This week’s food bank spotlight:
St James Food Basket
400 Burnhamthorpe Rd Toronto ON

Please call St James Food Basket at 416-622-4114 before visiting in person.

Typical Operating Hours
Wednesday: 1:30pm - 5:30pm.We provide a full buffet meal starting at 1:30. If you live in this area, please donate if you can.

To date the Cashbox Canada Food Bank Initiative has raised $725.00 for neighbourhood food banks. Thank you for helping and keep up the good work!

Not often a seasoned artist announces a career defining new album but blame it on CoVid. Rockist singer/songwriter Liza Anne’s Bad Vacation out July 24 is meant to be just that. This collection of art rock anthems, new wave jams and power pop earworms is set to establish Liza as a breakthrough independent artist and a bold young voice in mental health self-awareness.

Rick Springfield and Vance DeGeneres “Ultimate Mini-Series: The 60-Second Guide to Songwriting with a Partner”, started off as a way for the two friends to have some fun online will home-sheltering during the current Covid-19 pandemic. But what began as a way to share a few laughs with their online communities grew into a popular 28-episode series and produced a rousing, uplifting universal anthem of hope and love. The song and video for “The Wall Will Fall” was released Friday, May 8 and all proceeds from the sale of the song will be going to benefit Feeding America.

Watch the video of ‘The Wall Will Fall’ here:
https://youtu.be/BMHI0KW39ho

The “Ultimate Mini-Series: The 60-Second Guide to Songwriting with a Partner”, series featured a very smart and witty back and forth between the two, veering from showcasing musical ideas, suggestions from some famous friends and hilarious revisionist music history lessons showcasing Rick’s impressive collection of Beatles memorabilia. 

“Things Fall Apart” was originally performed, recorded and released in 1995 by Random Order from the album ‘Not A Perfect World’. It was Random Order's first CD and was actually originally recorded on tape.

Listen to various streaming options of “Things Fall Apart” here:
randomorder.bandcamp.com/
www.smarturl.it/RandomOrder_Spotify
ffm.to/47b9dgo

I'm currently working with The Magnettes new single "American" and I just see all the logistics that show a DIY artist really can't release on their own. It's not even possible with them even knowing what is needed. In fact outlets most are actually out there available for free to grab. But they can't really access all these channels needed.

Sure, there are plenty of outlets for the DIY artist to reach ie Spotify and some other platforms. Why I mention Spotify is the fact that the general DIY artist just cares about Spotify and really nothing else. They think as long it's on Spotify it will somehow get discovered .

There are almost 40 000 releases uploaded to Spotify every day. So just start with that you need to have the knowledge to release on a Friday which is the official release day. Just this week I have seen at least twenty DIY artists upload and release on other days of the week. Sometimes even on holidays, like someone would take more notice on a holiday? Just that simple mistake can make the DIY release  just go wrong.

It’s a beautiful sunny day in Toronto. What better time to drop by your local food band and show it some love. Spotlighting: St Ninian's Anglican Church Food Bank 930 Bellamy Rd N Toronto ON, Canada M1H 1G9. Hours Tue 5 pm-8 pm, Wed 9 am-11:45 am

Please call St Ninian's Anglican Church Food Bank at 416-438-3750 before visiting in person.

Canadian artist Ashley Lyn gets direct — in more ways than one — for her newest single and video, “I Want It 2”.

The Toronto-based Jamaican-Chinese pop powerhouse is all-business, remiss to hold back in song (this one lands as a sultry, attitude-packed track and visual about curving dudes on her quest for true love), and her career (the track’s backstory serves as a manifesto of sorts — read on).

“I wrote ‘I Want It 2’ in a Starbucks with an old classmate of mine from back in University who is now a producer,” she starts. “The lyrical concept was to make a modern-day version of Cassie’s ‘Long Way 2 Go’ mixed with a few of my other influences like Fifth Harmony, Jasmine Villegas, Pia Mia, Tinashe, and Mabel.

Watch and listen to ‘I Want It 2’ here:

Just to have a high IQ is not always a good thing. I was just watching a game show on TV and the contestant  was in MENSA (a club for people with high IQ) and had a high IQ. Lost on the first question on how many legs a spider has. IQ shows how good you are on logical things. It doesn’t  really say if you are smart or successful.

Also, this contestant, you really felt that she was not someone you really wanted to have a conversation with. What she was lacking was quite a lot is EQ. Your EQ is the level of your ability to understand other people, what motivates them, and how to work cooperatively with them.  So, having one of these is good but you can perform badly on other things. Like you are super smart but friendly like a venomous snake. Or you get along with all people but not really see when people take advantage of you.

This week’s spotlight: Bluffs Food Bank  33 East Road, Toronto.

Thursdays 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., by appointment, the Bluffs Food Bank is open to give groceries to those who need help.  Sandwiches, hot soup, coffee & tea are available. Drop off grocery or boutique donations on “Welcome Wednesdays” 9 a.m.-12 p.m. Please help Scarborough’s most enduring food bank.

I just came out of a meeting for record labels. Yes, record labels have organization meetings just like all other business organizations. I have been a member for the past 25 years, so it was fun meeting people that actually do the same things like yourself and really indulge in record label nerd talks. Before the meeting, I met up with another label that used to be active in this local organization but now is in the bigger worldwide organization.

She just said “I don’t care any longer about the local chapter. It’s really too low a quality of members to be even taken seriously as working in the music business. In reality, they are worse than the artist themselves at their job. It is mainly a junkyard of people that are employed by organizations to give out music in a really bad way. My belief is that the artist would do it much better themselves then being pampered by these bogus so-called record labels."

Multi-award winning and Gold and Platinum-selling Canadian, ‘First Lady of the Guitar’ Liona Boyd is “Sending Love In The Time Of Corona” by way of a new single available now.

Watch and Listen here to “Sending Love In The Time Of Corona”

Proceeds from the song’s release will be directed to the Unison Benevolent Fund to help support musicians and industry professionals with counseling and emergency economic relief.

“While bicycling early one morning near my winter house in Palm Beach, Florida, I was anxiously thinking about my friends, family and fans scattered around the world and how we are all having to cope with rapidly changing times due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” Boyd shares of the song and its heartfelt inspiration. “I began to hum the melody and lyrics to a little song, which would become ‘Sending Love In The Time Of Corona.’

This week spotlighting Oasis Dufferin Community Centre Food Bank

1219 Dufferin Street Office Hours::Monday - Thursday 9:30am - 3:30pm  Food Bank: Wednesdays 9:30 am to 12:30 pm - Lineup on Dufferin Street  Take-out dinner: Tuesdays starting at 5:30
https://oasisdufferin.org/

Bryant Didier, Brent Haynes & Evolutionary Music Co-operative support Oasis Dufferin CommunityCentre Food Bank

Always 'Cook-ing up' something, is our multi-award winning and internationally acclaimed guitarist, composer and producer Jesse Cook called on his tens of thousands of fans to collaborate on his newest song. The result was an overflowing inbox of contributions from around the globe and a new song, “One World, OneVoice , just out.

“I asked if we could sing a song, together, from all over the world,” Cook shares. “Initially, I wasn’t sure if anyone would take me up on my offer, so I was completely unprepared for the flood of videos that overwhelmed my inbox.”

You always get artists complaining that people think they should play for free on parties, pubs and other things. Usually, with the saying, it’s good for promotional for you. I have seen artists ranting long things around how stupid people are, and that they are worth being paid, etc.

At the same time, I get this all the time. Okay, I’m ranting about it right now. And the reason for that is because I had several people talking to me about this problem that are professional people in the business. Right now since there is a lockdown and releasing music seems to be the only way to get something done it just comes in double than usual.

Just as annoying as people asking for an artist to play for free. As a professional, it’s equally annoying with an artist that thinks I should do them favors for free. I just got this message:
I’m releasing a new single next week. Though if you know some good outlets that I should send it to?

Two weeks ago, Canadian multi-award winning and Internationally acclaimed guitarist, composer and producer Jesse Cook called on his tens of thousands of fans to collaborate on his newest song. The result was an overflowing inbox of contributions from around the globe and a new song, “One World, One Voice”.

“I asked if we could sing a song, together, from all over the world,” Cook shares. “Initially, I wasn’t sure if anyone would take me up on my offer, so I was completely unprepared for the flood of videos that overwhelmed my inbox.”

Watch as Participants from Every Corner of the Map Contribute to the Award-Winning Artist’s Newest Release:
https://youtu.be/8u2sZ-zti7s

To be active and relevant in music for 50 years is a significant achievement for any individual recording artist. The same can be said for any independent record label. To achieve this milestone together as an artist and label team without interruption, has to be one of the most extraordinarily rare events in music.

To celebrate this milestone, Bruce Cockburn and True North Records have produced True North - A 50th Anniversary Box Set, a Limited Edition vinyl box set containing three of Bruce’s most significant recordings. The first album where it all started, the self-titled debut Bruce Cockburn along with two albums that have never before been released on vinyl; The Charity of Night and Breakfast in New Orleans, Dinner in Timbuktu. Each album has been re-mastered by Bruce’s long-time producer Colin Linden, and is pressed on coloured vinyl. The five-180 gram discs are contained in original artwork sleeves adapted from the original designs by the acclaimed graphic designer Michael Wrycraft, and housed in an individually numbered box signed personally by the artist. There will be only a limited initial pressing.

This week’s featured neighbourhood food bank is another Parkdale institution doing good work at the gritty street level. Please help if you can.

Yelp Food Bank
797 Dundas St W, Toronto · 416-203-3011 Opens Tues.10 AM

Back from the undead comes popular Toronto hairband Sven Gali. Leading the charge, the single “Now” off their soon come EP entitled “3” due out June 12. Known for their fusion of 80s screaming hard rock and 90s blazing metal, the new EP is their long-awaited follow up to 1995's "In Wire" and 1992's gold-selling and Juno Award nominated self-titled debut album released on BMG Music Canada that featured hits “Under The Influence” and “Love Don’t Live Here Anymore”.

“3” features two previous released singles “Kill The Lies” (2018) and “You Won’t Break Me” (2019) both produced by David Bendeth (Paramore, Breaking Benjamin, Bring Me The Horizon) along with new tracks “Now” and “Hurt” produced by Jon Howard (Threat Signal).

Releasing a song/album is really like making a movie but on a smaller scale.

In a movie production, the director’s job is to get the whole team to embrace his/her vision. Of course, they take advice from different experts like the lighting director that comes with suggestions and then the director makes that part of the vision. In the background, you have the producers that do the financial decisions. The vision cannot go over budget. Still, in the end, the director’s job is to make the vision clear.

In music, that job is the artist's job. Sometimes they know, like an actor, they can direct a movie. But not any actor can be a director. Same in music in many ways, artists might not be suitable to make these decisions. Still, in the part that you release DIY, you are forced to be the director that makes decisions.