Dahlia Wakefield continues the rollout of her upcoming album ‘Phoenix Rising’ with the release of its fifth single, “But No More,” ahead of the album’s October 16 arrival.
A raw, unapologetic rock anthem, the song captures the exact moment someone finally reaches their breaking point and decides that enough is enough, trading gritty guitars and soaring, defiant vocals for the sound of drawing a line and refusing to be diminished any longer.
“The ‘But No More’ moment for me was finally choosing to love myself, taking a stand, and drawing a line in the sand. But no more,” Wakefield says. The song was written as a message to anyone who has found themselves belittled, mistreated or staying in a relationship because leaving felt too frightening, complicated, or impossible. “I hope this song becomes a reminder that protecting your mental health, your happiness and your safety matters.”
After years of keeping painful experiences mostly secret, Wakefield turned her own story of surviving domestic violence into a fierce rock anthem about choosing to love herself, drawing the line, instilling boundaries, and finally saying “but no more”. She is deliberate about what she does and does not share. “Keeping details private, I don’t need to tell the world who this song is about,” she says. “I need to tell the world why I wrote it, in the hopes of helping others going through the same thing. I survived and I want others to know they can choose themselves, too, not out of selfishness, but out of self-love. Plus, not only can they thrive, but also heal and rise above.”
The song came together on September 28, 2023, when collaborator Kevin Frey came over to write, seven years after the two first met. Frey played a riff and some early ideas at Wakefield’s kitchen table, and she recorded it on a voice memo before marrying his music to words that had sat dormant in her notebooks for nearly a decade. After years of singing other people’s songs and stories, Wakefield says, it was finally time to tell her own.
Wakefield recorded the song’s bed tracks with JUNO nominated producer Sandro Dominelli in 2024 at Dominelli Studios in St. Albert, AB, deliberately turning an intensely personal experience into heavy, defiant rock rather than a quiet acoustic confessional, with belted vocals, heavy guitars and intense drums standing in for restraint. The mixes went through several rounds over the course of 2026 before Wakefield finished the final mix and master to her own satisfaction, with the final creative call resting entirely with her.
The musicians on the record are longtime collaborators woven through Wakefield’s career. She has worked with lead guitarist Alan Tymofichuk on various projects since the turn of the century. Drummer Dennis Boisvert has played alongside her in her Brigade Heart tribute band and filled in for Dirt Road Angels and The Villains. Bassist Jeff Godley, whom she met while both were musicians for Koreen Perry’s act, also plays bass for Dirt Road Angels, currently on hiatus.
The song’s bridge leans on the image of a phoenix rising from the ashes, a symbol that gives the coming album its title and carries forward sentiment first introduced on her earlier single “Light of the Phoenix.” For Wakefield, the phoenix represents transformation rather than revenge, the end of a version of herself who stayed silent and the start of one moving forward into a better life. Born in November, she also points to the phoenix as one of the archetypes associated with her Scorpio sign, tying the symbolism directly to her own identity.
Born in Cebu City, Philippines and raised in the small Saskatchewan community of Maidstone, with time spent in Lloydminster and Edmonton before settling in Stony Plain, AB, Wakefield has been performing since she was five years old and now brings more than 20 years of professional experience to the stage. She graduated with Distinction in Vocal Performance from the Music Program at Grant MacEwan University and has worked as a professional vocal coach and beginner piano instructor since 2011. In 2026 she won Gold at the ISSA Awards for International Female Songwriter of the Year and also received a Gold Medal at the 2026 EIMA Awards for Best Rock Song for Social Change for “Light of the Phoenix.” Her work has drawn coverage from many outlets including Canadian Beats, Cashbox, Tinnitist, Record World International and more.
Wakefield’s voice turns up across an unusually wide range of projects. She is a member of country rock band Dirt Road Angels, performs acoustically as the Dahlia & Alan Duo, fronts hard rock band Kerosene, leads casino and special event act Dahlia & The Villains, and sings with Twilight Time, a tribute to The Platters and doo-wop music, alongside occasional dates with 80s metal cover band Shocker. In 2023 and again in 2025, she was selected to sing backup vocals for legendary Canadian rock band Toronto. As lead vocalist of Edmonton’s Brigade, she channels Ann Wilson of Heart alongside fellow Dirt Road Angel Karen Claypool as Nancy Wilson. On New Year’s Eve 2023, she performed for more than 10,000 people in Edmonton’s Churchill Square, and she regularly performs solo at retirement and long-term care homes around Alberta.
The subject matter behind “But No More” reflects a harsh reality faced by a significant number of Canadians. Statistics Canada recorded 128,175 victims of police-reported intimate partner violence in 2024, a rate of 356 per 100,000 population. However, these numbers are what was actually reported that year; many people unfortunately don’t, underscoring why Wakefield felt the story was worth telling in the hopes of bringing awareness to the whole situation.
Tour dates:
October 10, 2026, Bailey Theatre, Camrose, AB, with Brigade (Heart Tribute)
October 16 and 17, 2026, Caffreys, Sherwood Park, AB with Kerosene
October 23, 2026, Alberta Showcase, Dow Centennial Centre, Fort Saskatchewan, AB with Brigade
October 24, 2026, Fall Harvest Dance, Ryley, AB, with Dahlia & The Villains
October 31, 2026, O’Byrne’s Irish Pub, Ice District, Edmonton, AB with Dahlia & The Villains
November 13, 2026, Blowers and Grafton, Sherwood Park, AB, with Alan (duo)
November 14, 2026, ‘Phoenix Rising’ album release show, Chromozone, Edmonton, AB
November 27, 2026, MainStage F&B, Edmonton Christmas Market, Fort Edmonton Park with Kevin
December 11 and 12, 2026, Grey Eagle Casino, Calgary, AB with Dahlia & The Villains
December 13, 2026, MainStage F&B, Edmonton Christmas Market, Fort Edmonton Park
December 13, 2026, Edmonton Christmas Market Venue Market Hall, Fort Edmonton Park
March 16, 2027, Peter Lougheed Performing Arts Theatre, Camrose, AB, with Twilight Time
March 20, 2027, Drayton Valley Max Theatre, Drayton Valley, AB, with Brigade (Heart Tribute)
March 27, 2027, Alumni Hall Theatre, Lakeland College, Vermilion, AB, with Twilight Time
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