Canadian indie darkwave dance-pop artist Elizabeth Leslie releases “To The Next” and Brave Animal, a searingly insightful EP calling attention to a world grappling with problems of man’s making.

“To The Next” is one of three bewitchingly packaged in Brave Animal. The release stands as Leslie’s (she/her) monument to the contemporary ennui of living through climate change and capitalism as a non-binary queer person in a vastly heteronormative society.

Watch “To The Next” here:
https://youtu.be/8GBYZsbK7sY

JUNO and multi-Maple Blues Award winner Steve Hill is “All About The Love”.

Under the newly minted guise of Steve Hill & The Devil Horns, the rollicking musical mashup of 70s rock mixed with 60s Gospel and Soul is an unexpected hear-to-believe moment in Hill’s extensive library of songcraft — and a glimpse into Hill’s forthcoming new album release this year.

“It’s basically a mix of two styles that aren’t really supposed to fit together in the same song,” he says. “Somehow, though… It works.”

Beyond the wildly surprising juxtaposition of genres, the song’s origin story continues with case after case of self-admitted near-misses and thank-goodnesses.

Five-time JUNO Award winner and three-time GRAMMY Award nominee — plus the recipient of the Order of Canada, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal, and the Premier’s Award for Excellence — Jane Bunnett and her all-female collective Maqueque have been nominated for a 2020 JUNO Award. 

The nod for Jazz Album of the Year: Group comes for the collective’s latest release, On Firm Ground / Tierra Firme (Linus Entertainment). 

In just five years, Bunnett harnessed her veteran jazz icon status and talent as a soprano saxophone player, flautist and composer to evolve Maqueque from a creative mentorship into a GRAMMY Award-nominated, critically acclaimed and industry heralded support platform that honours, amplifies and elevates the newest generation of young, female musicians hailing from around the world. 

Watch Jane Bunnett and Maqueque here:
Monkey See Monkey Do
https://youtu.be/Hnh-LEhThzA

Esteemed pianist, bandleader and educator Andy Milne is excited to announce the release of his new album, The reMISSION, out April 10 on Sunnyside Records with his new trio Unison. Marking Milne’s first foray into piano trio performance, the album is a stunning shift in direction in the artist’s illustrious career. In late 2017, a life-changing cancer diagnosis forced Milne into a period of reflection over his fruitful career, a reevaluation of his direction as an artist, and finally, remission. Added to the mix was an unexpected offer (which he accepted), for a full-time professorship from The University of Michigan. After conquering his diagnosis, Milne seized the opportunity to tackle a musical venture that he has always found exciting, and at times daunting: the powerful intimacy of the piano trio format.

This is the third single from Simon Alexander, from the upcoming EP “In The Rust” which is due out February 28, 2020.

Swedish singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Simon Alexander emerged in 2017 with the self-released debut EP ’Won't Be Found’, breathing new air into the modern folk scene. By continuously releasing several self-recorded acoustic tracks he quickly gained recognition for his profound lyrics and heartfelt vocal melodies, getting comparisons to Matt Corby and Dylan LeBlanc. After a collaboration with producer Tobias Ekqvist, from Hurricane Love, two singles, ’Slide' and ’Last Dance', was released in 2018 after signing with Swedish record label Rehn Music Group. The new singles showed a wider range of songwriting, venturing into a more pop-infused direction, and was featured on Spotify curated playlists such as New Music Friday in several countries.

Irene Atman’s newest release “Because I’m A Woman” is more than just a single and album for the Canadian jazz-pop singer/songwriter... The song — and its uplifting video featuring a diverse montage of women from around the world — are the multi-talented artist’s passionate and celebratory anthem for empowerment and movement towards equality.

“Now more than ever, I thought it was time for a women’s anthem,” Atman reflects on the bluesy, gospel-inspired song and its newly minted video, available in time for International Women’s Day. “In writing ‘Because I’m A Woman’ I was able to personally tap into some of the emotional challenges that face many other women in their various careers, from pay equity to ageism, and beyond.

“I wanted to do something as a global salute to women around the world this March 8th — International Women’s Day,” she continues of the day’s importance. “This is for women everywhere. This is my tribute.”

“Because I’m A Woman” single is streaming now and the video is in tribute to International Women’s Day is available on YouTube starting today.

Award-winning contemporary jazz artist Fiona Ross is out today with her newest single, “For My Dad” — available now! The second track on her newest album, Fierce and Non-Compliant, ‘For My Dad” is especially noteworthy for being one of two especially raw and pared-down productions as live, musically pared-back takes completed in a stairwell.

“I wanted the production to reflect the honesty of the song: raw and real,” Ross confides. “This album ended up being a really personal journey, and this song just happened. I was going through my songwriting book and found a list of chords. I had no idea what they were for, and they had no lyrics with them.

“So I turned them into a song for my dad.”

Listen and Watch Fiona Ross: “For My Dad” here:
https://youtu.be/eS9rmWHB4_Q

Derry, Ireland alt. indie electro-rock export Ramshackle Rodeo has released a debut album, 2019’s Back from the East, and new single “Duga 3”.

Helmed by frontman and main brain Stephen Cassidy, and produced by Nail O’Doherty, “Duga 3” is a sonic cycle through grunge up guitar riffs and consistent, persistent percussion at its feet.

“This is a spiritually coherent, no-frills, bedroom-produced, genre-splitting musical narrative,” Cassidy says, laying bare the genesis of both the track and the nine songs that precede it on the record. “There are melodies and rhythms that trade places in ambient, rock and dystopian electronic soundscapes.

“There are echoes of early 90s Baggy and House to be heard, re-remembered like foggy dreams.”

“Duga 3” and Back from the East are available now.

Six-time Blues Music Award-winner (including the 2019 award for the “Acoustic Artist of The Year”) Rory Block announces the release of the second installment in her “Power Women of the Blues” album series with Prove It on Me, coming March 27 on Stony Plain Records. It follows the critically acclaimed 2018 release of her first CD in the series, a tribute to the legendary Bessie Smith titled A Woman’s Soul.

Rory was recently nominated for another Blues Music Award - “Traditional Female Blues Artist” (AKA – The Koko Taylor Award) - for the upcoming BMAs in Memphis in May. “I am incredibly honoured to be nominated for ‘The Koko Taylor Award,’” she said upon hearing the news. “I met Koko in Germany years ago when I opened for her. We crossed paths again at various times on the road, where she began to introduce me as “Little Miss Dynamite.’ It means the world to me to be nominated in a category that honours her memory and her incomparable, historic legacy. I feel as if she is not gone but remains among us- supporting, encouraging, and cheering on the next generation of blues women.”

With over 52,000+ streams across Spotify and YouTube since its premiere this month, the latest from 21-year old Hamilton-area hip hop/pop artist Anthony Marzanek follows suit for TonyTone’s vibe, delivering upbeat lounge beats and an ambient mood that nods to both hip hop and indie influences, while staying pop-centric at its core.

“‘Fade Away’ is a track I wrote, recorded, mixed and mastered myself,” he says. “It was not meant to fall into any sort of genre… I just play around with sounds and write until I come up with something I like.”

Watch TonyTone - Fade Away (Official Audio) here:
https://youtu.be/YKN77mKgxVE

Canadian matriarch of the blues and veritable force of musical nature, Vancouver-based Dalannah Gail Bowen says “Somebody’s Watchin’ You” in newly minted single and video, available now.

The release is the latest to come from her fifth and most recent studio album Looking Back, out via Quest Records and with support from Creative BC and the Province of British Columbia. Born of African-Canadian and Cherokee heritage, Bowen’s indisputable prowess as a prolific singer, songwriter, actress, playwright, storyteller, event producer, social activist, International Memphis Blues Awards semi-finalist and International Blues Hall of Fame Master Blues Artist has secured her standing as a fixture of the blues, rock and soul music-making scene for over 40 years.

Canadian Musician Magazine says she “has a truly spectacular set of pipes, and a most commanding stage presence,” before adding that Bowen “has one of those voices that lays claim to part of your soul the first time you hear it, and never lets go. “Smoky. Earthy. Soulful. Powerful. But it’s not just the voice, it’s what she does with it. So much emotion. So much control.”

Canadian hip hop artist Toronto Poor Boy is set to inspire with the release of his fired up new track, “Big Dreams” — available now

With 300,000 views across YouTube and radio airplay throughout Toronto, Australia and the UK, Toronto Poor Boy has released the track ahead of his forthcoming debut studio album, available this spring.

Hot on the heels of late 2019’s single release, “Karma,” “Big Dreams” amplifies the Jamaican-born entertainer’s dynamic blend of hip hop, rock and reggae while drawing audiences to his magnetic online presence full of original comedy skits.

Watch Toronto Poor Boy-Big Dreams (OFFICIAL VIDEO) here:
https://youtu.be/apm24Yv3AoY

With upwards of 4,000,000+ total streams stacked across Spotify, former CTV The Launch finalist Ezra Jordan adds a new one to the rotation precipice with his freshly released video and single, “Cliffs” — available now!

The track is the latest reveal at the Canadian alt-pop, soul-rich R&B artist and recent 2019 JUNO Awards TD Green Room performer’s forthcoming EP, Cheap Therapy.

“Conceptually, this project has been in the making since 2018,” Jordan says of the album as a whole. “I had started a new relationship, and it went hand-in-hand with a period of intense personal growth.”

Jordan documented the entire process through songwriting, and soon had the makings of what would ultimately be a part album, part deeply intimate and personal ‘time-capsule' of sorts.

“A song like ‘Hair Fall Down’ was written when I was still in love, and thinking about all the amazing plans my now-ex and I had planned for the future,” he recalls. “But then ‘Easy’ was written about the moment we knew we had to have the conversation that leads to the end of our relationship.

Daniel Sigismondi, aka Siggi. Italian singer-songwriter multi-instrumentalist made the journey to Toronto in 2014 to find his place in the music scene. Music always came as a feeling to Siggi as he started appreciating its beauty and understanding the creation process at a really young age. At the age of 12, he co-wrote his first song “Today”. He picked the drums right afterwards. Drumming was a true way to express himself: the rage and rebellion of that tight spot on Earth that is the town of San Benedetto in Italy. He started playing with various bands and getting his first taste of touring with punk bands all through the country. The punk influence was great for him as it was more than anything an anger release from the provincial culture from which he was surrounded.

The days of spikes, studs, leather and getting drunk, allowed Siggi to gain experience with live shows and studio recordings. At the age of 18 he moved to the city of Milan which brought big changes in his life: musically speaking he stepped away from the punk scene and started developing a more mature sound, studying Independence Jazz, blues and soul music. 

Canadian JUNO and award winner Sass Jordan today announces the release of her new album, Rebel Moon Blues — available March 13, 2020 via Stony Plain Records.

With more than a million records sold worldwide, Sass Jordan delivers the eight-song album spotlighting her signature vox in a wholly-dedicated blues endeavour across seven diligently selected covers — plus one knockout original, “The Key.”

“The Blues has been there throughout my entire career. People have always said, 'You're so bluesy.' And it's true. My singing is blues-inflected. My songs use blues-type licks. I didn't do any of that on purpose. It isn't contrived. It's just me.”

Co-produced by Sass and D#, Rebel Moon Blues serves as a watershed that charts a new course in Jordan's musical voyage while tracing her love of the blues back to its source. All killer and no filler, the album features the inimitably raspy rock goddess jubilantly celebrating the songs, sounds and styles of everyone from old masters like Willie Dixon, Elmore James and Freddie King to younger, louder guns like Gary Moore and Rory Gallagher.

Award-winning and Internationally acclaimed guitarist, composer and producer Jesse Cook has swirled together Spanish guitar and Algerian violin and gumbri into an infectious musical mashup with multi-instrumentalist Fethi Nadjem for “HEY!” — a special single release, available January 10, 2020.

“Some people think world music is anthropological field recordings,” says Cook of the collaboration. “That’s not my vibe…“Global music is the future, (and) I like it loud and bombastic!”

And so sets the tone for “HEY!”, the duo’s global music mashup.

The track was created soon after Cook and Nadjem shared the stage at the 2019 Victoria Jazz Festival; Cook’s skills as a composer and producer quickly set the stage for Nadjem’s remarkable talents across the guitar, oud, violin, mandole, and kora, the African harp, among many more, resulting in the stand-alone single.

Also featured on “HEY!” are Matt Sellick on rhythm guitar, Dan Minchorn on bass, and percussionists Matais Recharte and Marito Marques; modern dance company Gadfly are featured in the video.

Canadian artist Denise Leslie is on a mission “to bring the fun back to jazz” through fresh arrangements, unique musical interpretations, and magnetic charisma.

Nowhere is this demonstrated more than on the Toronto-area vocalist’s debut solo album, One Fine Morning — and its premiere single, her take on Brit rockers Badfinger’s circa-1971 hit, “Day After Day”- watch video here:  https://youtu.be/56sj-rhtzk0

Produced by award-winning producer and guitarist Bob McAlpine, One Fine Morning sits squarely at the intersection of jazz, R&B and rock, and features bassist Pat Collins, drummer Paul DeLong, pianist Don Baird, and horn players from Brass Transit and Lighthouse.

Do you like bluegrass music? Country music? Folk music?All three? Well here is some good news for you all. Eric Lee and his new CD, Heartache Town encompasses all three and then some. All songs on the twelve-song set are written or co-written Lee. Singer/songwriter legend and master wordsmith Eric Andersen with whom Lee performs with on select tours had this to say about Eric Lee “ In this brave new world of song, Eric Lee sings and writes gems of truth with a new kind of language.” Pretty heady words coming from an icon of the songwriting world. We caught up with young Mister Lee after  his show at Hugh’s Room Live in Toronto where he was playing fiddle and mandolin for Andersen as well as singing background vocals.” One of the reasons I wanted to be a folksinger was Eric Andersen, although he insists he’s not a folksinger, so it’s always awesome being on stage with him. And I got to sing a song off the album, “Help My Neighbour On”, so that was an added thrill.

The unstoppable force that is Eric Andersen just keeps rolling along. The famous Eric Andersen song “Time Run Like a Freight Train” could actually be personified into Eric Andersen Run Like a Freight Train. From the 1960s to today,  Eric has not stopped creating, performing and evolving never losing his sense of wonder and thirst for enlightenment.  And he’s about to take all of this back on the road with one Canadian stop, the iconic Toronto listening venue, Hugh’s Room Live.

Called “a great ballad singer and writer” by Bob Dylan, Andersen has over the past fifty years toured the world and released more than thirty albums of original music. Andersen’s most famous songs include “Violets of Dawn” and “Thirsty Boots,” with potent lyrics that reveal his literary devotion to the likes of Dostoevsky, Rimbaud, and Kerouac. These songs and more have been covered by artists including Judy Collins, Fairport Convention, John Denver, Bob Dylan, Linda Ronstadt, The Grateful Dead, Peter, Paul & Mary, and more. Andersen has also co-written songs with Bob Weir, Townes Van Zandt, Rick Danko and Lou Reed.

Described as “sickly sweet”, singer/songwriter Jadyn Lamb embodies moody electronic pop with a style similar to Lorde and Kate Bush. In 2018, Lamb released her debut single, “A Day Off,” emphasizing her love for the strange and different.

Born in Toronto, Canada, besides rattling train tracks and noisy city parks, Jadyn Lamb grew up spirited and loud. Fascinated by music and writing as a child, she quickly fell in love with big stages and crowds. Every summer was spent in a packed bar in Leaside, watching her Father play the guitar and sing songs with his band.

As a young teen, she moved with her family to a sleepy town outside of the city. In this town, there was a great distance between homes and no one walked around outside. In school, she weirded out her classmates and was told to be quiet. This would be the beginning of her musical career.