Sometimes your most rewarding relationship is the one you have with yourself. Over the course of a career that’s taken her from Canada to Nashville—and from the alt-pop/industrial world to the country arena and back again—the phenomenon known as OUDi has learned that lesson all too well. And she’s sharing it on “My Old Friend,” an irresistible high-drama ballad that marks her debut as a solo artist after years of sharing the spotlight. Check it out on YouTube here:

 Built on a plaintive instrumental melody and a mesmerizing clockwork rhythm, the song carries the emotional weight of a conversation you have in the mirror when there’s no one left around to hoodwink. OUDi’s compelling vocal starts off at a seductive purr as she confronts an inner solitude, she might not exactly welcome, but knows she can always count on:

Renowned vocalist and songwriter Lizz Wright sings a soaring reflection of the cultural fabric of America. She lies beneath the script of history, transcending social divides with an offer of love and deep sense of humanity. Her music accepts the beauty of reality and creates a collective experience of belonging for the listener. Wright’s songs embody a tradition that allows us to always feel at home.

Wright culls inspiration from her Southern upbringing in Georgia where she was the musical director of a small church in which her father was the pastor. The call and response singing with the church congregation was her first brush with music. Soon she would traverse the Great American Songbook on her path to becoming a beloved international treasure.

“...We are witnessing the birth of a star” – SIMON COWELL

Thu., Feb. 29, 2024 8:00 p.m.
Fri., Mar. 1, 2024 8:00 p.m.
Sat., Mar. 2, 2024 2:00 p.m.
Sat., Mar. 2, 2024 7:00 p.m.
Sun., Mar. 3, 2024 11:00 a.m.
Sun., Mar. 3, 2024 3:00 p.m.

Over 200 million viewers tuned in to Britain’s Got Talent to witness the birth of a phenomenon: the unveiling of an electrifying illusionist, Darcy Oake. From sleight-of-hand to death-defying escapades, this master magician ushered in an exciting new era of an age-old art form, perfect for family audiences! Darcy puts a fresh, young, and exciting twist on the profession to the delight of all ages worldwide.

Tickets Available Now: flatomarkhamtheatre.ca/Online/

Time Will Tell chronicles Andy Milne lifelong efforts to uncover his birth family history. Adopted as an infant, his efforts to connect with his birth family proved fruitless – until 2018, when the gift of an Ancestry.com DNA test from his wife, singer La Tanya Hall, changed everything.

A DNA match led him to his first cousin, Marc, with whom he discovered he shared a mutual friend. Ironically, just as world events collided with the COVID-19 lockdowns, the profound mysteries of his biological family began to rapidly reveal themselves.

“In 2022, my voyage eventually received an unimaginable upgrade when I finally met my birth mother,” he recounts. “This recording reflects part of my expedition navigating the mixed emotions associated with this identity paradox. How we move through life, and the lives we will touch, is unknown to us, despite our best efforts to chart a path.”

While he says the new album shouldn’t be taken as a pound-for-pound musical account of these experiences, the journey inspired and informed his process.

March 20, 2024: PROMO DAY, Toronto, ON
March 21, 2024: Hugh's Room, Toronto, ON
March 22, 2024: The Ark, Ann Arbor, MI
June 8, 2024: City Winery, Boston, MA
June 29, 2024: The Triple Door, Seattle, WA

If you show up for Alicia Witt, she’ll show up for you. And she proves it with stirring sincerity on “Witness,” a musical pledge of allegiance that also happens to be as immaculate a piece of pop balladry as you’ll hear this decade.

Listen on Spotify here: open.spotify.com/album/3jDynqZxfbUxFkwzqo9Zk4

The song finds Witt in a grateful mood, offering thanks to somebody who’s stood by her through thick and thin and declaring that the feeling is wholly mutual. The track’s stately, processional rhythm nudges the exquisitely precise piano and guitar along as Witt’s supple voice proposes a never-ending pact, criss-cross style:

Terry Gomes completed a music degree at the University of Ottawa, studying classical guitar and composition. He taught guitar for many years, played in several bands, and performed in a flute/classical guitar duo. Later on, he released three self-penned albums in singer-songwriter/pop/folk-rock genres.

In 2013, his album SHH marked a shift into guitar-based instrumental music. His following releases, THE SAND IN MY SHOES, BLUE. GREEN. AQUAMARINE., and THE TROPICAL DREAM, found him moving much closer to home. “Growing up in a Guyanese family, I was exposed to a lot of music from the Caribbean, South America and Latin America.”Since these projects he has released several singles; the infectious, “RUMJARO 360”, “ELEGY” (solo piano) and “STEEN’S REVERIE” (jazz) which received a lot of airplay on JazzFM91. His last outing in September of 2023 was an animated work featuring an unusual rock/western soundtrack called, “DARK RIDERS.”

The new single from iconic Canadian Reggae/Pop band the Sattalites is “Never Given’ Up On Love, “…a joyous reggae vibe with great vocals by Fergus Hambleton.

Sattalites are a Canadian reggae group founded in 1980 by Jo Jo Bennett and Fergus Hambleton in Toronto. Starting as a music school teaching reggae, jazz, and pop on Eglinton Avenue, the band originally featured the students playing the music they had learned.

Sattalites quickly became professional during the Queen Street heyday of the 80s and went on to win fans all over North America with their exciting live shows. During these years they scene.

Unfortunately, Jo Jo Bennett passed away in 2021 but the music lives on!

Sue Foley’s new acoustic solo album, ONE GUITAR WOMAN is a moving tribute to the female pioneers of guitar, the women whose music and lives delivered the inspiration and paved the way for those that followed. Sue honors artists spanning a whole spectrum of styles. She writes in her liner notes, “They were massively talented, and they all possessed courage and vision which transformed both their cultures and the story of the guitar.”

True to the album title, Sue performs all these songs with ONE GUITAR. While many of Sue’s fans are used to seeing her playing “Pinky,” her pink paisley Fender Telecaster through her Fender Bassman amp, for this album she chose a nylon-string acoustic guitar, a flamenco Blanca made by master luthier Salvadore Castillo, purchased by Sue on a 2022 excursion to Paracho, Mexico.

Today, Montreal-via-France jazz pianist and composer Simon Denizart is pleased to announce his fifth full-length Piece of Mindarriving March 29^th. He shares a taste of the new album with the intoxicating and mysterious new song “Speedball.” Enticing piano melodies and stuttering drum beats draw the listener in with hypnotic energy. Listen to “Speedball” on all digital retailers (here). 

Simon explains: “Speedball is a track that immerses you in raw emotion and makes you feel the rush of the unknown. Through dynamic rhythms and staccato melodies, this song captures the essence of adrenalin and the giddiness of risk-taking.”

* Under Exclusive Worldwide License from Repute Records

Stony Plain Records, under an exclusive worldwide license agreement from Repute Records, will release on April 5^th the new album from 2024’s “Best Traditional Blues Album” GRAMMY nominee and Blues/Roots music legend Eric Bibb, Live at The Scala Theatre. The upcoming disc follows 2023’s Ridin’, which has also received two Blues Music Award nominations from The Blues Foundation, whose winners will be announced May 9^th in Memphis.

Eric Bibb also recently taped a performance at the SiriusXM Radio studios In New York City that will premiere on BB King’s “Bluesville” channel in April around his live album release, and then air shortly thereafter on “The Village.”

Ever feel trapped in your thoughts, yearning for childhood innocence? On her stunning sophomore single, “Harder,” Kitchener, ON’s Avalon Stone sings with a world-weariness that belies her 20 years—and makes it land with a raw, emotional force that explains why she’s already a respected not-so-elder stateswoman of rock in her native Canada. Check it out on YouTube here:

Avalon Stone's hard grungy alt-rock ballad ‘Harder’ is a deep dive into the struggle against mental confines, intrusive thoughts and innocence lost. 

Getting up in the morning, my mind doesn’t stray from the bed
Fear, it paralyzes and it occupies my head
Because once I’m awake, there’s no excuses left
It’s getting harder than it used to be, Stone laments. Days getting longer, all I do is sleep.

Fresh from chalking up 100,000 Spotify streams over “By Any Means (Warrior)” – released only a few months ago. Alan Tuck, the Toronto-based indie artist, once more partners with award-winning songwriter and vocalist, Bobby John on this spirit booster, “Breathe.” In the wake of the drive and determination anthem that “By Any Means (Warrior) was, this new release infuses pop dance elements that will captivate the listener thoroughly. Check it out on YouTube here:

XOCÔ jumps onto the stage like a superhero with dance moves that will make your head spin, performing “Maculelê” live at the legendary Lula Lounge, taken from the recently released self-titled album (Lulaworld Records)

This song is named after the traditional percussion rhythm and warrior dance which is also the great grandmother of Brazilian Funk. The scene of fiery fusion is effortlessly captured by visionary videographer Elton Luz and his team who secure the explosive live XOCÔ energy at every turn as he liberates the audience to be themselves and let loose!

These movements of protection and revolution are customarily performed with machetes or sticks- tools from the sugarcane plantation fields and are especially sacred to and revered by Traditional Capoeira practitioners.

XOCÔ infuses his “Maculelê” version with lyrics celebrating imagery of the natural world and saluting Juerma and Orixá Oxóssi of Candomblé, the indigenous and Afro diasporic spiritual traditions respectively.

Vancouver singer-songwriter Myk Gordon has released his latest single “Brand New Love” in anticipation of his forthcoming album Born To Be. Check it out on YouTube here:

The guitar and drums-driven track features an air of steady feel-good rhythms with complimenting harmonies. In true Americana style, Gordon’s earthy voice drifts in and out of solid guitar features, leaving listeners with a medley of genres, including the styles of blues, roots, and punk. “Brand New Love” talks of the trials of love and of brighter horizons. Gordon explores the idea of moving forward, dreaming of love, and the kind of love one can offer.

“I can give you healing love
The kindest touch
The beauty of…”

Embarking on a captivating sonic journey, renowned Canadian trumpeter Mike Herriott delves into the intricacies of Shakespeare's mesmerizing character, Mercutio, through his latest composition aptly titled "Mercutio," found on his most recent album, Tales of Tricksters and Vagabonds. Check it out on Spotify here: open.spotify.com/album/1RQz8Wl45acR5hg1XcRVtx

 Drawing inspiration from the bard's insight into Mercutio's vibrant yet tragic existence in "Romeo & Juliet," Herriott crafts a musical narrative that mirrors the multifaceted nature of this beloved character.

It has been said that Shakespeare found his character of Mercutio in Romeo & Juliet to be so interesting that he had to kill him off, so attention wasn’t taken away from the story. Mercutio is Romeo’s close friend and becomes known for his humour and fun-loving demeanour. 

Luna Collins, the seasoned pop-rock musician and former frontwoman for the all-female band, The Relay, has released her latest single, “Man In The Mac” – Check it out on YouTube here;

The San Francisco native was heavily influenced by the music of Motown and the Everly Brothers, but when she saw The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show for the first time, she knew she wanted to be like that. Moving to the UK at 17, she experienced the emergence of the punk scene with bands like The Sex Pistols, The Jam and The Clash. She intertwined the catchy, high-energy vibe of the punk movement with her Beatles-inspired melodies when she returned to the United States, touring with her group The Relay.

In KYTLY’s “Modern Life,” relationships are plastic, feelings are synthetic, and fun is like doing whippets – euphoric, but fast fleeting. The rock-meets-lo fi artist’s new single – available now – is a scathing yet also somehow gentle critique of, well, modern life. Check it out on YouTube here:

There’s an early-2000s ‘height of indie’ vibe to the song, conjuring bands like Chicks On Speed and the bedroom-made sensibilities of Le Tigre. But it’s also wholly current.

“Modern Life is a song of the times,” KYTLY points out. “Disposable relationships. Replaceable feelings. Sensationally driven. Dopamine-rushing lifestyles. It’s a self-effacing anthem for modern dating and the disingenuous process of becoming ‘fast friends.’”

Singer-songwriter James Leclaire gets everyone singing along with his latest single, “Are You Ready?”

Manotick, Ontario-based folk artist James Leclaire released his sixth single “Are You Ready?” from his ambitious and unique project where he is releasing a new song each month for the next three years. Check it out on YouTube here:

 After the shocking end to his 23-year marriage in 2020, Leclaire recorded an astounding 37 songs that encapsulate his heartbreak and journey as he navigated through many new life experiences.

“My sorrowful songs were always written from a fictional place or as a witness to others pain. Now it was my sorrow, my pain, my wound, and it caused my pen to bleed ink and my guitar to cry chords,” says Leclaire.

Today, the award-winning Oregon-based jazz singer-songwriter Halie Loren announces her new album Dreams Lost and Found and shares a vibrant rendition of the Mose Allison classic “Stop This World.” Loren’s take on the song feels bold and brash with a rollicking energy that separates itself from the original. Her signature smokey vocals reinvent the melody in a fresh new way.

Anybody can have an existential crisis, but not everybody can make it fun to listen to. “Not everybody” means musical eccentrics Doctor Tongue, who’ve found the funkier side of emotional detachment on their infectious groove of a new track, “Forget About Love.” Check it out on YouTube here:

A deceptively boppy little outing in a quasi-Curtis Mayfield mode, the song is actually meant to convey the alienation of today’s culture – specifically the isolating effect of personal devices and other single-user technology. Yet from the universality of the lyrics and the irresistible pull of the music, you could easily assume you were merely listening to a great, format-busting hit about romance gone bad.