Alt-country/Americana artist Rayland Baxter has offered a new song from the Butch Walker-produced project, Wide Awake.. "79 Shiny Revolvers" was the first song Rayland wrote during his three-month-long isolation quest at Franklin, Kentucky's secluded Thunder Sound Studios. He composed fifty songs there, ten of which eventually became Wide Awake.

"79 Shiny Revolvers" is, in Rayland's own estimation, one of the most important songs he's ever written. Its lyrics burst with irony and cutting humour to interrogate our nation's fixation on guns: "You really wanna save the world, man / well, I wanna save it too / we can blow em away / the American way."

“This was the hardest song for me to sing on the album,” says Amos Lee of Hang On, Hang On – the cathartic and soulful ballad at the center of his upcoming My New Moon (August 31 / Dualtone Records). While the record is largely focused on Amos finding strength in the courage of others – from relationships he built through Musicians on Call and the Wounded Warrior Project to inspiration he took from the Parkland survivors - Hang On, Hang On sees Amos use these experiences to work through profound loss in his own life. Written after Amos lost his grandmother, the song is set around the last night he spent with her: “I would’ve stayed forever,” he sings, “but it didn’t work out that way.”

Listen to Hang On, Hang On, here.

True that storytelling through song has never been a weak point for JUNO Award-winning Barney Bentall. He continues to prove this with a rare excursion into single land on “Don’t Wait For Me Marie” and its cinematic, century-swapping video, available on YouTube now!

Between frames of fire and wild horses comes the tale of languished lust and Western greed, woven in a way only Bentall can deliver.

The song, of note, is one of many on The Drifter & The Preacher that Bentall says “ultimately wrote itself.

“There are times I look back and think, ‘well, that’s not where I thought this one was going to go,’” says Bentall. “With ‘Don’t Wait For Me Marie’ I thought, ‘I’m going to write a song about a guy leaving the Fraser Valley near Vancouver in the 1800s to look for gold in the Cariboo.’ I wanted it to be an uptempo bluegrass song because we were starting The High Bar Gang… I was very immersed in that style of music.

Six-time Blues Music Award nominee Trudy Lynn will release her new CD, Blues Keep Knockin’ from Connor Ray Music on July 27. Backing Trudy’s vocals on the new disc are musicians Steve Krase – harmonica; David Carter – guitar; Terry Dry – bass; Matt Johnson – drums; Jim Brady – trumpet; and Dan Carpenter – sax; with special guests Bob Lanza and Carolyn Wonderland on guitar.

Trudy was recently honored with three nominations for the Living Blues Magazine Awards, with voting currently underway at the magazine’s website: www.livingblues.com.

“I want to thank all my blues fans new and old, or should I say ‘mature,’ for being with me through my journey with the blues, both near and far,” Trudy says in the album liner notes. “My name is Trudy Lynn and I sing the blues for you, some old some new and some borrowed too. I love singing the blues! The blues knocks on my door, on my window and my heart. I must sing and I sing only what I feel and I sing to make you feel exactly what I feel!”

What do you get when you cross 3 amazing saxophonists dressed in wacky clothes, a crazy dancing drummer and a killer upright bass player and have them sing songs about Buses, Roaches and Hockey that spend 1/2 their time playing in the audience? The Shuffle Demons, that’s what!!!

The Shuffle Demons are a high-energy Canadian band that blends virtuosic jazz and funk playing with eye-catching costumes and over the top stage antics to produce a kinetic show. A hit at festivals all over the world, the Shuffle Demons are a crowd-pleasing, full-on musical group that backs up wild stage antics with phenomenal playing by some of Canada’s most talented musicians. Therefore, in the teeth of the summer's heat, the contrarian Demons are checking into Hugh's Room Live to go mano a mano with the club's AC system Fri. Jul. 6, showtime 8.30 pm.

The oft enigmatic Wax Mannequin (aka Hamilton, Ontario's Christopher Adeney) dropped his seventh album, Have A New Name, on June 22 through Coax Records/Outside Music The album was launched with Wax Mannequin's June 23 show at This Ain't Hollywood in Hamilton, followed by a full Canadian tour that kicks off July 14 at The Rivoli in Toronto.

As Wax Mannequin, Adeney has established himself as a profound lyricist and songsmith, as well as a self-effacing showman. His music also reveals him to be a student of the human psyche, constantly finding fresh and interesting ways to frame the people we are and the things we encounter. All of that is gloriously displayed on Have A New Name, the result of Adeney reuniting with producer Edwin Burnett, with whom he made some of the first Wax Mannequin recordings in the early 2000s.

World music fusion artist Cari Burdett is bringing her exotic fusion of jazz, art song, folk and opera eastward this June, including dates at the Winnipeg Jazz Festival, Toronto's Burdock Music Hall, and Montreal's Upstairs Jazz B. She'll be accompanied by members of her 4Tet who are also featured in the new video for "De Cara a la Pared," written and originally performed by the late great Lhasa de Sela. The video premiered exclusively at Roots Music Canada.

Juno Award-winning and definitely on a Spring roll, Good Lovelies' are on a tour which began with a buzzworthy show at Massey Hall on Friday, May 11th as special guests of headliner Royal Wood and carries on into June. The set showcases current album, Shapeshifters.

"We are so excited to announce our upcoming Canadian tour," shares the band. "This spring we will bring our new album, Shapeshifters, from Ontario to British Columbia. This tour is the culmination of years of writing and recording our latest album, and we hope you will join us as we, and our friends Mark Mariash (drums) and Steve Zsirai (Bass), bring these new songs to life."

When it comes to video games in their various forms, we often discuss how they look in terms of the graphics and animations; or we talk about the gameplay. One thing that often gets overlooked is the music that is contained within the game, and just how important it is in helping to create an enjoyable and immersive gaming experience. So just how does music influence gameplay and how important is it for players?

The first thing to consider is the game itself and it's setting. It’s hugely important for the player to be immersed completely in the game, and music helps to do this by creating the atmosphere. Taking a first-person shooter game as an example, there’s no way a player would feel in the slightest involved; if the background music was the type you would find in a Super Mario game.

L.A.-based, Vancouver-born singer-songwriter Tara Beier has released a new single, "Forgiveness," on her own Red Raven Records, a song with a message she hopes will take hold within our current political and social climate. Musically, "Forgiveness" builds on the power pop sound that defined Beier's acclaimed 2017 EP California 1970, which Popmatters described as, "one-of-a-kind Canadian indie rock," and Spill Magazine said, "firmly establishes a powerful new voice." As with California 1970, Beier produced "Forgiveness" at L.A.'s The Village Studios utilizing some of the city's top-notch musicians, including drummer Tripp Beam (Moby) who, Beier explains, played a crucial role in the song's creation. " Tripp joined me last summer when I played Riverfest [in Elora ON] and during that time, he introduced me to a book called The Missing Link by Sydney Banks.

On April 20, Pennywise will release their new album Never Gonna Die. The legendary punk band’s twelfth full-length, Never Gonna Die is the first full album of new songs with singer Jim Lindberg, guitarist Fletcher Dragge, drummer Byron McMackin, and bassist Randy Bradbury in over a decade.

Today, Pennywise have shared Never Gonna Die’s title track: a thrashing and furious look into “the seemingly immortal practice of handing down our ancient biases, prejudice, and religious dogma from each generation to the next,” according to Lindberg.

“The goal of the song is to try and get young people to finally say enough, and that the system isn’t working,” Lindberg adds. “It’s going to take a massive evolutionary shift in consciousness to change it, starting with the youth, because unless we do, we’ll just have more of the same carnage we’ve seen happening all over the world reincarnated with every new generation.”

Kinda rootsy, kinda folk-rocky, Toronto-based band Johnson Crook have released their latest single "Mr. Nobody" to coincide with tour dates in Ontario this March. The song, from Johnson Crook's 2017 full-length debut The Album, released by Coalition Music, features guest vocals from Canadian music legend Tom Cochrane, The quartet—Noel Johnson (rhythm guitars/vocals), brothers Nathan (lead guitar/mandolin/vocals) and Trevor Crook (drums/vocals) and Jared Craig (bass/vocals), have forged their sound out of a love of pure, honest music stemming from their small-town backgrounds. Drawing inspiration from groups like the Eagles and the Avett Brothers, each member of Johnson Crook contributes equally, injecting their unique personalities into an overall sound built on four voices.

Could the third one be the charm? Winnipeg indie rockers Hearing Trees are following up their previous 2 EP releases with a 3rd release and debut full-length album Quiet Dreams on March 2nd. The lyric video for the first single 'Telling Peter' premiering on Exclaim.ca and in support of the new album, Hearing Trees will be embarking on a lengthy Cross-Canada Tour starting March 2nd in Regina.

Hearing Trees existed before frontman Graham Hnatiuk had ever picked up a guitar or penned a single lyric. Even as just an apparition in his mind’s eye, Hnatiuk’s musical vision essentially saved his sanity, maybe even his life. And now, with the release of their debut LP, Quiet Dreams, the creative seeds sown years ago have come to full fruition.

Near lawyer turned pop chanteuse Kayla Diamond has dropped a new video for her uplifting single "What You're Made Of' via PopDust .

Following Kayla from childhood through to adulthood, the video tells the story of her journey from a young girl who dreamed of being a songwriter and performer to a fully realized musician and singer. The video also serves as a loving tribute to her family, whose unwavering support made the realization of her dream a reality.

Fluidly combining hip-hop and ethereal electronic beats, Montreal's Lou Phelps is the biggest rapper in his city. Skating over a candy-colored disco-funk instrumental courtesy of Lou's brother, KAYTRANADA, Lou Phelps turns on his charm on his latest single, Come Inside. This is his first release as a new signee to Last Gang Records worldwide.

Effortlessly stacking syllables, Lou tells a story about meeting a girl and taking her out for a good time: "Met her at the strip club, she was a freelancer/Told me to give me her sign, she was a Cancer/Dancing for the dollars at the damn club/Strippin' for these n*ggas that we wouldn't even dare touch/She knows I ain't trippin' over damn thugs/She was a mama bear--I was her damn cub." Premiered by Complex, the song features a standout verse from fellow Canadian, Jazz Cartier, who has a blast stringing together flashy punchlines over the club-ready sonics.

Felix Cartal teamed up with vocalist REGN for his stunning new track "Runaway" on Physical Presents, and it will resonate deeply with listeners on and off the dancefloor. "Runaway" carries power in REGN's passionate voice and angsty lyrics that are perfectly complemented by Cartal's moody piano melodies and deep, groovy basslines; it delivers a message that is rebellious but also encouraging in its authenticity. The single will appear on his forthcoming full-length album due later this year.

So you thought they were all used up and dumped in the garbage? Well, Grounders are back and gearing up to release sophomore LP Coffee & Jam on February 23 via Nevado Music. Get a taste of the LP with second single "Perfect".

First single, 'Bringin' It In' was released last fall and has since been climbing the CBC R3 charts. The Soporanos-esqe video casts the guys as java maniacs who will stop at NOTHING to get some Griz. Grounders will be playing a string of live dates throughout Ontario with label mates The Wooden Sky.

The 16th Annual Winterfolk Blues and Roots Festival, taking place in Toronto February 16-18, 2018, is set to present the best of urban, blues, rock, jazz, country, folk and roots music, and will feature returning favourite artists as well as fresh new talent. It’s an all-ages, mid-winter, weatherproof event that emulates a multi-stage rural summer festival. More than 100 artists will be performing at four venues and five stages over three days of the long Family Day weekend. For more information on the festival, schedule and for updates, please visit www.winterfolk.com.

Winterfolk XVI featured performers include Borealis Records artists MOSE SCARLETT, who’s been on the Canadian music scene for more than 40 years, fiddler ANNE LEDERMAN, highly acclaimed Canadian folk, blues and gospel singer and multi-instrumentalist KEN WHITELEY, and award-winning singer-songwriter JON BROOKS.

February 7, 2018, Mt. Joy announced that NPR Music has selected them as the Slingshot Artist Spotlight for February. Mt. Joy will be featured on NPR partner stations throughout the month. The band has also announced a headlining spring tour, including Canadian dates in Vancouver and Toronto (full dates below). Mt. Joy’s self-titled debut album will be released on March 2nd via Dualtone, an Entertainment One company.

In little more than a year as a band, the LA-via-Philadelphia band has racked up over 15 million streams on Spotify, toured with The Shins, Whitney, The Head And The Heart and The Lone Bellow, and performed at Newport Folk Festival, Bonnaroo, Made In America and Lollapalooza. Mt. Joy just wrapped up a North American tour with Neko Case, and they're set for highly anticipated appearances at SXSW, Shaky Knees, BottleRock, and more come spring.

Regina-based singer/songwriter Ryan Hicks is set to release his 2nd full-length album February 9th, Video for the first single and title track 'Pulsing Colours’ is premiering exclusively on Live in Limbo.

Ryan Hicks makes melodic, cinematic alt-pop music which he describes as "if Paul McCartney, Brian Wilson and the Fleet Foxes made music for a David Lynch film". Since the release of his critically acclaimed debut album Prairie Ocean in 2014, Ryan has been hard at work on his sophomore release Pulsing Colours. The album is a concept record of all of the thoughts, moods and emotions that can come to us at night.

Pulsing Colours was inspired and written in tribute to Ryan’s stepmother, who took her own life in December 2014. Her loss made Ryan dig inward and look for meaning and his place in the world.