Rocketman is an upcoming biographical drama film based on the life of musician Elton John. Directed by Dexter Fletcher and written by Lee Hall, it stars Taron Egerton as John, with Jamie Bell, Richard Madden, and Bryce Dallas Howard. The film follows John's early days as a prodigy at the Royal Academy of Music up to his eventual musical partnership with Bernie Taupin. The film is titled after John's 1972 song "Rocket Man".

Fifty years in, Mike McKenna is continuing to raise a big Stink. Initially released in 1969 on Liberty United Artists Records by Toronto’s McKenna Mendelson Mainline, Stink has carved its own legacy and remained a consistently-selling blues classic throughout its lifespan. Now, the album is being played in its entirety in concert by guitarist McKenna’s current outfit the Slidewinders Blues Band.

“It’s nice to have the longevity,” says McKenna, a veteran of Luke & The Apostles, The Ugly Ducklings and many other legendary Toronto bands throughout the years.

“And it’s great to still be playing the music and having people enjoying it. It’s cool that Stink is still relevant and means something to so many people out there today. It’s a classic album and we’re a classic band and I’ll admit to it,” he laughs.

Accompanied by Rob Kirkpatrick (Luke & The Apostles) on drums, Hap Roderman (Rough Trade) on bass and Tom Robertson on vocals, guitar, harmonica and slide guitar, McKenna and his own slide will recreate such favourites as “Better Watch Out,” ”Beltmaker” and “T.B. Blues” authentically.

Hosted by Zachary Levi, The MTV Awards will be at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California on Monday, June 17, 2019 at 9pm ET/PT.

Game of Thrones, Avengers: Endgame and RBG received the most nominations with four nods each. The HBO hit snagged a spot in the Best Show category for the third year in a row. What's more, Emilia Clarke and Maisie Williams scored nominations for their performances. The Daenerys Targaryen star received a nomination for Best Performance in a Show for her role, and the Arya Stark character was nominated in the Best Hero and Best Fight categories.

TD Toronto Jazz Festival announces that Queen of Gospel Shirley Caesar and Canadian hip-hop emcee, Shad has been added to lineup that includes previously announced Diana Ross, Norah Jones, Omara Portuondo, Tower of Power and over 175 free concerts.

Submitted by Don Graham

Photo Credits: Studio 22 Photography

Canadian Musician Magazine celebrated it’s 40th Year Anniversary in high style. The fete was held in downtown watering hole, Grace O’Malley’s on Thursday, April 25 and had all the markings and feel of a huge award show, replete with a red carpet, multiple photo-op stops and a buzz of excitement as each new celebrity entered the venue. The list of luminaries who showed up for the celebration is a testimony to the impact Canadian Musician Magazine has had on the music scene and industry.

Marc Jordan and Amy Sky came to pay their respects with over 40 artists and special guests in attendance including: Jim Norris, Founder, Canadian Musician Magazine, Andrew King, Editor and Chief Canadian Musician Magazine , The Trews' John Angus MacDonald and Tyler Shaw, Ryland James Iskwe, Kira Isabella Exco Levi Monowhales as well as Lost Cousins Posey, Sean Jones and Sandy and Gord Deppe from the Spoons.

The 2019 East Coast Music Awards: Festival & Conference (May 1-5 2019) presented by TD wrapped up in Charlottetown with several artists coming away as the big prize winners.

Classified takes home four ECMAs including wins for Album of the Year and Video of the Year, Jeremy Dutcher earns three awards including Rising Star of the Year, and Reeny Smith and Les Hôtesses d’Hilaire each garner two trophies apiece.

"What an amazing time we’ve had celebrating the 31st annual East Coast Music Awards in beautiful Charlottetown. Congratulations to all of the very deserving award winners, and thank you to all the fabulously talented artists who performed throughout the week," says Andy McLean, CEO of the ECMA. "This event cannot succeed without the tireless work and contributions from our staff, board, volunteers, local committee, delegates, sponsors, partners, venues and hotels, and we thank you for everything you’ve done this week. The city of Charlottetown has been an incredibly warm and accommodating host, and we can’t wait to return."

Photo: Carmela Laurignano VP and Radio Group Manager at Evanov Radio Group

Carmela Laurignano, vice-president and Radio Group Manager at Evanov Radio Group (ERG), has been named as this year’s winner of the 2019 Rosalie Award.

Handed out by the Radio Trailblazers, a volunteer organization celebrating and supporting women in radio, the Rosalie Award recognizes a Canadian woman each year whom has blazed new trails in radio.

Laurignano began her decades-long career in the broadcasting industry at CHIN Radio Toronto, serving as sales assistant, sales manager, and was later promoted to VP of Sales, Marketing and Promotions, becoming the first woman to hold a vice-president position with a Canadian ethnic broadcaster and one of the youngest vice-presidents in the Canadian radio industry at the time.

With the recent announcement of the Indie/DIY music distributor CD Baby laying out the platform of a major international expansion, the service that is offered is now better than ever. With the hiring of senior staff in Latin America, the UK and EU,East Asia/Pacific and Canada the way forward is exciting and has a whole new current spin.

Darryl Hurs joins CD Baby as the company’s new Canadian rep and will be based in Toronto. Hurs is no stranger to the indie music scene and founded Indie Week Canada almost two decades ago as a hobby and oversaw its transformation into a major event for the independent music community. Cashbox Canada caught up with Hurs in Toronto and his enthusiasm is infectious.

“I am looking forward to being part of the international marketing team of CD Baby representing Canada,” Hurs says. “We have run Indie Week for the last 18 years with the focus on helping indie artists and I look at this as an opportunity to step it up to a higher level. I am especially excited to help artists and businesses build success stories.”

Herbie Hancock poses for a photo in front of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Photograph Steve Mundinger

On International Jazz Day, the music legend opened up about his struggles with addiction, the importance of striving and why the secret to jazz is generosity.

It’s 6pm on a Saturday night and Herbie Hancock is chanting down the phone to me.

Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, he goes. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.

He pauses, a little breathlessly, to instruct me: “You don’t have to chant that fast.” I’m tempted to jump in – it all seems very soothing – but I don’t know the words.

We have been given – strictly – 15 minutes to talk by the jazz legend’s American press team. But as we get deeper into Hancock’s Buddhist faith, 15 minutes turns into 30 and then into an hour. It is only when I admit, with regret, that I have to go to put up my new IKEA bed, that we both realise the time.

Submitted by Sandy Graham

During my radio days, I had the pleasure of meeting Graham Powers when he came to CJFM to promote music to me as a music director. It was at that time, I was looking for an assistant and he suggested his then girlfriend, Debbie to come work with me. I hired her and she married Graham and had a family together. That turned out to be a lifelong friendship. So it was with a heavy heart I heard the news of Graham’s passing.

Truth be known, although I had not met him yet, I was one of those teenyboppers who used to go see MG & the Escorts play in Montreal at the Bonaventure Curling Club, when that stage graced the likes of Graham’s band, along with other Montreal bands JB & the Playboys, The Rabble, Bartholomew Plus Three and hosting by then DJ Dave Boxer of CFCF. Boxer would be instrumental in breaking MG’s first singles and getting them on those shows.

MusiCounts announced Linda Schuyler and Stephen Stohn as the 2019 recipients of the MusiCounts Inspired Minds Ambassador Award, presented by The Canadian Scholarship Trust Foundation. The award recognizes individuals who have had an extraordinary impact on music education and MusiCounts over the course of its 22-year history.

“Linda and Stephen are such an inspiration to so many people, especially to the entire MusiCounts community,” said Kristy Fletcher, Executive Director, MusiCounts. “They have taken a leadership role in supporting us and have inspired others to get involved, which in turn has impacted thousands of children across Canada. We are thrilled to present them with this year’s award, thanks to the generous support of The Canadian Scholarship Trust Foundation.”

Canadian Music Week 2019 is shining a Spotlight on South Africa, in celebration of 25 years of democracy. Lauded for its peaceful transition from apartheid under the astute leadership of revered political prisoner and former president Nelson Mandela, South Africa stands out as a beacon of hope and democracy to the rest of the world. The country is now under the rule of Mandela’s political party, the African National Congress, since 1994. With a population of 54.8 million people, South Africa has the 27th highest population in the world, in an area of 470,900 mi². To put this in context, it is about eight times smaller than the USA.

South Africa. It boasts the second largest economy in Africa and is ranked by the World Bank as one of the most industrialized countries in Africa, is a prime destination for Canadian goods and services, In 2017, exports from Canada into South Africa totalled $917 million, according to the High Commission of Canada in South Africa.

Canadian Music Week, presented by Amsterdam Brewery, announces another round of artists this week. The new additions feature Juno award winning country act James Barker Band joined by singer songwriter Emily Reid at the Sirius XM House, rapper, singer, producer Azaelia Banks, Toronto rapper Tasha the Amazon, and seminal 70s rock band Television. The 37^th edition takes place from May 6-12 at a variety of downtown Toronto venues. See below for previously announced shows.

The indie- rock group The Elwins have been added to The Indies presented by Indie 88 and Jim Beam and will accompany Born Ruffians along with the winner of the Jim Beam National Talent Search.
Nominations are now open:
Part concert and part awards, the Indies are a celebration of national and international independent musicians making outstanding achievements in this area. Submissions are being accepted through indies.ca until March 24, 2019.

The Canadian Independent Music Association (CIMA) applauds the Federal Government for its bold new investment of $20 million over two years towards the Canada Music Fund (CMF) in this year’s Federal budget.

The Federal government has been a strong partner for the Canadian independent music industry. The CMF has been a critical source of support over the years but had been underfunded and over-subscribed for the past decade. Today’s budget adds to the momentum from the government’s 2016 investment in the music sector of $4.2 million over 2 years. The Government’s additional $20 million from Budget 2019 into the CMF is a testament to their commitment and support to Canadian music and its creators.

Defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as a general term of disparagement for someone or something repugnant or odious, unpleasant or dull, "grunge" finds its way into music lingo by the 1960s to describe the unfavorably fuzzy or unclean sounds which might've otherwise undercut cheaply or poorly made records.

This etymology is forever changed in 1987 when Seattle record label Sub Pop introduces a catalogue of "ultra-loose grunge" locals including the likes of Soundgarden, Nirvana and Mudhoney, thus giving namesake to a region’s budding sub-cultural movement that would soon thereafter sweep the globe up in its angst-ridden embrace. Three decades later, Morrison Hotel Gallery is pleased to reclaim the term once more with 'Grunge: Rise of A Generation', shining retrospective light on a teenage riot's coming-of-age at all three gallery locations that run from March 8^th-March 31^st, 2019.

Hal Blaine, the drummer for The Wrecking Crew, has passed away at the age of 90. Blaine was one of the most recorded studio drummers in the history of the music industry, having played on an estimated 35,000 sessions, 6,000 singles and on 40 number 1 hits.

Hal Blaine was actually the driving beat behind the soundtrack of our lives From the early days of Phil Spector and The Ronettes to The Byrds and The Beach Boys Hal Blaine’s creative style shaped the sound of pop music The opening drum hits on The Ronettes ‘Be My Baby’ made the song instantly recognizable. Pop legend Andy Kim said on his Facebook page “Listening to the explosive intro of ‘Be My Baby’ by The Ronettes made my transistor radio shake, and started me dreaming of what my world would be like living inside that radio. Thank you, Hal Blaine.” Blaine even played at his own 90^th birthday bash.

An all-star cast of musicians will headline the TD Toronto Jazz Festival, June 21 – June 30, 2019. One of music’s most iconic singers, Diana Ross, will perform, as well as multi-GRAMMY winner, singer-songwriter Norah Jones, Cuba’s grand dame Omara Portuondo, heavy hitters Tower of Power, jazz darlings Cécile McLorin Salvant and Emilie-Claire Barlow, and an exciting double bill with Rinsethealgorithm and Ghost-Note! Tickets are on sale now at www.torontojazz.com.

Cashbox Magazine (Canada & USA) and Record World Magazine have announced the second round of Artists for the Official MIDEM Showcase at Morrison’s in Cannes, France! June 4-7, 2019. We will officially be hosting global talent in the beautiful south of France.

Legendary former VJ Michael Williams will be hosting our stage along with country singer/songwriter Don Graham who will also be performing as well as kicking of an inaugural MIDEM Showcase of singer/songwriters who will be setting the stage for more of these performances at Morrisons.

We have now confirmed Barry Stagg (Canada and USA) Emergency Tiara (USA) and Franky Selector (Quebec, Canada).

BARRY STAGG

Peter Halsten Thorkelson better known as Peter Tork, was an American musician, composer and actor, best known as the keyboardist and bass guitarist of the Monkees. Peter Tork was the loveable wise guy of the Monkees, the popular television rock group that rocketed to stardom in the 1960s. But Peter Tork was a serious musician who pushed for the Monkees to create their own music instead of the outside musicians and songwriters the producers used when the show started. Tork wrote the song “For Pete’s Sake,” which was used for the closing credits during the Monkees second season. He continued to record and perform folk and blues music after the Monkees, releasing his latest album with his band Shoe Suede Blues in 2018.

Right now is a great and important time in history to do everything possible to help forge a more gender-balanced world. Women have come a long way, yet there’s still more to be achieved.

International Women’s Day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity. As the world heads toward International Women’s Day 2019, planning is underway by organizations across the globe to celebrate women’s achievements and tenaciously challenge bias.

This year, Hugh’s Room Live has invited five of our favourite female artists to showcase their outstanding contributions to the musical landscape of our country and the world at large. We’re inviting everyone to participate in an evening of exceptional music and join a larger conversation about how each of us can help to accelerate the pursuit of gender parity. Artists confirmed for the evening include~Laila Biali, Eliana Cuevas, Miss Emily, Joni Nehrita and Suzie Vinnick. Read on to hear their amazing stories below.