As the season is upon us, Cashbox Radio, like most stations at this time, is busy putting the rotation list together of the old standards as well as the 2023 Indie Releases that we feel deserve airplay and attention.

The Second Cashbox Radio Christmas Pick Hits are:

(in alphabetical order)

Don Graham –Make Every Day Like it Was Christmas Day

Len Mizzino – It’s Christmas

Look out Rinkaby, Sweden, the Canadians are coming! They say good things come in threes and this summer three seasoned Canadian recording artists are setting sail for Sweden to prove that axiom true.

Canadian-born Lisa Hartt, Barry Stagg and Don Graham are packing their stories, songs and six strings and heading across the sea to hit the stages at the Lilla By Festival in Rinkaby on the Baltic Sea. This is the 3rd year of this festival, founded and produced by Jonas Tancred and Malin Östh, both performers in the successful Swedish duo Bara Jonson and Free.

Don Graham performed at last year’s 3^rd Annual Lilly By Festivalen and it will be the first time for Hartt and Stagg to experience the magic of the “little festival” by the bay. This is Don’s second year playing at the event and he is thrilled to be joined stages this year with both Lisa and Barry who has known for most of his early musical career days in Canada.

All Photo Credits Fiona Lawson/Studio 22 Photography

The COVID-19 pandemic took away a lot of things we took for granted, gathering with our friends for meals or drinks or sporting events and a host of other social functions. But most of those were brought back, with certain restrictions and rules we had to follow.

But live music, played by live musicians to live people was one of the last things to be reinstated. I have been playing live music for most of my adult life so this is the longest stretch i have gone without playing out. Finally, after more than a year I got to do what I've always done, play to a live audience with a bunch of other singer/songwriters.

Christmas and New Year’s Eve, the last week of the calendar year are most often a time of constants. At Christmas we sing the same carols and songs we sang as kids, watch the same timeless movies, “A Christmas Carol”, Scrooge and his ghosts don’t get any less scary, while we have our hearts warmed by “It’s A Wonderful Life”.

We decorate the tree with some of the old decorations that have been handed down and open presents Christmas morning and eat the same turkey, stuffing, yams, mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce that our mothers and their mothers before them prepared. There is something comforting and grounding in tradition. It gives us roots and steadies us.

And New Year’s Eve is the same. We gather and wish each other well and wait patiently for the stroke of midnight and sing Auld Lang Syne like our parents did and theirs before them. We talk excitedly about the coming year and discuss the good and bad of the outgoing year.

This week’s featured neighbourhood food bank is another Parkdale institution doing good work at the gritty street level. Please help if you can.

Yelp Food Bank
797 Dundas St W, Toronto · 416-203-3011 Opens Tues.10 AM

Back from the undead comes popular Toronto hairband Sven Gali. Leading the charge, the single “Now” off their soon come EP entitled “3” due out June 12. Known for their fusion of 80s screaming hard rock and 90s blazing metal, the new EP is their long-awaited follow up to 1995's "In Wire" and 1992's gold-selling and Juno Award nominated self-titled debut album released on BMG Music Canada that featured hits “Under The Influence” and “Love Don’t Live Here Anymore”.

“3” features two previous released singles “Kill The Lies” (2018) and “You Won’t Break Me” (2019) both produced by David Bendeth (Paramore, Breaking Benjamin, Bring Me The Horizon) along with new tracks “Now” and “Hurt” produced by Jon Howard (Threat Signal).

Cashbox Canada participated in our first Indie Week Canada and oh what a week it was!

Continuing our journey of the Cashbox Caravan, (recently performing in France and Sweden) we had two official showcases and both were met with resounding success. In addition, our acts performed at other venues throughout Indie Week, all to great reviews and accolades.

The first Cashbox Caravan Showcase was Thursday, November 14 at the B-Side Lounge, a cozy gem of a venue with a great stage and friendly staff. A cocktail hour show from 5-7pm featured Toronto’s newest shining star Ventresca, followed up by veteran singer-songwriters Barry Stagg and Don Graham.

The Cashbox Caravan continues its journey, having stopped in France (MIDEM in Cannes, France) and Orebro, Sweden (Live at Heart Sweden) and ending our year back here in Canada at the ever-popular Indie Week 2019.

“The idea behind the travelling Cashbox Canada Caravan was to give indie artists a chance to showcase at major events and have the opportunity to perform for agents, pr people, and labels with first-class sound and on professional stages all on a global level,” says organizer Sandy Graham. “We are proud to be able to offer an alternative way of showcasing at major events where the competition for submission is so high.”

Now the third event this year of the Cashbox Caravan will be back in the country of origin for the magazine, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

“Indie Week has given us the opportunity to bring talent from other areas in the world so we will be able to have acts from not just Canada, but Sweden, Spain and the USA,” Graham says.

The first CASHBOX CARAVAN SHOWCASE is at the cocktail hours of:
5 pm – 8 pm
Thursday November 14
B-Side Lounge (669 College St)
Doors: 5:00pm

BTW is given over to saluting the musicians who have so graciously and generously donated their time and energies on my behalf by performing at Lenny, We Got Your Back! This benefit concert for yours truly takes place at the Horseshoe Tavern, Mar.28 with an 8PM showtime. My heartfelt thanks to everyone, and there have been many of you, who have had a hand in making this happen. I am humbled and grateful. Gonna be a hot show, tell your friends.

Jaymz Bee is an artist, musician, philanthropist and broadcaster who has produced countless events, over a dozen albums and been a member of several bands including The Tiki Collective, Tuk, The Royal Jelly Orchestra, Bonzai Suzuki and Look People. He's hosted and/or produced charity events for JAZZ.FM91 (over 16 years), Unison Benevolent Fund, Covenant House and the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation (amongst others).

Happy New Year y'all. It's been said Lindi Ortega has ‘the pipes of Patsy Cline with the visual flair of Amy Winehouse,’ and she’s planning to kick off 2018 with a headline tour making stops across Canada and the US. With more than 30 dates on the books and additional ones sure to be added, the shows will feature a feisty, rockabilly mix “drenched in passion, heartache and country swagger,” claims Huffington Post. Additionally, fans can expect to hear new music from Ortega’s forthcoming concept LP, which was recently recorded at Battle Tapes studio in East Nashville.

Saturday night's alright for freaking and Kill Matilda brings it large. The VanCity noise punk crew is making its CMW debut and given its rep for loud and energetic live performances, this gig should be intense. Formed in late-2007, Kill Matilda garnered immediate attention for its O.T.T. frontwoman Dusty Exner. Blessed with an impressive vocal range married to a penchant for extreme stage behaviour, a love of beer both onstage and off and a colourful range of cusswords, Exner's one of the most watchable performers in hard music. The current lineup's   Marcus Luk (Drums) – Mykel Exner (Bass) – Dusty Exner (Vocals/Guitar) and they'll be playing most of current EP, 'Punk, Zombie, Rock n' Roll' their weirdest set yet and somehow quite danceable.

"We are excited to be playing Canadian Music Week for the first time ever! After 6 months living in a van and touring the US being home and being part of this event is awesome. Our showcase is going to knock your socks off, so come prepared!" comments vocalist / guitarist Dusty Exner.

Kill Matilda. Bovine Sex Club. Sat. May 2nd