Canadian wild boys, The Wild!, debuted another wild and crazy music video for their track, Livin' Free, off their new LP, Wild At Heart, exclusively via Alternative Press Magazine. Directed by longtime collaborator Stuey Kubrick, this is the second video we've seen from the band off this release. Their first video for Ready to Roll can be watched here.

"This song is basically a huge cheers to the best years of your life," says frontman, Dylan Villain. "The lyrics in the chorus say it all, 'One for the sun comin' up in the streets. And for the nights we never sleep. Here's to the ones still livin' free.' What a time we had making this one, man. Straight up livin' hard... and LIVIN' FREE!" 

London is gearing up for the return of the Nashville Meets London Music Festival at Canary Wharf. The festival that brings the sounds of the south will once again fill the air at Canary Wharf’s Canada Square Park, Saturday and Sunday, July 22-23. The two-day event is open to the public and free for all to come and enjoy.
Nashville Meets London is on its way to becoming a firm fixture in London’s music calendar and this July will showcase established and exciting new talent from the heart of country music, Nashville, Tennessee and the UK.

This year’s talent lineup will feature US-based acts Russell Dickerson, Lucie Silvas, Ashley Campbell, Sam Outlaw, Angaleena Presley, and Jo Smith, alongside UK-based acts Flats & Sharps, Wildwood Kin, Kevin McGuire, and Raintown.

Legendary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee, Grammy Winner, New York Times Best-Selling Author, and Co-Founder of The Beach Boys, Mom e Love, is set to release a new studio version of the 1968 Beach Boys classic, "Do It Again," featuring the vocals of Mark McGrath of rock band Sugar Ray and honorary Beach Boy John Stamos on drums. "Do it Again" is streaming and available for download worldwide beginning today, July 4th on iTunes, Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon, and more. To listen to the song, click here: http://smarturl.it/MikeLove-DoItAgain.

The single is set for release via BMG as The Beach Boys headline a special Fourth of July concert on the West Lawn of U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C. McGrath and Stamos will join the concert which will be broadcast on PBS as part of the annual "A Capitol Fourth" special also featuring The Blues Brothers, The Four Tops and Sam Moore.

Founded and fronted by émigré Trinidadian songwriter Drew Gonsalves, Kobo Town’s music has been variously described as “an intoxicating blend of lilting calypsonian wit, dancehall reggae and trombone-heavy brass”(Guardian) and a “unique, transnational composite of rhythm, poetry and activist journalism.”(Exclaim!) From their home in Toronto, the JUNO-nominated group has brought their distinct calypso-inspired sound to audiences across the world, from Port-of-Spain to Paris and from Montreal to Malaysia.

At once brooding and joyous, intensely poetic and highly danceable, Gonsalves’ songs betray deep roots in Caribbean folk music, while the band delivers them with an indomitable energy that has earned them a considerable following far beyond the niche of world music enthusiasts and calypso fans.

Canadian Music Week has announced the launch of the 1st Annual CMW Sync Awards as part of the Global Creators Summit. The Sync Awards recognize the contribution that sync makes to the creative industries in Canada.

Nominees will include music supervisors, sync teams, publishers, record companies plus the worlds of broadcast and advertising. This event will honour the achievements of music in film, television, advertising and brands, video games and online media.

Submissions open in the fall of 2017 where each category has been selected to acknowledge the importance of music placement and the collective achievements of an individual artist.

The awards will be judged by a panel of industry professionals according to commercial and creative criteria.

The Sync Awards is created by Canadian Music Week in association with Sync Summit.

Returning for its ninth year this September, the Canadian Music Café capitalizes on the international attention placed on Toronto during the Toronto International Film Festival to bring the very best in new Canadian music to the ears of film and television music supervisors and the filmed media community gathering at TIFF.

With alumni such as City and Colour, Hannah Georgas, Rose Cousins, Charlotte Cardin, Doomsquad, Martha Wainwright, Scott Helman, Dear Rouge and Terra Lightfoot, the Canadian Music Café has consistently been a launch pad for rising Canadian talent, facilitating connections that lead to song placements in films, television programs and commercials, including Reign, Mary Kills People, The Bold Type, Grey’s Anatomy, Degrassi, Castle, Beauty and The Beast, Ugly Betty, The L Word and more.

The 2017 edition of the Canadian Music Café takes place September 11th and 12th in the heart of downtown Toronto (venue to be announced soon). Canadian artists are encouraged to apply for showcase consideration at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/cndmusiccafe2017.

Honey Jam, now in its 22nd year, completed a nation-wide search in Canada for female artists, ages 14-25, representing pop, hip hop, jazz, soca, r&b, gospel, rock, dancehall, blues, alternative, opera, country – all styles of music. Artists at the live auditions in Toronto had one minute to show their talent in front of a dozen music industry judges including the legendary Director X. "One of the most inspiring things to watch is young people going after their dreams," said Ebonnie Rowe, founder of Honey Jam.

The hair flying rock 'n roll of J. Roddy Walston & The Business is back and the quartet has released their first new song in four years; titled "The Wanting".

The band's forthcoming record came to life in their own Richmond, VA recording studio and was co-produced by the band and Phil Ek (Fleet Foxes, Father John Misty, Built To Spill). It will be released this fall. "I personally fell in love with writing music again," Walston explained. "It took awhile but once I realized I had room to try things that I had never tried before, I became addicted to the process." He elaborated further by explaining how "The Wanting" describes the relationship of an estranged father and son: "Even though it is a dark song with a brutal ending, I find hope and beauty in the idea of these two people that had a shared sense of both regret and longing for each other."

As one half of Peter & Gordon, Peter Asher‘s voice “literally soared through Carnegie Hall” (Fox News), while Albert Lee has been called “the ultimate virtuoso” by Eric Clapton. Influenced from their earliest days as musicians and performers by great American artists like Buddy Holly and The Everly Brothers, Peter Asher and Albert Lee bring those influences to the fore in their first series of shows together as an acoustic duo.

Albert Lee began his career as a touring musician in the early sixties, and soon catapulted onto the stage with the likes of Joe Cocker, Eric Clapton, and Emmylou Harris. A 25 year run as Music Director of his beloved Everly Brothers coincided with studio and stage work with Vince Gill, Roseanne Cash, and also Paul McCartney & Ringo Starr (“The Concert for George”). Even with all this, he found the time for over 10 solo and band albums under his own moniker. His numerous studio sessions have led to 4 Grammy Awards nominations and two awards.

Canada's most accomplished songwriters, composers and music publishers were honoured June 19 at the 29th annual SOCAN Awards in downtown Toronto, where Canadian rock legends of the last three decades mixed with today's hottest Canadian producers, writers and publishers of urban, country, rock, film & television, jazz, electronic dance, folk-roots, pop and classical music.

SOCAN achievement award winners are determined collaboratively between the Membership Committee of the SOCAN Board of Directors and leaders in the SOCAN Membership department Jess Moskaluke.

Jess Moskaluke was born in Langenburg, Saskatchewan and is a  Canadian country pop singer. She released her debut studio album, Light Up the Night in April 2014, which included the Platinum-certified single "Cheap Wine and Cigarettes".

Jess performed a stripped-down and emotional version of her hit song that evening, accompanied by co-writer Kelly Archer, for the awards show, which also included performances by Erin Falana & Tay of The Remix Project, Shaun Frank and Delaney Jane of The Chainsmokers, Ruth B, July Talk, Snow and Maestro Fresh Wes.

Artsfest Waterdown Free Festival will return August 19 & 20, 2017.

Currently added to the lineup:
ORDER OF CANADA JAZZ ENSEMBLE
TOMMY BANKS, TERRY CLARKE, GUIDO BASSO, DAVE YOUNG, & JENS LINDEMANN
With Guest Vocalists SOPHIE MILMAN, ALEX PANGMAN & GENEVIEVE MARENTETTE
Accompanied By THE SWING SHIFT BIG BAND Performing SWEET CANADIANA
A Tribute To The Music Of OSCAR PETERSON
THE CANADA 150 ALL STAR BLUES BAND
With DONNIE “MR. DOWNCHILD” WALSH, CHUCK JACKSON, RITA CHIARELLI,
MICHAEL KAESHAMMER, DANNY MARKS, CARLOS DEL JUNCO, PAT CAREY,
BUCKY BERGER & TERRY WILKINS
ROBERT MICHAELS
RON HAWKINS
CATHERINE MACLELLAN
VALDY
LES ‘SURVIVORMAN’ STROUD
JADEA KELLY
FOUNDERS

Previously announced:
CELTIC KITCHEN PARTY
feat. Natalie MacMaster &, Donnell Leahy & Friends
LUNCH AT ALLEN’S
feat. Murray McLauchlan, Ian Thomas, Marc Jordan, Cindy Church
CANADIAN BRASS
SUSAN AGLUKARK
THE GOOD BROTHERS
THE ONCE
SHUFFLE DEMONS
MOZART EFFECT CHAMBER ENSEMBLE

Returning to Toronto for her first appearance since being disabled by a lightning strike, Kellylee Evans brings her trio to Toronto for an evening of her full repertoire. The Ottawa based Universal France recording artist and JUNO Award winning chanteuse has achieved worldwide acclaim with her successful adaptation of Nina Simone’s songbook with charm, grace and full tilt passion. ~We are delighted that Hugh’s Room Live will host Kellylee’s return to strength.

Norris “Norro” Wilson, Nashville Songwiter Hall of Fame member  has passed away.. Wilson,the  co-writer of classic songs  like “The Grand Tour,” “The Most Beautiful Girl” and “A Picture of Me (Without You),” died after several months of bad health at 79 years old.

During his long career Wilson his career was active in many different aspects of the music business as a performer, a songwriter, a song plugger, a publisher, an A&R rep and a producer,  working  with artists that included George Jones, Kenny Chesney, Charley Pride, Tammy Wynette and Reba McEntire.

Born on April 4, 1938, in Scottsville, Kentucky.  Wilson began performing in a barbershop quartet in high school. Going to  Western Kentucky State College after highschool he  joined the Southlanders Quartet,  that brought him to Nashville in 1957.

In 1970, as an artist, he was picked for Country Radio Seminar’s inaugural “New Faces of Country Music.” That year, his recording of "Do It to Someone You Love" which reached as high as # 20 , the highest-charting single of his singing career. He gave up recording entirely when he started thriving as a songwriter and music executive.

Photo Credit Pat Blythe A Girl With A Camera The Picture Taker

Q107 (CLIQ-FM) went live on the air May 22, 1977, ten days ahead of schedule. The official "official" date was June 1 at noon. Settled in their first home at the Hudson Bay Centre in downtown Toronto, the first song to hit the airwaves was Murray McLauchlin's "Hard Rock Town". Album rock format was the music of the day and it was a direct hit with the rock 'n' roll babies of the 70's and 80's. Q107 was the sixth FM station to broadcast from the CN Tower.

A history in brief.....

Currently owned by Corus Entertainment since 2000, Q107 was born out of mergers, buyouts and/or acquisitions......Slaight Broadcasting Ltd. (yes, THE Slaight family) took ownership of CFGM Broadcasting Ltd. which then merged with IWC Communications Ltd. (Industrial Wire and Cable) and Montreal's Radio CHOK-AM. While applying for CFGM's licence renewal (and getting Global TV out of the red), Slaight also requested a new FM licence for a sister station. So, here we are, 40 years later and The Mighty Q is still going strong.

Name many of the most notable recordings and/or performers in Irish music and it's a fair bet that John Doyle had something to do with them. Liz Carroll; Eileen Ivers; Karan Casey; Solas; Michael Black; Mary Black; the trio of McCusker, McGoldrick and Doyle; The Teetotalers (Martin Hayes, Kevin Crawford, John Doyle); and now Usher's Island (Andy Irvine, Donal Lunny, Mike McGoldrick, Paddy Glackin and John Doyle) - a veritable who's who of the greatest names in Irish music. These are just a very few of the stellar artists for whom John Doyle's signature guitar sound, singing or songwriting is essential.

He Is Legend announced their Canadian tour and the he band will make stops in London, Toronto, Montreal, and Ottawa. Sharing their music from their fifth full-length offering, few, which was released on April 28th through Spinefarm Records. See below for a complete list of tour dates.

The communal faith belonging to a cadre of musicians, artists, and fans brought the collection to life. That’s why the album’s title, a nod to Madame Helena Blavatsky’s occult treasure, The Voice of the Silence, feels so cosmically apropos for the Wilmington, NC quartet — Schuylar Croom (vocals), Adam Tanbouz (lead guitar), Matty Williams (bass), and Denis Desloge (guitar). Have a look at the video for the album opener, Air Raid.

Introducing Toronto’s Mermaids Exist:  a five-piece ensemble that has performed at notable venues such as The Horseshoe Tavern and The Mod Club. Continuing in that tradition, they will bring their intricate, atmospheric yet accessible sounds to 3030 Dundas West, June 29th.

Influenced by artists such as John Mayer, X Ambassadors, and Maroon 5, the Merms have created a melting pot of their individual influences leading to both lyrical and groove centric songs. Winners of a 2016 Toronto Independent Music Award in the Adult Contemporary category and current semi-finalists in the 2016 International Songwriting Competition, their live performances are filled with energy and beautiful vocal harmonies – a sound that has been beautifully captured on their first full length album, Losing Colour.

Anthem Legacy , an imprint of ole Label Group, is celebrating the 50th Anniversary of one of Canada's most prolific and iconic artists, Stompin' Tom Connors. June 30, 2017 (ole Label Group / Anthem Legacy) sees the release of the Stompin' Tom Connors 50th Anniversary self-titled CD. In association with Canada 150 and an introduction from NHL Legend and Hockey Hall of Famer Ken Dryden, this special edition release will include all of Stompin' Tom's timeless classics. The album also features four new renditions from notable Canadian Country stars including; The Cuddy/Polley Family Band, Corb Lund, George Canyon and Whiskey Jack.

"We're extremely excited and proud at ole to release this Stompin' Tom Connors collector's set, said Andy Curran, who is A&R'ing the project at Anthem. "We've managed to assemble a collector's edition that will satisfy the most loyal fan but also to excite a new generation of fans as these great songs really transcend generations and speak to all Canadians."

Hot off the heels of their current single “How to Get the Girl”, party-starters Blackjack Billy are releasing their new digital EP, Show Out. Available June 23, this is the bands first release with a label, and features their signature good-time sounds, with big names like Tim Hicks and Madeline Merlo in the credits.

Show Out was recorded in Montreal, QC and produced by Blackjack Billy’s Jeff Coplan, a Montreal native. The versatility of the band is evident through its six-song compilation. The EP kicks off with rock-infused “My Lips Your Kiss”, transitions into a classic Blackjack Billy sound with the track, “Nothing Like You”, shifts into the reggae-inspired “L-I-V-I-N”, and surprises with the gritty title track, “Show Out”. Also included is the upbeat “Lucky Dog” and the current Top 50 single “How to Get the Girl”, featuring vocal powerhouse Madeline Merlo.

An early contender for summertime anthem of 2017, “Bright Eyes” – the sunny and outrageously catchy second single from country crossover duo The Orchard’s acclaimed third album The Great Unknown – drops June 5 via Royalty Records.

Make space on your seasonal playlist. While The Orchard – a.k.a. singing/songwriting duo Kasha Anne and Mitch Smith – are well known for crafting brilliantly accessible, lyrically driven songs best described as "a cosmic blend of rock, country and pop" – the sheer lustre and lyrical heft of “Bright Eyes” is terrifically new.

The song “encourages you to live in the moment and be more optimistic,” vocalist Kasha Anne offers, “which is something we all need from time to time.”

Adds Smith, “’Bright Eyes’ showcases a rocking groove by our killer band with lots of fun guitar parts. It’s probably one of our most energetic singles, and it always gets people on their feet!”

Indeed, the track was a favourite of The Great Unknown producer Jim Scott whose sprawling CV includes work with everyone from Wilco to Tedeschi Trucks Band, Tom Petty to the Foo Fighters. Scott knows a bona fide smash when he hears one.