Don Graham Sings of Love Found and Lost Under a Magical Mexican Moon with Single “Como Te Amo”

Fri Jul 30, 2021

A big, bright sun, plus soft sand, warm ocean breeze, and falling madly in love under a Mexican moon... Doesn’t that sound wonderful? Especially now?  During our long COVID winter, idyllic scenes like this have been just a dream for most… But now, Canadian singer/songwriter Don Graham is set to turn your summer day into a romantic tropical getaway with his new single and video, “Como Te Amo”.

Inspired by a last-minute holiday Graham took to Guyabitos, Mexico, “Come Te Amo” recalls a beautiful but bittersweet moment in time in an equally beautiful place set to a rollicking country-rock soundscape.

Check out 'Como Te Amo' here on YouTube:

Rodney Crowell Triage

Fri Jul 23, 2021

Rodney Crowell, The Houston Kid, has released his 18th album and it’s a winner.

“Triage” is an introspective look into the mind and heart of one of the finest songwriters to ever put pen to paper. We caught up with Rodney for a brief chat as he was preparing to head to out Georgia to perform before a live audience, post lockdown.

“A call from the Great White North” is how the conversation started. “You know I spent some time up there in Toronto way back. A bass player named Skip Beckwith was passing through Nashville and suggested I head up there. He said Brian Ahern was working with Emmy Lou Harris and they were putting a band together and he thought I should look into it.” Rodney, of course, worked with Emmy Lou as a member of The Hot Band.

BTW - Los Lobos, Jordan’s Song, The Weather Station, Rebel Priest, Sam Roberts Band, Petite Amie

Fri Jul 23 2021
Los Lobos at the White House

This week we spotlight Second Harvest Central Food Bank 1450
Lodestar Road
Unit 18 Toronto, Ontario
Tel: 416-408-2594 email@secondharvest.ca

Member agencies have been coping with the new realities of providing emergency food relief during COVID, whether it’s changing their community dining programs to take away meals or offering prepared hampers instead of food bank access.

Don’t Plan, Be Prepared!

Fri Jul 23 2021
Peter Åstedt

Currently I am receiving all these emails from artists that have sent in applications to play at my festival, Future Echoes. Of course with the COVID situation and the fact that we closed the application on the last day of June, we are in the middle of the process of compiling the last artists for the festivals. As predictable as the sun always coming up in morning,  you get the letters from artists that want to know if they were accepted or not. Actually, these letters started to come even two months before we had even closed the application process.

Most actually do make a crucial mistake though. I understand that they want to have an answer if they are playing or not but there are ways to do that. Most write a nice mail saying that they want to know because they need to plan their trip. You might think this is a good reason to send an email and kind of professional to care about their gigs and applications.

Why Music is a Crucial Part of Film and Game Development

Mon Jul 19 2021
No Caption

Meta: Music can be one of the most important parts of film and game development, setting the scene and prepping the viewer perfectly. Find out more about how those behind it do so here.

Why Music is a Crucial Part of Film and Game Development

Whether you are sitting down to watch your favourite movies or trying out a game of some sort, there is no denying that music will form an important part of your experience. It is a crucial part of film and game development, and some of our favourite pieces of media would be very different without the right pieces of music.

Twitter

 (Image Source: Twitter)

Setting the Tone

BTW - White Cowbell Oklahoma, Arkells, Graham Brown Band, Shred Kelly, Cristina Vane, Donovan Woods

Fri Jul 16 2021
White Cowbell Oklahoma

This week we salute ICNA Relief Food Bank 6120 Montevideo Rd. Unit #4
Mississauga, Tel: 905-858-1067
Email: mississaugafb@icnareliefcanada.ca  Because of CoVid, please contact before going.
Support your local food bank. The need is real.

Steppin’ in with the raunch’n’roll of Toronto’s dukes of debauchery, White Cowbell Oklahoma. Featuring a nebulous syndicate of low-life participants and a show often compared to Kiss meets The Allman Brothers meet Frank Zappa meets The Tubes, the band has toured Europe and North America countless times, while completely disregarding musical trends, political correctness, and common decency.

With the band’s first archival release “Textos Raros – Vol 1 – 2001-2011”, White Cowbell Oklahoma presents over 40 minutes of eleven rare and never-released digital tracks due out on August 6th via the band's very own Slick Monkey Records.

Digital Is Over in So Many Ways

Fri Jul 16 2021
Peter Åstedt

People are going crazy to try to save their digital enterprises right now. Sorry to have to break the news to you but digital is not working in the music industry. The digital summits and showcases we had online were just to keep up with something at a time when live events were not allowed.

So far, it’s been a very few that I thought were good, and you saw that it was getting harder and harder to get people to log in to different online communities to be on there. The tragic part is that the only one I have heard taking on the positive about these digital events is the organizers. Mainly because there is a lot of funding to get if you are digital edition, second, it’s much easier for you  as you can gather a lot of people from around the world with just emailing and social media.

Problem with this is that, yes. you get funding, but you can’t get paid for doing it. The conferences I went to that cost money were very seldom occupied, most people in there were the people that got free tickets because they were speakers or friends with the organizer. Many of the events were free or you could decide the prize yourself.

Folk Rocker Glen Foster is Feelin’ Alive With the Release of Epic New Live Album

Fri Jul 16 2021
Glen Foster

When it comes to taking control of a room, Canadian folk-rock veteran Glen Foster is a master. And now, he’s got a brand-new live album to show just that; Feelin’ Alive.

Check out the YouTube single “Three Man Band here:

In late February, about a month before the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic shut down the world, Glen Foster and friends — known professionally as the Glen Foster Group — presented a full-throttle live concert to an intimate crowd of just over 150 people at the Christ Community Church in his homeland of Nanaimo, on Vancouver Island, in the West coast of Canada. Now, as Canadians are quickly becoming fully vaccinated, Foster has released this epic, 80-minute concert as his first-ever live album. It features 14 live cuts spanning his entire back-catalogue, and two bonus tracks recorded from the studio floor — “Friends Like That” and “Three Man Band.”

John Fogerty “Weeping In The Promised Land”

Fri Jul 16, 2021

John Fogerty, the 75-year-old Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Famer, is at it again, releasing his first single in eight years and making a political statement and stirring the pot as he did with CCR and “Fortunate Son".

Remember not long ago he issued a Cease and Desist Order to the Trump team to stop using that song at their rallies, which of course they ignored. His new song,  “Weeping In The Promised Land” is rife with commentary and reflection of the current times. Although John found the title in an old journal where he’d written the words weeping in the promised land twenty-five years ago, it wasn’t until 2020 that this version of the song was actually written.

Check out the video for “Weeping In The Promised Land” here:

Vacation? What Is That?

Fri Jul 09 2021
Peter Åstedt

Right now, when I do my send-outs, I get an auto-reply from people that say they are on vacation. Especially in Sweden where it seems like we are shutting down the whole country during July. Yes, having five weeks vacation in a row in the summer is a must if you live in Sweden. Not for me though, I work in the music industry.

Ottawa Composer Huguette Lavigne Throws Back in the Key of “Piano Retro”

Fri Jul 09 2021
Huguette Lavigne

Innovative and prolific composer Huguette Lavigne is throwing back and taking you along for a jazzed-up, improvisational ride to “Piano Retro”.

Check out “Piano Retro” on YouTube here:

The Ottawa-based pianist calls this new release from her latest album Five O’Clock Somewhere “old-school piano jazz… An easy going, smooth flowing, just plain cool jazzy piece and good for the soul.”

She then sets the throwback scene featuring an old-time jazz club player that she imagines performing the song. “Some guy sits down in a smoky room at a large black grand and plays around with jazzy swirls, runs and melodic twists,” Lavigne describes. “He doesn’t take it too seriously, and it all ends with his notes slipping down a long glissando and the bubbles on his brain disappear.”

Rabbi, Author & Musician Gary Zweig’s Kiddush Club Release Music to Get Motivated

Fri Jul 09 2021
Gary Zweig

Canada’s rockin’ Rabbi, author, musician, and founder of Kiddush Club Gary Zweig has just the soundtrack for getting families active this summer: the release of his new song, “Exercise”.

Check out “Exercise” on YouTube here:

Channelling everyone from the world’s greatest athletes to the beginner at-home fitness enthusiast, Zweig says he set out to create an exciting song to exercise alongside with.

“It’s fun, it’s funky, and it’s got a bit of rock and roll,” the Toronto-based multi-talented singer/songwriter enthuses. “I’m young at heart, so I wrote this song for kids of all ages — from 1 to 101 years old!”

Heard on Kiddush Club’s third album release, Toys, the nine-track LP joins Kiddush Club’s other releases — their eponymous LP, Kiddush Club, and The Wine Album.

BTW-Brittany Howard, 401 WST, Finny McConnell, Bill Heffernan, SOJA, Hannah Georgas, Jordana Talsky

Fri Jul 09 2021
Brittany Howard

This week we spotlight Thornhill Food Bank 1 Leaside Park Dr Unit 5B, Toronto, East York Office phone 647-428-9755
Email thorncliffefb@icnareliefcanada.ca

COVID19 -- Food Bank open by appointment only, call and leave message at any time but please do not call Mon or Thurs * counselling service by phone -- call for appointment or visit website to register

Steppin’ in with the boisterous blues rock of Brittany Howard. Jaime – the first solo album from Howard – has been reimagined by an astonishing cross-section of the five-time GRAMMY winner’s peers. Featuring fresh takes and remixes of the album’s 11 songs, Jaime Reimagined will be released by ATO Records in digital format on July 23 with the vinyl edition to follow on September 24.

Howard has shared the shimmering single “Presence” Little Dragon Remix along with the b-side, “Tomorrow” from Toronto jazzateers BadBadNotGood Remix.

Murray McLauchlan Hourglass

Fri Jul 09, 2021

When a legendary artist like Murray McLauchlan releases a new album of new songs it’s exciting. Exciting and a just a little bit scary at the same time. I first heard of Murray McLauchlan was when my friend John Williams was at CBS/Columbia Records. We were sitting in his car when he put a cassette in the deck and said “You gotta hear this kid!” That kid, of course, was Murray McLauchlan.

Every song on that album was first class, all killer, no filler as they say. So that was album #1 and here in the mail is album #20. And this where the scary part comes in.  Because the bar is so high with Murray’s body of work, you hope that anything new will rise to that level. And rise it did. From the first track, “The One Percent”, to the closing track, “Wishes”, Murray McLauchlan’s creative light shines as bright as it ever did. Listening to this album I felt like I was listening to the energy and the insight of a young Murray McLauchlan but with the wisdom and polish of a wise and mature sage.

Record Producer Taabu Joins Forces with Kenyan Singer Yviona for “Pigana”

Fri Jul 02 2021
Taabu & Yviona Pigana

Canadian record producer Spencer Heaslip, AKA Taabu, continues to showcase his musical talent and range with this, the release of his heart-pounding ominous new pop single “Pigana (feat. Yviona)” — available now!

Landing just a month after the release of his upbeat, bubblegum-pop EDM single, “Ooey Gooey (feat. Omega Mighty),” ''Pigana” is the second cut from the Toronto-based artist’s forthcoming debut album, Bellows.

Translating to “fight” in Kiswahili — Yviona’s native tongue — the title “Pigana” was inspired by the subject matter of the two-and-a-half-minute rollercoaster. Yviona, who wrote the lyrics, explains it was inspired by “broken relationships caused by miscommunication.”

Check out “Pigana” on YouTube here:  https://youtu.be/iXOm9SVi0IA

“This is a tale of two lovers who struggle to make it work before contemplating pulling the plug,” she adds.

For a breakup song so dark, and filled with so much intensity, you wouldn’t expect it to kick off with a Kalimba; it does, however, and it works beautifully.

What Do You Have To Offer?

Fri Jul 02 2021
Peter Åstedt

Do you really have something to offer? This question needs to be asked in so many different ways and forms. People today give out music, but is that really something to offer? I was doing a funny video for my friends and was amazed about how many free pictures and music was out there for my project. And most of them are really great. Made by people in their spare time who just want to share what they have filmed or composed. And for my project that was enough. I found what I needed and put it together.

Of course, this was a hobby thing. If I worked on Netflix and did a bigger TV-series these pictures or music might not be up in the top-notch material, they need to compete in their channels. Of course, they pay to get the best material as well. The problem is that most of the material that is offered is in the hobby quality that I used.

BTW - Lorde, Lightman Jarvis Ecstatic Band, Taylor Abrahamse, Pink, Royal Wood, Andrew Cassara, Laura Rain and The Caesars

Fri Jul 02 2021
Lorde

This week we spotlight Thornhill Food Bank 1 Leaside Park Dr Unit 5B, Toronto, East York Office phone 647-428-9755
Email thorncliffefb@icnareliefcanada.ca

Stepping in with a very timely single from Lorde. Her first new music in four years, Solar Power is a light, summery anthem inspired by the storied folk songwriters of the 60s and 70s and early 2000s pop (see The Mamas & The Papas, Crosby, Stills & Nash meets TLC, Destiny's Child, All Saints).It’s also the title track of her August 20th album of new music.

In a statement, she explained: “The album is a celebration of the natural world, an attempt at immortalizing the deep, transcendent feelings I have when I’m outdoors. In times of heartache, grief, deep love, or confusion, I look to the natural world for answers. I’ve learned to breathe out, and tune in. This is what came through.”

Indie Week and indie101 Announce FREE Summer /Sessions with Rick Barker July 6, 13 and 20, 2021

Fri Jul 02, 2021

Indie Week is proud to announce, indie101 Summer Sessions Music as a Business (3 Part Series) with Rick Barker (ex-manager of Taylor Swift). The 3-part series is every Tuesday for 3 weeks (July 6, July 13, July 20, 2021) and are FREE for everyone to register and attend. Rick will be covering information on how to run your career as a business, how to make money and how to grow your online audience.

“The information Rick Barker gave during our indie101 conference (online) was so good that it just made sense for us (INDIE WEEK) to get Rick to come back and be able to go into more detail. As things start to open up - it also made sense for us to make this information available to artists and businesses, so we are making the sessions FREE for everyone to attend”, says Darryl Hurs (founder of Indie Week).

Indie 101 Summer Sessions

BTW This Week-Robin Cisek, SaintVicious, Patrick Watson, Mike Boguski, Caty Perry, Adam Ndaro Solomon

Fri Jun 25 2021
Robin Cisek

This week we spotlight Parkdale Community Food Bank, 1499 Queen St. W. 416-532-2375.

Parkdale Community Food Bank continues to service clients during this challenging time for our community. We are following Public Health Ontario guidelines and taking additional precautions to keep our employees, volunteers and clients safe.

Open Wednesday: 11a.m.–3p.m.
Thursday: 11a.m.–3p.m.
Friday: 10:30a.m.–1:30p.m.
Saturday: 10:30a.m.–1:30p.m.

The Music Industry Screwed Me!

Fri Jun 25 2021
Peter Åstedt

You always hear about people saying that they got screwed by the music industry. Yes, the music industry is a very competitive environment so don’t think it’s a nine to five place. And yes, there is always some shady stuff, but not really more shady than in any other business. What is actually more common is that people are screwing themselves because of their own lack of knowledge.

The biggest problem in the music industry is that it’s too easy to just start a business and claim that you are part of the industry. No education, no credentials, nothing. Even with an education, you still need an extended amount of networks and a genuine interest in how things are developing to be considered valid in the industry. The problem is that many just think this is a bit more competitive nine to five work, when in actuality it is a lifestyle.

So who screws who in the industry?