Stony Plain Records proudly announces the signing of 2020 International Blues Challenge Winner HOROJO Trio, and will release the band’s debut album in early 2022.

Representing the Ottawa Blues Society in the 2020 competition, HOROJO Trio is a soul rockin’ rhythm & blues act that features drummer Jamie Holmes, singer/keyboardist Jeff Rogers, and guitarist/singer JW-Jones, who was named the year's Best Guitarist at the IBC. The band name is derived from the first two letters of each of the member’s last names. Pronunciation: HO-RO-JO. 1) HO - Think Santa Claus; 2) RO – “Row Your Boat;” 3) JO – “Joe.”

In a 60,000-word tell-all, it’s all the stories that can finally be told… Canada’s greatest rock critic Jeffrey Morgan releases his new lavishly illustrated book, Rock Critic Confidential.

The salacious tell-all lands in the form of a hardcover coffee table book via UK publisher, New Haven.

READ! how Morgan was STRONG-ARMED by Lester Bangs into spending TWENTY YEARS as the Canadian Editor of CREEM: America’s Only Rock ’n’ Roll Magazine!

GASP! at Morgan’s LIFE-ALTERING DESTINY to become the authorized biographer of both ALICE COOPER and IGGY POP & THE STOOGES!

CHEER! as Morgan relentlessly INTERROGATES reprobate rock stars like GLENN GOULD! BOB DYLAN! LOU REED! TED NUGENT! RICK WAKEMAN! JETHRO TULL! NASH THE SLASH! GARY NUMAN! KISS! STAN LEE! and many others FOR HOURS ON END until they finally BREAKDOWN and literally CONFESS TO COMMITTING MULTIPLE MURDERS and UTTER DEATH THREATS and perform other heinous UNSPEAKABLE PRACTICES and UNNATURAL ACTS!

The 17th Annual Andy Kim Christmas will make its live return to the famed Massey Hall on Wednesday, December 8, 2021. Tickets will go on sale Thursday, June 24, 2021.

The Andy Kim Christmas has been gathering friends and fans together to celebrate the spirit and generosity of the musical community with all proceeds going to charity. Last year, the concert brought people together from coast to coast on television, raising over $200,000 to bring its cumulative money raised to over $1.8 million. The program is the brainchild of music legend, and one of the evening's performers, Andy Kim.

“I have longed to do the Christmas show at Toronto’s historic Massey Hall and with the support of Live Nation Canada, I am excited to be one of the first to perform after their restoration and bring The Andy Kim Christmas back in front of a live audience after many, many long months and hopefully raise an incredible amount of money for CAMH Gifts Of Light,” said Andy Kim.

Heather Bambrick, Jane Bunnett, Reg Schwager, Neil Swainson and more are standing by, ready to go live for JazzinToronto’s newly announced upcoming festival this July 20th - 23rd!

JazzinToronto Live: A Community Celebration is a free festival set to live-stream from some of the city’s most beloved venues. The four-day digital event will present an exciting roster teeming with the diverse talent the City of Toronto has to offer — including Laura Hubert, Rebecca Hennessy, Alexis Baro, Nathan Hiltz, Donovan Locke, Jesse Ryan and Caity Gyorgy.

“JazzinToronto started in 2018 as a daily listings service on Instagram,” Founder and Co-Director Lina Welch shares. “Our mission is to connect Toronto jazz audiences, musicians, venues, and presenters — which has only become even more important during this challenging time.”

Check out the Teaser here on YouTube:

With 10 days away, The Summer Solstice Indigenous Festival are getting ready to host one of Canada’s biggest music award shows. The Awards span 18 categories, celebrating solo artists, duos and groups from across Canada by showcasing the diverse and growing music and culture of artistic expression and accomplishment within the Indigenous community.

“Presenting and promoting Indigenous music has been a cornerstone of our Festival for over 22 years, so we felt it was a natural connection to establish these international Awards to spark this celebration of Indigenous music in recognition of National Indigenous History Month and National Indigenous Peoples Day,” said Trina Mather Simard, Artistic Producer and Executive Director of Ottawa’s Summer Solstice Festival which runs June 1st to June 21.

This Year’s Billboard Music Awards were presented Sunday, May 23, 2021 and Canada’s treasure The Weeknd led with wins in 10 categories, including top artist, top male artist and top Hot 100 artist.

Here is the final list of nominees and winners.

Top Artist
Drake
Juice WRLD
Pop Smoke
Taylor Swift
Winner: The Weeknd

Top New Artist
Gabby Barrett
Doja Cat
Jack Harlow
Winner:  Pop Smoke
Rod Wave

Top Male Artist
Drake
Juice WRLD
Lil Baby
Pop Smoke
Winner: The Weeknd

Top Female Artist
Billie Eilish
Ariana Grande
Dua Lipa
Megan Thee Stallion
Winner: Taylor Swift

Top Duo/Group
AC/DC
AJR
Winner: BTS
Dan + Shay
Maroon 5

Top Billboard 200 Artist
Drake
Juice WRLD
Pop Smoke
Post Malone
Winner: Taylor Swift

Formed in 1980, an intrepid young band from Burlington Ontario would soon make "Spoons" a different kind of household word...

Together with Derrick Ross and Rob Preuss, Gord Deppe and Sandy Horne would help define the sound of pop and New Wave in the 80's, with hits including "Nova Heart", "Romantic Traffic", "Old Emotions" and "Tell No Lies".

Their album "Arias & Symphonies" would go on to be named one of the 20 Most Influential Albums of The 80's by "the Chart" Magazine, and their song "Nova Heart" was recently included in Bob Mersereau's book "the Top 100 Canadian Singles of All Time"...Not bad for a bunch of kids from Burlington, Ontario...

The Unison Fund – Canada’s music industry charity, providing counselling and emergency relief services to the Canadian music community – announced the launch of Band Together In Unison, a Million Dollar charitable campaign in support of The Unison Fund’s continued efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic’s financial and psychological devastation of the Canadian music industry. Several major artists and industry organizations including Amazon Music, Nickelback, Eleanor McCain, The Tragically Hip and more have rallied to support the music community here at home with generous financial donations that will go towards the campaign’s goal of raising $1,000,000.

“It’s inspiring to see our music community come together to support and lift up our peers during this difficult time,” said Amanda Power, Executive Director, The Unison Fund. “While the donations raised will significantly help, much more is needed. We encourage those who have the means to support this charitable effort so that all music people affected by this crisis can receive the financial assistance they need.”

I have been asked many times where I got the idea for the Musical Milestones.

The idea came from the same place as many great concepts: I stole it. Or let’s say I adapted it.

It really began about 30 years ago with a regular bit I did when I was the Afternoon Drive deejay at AM 1430, a radio station in Toronto. I did a comedy bit saluting humorous anniversaries with a character I called The Old Historian. You can hear his last appearance by clicking this link: scottwalker.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/CJCL-The-Old-Historian.mp3

Canada’s indisputable Godfather of hip hop Maestro Fresh Wes has unveiled his newest release — an inspirational children’s book, Stick To Your Vision: Young Maestro Goes to School.

Telling the tale of a young Maestro as he finds new adventures, both in school and as he’s introduced to the world of hip hop, readers follow along as he competes in the school’s writing contest against ‘Julia the Great’ and ‘Hakeem the Dream.’ Nervous — but ready — Wes draws inspiration from his family, teachers, friend and mentor DJ Greg, plus all that he has learned from hip hop, to find the power of his pen.

Written by Toronto, ON/Saint John, NB’s Wes Williams and award-winning teacher, mentor, educational consultant, and student advocate Rhodora Meliton-Vanderpool, the book includes a foreword from fellow legendary music icon, Kardinal Offishall, and illustrations from multi-talented artist, entrepreneur, media personality, and author Leon “Eklipz” Robinson.

“This book was written to emphasize the importance of family structure, mentorship, hip hop, and the positive impact of inspirational elementary school teachers,” Williams says.

The results are in: Canadian retro-modern country-fusion artist Joy Chapman is officially the new Guinness World Record holder for Lowest Female Vocal Note! She’s available for interviews and demonstrations as well.

Smashing the previous record of 57.9 Hz A#1, the British Columbia-based singer/songwriter unveiled her current record of 33.57 Hz C1 for the win.

“I’m honoured and excited to hold this official record with Guinness,” Chapman shared of the results. “And that said, I plan to break it! Normally, I go way beyond to being recorded at E0 20 Hertz, and with a recording high of C10.”

Check out the YouTube here:

Those same signature velvet-textured vox that secured the Guinness record also bring Chapman’s forthcoming debut release, Footprint In My Songs.

LyricFind, the world’s pioneer in licensed lyrics, is excited to bring multifaceted Canadian music professional Zack Werner onto its Toronto-based team. He will be joining the company to manage Business Development.

A Winnipeg native, Werner has enjoyed a varied and extensive career in the music industry as an artist, producer, record executive, entertainment lawyer, music educator, and artist manager. With a law degree and a penchant for finding and developing talent, he has done everything from opening for Alice In Chains and running his own label and management agency, to practicing law and judging Canadian Idol. For six seasons, Zack appeared on the massive hit TV series and gained a reputation as the show’s “wild card” judge for his perceptive, unexpected views.

Werner will apply his savvy and skill to cultivate relationships that will bring LyricFind’s high-quality licenced lyrics and data products to more industries and spaces, as well as expanding the impact of new tools and products LyricFind has developed for music catalog owners, publishers, and labels.

Artist Julian Taylor has garnered his first Canadian Folk Music Award (CFMA) as Solo Artist of the Year. After a 20-year career of making great music, Taylor is delighted to be recognized for his achievements. For more information please visit the website and www.folkawards.ca.

Taylor, of combined Mohawk and Caribbean ancestry, is a major label veteran, Toronto music scene staple, and musical chameleon. Along with two JUNO nominations this year, Taylor was nominated in two categories for the 2021 CFMAs, English Songwriter of the Year and Solo Artist of the Year, the latter of which he won. In a field of outstanding nominees William Prince, Coco Love Alcorn, Basia Bulat, Sarah Jane Scouten, and Pharis & Jason Romero, Taylor was especially honoured to take the prize. 

Canadian artist Paul Humphrey passed away April 4, 2021 after a long illness,  Humphrey was best known as the talented, charismatic frontman for the the new wave band  Blue Peter.  

Blue Peter was not a household name, the band was deeply influential to a generation of Canadian listeners who were attuned to the new wave scene that reverberated through the post-punk era.

Their music video for “Don’t Walk Past” helped usher in the glory days of MuchMusic while Humphrey’s stage persona was punctuated by improvisational storytelling and dance moves — years before Gord Downie would adopt similar characteristics as the frontman of the Tragically Hip.

Blue Peter co-founder Chris Wardman remembered first meeting his late friend and collaborator as a teenager. "I had long hair and a guitar. He had a pony tail and played the flute," Warman wrote. "We invited him to jam with an early incarnation of Blue Peter and our prog-ish aspirations crashed into punk and new wave. He taught us how to play 'Sweet Jane' and our future course was charted."

The Canadian Independent Music Association (CIMA) today announced that Andrew Cash, a former Member of Parliament and JUNO Award-winning Canadian independent artist, has been appointed as the organization’s President.

"After an exhaustive search, we’re thrilled to announce Andrew Cash as the new President of CIMA,” says Tim Potocic, Chair of CIMA’s Board of Directors and President of Sonic Unyon Records. “Andrew brings enormous strength to our organization with his unique combination of music, government, policy and community activism experience. We’re excited for the future, with him leading the way."

At CIMA, Cash plans to build on the relationships, skills and experience he has gained in his past work to help lead Canada’s independent music sector to a robust recovery when the Covid-19 pandemic ends.

“Our members are at the forefront of Canada’s new economy as home-grown generators of intellectual property, green jobs and exports,” Cash says. “I look forward to working with all parts of Canada’s music ecosystem, along with our partners in government and the private sector, to ensure our industry has what it needs for a robust post-pandemic recovery.”

the concept is urban living vs returning to nature... its subtle but its sugests we need to acknowledge the earth and its beauty and that its so good for us to return to nature often:)

Multi-GRAMMY® award-winning artist, Linda Ronstadt has sold her recorded music assets to Irving Azoff’s new venture, Iconic Artists Group (Iconic). Iconic will partner with Ronstadt and her team (manager, John Boylan and personal assistant, Janet Stark) to market her catalogue and preserve her legacy in the digital era. Considered by many to be the “Queen of Rock,” Ronstadt is the most recent signing from Iconic. The partnership which includes the acquisition of her recorded music assets will allow Iconic to introduce Ronstadt’s timeless music to new generations of fans. Ronstadt’s cultural impact makes her an important addition to Iconic’s growing catalogue of renowned artists.

Entertainment Music Group (EMG) has gathered legendary artists and young independent artists from around the world to create a virtual music-doc to be pre-produced and released on April 22, 2021 in honour of Earth Day. The project is headed up by Executive Producer Sandy Graham, a music industry veteran and owner of the legendary Cashbox Magazine Canada, in conjunction with celebrity icon, Dr. Tom Jackson, C.C., LL.D, who will act as the host for this music initiative.

A little over two years ago, I decided that we would expand our Cashbox brand and start a radio station.

Most of my colleagues thought it was a crazy idea and there was no money in it. But we were not doing this for the money – we were doing it for the music. My background is radio- being one of the first female Music Directors in Canada in the late ‘70s and my love for radio never went away. So we did a soft launch in June 2019 at MIDEM in Cannes, France and there was no turning back.

In the year since the first lockdown and suspension of performing arts shows, TO Live has remained focused on supporting artists and arts workers. Since last March, TO Live has created hundreds of short-term employment opportunities for writers, actors, directors, technical, production and operations staff.

The organization commissioned and produced online content such as the Living Rooms series featuring 100 local artists, The Arts Squad, a fun and educational program for children, and 3 contributions by Yolanda Bonnell, Ian Kamau and Susanna Fournier with ted witzel to the Transformations Project.   There have also been partnerships with companies including Volcano and Outside the March on new works conceived for COVID times.

I make no attempt to hide the fact that I am a huge Julian Taylor fan. I have been for a long time now and am continually impressed by his stage show,  his songwriting and his recordings. I’ve always said Julian Taylor is one of the most underrated talents in Canada. But now I can stop saying that he’s underrated as finally after twenty years of recording Julian is now a Juno nominated artist. And he’s not just once but twice nominated; one for Contemporary  Roots Album of the Year for “The Ridge”. and once for Indigenous Artist or Group of The Year.