Kenny ‘Blues Boss’ Wayne has decades of playing, countless globetrotting tours and a slate of acclaimed, award-winning albums under the belt of his flamboyant zoot suit, the 74-year-old piano master might be the hardest-working bluesman in show business. And this true original isn’t changing his tune on his topnotch 10th album Inspired By The Blues. “I’m not looking for a different path,” says the Kelowna-based performer. “I love that jump blues and boogie-woogie. That’s where my heart is at. I’m just trying to keep that style alive. That’s classic stuff. And I’m at that classic age, so it all works out.”

Initials carved into a tree in a forest in Holland in a wooded area outside of the town of Eelde went largely unnoticed for nearly 70 years. The tree was marked by the letters HWR with the words Toronto Canada underneath. The message was discovered by a local resident who took a photo of it and posted it on Facebook and through the magic of social media, the wheels of discovery began turning.

A Dutch journalist named Ernst Abrouw was intrigued by the picture and began researching the initials and the location; Toronto, Canada. His search proved fruitful and the mystery was solved. The initials were carved by a Canadian soldier named Harold Wilber Roszwell. He was killed in action in April 1945 at the tender age of 21 only days before his scheduled return home.

Toronto singer/songwriter Chase Stevens was stuck in traffic and flipping through radio stations just around Remembrance Day last year and he came upon this story on the airwaves. He listened closely and was fascinated by the touching story and when he got home decided that this needed to be put into song form to get the story out to the world.

Since bursting onto the Canadian music scene with his 1994 self-titled album, 6-time Juno Award Nominee and a 3-time recipient of ‘Guitarist of The Year’ at the Maple Blues Awards, David Gogo has racked up a long list of accolades and accomplishments over his illustrious career.

David Gogo has released his 15th (!!!) studio album and because he’s not one to be pigeonholed into a strict blues category, “17 Vultures” may be his most diverse album to date. It was released on October 19 on Cordova Bay Records.

David Gogo has made a name for himself as an incredibly skilled and dynamic performer, effortlessly ripping up the stage as a lead guitarist. However, over the last decade, he has built a solid reputation with his acoustic performances as well. His solo shows not only display his diversity as a guitarist but also as a performer, sharing entertaining stories from the road between his songs.

Usually, he opts to keep these two sides of his abilities separate, but after listening to The White Album by The Beatles, he chose to accentuate both in his new album.

When casting the male lead what elements were you looking for?

I had a look and intensity that I wanted, but equally important was finding someone who was game to try different things. I went into the shoot with a rough outline and a few key shots I wanted to capture to tell the story, but the rest was improvised play.

Harrie Demero was recommended to me as someone who was professional and easy to work with. He endured freezing cold water, getting eaten by ants when tied to a tree, dodging rocks falling from the cliffs, and all my random ideas. Even the kiss at the end was decided on the day, while he was shivering between takes.

After I met him I actually rewrote the script slightly. I originally had a more nuanced plan for the video, but it would have required multiple takes and being able to review the shots to see if we captured what I was looking for. I realized that we only had a few hours to shoot to catch the morning light, so rewriting it in a way where the story was told more physically was helpful. Being able to tie him up wasn’t so bad either. I should write my own scripts more often.

Backwoods philosopher Dan Mangan’s More Or Less is about “witnessing a birth, and in some ways rebirth,” says the wise one. “It’s about feeling disconnected from a popular identity and becoming acclimated to a new one. It’s about raising kids in a turbulent world. It’s about unanswerable questions and kindness and friendship and fear.”

Out on Arts & Crafts, More Or Less is an album that he claims “feels more like ‘me’ than ever. More sparse. Less meticulous. More kids. Less time. More direct. Less metaphor. More discovery. Less youth. More warmth. Less chaos.”

In the years since 20-year-old Dan Mangan began boxing his way into the corner of every noisy bar that would let him bring in his guitar he’s released four other albums, toured relentlessly, won a few awards, found a partner who tolerated his schedule, married that partner, then welcomed a baby into their home...which is when things changed.

The Ferreira siblings spent their whole childhood travelling between Toronto Canada, and Smalltown Portugal where their heritage and much of their family still lived. Through being divided between Canadian, indoor boredom, and European culture, the common thread that was present on both sides of the globe, was the influence of the music that they were exposed to.

Northern Swedish pop outfit The Magnettes, consisting of lead vocalists Rebecka Digervall and Sanna Kalla and producer Tomas Bäcklund Tuneström, are back with their new single ”ANX”, available Nov 23, on all digital platforms. The track with its hearty chorus chant, it’s raw guitars, 80’s synths and upbeat, driving rhythm contrasts to the deeper message of the song. The band explains: ”It’s like an ambivalent party anthem. The song is about dealing with FOMO, about wanting to let go, throwing yourself out there and failing. It’s that feeling like you gotta do what everybody else is doing but it doesn’t really come naturally to you. It’s fake, it’s scary and it’s just fucking exhausting.”

This pop band was founded in Pajala, Sweden and has crafted their own blend of electro-pop and riot grrrl punk. In 2015 they performed at SXSW in Austin, TX and signed with label Digsin, where their debut album ”Ugly Youth” was released in 2017. The album was chosen as one of the best albums of 2017 by PopCrush.

This 7-Disc definitive box set Contains all known recordings/rehearsals from the RCA vaults and from original NBC-TV videotapes available November 30, 2018.

So this summer, dark romance duo Folly & The Hunter returned from hiatus with fresh energy and a hot hand of polished, sophisto, cinematic indie-pop, led by the gritty new single, “Remains”. The Montreal based band of multi-instrumentalists Laurie Torres (Rae Spoon, Little Scream, Land of Talk) and Nick Vallee are way pumped on the release of upcoming album, Remains, dropping Oct.26

Remains is filled with striking melodies and tightly woven rhythms which come together to stay memorable. Recorded over 2 weeks at the Tragically Hip’s Bathhouse Studios, the goal was to get the band sequestered into a studio without outside distractions and have them live and breathe the making of this album. Engineer Nyles Spencer was a source of technical inspiration with Nick handling bass and guitar duties while Laurie played most of the other instruments. Mathieu Parisien (Karkwa, Patrick Watson, Aidan Knight) mixed the album.

Here’s a feminist Resistance anthem doing it right, by being simultaneously trenchant and grabby. Winnipeg singer-songwriter Madeleine Roger released new single '60 Years More' recently, somewhat off the radar but that won’t last long. It's the third single to be released from debut solo album Cottonwood, out October 26th.

Last week the Burin Peninsula in Newfoundland, Canada came to life for Live At Heart Newfoundland- an international music conference in its inaugural year, drawing heavy-hitting music industry delegates such as award-winning producers, managers, strategists, record labels, bookers and writers and connecting them with artistic talent from all around the world. The magic that this incredible showcase festival embodied was as much a product of the landscape, community and culture of its "islanders", as it was in the artists that brought their passion and dreams to Newfoundland, charged with the hope of impressing the industry and furthering their careers.

Jaimie Vernon makes things happen, plain and the simple. The singer/songwriter/bass player author and music junkie is at it again, this time with a “super group” called Mr! Mouray.

When I asked about the curious band name Mr! Mouray Jaimie explained. “We were watching a “B” movie, I don’t even remember the name, about a club and a lounge singer. He was asked to sing ‘That’s Amore’ and although he didn’t know the words he plowed ahead and at one time belted out “Mr! Mouray” to the tune tune of ‘That’s Amore’. It struck me funny and voila, the band had a name.”

Mr! Mouray is the musical embodiment of a 1950’s French bachelor who has style, taste, and an affinity for adventures of the heart and mind. Making that vision a reality are three old friends who have reconnected after a 30-year absence.

Simon Bedford-James and Jaimie Vernon became songwriting partners in 1983 and founded the band Moving Targetz. They released their first 5-song EP, The Wonderful World Of… in 1985 on their own imprint – Bullseye Records.

Targetz splintered with Vernon carrying on and Bedford-James forming Swedish Fish. Now there were two bands on Bullseye.

Hugh’s Room Live is Toronto’s cozy nest for singer/songwriters, especially of the rootsy/folkie bent. Its new Songwriter Sessions series explores songcraft in a round robin format with players peeling back the stories behind their work. Crossing genres and tapping into the natural Canadian gift of open, honest lyrics and tunes, the artists get to delve deeper as they share their songs and bond with each other. This week’s Songwriter Session features Tony Quarrington, Andrea Ramolo, David Leask and Melanie Peterson, and happens Tues. Oct. 9, 8.30 start.

Veteran musician Quarrington has been a formidable and thriving presence on the Toronto music scene for more than 40 years. He first appeared at the Mariposa Folk Festival in 1966, and played at many renowned Yorkville nightclubs and coffee houses in the late ‘60s, performing ballads, blues and his own original tunes. Quarrington’s relentless career as a sideman and studio musician has seen him appear on literally hundreds of other artists’ recordings, playing guitar, banjo, mandolin, piano and dobro, and lending his voice as a singer.

Canadian singer-songwriter Jadea Kelly has announced Canada Covers Tom Petty - a collection of covers in honour of the late American singer-songwriter. The official playlist, curated by Jadea, will be released on October 20th - what would have been his 67th birthday, a year following his untimely death. The collection of covers includes Learning to Fly by Matt Mays & Terra Lightfoot, Crawling Back To You by Sweet Alibi, Don't Come Around Here No More by Royal Wood, and many others (full list of songs and artists below). To mark the anniversary of Petty’s passing Jadea releases her heartbreaking cover of Wildflowers.

Listen and share here

https://youtu.be/F24qtyIRq1A.

Here’s an act with that cozy fall sound just right for the season. Guelph-based award-winning duo Tragedy Ann, (Braden Phelan and Liv Cazzola), release a new video on August 17th, for their first single “The Last Thing,” from their upcoming debut full-length album Matches. The beloved alt/folk duo will support the new album with a tour in Canada (ON, QC, BC, NS, NB), and with stops in Toronto (release concert at Burdock Oct 13), Hamilton, London, Oakville, Montreal, Vancouver and others.

The video for “The Last Thing,” (audio and video by Sam Boer), is a simple but totally effective idea: Two people, two voices, two instruments, and one continuous shot to capture their heartfelt performance of an excellent song they wrote about the push and pull of a romantic relationship that may or may not be imminently ending. These days, that’s practically revolutionary.

Submitted to Cashbox Canada
Toronto's Greasemarks

Toronto’s rockabilly punks GREASEMARKS have had a hell of a year for a bunch of supposed ner' do wells- signing to L.A. Rockin’ label WILD Records, putting out a hot self-titled album to both controversy & critical acclaim, and stepping up from burnin’ local barns to the biggest international stages - Vegas, Nashville, L.A., Brockville, they've hit them all this year... Like Spicoli hiring Van Halen for his birthday party, Greasemarks aren’t going to do anything sensible with the spoils of moderate rockabilly success - like paying off debt - they’re throwing the biggest ROCKIN’ HALLOWEEN Party this town has seen! Bringing one of the absolute WILDEST bands on the international rockabilly the scene up from Santa Ana, California - THE DESPERADOS - & gettin’ the biggest local dogs to make sure the party goes all night!