Coming in with ‘St. James Infirmary’ from the Speakeasies Swing Band

Indie-pop singer-songwriter BAYLA is back with a bang! Ok, Brittany Kwasnik is back with a new name, new sound and a big win, first time out the gate. Montreal based BAYLAhas been announced as the winner of the 7th Annual RBC Emerging Musician Program, a part of Canada’s Walk of Fame Emerging Artists Programs and Scholarships. With over 1000 applicants BAYLA wowed the committee with her upbeat and infectious single “Monster”.The accompanying video is thematically linked and probably inspired by the Toy Story films. As the Grand Prize winner, BAYLA will be attending and performing at Canada’s Walk of Fame Awards Show and Gala on November 23 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

Gonna start by getting personal in the sense that Fergus Hambleton is a personal fave of mine. It seems like he’s been weaving his way into Toronto’s musical tapestry since forever. In the '70s Hambleton hooked up with legendary Jamaican composer/trumpeter Jo Jo Bennett and a lasting friendship was formed leading to the pair becoming the foundation for acclaimed reggae collective the Sattalites.

"I was a sax player and I was living in the neighbourhood where all of the reggae stores and musicians were," says Hambleton. "I got to know people and they would ask me to come and play on this and this and that and that. I got pulled into it gradually and it was all very nice. I enjoyed that music because Jamaican music always has lots of horns in it and as a Sattalites horn player, I always appreciated that."

The 8-piece reggae supergroup SOJA has shared a music video for "Fire In The Sky" -a poignant highlight from new album Poetry in Motion, out now on ATO Records. Directed by Christopher Good (Grizzly Bear, Okkervil River), the striking clip was filmed in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia near where the album was recorded.

Says lead singer Jacob Hemphill: "I wrote 'Fire In The Sky' outside the airport in Argentina after a band member lost a family member. The song is about how beautiful it is to be alive even though all of us at times question our purpose in being here, and can be terrified by the fact that we all must leave at some point. We're all connected, and there is a plan much bigger than any one of us. We're all this beautiful 'poetry in motion.' We're all 'fire in the sky.'"

Moon King (Daniel Benjamin) returns with an animated visual for lead-single "In & Out" taken from his forthcoming tape Hamtramck '16 - out August 4 on Arbutus Records . Video animation is by Jordan Minkoff . On "In & Out" Benjamin says, "I made this in Detroit last September, very quick & dirty, mostly inspired by the music I was hearing DJs play around town ... it's a good tape to leave in your car I think." The new single also premiered on air courtesy of CBC q.

Snowblink released their album Returning Current last September in Canada and now the rest of the world will be able to hear what Exclaim! calls “a blissful ride, sounds as the world does when you’re underwater: soft and calm”.

BTW Latent Lounge (performances from Cowboy Junkies, Skydiggers, Lee Harvey Osmond, Jerry Leger, Harpacash & The Morals and others), Bill Plaskett and Joel Plaskett, Wild Rivers, Ninjaspy, The Harpoonist & The Axe Murderer, Snoop Dogg/ BADBADNOTGOOD , Danny Marks.

In 1982, while living in the UK, Michael Timmins and Alan Anton, were inspired by the independent label scenethat sprung up around the English punk movement, and created Latent Recordings. Latent subsequently released a 45rpm single of their first band Hunger Project and two albums by their second band Germinal. Upon returning to Toronto and forming Cowboy Junkies, they used Latent to release the band’s first album Whites Off Earth Now!! and then, in 1987, thebands' ground breaking The Trinity Session.

If you name check sibs Kitty, Daisy & Lewis, you’re liable to step off with thoughts of warm, fuzzy, alt roots pop. You’d also be very wrong about what they do. A better clue is that Mick ‘The Clash’ Jones produced current album, ‘The Third’, dropping now.

Described as "a gift to those of us who still believe in magic,” and three years in the making, it’s a worthy follow-up to their highly acclaimed 'Smoking In Heaven.’ That one coughed up enough coin for the crew to build a new 16 track analogue studio in a derelict Indian restaurant in Camden Town, resulting in an album and a sound pushing ahead what all that came before.

An early fan of the band, Mick Jones was keen on his gig as producer. Jonesy T spent four months rehearsing with the band at their home and utilizing many forgotten recording techniques. "This magical, heart-warming record really does produce a feeling of wonder,” says Jones. Something else Jonesy brought round was an enhancement of the group’s rockabilly leanings with a side of edgy vibe.

After a successful summer tour from The Rockies to the Confederation Bridge supporting his latest acclaimed album Early Riser, Toronto songwriter Jerry Leger has been back on the road again with a string of dates across Ontario. The tour, which began November 7 at The Horseshoe Tavern with Doug Paisley and Jenny Whiteley, will touch down again in Toronto with a performance at The Dakota Tavern on December 12. Expect surprise guests and heartfelt mayhem. Get a taste of what to expect with the new video from Southern Souls for “One More Bad Penny”.

The Dakota gig isn’t quite the end though, as Jerry L and crew play Dec 19 at The Brownstone Cafe, Orillia, with the final wrap coming Dec 20 at The Clarkson Pub, Barrie, ON.