their Instagram.