When a child and a parent lose each other, the lines of communication are severed tragically and forever. Or are they? Indigenous folk-rocker Mike Bern volunteers his services as a spiritual middleman on his latest single, “New World,” an imagined declaration of anguish and devotion from a mother who was taken too soon. Check it out on YouTube here:

 Left my daughter behind
Now I’m drowning the sky
There’s one thing I do know
I got no place to go
Carry the love into our lives
Carry her heart
Greet her with my eyes closed
I can’t hold you no more
I love you more than you know
Kind words from above

The Stan Rogers Folk Festival (Stanfest) is pleased to announce that much-loved Canadian artist Jim Cuddy will perform in Canso, Nova Scotia on Friday, July 26.

Both as a solo artist and as one of the creative forces in Blue Rodeo, Jim Cuddy has received nearly every accolade Canada can bestow upon a musician, including 15 JUNO Awards, The Order of Canada and, along with band mates Blue Rodeo, has been inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, received the Governor General Performing Arts Award and a Star on the Walk of Fame. Cuddy has written many of the songs that have become indelible in the soundtrack of Canadian lives. With the release of his fifth solo album, Countrywide Soul, he continues to contribute to that extraordinary songbook and on this record, Cuddy continues to find new ways to balance personal reflection and plainspoken storytelling, remaining both intimate and accessible. For more information on Jim Cuddy, visit: jimcuddy.com

Life has its sour moments, and it can be hard to move on when it happens with someone you love. Sometimes, hard things come before good things, and you have to work through some pain in order to get to a better place. This is showcased on Toronto based rock singer-songwriter Dylan Bradley's new single "I'm Sorry" from his debut No Turning Back, which the album is already at over 70,000 streams on Spotify. Check it out on YouTube:

The song opens with some energetic guitar riffs reminiscent of pop-punk bands like Good Charlotte and Blink-182. Buffering this is Bradley's passionate vocals as he sings of how a lover made false apologies after damaging his stuff and how he blames himself for not being the best person he could be.

Don Ross, guitar wizard, has just released his 18th solo album “Water” and is setting out on a tour of Ontario and Quebec, twelve concerts across the provinces and two in the United States in Michigan. The tour includes a stop at Hugh's Room Live in Toronto on April 13 in support of the release.

The tour will feature dates in Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie, Kitchener, London, Toronto, Montreal, Peterborough, Ottawa, Port Perry, Haliburton and across the border in Lake Orion and Detroit, Michigan. Joining Don on this tour is fellow guitarist, Kent Nishimura. We caught up with Don at the Charlottetown airport on his way to Toronto to start the tour in Sudbury. “Heading to Toronto to meet the crew and pick up the rental car and get this thing started. Going to be a lot of driving but really looking forward to get started.”

No stranger to the road Ross has been traveling and performing for 36 years.” When I was a kid growing up in Montreal I used to look at maps of the world and look at all the place I wanted to see. And now I’ve been fortunate to travel the world playing my music.”

Doctor Tongue, the eclectic musical ensemble from Hamilton, Ontario, known for blending elements of rock, funk, soul, hip-hop, and country, proudly announces the release of their latest single, "Green Eyes".

Listen on Spotify here: open.spotify.com/album/0S16KpbHJ49INAYYWfwQNv

 "Love is a drug. When you dive in, expect the extraordinary. 'Green Eyes' embodies the essence of two souls reveling in mutual ecstasy. Love transcends mere sweet whispers; it's an all-encompassing celebration, a wild ride through every emotion, fast, slow, or outright psychedelic," the band states, capturing the song’s essence and message.

Anxiety spirals triggering apocalypses. Queer cannibals devouring each other. Hysterical heartbroken women turning into dogs. Satan on a really bad date.

Camie is taking listeners on a techno-symphonic journey through the gritty underbelly of her heart, mind, body, and fantasies on her latest album Poems In The Ashes. Coming as the Toronto alternative singer/songwriter’s sophomore release, Poems In The Ashes is a bold showcase of Camie’s transformative musical prowess. The artist’s fascinating, singular juxtaposition of wildly open and vulnerable lyrics with her ultra-modern, yet unabashedly rock & roll style, is bound to send shock waves through the Toronto music scene and beyond. The third single, “Genesis 3,” is out now. Check it out on YouTube here:

Calvyn Cass’ new project “Every Kind Chapter One: Reigning Stars” imparts a crystal-clear stance on love, and the innumerable stages it transforms into for an individual. The project boasts of themes in love that directly mimics falling in love in the real world. The highest peak in the beginning, highs and lows in the middle, and the desolating ends. In his words, “It’s just not always that simple.”

Cass first burst onto the scene back in 2020 with his debut single “ME, Myself, and I” and has continued to build a strong following in the time since. In just three years, his songs have been streamed over 1 million times on Spotify, and he’s racked up a whopping 500,000 views on Youtube. Now, he’s channeling that momentum into an ambitious two-part album that boasts production from the likes of multi-platinum producers Adam H. (Ray J, Ne-Yo, Elise Estrada, Def Leppard, and Loverboy) and Dave Genn (54/40 and Matthew Good Band).

Brother Bicker Band, the renowned Calgary-based folk-rock ensemble, is set to release their latest single "Nothing At All" on March 26 that promises to captivate listeners with its powerful narrative and dynamic song writing. Check it out YouTube:

Crafted from a riff born during band practice, "Nothing At All" shows the band’s collaborative energy and dedication. Evolving over years of live performances, the song analyzes the stages of grief and rejection, while exploring themes of denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. It reflects on the pain and regret of lost love, evolving into the realization that every relationship, regardless of its outcome, shapes who we are as people.

No matter who you are, you could use a friendly but firm hand every now and then to keep your nose to the grindstone. Enter Vancouver quartet Bend Sinister, who dole out two kinds of motivation on their latest, double-A-sided single — a musical wake-up call for aspiring rockers and anybody else who needs a little bit of a fire lit under them just to take on the day.

The exuberant “Big Star” sets the pace, laying down an in-your-face groove that’s the perfect vessel for sentiments every working musician should heed:

You got to play the game
If you want people to remember your name
It’s hard to write a hit
If you give up and quit
So grab a guitar
It’s time to be a big star 

Martin Schiller, the musician and composer from Windsor, Ontario, has made a mark in both performance and composition. Apart from his collaborations, Schiller has also carved out his own path as a solo artist, releasing music independently.

You probably know him for his works with the previously released album 'Dreams Vol. 1' (2022), with the 'Future Prints' single. Now he has returned with the release of his new album, 'Abstracted', a deeply personal endeavor. While 'Dreams Vol. 1' explored traditional rock instrumentation, translating simpler melodic and rhythmic ideas into psych-rock folk tunes, 'Abstracted' is a collection of sound sculptures, created concurrently with 'Dreams Vol. 1' between 2020 and 2021, taking a more fluid approach to music; where the composition is seen as the art of organizing sound, allowing for a more open-ended exploration of sonic landscapes.

They’ve been racking up the sales and accolades since 1983, HONEYMOON SUITE has moved over 1 million records worldwide and won the JUNO Award for Group of the Year in 1986. The band has many songs placed in major motion pictures and TV over the years such as the hugely successful Miami Vice TV series of the mid 80’s. In 2015, they were honored by Canadian radio for passing 100,000 plays of “New Girl Now” along with three of their other hits: “Burning In Love,” “Wave Babies” and “What Does It Take.”

Even after 41 years, it isn’t enough for a band to merely remind you they’re still doing what they do. They need to reassure you they mean it. And that’s just what melodic-rock titans HONEYMOON SUITE are up to on the impassioned title track from their latest album, Alive.

Not just a declaration of survival but a vow of undimmed commitment, the song is an insistent, throbbingly sincere loyalty oath that could be coming from a faithful partner to the object of his eternal affections … or maybe from a grateful, hard-working band to the fans they value above all.

Let Miley Cyrus buy herself flowers: Toronto-based DJ, MC, singer and songwriter Flavia Abadía has something a little less sentimental on her mind. On her piquante, percolating new single, “YNQF,” the beguiling crossover artist and her crew issue a call to abandon romantic gestures in favor of living in the moment. Check it out on YouTube here:

It’s a multicultural party anthem with a musical message that transcends language and nationality. The title is short for “Yo No Quiero Flores”—en inglés, “I don’t want flowers”—the perfect slogan for what the Colombian-French Canadian Flavia calls “an energetic, vibrant song about wanting to go out, forget all your problems and have fun!”

Following the release of “Now’s The Time” last November, Edmonton-based singer-songwriter Dahlia Wakefield strikes a delicate balance between a sweet ethereal sound and profound lyrics in “Still Waters.” In her latest track, the artist embodies discernment while examining the deeper meanings in life. Wakefield doesn’t shy away from being earnest as she begins the single with gripping lyrics. Check it out on YouTube here: youtube.com/dahliawakefield

You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink
You can give people knowledge, but you can’t make them think
You know the truth by the way that it feels
You gotta look beyond potential and see what is real

“Still Waters” begins with a soft tune, inviting listeners to relax. By the bridge, Wakefield’s vocal control and command are evident, as the song slowly builds up to a powerful melody.

Listen on Spotify here: open.spotify.com/album/47CZmom6Pk14SQOPot9dpK

Montreal songwriter Brian Campbell digs deep to find inspiration from his topsy-turvy life as a poet, and his practices as a Buddhist, to spread joy and hope on his upcoming EP release A Crystal Rim.

A Crystal Rim - Hafiz - Brian Campbell

The EP features adaptations of poems by renowned poets such as Hafiz and Rumi as well as an original composition inspired by their work. With the work rooted in allegory of famous poems, A Crystal Rim leaves listeners wanting to sit with the work for a while due to its richness that’s rooted in sounds of folk.

No matter how far you think you’ve come, it’s hard to resist thinking about what might have been. That’s the rationale behind “Seventeen,” the achingly wistful single from Canadian singer-songwriter Ruth Moody’s forthcoming album, Wanderer, out May 17 on Blue Muse Records/True North Records.

Check it out on YouTube:

In her gentle yet authoritative soprano, Moody looks back on a teenage crush that followed the sad but typical trajectory from something craved to something squandered:

If I could go back
I’d show you all the ways that you made me feel
If I could go back
I’d take you in my arms, try and set us free
If I could go back
I wouldn’t be here now trying to say “I’m sorry”
I was seventeen

Good hip-hop lives and dies on the cleverness of its wordplay. But when it comes to witty namechecks, rapper K.O. Strat is playing in a different league entirely. On his debut album, Glass Sandwich—and its spotlight track, “The Moleskine”- he’s dropping pop-cultural nods so deep they might have stumped even Dennis Miller in his prime.

A short but sweet peek into a restless creative mind, “The Moleskine” packs its 2-minute running time with references to The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, The Flintstones, Tekken, Metallica’s first album and the Space Shuttle Challenger. Even the title is an IP: It’s the brand name of the notebook in which Strat used to jot down his lyrical ideas and other bursts of inspiration.

Listen on Spotify here: open.spotify.com/album/5PgaJfn7VbLbGlxek0Adfg

“My close friend had gotten me a grossly overpriced but undeniably nice Moleskine notebook as a gift. If he hadn’t, the song might be called ‘The Hilroy,’” he muses.

One of the more curious aspects of the artistic temperament is that the more you accomplish, the more you strive for. Case in point: Canadian folk legend James Gordon, who after a whopping 42 albums and successes in multiple other avenues of creative and civic life is still looking for “Leonard’s Secret Chord”—which is not only a metaphor for the elusiveness of the proverbial muse, but the title of his new single to boot. Check it out on YouTube here:

And yes, that title is indeed a Leonard Cohen reference. Gordon wrote his song after watching a documentary on the omnipresent “Hallelujah,” which Cohen recorded in 1984 and which later became a staple of films, TV and the repertoires of other artists.

It’s a proud tradition for punk bands to pay tribute to the absolute disaster area they live in. Fear did it with “I Love Livin’ in the City,” and Manitoba’s Wild Kingdom followed suit with “New York, New York.” To that list, add the York Region, Ontario, quartet G.F.U., who immortalize their life of filth on “Rats,” the latest track pulled from their 2023 four–song debut ep, Grand Slam. Check it out on YouTube here:

BELFOUNTAIN's debut single "Give It Up," - has a new video out now, to accompany it. The fresh, new indie-folk-rock project fronted by singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and JUNO Award-winning producer Chris Graham, has released the catchy-as-hell first single which is drawn from the upcoming album Some Hearts, an authentic, roots-inspired collection of songs. Some Hearts comes out June 21, 2024.

Watch it on YouTube here:

In 2023, Arturo Rojas gifted our ears with great music with the release of the success "Te Diré" (Song of the Week on Toronto's Voces Latinas CHHA 1610 AM), and his last release, "Entre Mi Fuego y Sangre", a harmonious fusion of artistry and emotion. Watch and listen on YouTube here:

 Written by Rojas, his latest release is a personal artistic expression of positivity, after experiencing a near-death situation. "It made me wonder about life", the singer shares. "What comes after we die? Where are we going after death? Is there a place waiting for us after we pass away? But in the end, we need to learn to give…"

Despite drawing inspiration from a challenging life moment, Rojas skillfully channels his emotions into a captivating ballad, effortlessly blending Latin, pop, and jazz influences.