I was checking out a service that would give artists coaching and help with their careers. I was checking it out TO see who the coaches are. Two out of five are people that really don’t know anything about the music industry. People that haven’t taken any artist anywhere. They run a record label in their bedroom. Both of them are also failed musicians.

Sure, I don’t know everything. There are things I’m not good at or the perfect person to ask. This thought makes me angry to fool artist with info that has the same truth as a Donald Trump speech to pair up new artists with people that has second to no knowledge. This is like you taking a person that failed the exam and now putting them in as a teacher.

And I get more and more of this lately.  Several times I get students fresh out from the University of music that has none to nothing in knowledge and you just ask them who their teacher was and you find out that the bad guitar player that did everything wrong now teaches these kids his knowledge. No wonder they don’t know a thing after three years of education. And the little education they got has passed its best before date ten years ago.

We all have a list of artists and songs that were major influences on us from youth to adulthood. They were the posters on our bedroom walls. They made up the playlists on our cassette cases or now, in our apps. They’re the audio bookmark in all the chapters of our lives. In reverence to the power of music and the indelible influence, it has had in his own life, Canadian entertainment executive, music historian, and author Tom Locke brings us his new book, “Moments In Time - Stories About Artists and Songs of the 50s, 60s, and 70s. For Fans of Music…From a Music Fan”.

“This book is the culmination of a journey that started back in 1986 with an idea I had about creating a legacy to the music that shaped my life, and a desire to share this legacy in an entertaining and informative way with others,” says Locke.

It takes so much more than a strong voice, songs, and performing ability to break through the ocean’s swell of talent out there; it also takes a special ‘something’ that, while hard to pinpoint, is undeniably irresistible… With that, there’s no denying powerhouse blues singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Angelique Francis has ‘it,’ and she’s letting it flow for the immense pleasure of listeners everywhere with the release of her highly anticipated second album, Long River.

Check it out “Storms From My Eyes” on YouTube here:

Featuring the release’s first single, “Storms From My Eyes, the stunning slow-burner of a song sets a languid, classic blues heartbreak start to the engrossing voyage down the Ottawa-based artist’s new 14-track collection.

For 16 years now I have had the pleasure of owning Cashbox Canada, which came at a time when I had already put in decades in the music industry and at the time, I was looking for a new challenge.

The one constant love I have always had was my career in radio. My home has antique radios I have collected over the years, and many of my best memories were when I was a young Music Director in Montreal, Quebec. Back then, a Music Director was given the privilege and the power to ’break’ a record. I relied on the promo guys who would bring product to the weekly music meeting every Wednesday without fail. When I realized that radio in its current stat was no longer experiencing what it was like to give a record a chance.

Recently I have bumped into really enthusiastic people that want to work in the music industry. They claim to love music, and I think they really do. After getting to know them better you just feel that there is something wrong. They pick the wrong songs; a lot of the decisions are more in the vein that they like the artist and can’t hear that this song from this artist is not that much of a hit.

I know when I played football there is a word in Swedish called “bollkänsla” which translated means that you have a good ability to control a ball. Something I really don’t have. I loved to play football, but I was mainly just kicking the ball and was more like the average player in my age group. I got more and more of that feeling that it is the same in music, let’s take it under musicology.

Spontaneity may well be the most important element of jazz expression — the immediacy of creativity in its purest and most adventurous manifestation. For extraordinary pianist Jean-Michel Pilc, the live performance represents the pinnacle of that level of spontaneity and, in his outstanding new release on Justin Time Records, Alive – Live at Dièse Onze, Montréal, Pilc and his bandmates Rémi-Jean LeBlanc and Jim Doxas on bass and drums respectively, splendidly offer proof of this concept.

Available now, the liner notes of Alive reveal Pilc describing this state as “improvising musicians in their natural habitat, the jazz club, playing music for the sake of music, never repeating themselves, and creating sounds that they will never replicate.”

“Improvisation is often associated with freedom, but beware of appearances,” Pilc expands. “When inspiration strikes, music has a way to lead you from one moment to the next that gives you no choice but to follow the flow. And when all the members of the band hear the same sound, all of it, and react not as individuals but as part of that sound, then it feels like home, or family.”

Spike – The Bulgarian Music Showcase is scheduled to take place in the city of Plovdiv, Bulgaria between May 26-28, 2022. Bulgaria’s most historic town will welcome music business delegates from over twelve countries, including the USA and Canada. Their expertise will cover every part of the music industry, including artist booking and management; publishing, royalties, and sync licensing; digital technology workshops; and equality and diversity in the music industry. 

Formerly known as the Sofia International Music Conference (SIMC), Spike is Bulgaria’s first showcase and conference festival.  We manage to get a hold of founder Boyan Robert Pinter while he was visiting different venues for the festival.

“The festival’s primary goal is to create learning and networking opportunities for Bulgarian artists and professionals and to introduce international delegates to Bulgaria’s music scene. This will be done in a spirit of diversity and inclusivity. We also hope to be part of the big European showcase circuit and this will be an annual stop for people to visit and find new music ” Says Boyan.

A new band of multi-award-winning not-so-new blues players are set to make their musical mark: The Hogtown Allstars will release their debut album, Hog Wild, this May 6th, 2022 via Stony Plain Records.

stonyplainrecords.com/hogtownallstars/

Featuring eight new all-original songs, and two covers, Hog Wild was recorded throughout 2021 once the group nailed their first challenge: coordinating everyone’s schedule to hit the studio. It’s the first release for the undeniable supergroup that first started in 2013 as a collaborative, creative outlet for Toronto-based musicians dedicated to the genre.

As for ‘Allstars,’ they come by the moniker honestly; built with some of the most dynamic and experienced players on the global blues scene, the 7-piece adds up to Downchild Blues Band alum Chuck Jackson, Pat Carey, Gary Kendall, Jim Casson, and Tyler Yarema alongside Maple Blues Band alums Teddy Leonard and Howard Moore.

Check out the link here on YouTube:

Photo Credits: Peter Astedt and Future Echoes

It was the first full edition of Future Echoes in Norrköping, Sweden, 17 to 19 of February 2022. The Festival planning had begun in 2020 when participants from various showcase festivals in Sweden joined together to build a new International Showcase Festival in Norrköping, Sweden.

While the planning was discussed and the first actions were taken to start the Festival,

COVID hit the world, and everything was pushed. The first edition was first postponed from February 2021 to September and then from September to the original dates on February 17 to 19, 2022.

Then the variant Omicron hit and Sweden was put  in lockdown as of January  2022. The Festival then made a  decision to make it with the restrictions just to make it happen. Luckily the restrictions in Sweden were lifted on the 9th of February, just a week before the Festival.

“Sorry for bombarding you with demo emails.” This was the first line in an email I got in from an artist that kept on writing that he or she (the artist name really doesn’t give it away) had written fifteen songs in different styles, love songs, ballads, pop songs, and dance love pop songs. Strange styles to write songs in, but hey, who am I to judge?

Then it was a new link to a song on SoundCloud. The song sounds like you just bought a beat online somewhere and then you wrote a really bad poem to a dead mummy. Yes, the song is about a dead mummy, I shit you not. Clearly, the music wasn’t up to any standards. Nowadays it doesn’t need to be in any standards to be given out either. In one way if the Soundcloud link wasn’t private it had still been given out. That it was a bad song and not that interesting, it’s the rest of the letter. Directly after the link, they jump to this:
I wish to acquire a record deal. There are three types of deals that interest me:             

-          The 360 Deal     

-          The Single Deal Recording Contract; and         

-          The Major Label Deal        

Alongside today’s release of new single and video, “Solace,” multi-Platinum/Gold award-winning and internationally acclaimed producer, composer, and guitarist Jesse Cook announces newly updated Canadian dates for his highly-acclaimed “Tempest II” tour.

Check out “Solace” on YouTube here:

Originally marked for 2020 in celebration of the 25th anniversary of his acclaimed debut album, Tempest, the newly announced 18 homegrown shows will span from Quebec to B.C.; with 43+ cross-continent dates on the docket, Cook recently kicked off the tour in the U.S. alongside the release of his 11th studio album, Libre — to rave reviews.

Canadian singer/songwriter and composer Wendy Irvine urges humanity to reach out to each other and “Make Time” with the release of her newly unveiled single – check it out on YouTube here:

The first to land from the song’s namesake album, Make Time, set for release this Spring 2022, the title reflects two words that hold deeply personal and perspective-shifting meaning in the Toronto-based artist’s day-to-day outlook.

“‘Make Time’ has become a mantra in my life,” the Toronto-based artist reveals. “I cannot control other people and their actions but, in order to make a difference in the world, I believe it starts with me.

“I need to put forth more light,” she continues. “I need to reach out and show love to other people, and I need to plant the seeds of acceptance, balance, love, and communication each and every day.”

In the wake of the pandemic’s ongoing disruption of the arts and events, the Wavelength Winter Festival is set to pivot online this March with a free weekly Speakers Series streamed live each Wednesday evening.

With a focus on ‘community care,’ Maylee Todd/Maloo, Casey Mecija, Radwan Ghazi Moumneh, and Beverly Glenn-Copeland will be featured in artist talks alongside an original film by Sook-Yin Lee and Dylan Gamble; Buffy Sainte-Marie will join March 23rd for a keynote event.

Covid-19 presented unique opportunities for arts organizations to get creative and try innovative new programming models — and the Wavelength Winter Festival is no different.

“While experiencing live arts can be difficult at this time, art is what breathes motivation, mobilization, and creative change,” Festival organizers share. “Join us in conversation with some of our most beloved creators as they share stories that inspire new corridors of possibility and, above all, hope.”

The Wavelength Winter Festival: Speaker Series 2022 will take place every Wednesday in March at 7:00pm EST. All events are free, all-ages, and stream live via YouTube.

Ground-breaking musical collective Toronto Tabla Ensemble (TTE) and legendary Indian-born Canadian artist Bif Naked mystify with cutting-edge sonics and sophisticated grooves on their latest jaw-dropping single, “Prayer for the Mother”.

Check out “Prayer for Mother” on YouTube here:

Celebrating their 30th anniversary, the song lands alongside Toronto Tabla Ensemble’s blistering new album, For the Love of Tabla — an 11-song LP that dazzles listeners start to finish with some of the best tabla playing in the world.

Echo Chamber - /ˈekō ˌCHāmbər / noun | An environment in which a person encounters only beliefs or opinions that coincide with their own, so that their existing views are reinforced, and alternative ideas are not considered.

We live in a time when finding ‘proof’ to support our ideas and beliefs is merely a scroll and a click away, and our social media news feeds provide a precision-tailored buffet hot and ready to serve our appetites for confirmation bias. With that, Canadian folk rock artist Kele Fleming is spotlighting social media’s divisiveness through the ‘thoughts’ of a futuristic AI character with her timely new single, “Echo Chamber” – watch and listen on YouTube here:

‘So long in an echo chamber, I’m getting into danger’

It seems like people left their brains at home after COVID. As all of the business starts to open up the crazy recordings are coming in like a full flood. Artists have been sitting and keeping recordings to release to be able to get live shows so right now you get a big bunch of them. I have written tips about it before how to send stuff. It’s time to do it again after having been through several emails that clearly show that the people behind them haven’t thought twice or done their homework.

The first one was from a band that hadn’t released their song yet. They had put it on Bandcamp on a secret link, put in the video that would have premiered three days later. The problem here is that I can listen to the song on Bandcamp only. Of course, the link to the video is not working yet and in three days I will certainly have forgotten this email. On Bandcamp, there is no download, just a listening button. My problem here is if I want to play the song on the radio station, I can’t really access it. Here comes the totally dumb part of this email. They write that if I want the song to use on the radio station, I can contact them so I can get downloadable files.