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.

Over the past dozen years and six albums, McKhool and his bandmates — co-founding guitarist Kevin Laliberté, bassist Drew Birston, Cuban percussionist Rosendo ‘Chendy’ Leon and second guitarist Eddie Paton — have excelled at both. Thrilling listeners around North America with their genre-hopping fusion of Celtic reels, flamenco, Gypsy jazz, Arabic, Cuban, and South Asian rhythms, Sultans of String celebrate diversity and creativity with warmth and virtuosity. And they often do it with artists such as Paddy Moloney and The Chieftains, Richard Bona, Benoit Bourque (Bottine Souriante), Nikki Yanofsky, Alex Cuba, Ruben Blades, Crystal Shawanda and Ken Whiteley.

We’ve seen all the glowing comparisons; Cohen, Dylan, Cash, Prine and Young, and they are well placed but being all North American, their take on desolation and societal disintegration is bound to be different from that of a man from the English Northlands.

Bower´s recently released second album doesn’t hesitate to throw us headlong into the pit of alcoholism, loneliness and quiet desperation that’s the new norm in England’s rust belt. Bowers feels the pain and articulates it in finely honed lyrical details atop a piece of music that’s a strange striped down Americana which nevertheless is the perfect framework for these songs.

A minimalist rhythm guitar leads us on a trek through broken hearts and shattered dreams, the fine points filed in by electric guitar, pedal steel or Dobro, the grand design etched by Bower’s sonorous and deep baritone. The voice of doom never sounded so arresting. All slowly paced, the material invokes an endless trudge through tedium and hopelessness, leavened with some dashes of minor chording to keep a sense of unease shadowing the songs’ characters.

Laidback local hero Fergus Hambleton has gone from playing sax to guitaring with Sattalites to singer/songwriting, all of which come together to sweet effect on this latest album.

Posited as a stroll through neighbourhoods real and imagined, Hambleton has taken that and woven strands of reggae, pop, folk and rock across its frame and filigreed with gorgeous at times medieval-sounding harmonies that brought extra texture.  Such is the enduring cool and command of his craft wielded by the man that at the end, makes this brilliant piece of music and words seems so just by chance.

The album kicks off with “Late September Song,”a catchy tune that skips along brightly, and a showcase for the talents of backing unit Wood and Water. The harmonies do it a little differently by focusing on what Hambleton is singing rather than filling in backing vocals. That the song moves along at a goodly pace gives the impression that wherever it’s going is gonna be a fun place. Which brings us to “A Good Place To Be”, where the harmonies are no less impactful for being more traditional backing vocals.

East Canadian country rocker Jeff Hope is back after a near-two decade pause from recording with the forthcoming release of his new album, Fill The Void — available December 31st.

First single up? “No Thing” — a track Hope describes as “a song written from the light-hearted perspective of a guy who wants no commitments and claims ‘no fault’ if the other party feels differently.

Watch “No Thing” here: https://youtu.be/UrGL-yXkrP8

“I wrote this song last March while working on my album, as a whole,” the Middle Sackville, Nova Scotia-based artist continues. “It was such a fun groove, I decided to move forward with it ASAP and include it on the record. 

“Since then, it’s become one of my favourites.”

Toronto producer, hip hop artist, and singer/songwriter Myer Clarity has wasted no time re-introducing the world to his newly-minted melancholic persona, releasing his latest video for “Love Me When I'm High”.

The single is accompanied by a delicately sombre and intimately inviting cinematic showpiece that invites listeners to watch Myer’s decidedly lonely journey on his road to recovery following a decade of substance abuse.

“I wanted to create space for introversion and sobriety to be seen as mysterious and sexy,” he reflects on the recent release. “There aren’t really any records like that out there for people like me to relate to.

“I thought, I guess I’ll make some.”

Directed by Aaron Sambey and worked on alongside visual artist Sean Mundy, Myer and “Love Me When I'm High” delivers an all-encompassing experience as his raspy storytelling, dynamic genre-hopping, and authentic experience paints a haunting picture well exceeding 1,000 words.

Canadian funk legends Crack of Dawn are serving up some serious soul this Holiday season with their newest single, “It’s Christmas Time”.

Watch and listen here: https://youtu.be/RHTwA0kIoGo

Featuring the same signature velvety tones that have made them Canada’s most celebrated soul act for 40 years and running, the seasonal tribute to Motown is a track packed with everything needed to keep spirits bright.

Written by Crack of Dawn keyboardist Bela Hajmann and saxophonist Alvin Jones, funk-soul enthusiasts and then some are set to be immediately hooked by this effortlessly catchy melody and vintage vibe.

Alt rockers Autopilot are on anything but when it comes to their latest video, “Modern Age” and album Afterglow. 

Watch “Modern Age” here:
https://youtu.be/RYMCkAtJsXk

“The video for ‘Modern Age’ was directed by New York City-based director, Kevin Van Witt,” the band details of the meta submersion into a glitched and twitched fever dream of a video. “Filmed on the Lower East Side and Long Island’s Gold Coast, it captures the chaos of this new technological world we have built, and the freedom we once had in childhood.

“It’s a psychedelic adventure of realities we have created in this… ‘Modern Age.’”

Canadian reggae-jazz dynamo Chelsea Stewart is back, once again bringing her name to the forefront with a newly released self-titled album, Chelsea Stewart — and premiere single “Forever Your Girl”

Watch video of “Forever Your Girl” here: https://youtu.be/F9LaUXZleAI

A reflection of Stewart’s rich Jamaican Canadian roots, Chelsea Stewart was mostly recorded in Jamaica and features production influence from the likes of long-iconic and GRAMMY Award-winning and multi-nominee artists, Sly and Robbie, and songwriting influence from Canadian Renee Brown.

“I have probably been listening to music from Sly and Robbie since the day I arrived on this Earth,” she says of the legendary reggae masters Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare. “They have been responsible for so many hits that still play on the radio, and at almost every celebratory gathering in my community.

They say the only givens in life are death and taxes, but for death-pop rockers Skeleton Club and their debut album, those guarantees are more along the lines of Death, Love & Money.

So goes the name of the trio’s 11-track LP, a number that wasn’t landed on with any sense of coincidence. “We only ever release music with an odd number of songs,” says vocalist and bassist Andrew Matthews. “Chris has OCD and doesn’t ‘do’ even numbers.”

He’s speaking of guitarist and synth-master Chris Anglin; the two lifelong friends are originally from Langley and Tsawwassen, British Columbia, respectively, and currently based in Montreal. From there, the pair added a third, Nova Scotian drummer Morgan Zwicker, to the mix, rounding out the sound. “It was a Kijiji ad, you know, where any self-respecting story starts,” Matthews laughs. “But we quickly found we had more in common than just being broke and incredibly good looking… With our music.”

That common ground in their core sound lands as sometimes heavy, but also sometimes soft, as the three weave together their one-of-a-kind blend.

Canadian alt electro-rock duo Black Arcana and their sonic tonic of heavy honey for the soul has been unleashed with their newest single, “Rum Runner”. A blend of garage rock and trip-hop influences, “Rum Runner” reveals Black Arcana’s bittersweet and mood-heavy brand of alt-rock.

Watch “Rum Runner” here: https://youtu.be/5ZUF8n5_oE4

The brainchild of Montreal-based musicians Patrick De Marseilles and Miss Marie, the band and their forthcoming debut Astrophysical — set for release early 2020 — takes listeners on “an exquisite plunge into personal divinity and the ties that bind and divide” they say.