This week we spotlight The Sharing Place. It’s an essential resource for the Junction and Bloor West area providing food, clothing, items for home and other supports including showers and laundry for those in need.  Regular meals weekly on Thursdays. They accept donations from the community for all of the items and families can get free winter clothing items

624 Annette Street Toronto. Open Thursdays 9.00 am-8 pm. (416) 762-3322

Stepping in with a never-before-heard solo version of the late Aretha Franklin’s riveting and powerful collaboration with Mary J. Blige about faith and race, 2006’s “Never Gonna Break My Faith,” is very much getting heard...

 Sony’s RCA Records, RCA Inspiration and Legacy Recordings released the song aligning with the holiday celebrating the day in 1865 that all enslaved black people learned they had been freed from bondage.

“Never Gonna Break My Faith” resonates today, featuring lyrics like: “You can lie to a child with a smiling face/Tell me that color ain’t about a race.”

Imagine that you are going on a hike to climb a high mountain like Mont Blanc. You have some cool friends with you and you have a great team that has a good chance to actually reach the top. All people in the team know what to do and how to do it; they are specialists in their own way.

Then suddenly your old Dad calls you up. By mistake, you had posted on Facebook (only old people use Facebook) that you are about to climb this mountain. Of course, old pap really wants to join in on this climb. In the height of his career, he climbed mountains. Mont Blanc was one of them. But that is back in the days and the routes he took are not available any longer. You are taking a totally different route. The equipment that is used is different. On top of that old Dad is walking with a cane and will just start nagging around things he did over thirty years ago.

Canadian country-pop artist Greg Rider takes to wondering if the love of his life is just “One Town Away” in this, his new single release.

“This song was actually written in two days,” Rider recalls, looking back at a songwriting session with collaborator Rich Cloke. “I didn’t plan it at all. I was a bit stuck,” he explains. “I had songs that I couldn’t release yet, so William Gaboury — producer and owner of Father & Son Records — suggested I write something new and come visit him in Montreal that same weekend to record everything. It all happened so fast… Within four or five days, everything about ‘One Town Away’ was done!

Watch and listen to ‘One Town Away’ here:

This song’s particular process may have been quick, but the concept had been percolating in Rider’s mind for years — albeit subconsciously, for the most part.

James Cohen and the Prairie Roots Rockers are exactly who they say they are.

And nowhere can you hear just what the Winnipeg-based outfit means — or how awesome that is — than on their new video for their long-loved single, “These Long Nights,” available now.

“The origins of this song go back several years,” frontman and band namesake James Cohen considers. “The general theme is one of loneliness and isolation which, unfortunately, are sentiments many of us can relate to during these difficult times currently.

“The video attempts to convey a longing for someone special who was perhaps met long ago, not unlike reminiscing about a long-lost romantic partner who we have lost track of and wonder about today.”

“The song isn’t necessarily meant to be sad,” he insists. “But… The D minor key it was written in lends itself to a melancholy tone.”

Watch These Long Nights here:

Ottawa neo disco funk band DeeDee7 and their freshly minted self-titled EP will tease the heck outa ya because its contents are tailored made for getting sweaty and mashing up on the dance floor and well….

Is the band a septet? It certainly is! We have a drummer AND a percussionist, a singer-synth player, singer-violinist, singing-bassist, a righteous guitar player and me, DeeDee Butters out front :)

That being said, the band is actually named after an old stain remover called DiDiSeven that came out in 1987 (I was 7, so I thought it was the best thing I'd ever seen). It was one of the very first viral infomercials.

Describe your sound?

We're channelling Nile Rodgers meets Chromeo meets Thelma Houston and Donna Summer. Toot-Toot-Beep-Beep.

Who does the songwriting?

Andrew Burns, our bassist, and I wrote the bones of the songs. Then we played them live with our awesome bandmates so that they could add their own flavour to the tracks before we went into the studio. Just like touring bands used to do back in the day.

The Canadian urban pop dynamo’s second single of the year lands after February’s “Circles” and September 2019’s breakthrough debut, Things Get Good. The seven-track release — and each single thereafter — teems with the First Nations artist’s irrefutable musical magnetism and signature songwriting, delving deep into topics of love, lust, vulnerability, self-awareness, and everything in between.

“It’s about looking in on a friend’s toxic relationship, and reflecting what I might do in that situation while also trying to help them see they’re worth more,” Lynn shares about “I Can’t Relate” and its inspiration; she drew from personal experience as the scenario was one Lynn frustratingly found herself in. “I was venting to my co-writers that I didn’t understand how my friend couldn’t see what I saw was going on, and couldn’t see that she deserved so much more.

Watch and listen to “I Can’t Relate” here

Another message from a tech firm that promises me that I can find the next big artists by looking at different numbers on different outlets. Outlets, well they seem more just stats from social media and streaming platforms. As I have written before that is just 25% of the artist's career. It really doesn't give any accurate picture of what is really going on.

Sure, you can get some sales figures from these numbers, at least some pinpoint, but not what is coming, just the past. When the numbers start to reach critical levels someone has already discovered this artist and that is why you have you have those numbers.

This week we spotlight Wigwamen Waabnong Food Bank 20 Sewells Rd, Toronto, ON

Location Scarborough North Office phone 647-607-5943
Website: torontoeastsda.ca
Service contact
Faye Moffett, Coordinator, fayemoffett@rogers.com

HoursCOVID19 -- Food bank open Thu 2 pm-4:30 pm; serving outside

An ocean of  emotion from UK's Alvarez Kings in hook-filled" single "Words I Couldn't Say.”

An uncontrollable collision course of self-destruction from drug and alcohol abuse, the desolation of a failed relationship and self-blame.

"Words I Couldn't Say" here:

I sat in a meeting with quite a few indie labels. It was a crash course on a new play listing tool. Of course, some of the labels started to ask questions about how you pitch to playlists around the world. Because Sweden was not big enough. Also, they complained that it was very hard to get any results.

The labels that really did this, I actually usually receive their press releases since I also work with media and radio. I can easily say that all of their press releases are not in the standard to be brought outside Sweden. They don't contain the right info or the right assets. Of course, they don't get any attention to sending a shitty press release around the world. It doesn't really make any sense. Reality struck me  that they don't have any success in Sweden but they are still blaming the Swedish press and radio for not covering their music and releases. Going abroad will not make it any easier!

That is not what is actually failing. It's the number one fail that 99.9% of the artist do wrong. If you would like to have a chance to be successful you need this!

A good song!

Commemorating the 50^th anniversary of Frank Zappa’s heralded but short-lived 1970 Mothers Of Invention lineup, The Mothers 1970, a new 4CD and digital collection of 70 unreleased live and studio recordings, is now available via Zappa Records/UMe.

Fans can also get into the spirit and show their love for Zappa on Instagram with a new filter unveiled today that superimposes his trademark mustache and soul patch onto their face. Click here to access the filter on the official Frank Zappa Instagram and Zappa-ify yourself.

Multi-platinum, JUNO Award winning Rock icon and Canadian Songwriters Hall Of Fame inductee Kim Mitchell announces the surprise release of his brand new single “Wishes” on June 26^th and coincides with the highly anticipated release of his forthcoming new album, “The Big Fantasize” (El Mocambo Records), the first full-length recording since 2007’s “Ain’t Life Amazing”. 

When it comes to “WISHES”, the way the song came to be is just as poetic as its original inspiration.

“The lyrics literally fell into my lap one day in a waiting room,” the Gold and Multi-Platinum selling singer/songwriter and guitarist recalls. “After very randomly reading A.C. Child’s poem ‘WISHES,’ I knew immediately I wanted to turn it into a song.

“After writing the verses, I quickly realized that, while the poem itself felt complete, now being in a song, it didn’t anymore. It needed something lyrically and musically to sum up the whole idea. The challenge would be coming up with a melody and music that would harmonically be satisfying to me, yet present itself as simple, pretty, and serving the lyric.

This week spotlighting
Churches on the Hill Food Bank:
230 St Clair Ave W, Toronto ON M4V 1R5
Phone: 416-967-3842

Mondays 6 pm. On account of CoVid19, please call before you go.

Toronto’s jazzmatazz Micah Barnes has a new album out and it debuted at #1 on iTunes Jazz Chart. Vegas Breeze is home to #1 chart-topping hits “That’s Life” and “When In Rome (I Do as the Romans Do)” is available all over.

Vegas Breeze sets the thematic stage immediately, transporting listeners back to Sin City’s yesteryear of legendary showrooms and iconic entertainers working ‘the strip.’

“Finding the songs for Vegas Breeze was a gas,” Barnes says of his meticulous search of 50s and 60s-era pop. “It meant hours and hours of enjoyment, discovering lesser known material of the classic showroom era.

I got a call from a manager that I know on messenger. We usually talk once a week and especially now in the Corona lockdown.

“He dumped me,” was the first thing she said. “After five years he just dumped me!”

I knew exactly who it was, it was her favorite artist that she had been working with for five years. She had told me that the artist had been a bit "off" lately not answering on things and didn't want to take meetings. Still, she thought it was the Corona lockdown that was making the artists depressed.

Now she told me that suddenly she was disconnected as manager from the artist Spotify account, she thought it was odd, but since they weren't releasing anything right now she didn't think much about it. Then she was thrown out as admin on the Facebook page then she knew something was up.

Then she got a short email from the artist saying that he was thinking of releasing in another way now and taking care of his own business.

This week we spotlight St James Food Basket at St James United Church
400 Burnhamthorpe Rd Toronto ON
Serves Everyone.

COVID-19 Alert:
Due to COVID-19, operational hours and services might have changed. Please call 416-622-4114 before visiting.
Typical Operating Hours Wednesday: 1:30pm - 5:30pm

Rolling out with San Fran indie power pop unit Cocktails and new album ‘Catastrophic Entertainment' on July 1

Check lead single “Bun E. Carlos"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLrF-kMXZ4c

‘Tis a scrappy little thing with garage pop in its genes and a welcome summertime vibe.

Cocktails makes power pop music that its forebears would be proud of. Moulded in the image of bands like The Rubinoos, The Records, and Shoes, Cocktails bring melody, harmony, and guitar rock in equal measures.

I had the great pleasure and honour of speaking to Artie Pasquale at his home in New Jersey, and within minutes we were like old friends talking about music, life and of course his once in a lifetime role in The Sopranos.

A seasoned actor and producer, Artie Pasquale had landed the golden opportunity when he scored the role of Burt Gervasi in The Sopranos.