Last winter I walked into a Kim Doolittle show just as she was wrapping up a song called "Snowballs Day In Hell." It's a droll little narrative about why she no longer takes requests at shows and I wished I'd heard more. Got my wish on a muggy summer's eve when I entered HRL just as the lady was getting started on, yeah, "Snowballs Day In Hell." so finally heard the whole thing and it was worth it.

If you were looking for a mosh pit last Saturday, you probably didn't find it at the Danforth Music Hall. But the self-described 'old farts' of Toronto's own Do Make Say Think definitely delivered excitement for the crowd, even if it was more in the form of a mesmerized audience swaying back and forth, bathed in purple light.

Originally an art project which practised in the basement of the CIUT radio building, Do Make Say Think is now over 20 years deep into a career that is as innovative as it is referential. Their music lacks lyrics, but is packed with emotion and energy. The average track length is maybe 9 minutes, and when I first heard it long ago as an artsy 14 year old, it reminded me of Godspeed You! Black Emperor complete with emotional rollercoaster, the jazz drum beat which is reminiscent of a train chugging forward into eternity but without the despair or obvious political messaging of Godspeed.

In anticipation of her debut album release, Ivory Castanets, due this Friday May 5^th, Cat Clyde shares a new song, Chimes In The Night , which premiered on Zane Lowe's Beats 1 Radio Show, as well as online via The FADER . The song follows her track Mama Said , which was the first piece of music to quickly grow on streaming platforms, along with Like A Wave and The Meadow .

On July 14, 2017, Philadelphia’s own Boris Garcia will release Around Some Corner on Porchwerk Music label for fans everywhere. The band called on their secret weapon, Tim Carbone of Railroad Earth fame to take the role of producing the album. Carbone moves Boris Garcia’s songs of whimsy and emotion and molds them into complex compositions, making it look effortless.

Tim Carbone on Boris Garcia’s songwriters Jeff Otto and Bob Stirner – “As Lennon and McCartney did for The Beatles - they add just the right shadings to each other’s compositions to make the picture complete.”

Boris Garcia on Tim Carbone - “He visualized the music we had in our heads and made it appear on the disc. His experience and ridiculous musicality made it seem like we had George Martin in our midst, constantly pushing, screaming, laughing….stoking the embers and fluffing the froth. Boris Garcia’s journey to a great extent is about the relationship that we have maintained with Tim, both musically and in personal bond.”

The chestnut haired jazz singer finished Kitty White's "So Many Beautiful Men" with a knowing grin and a vocal swagger and as the place erupted in applause murmured, "Story of my life in my younger days. Now I'm focused on my big bad handsome man," beaming at the lucky gent in a scrum of well wishers as she launched into Imelda Mays "Big Bad Handsome Man."

So yeah, Linda Carone is a damn fine singer but she also brings da show. Abetted by a stellar crew of George Koller ( upright bass) Johnny Johnson (saxes, bass clarinet) Michael Shand ( piano) and Mark Kelso( drums), LC did that thing where she sets up a time trip by telling a little bit about the origin of a tune, applies her own vocal interpretation, then hands it over to the personna who takes it all the way home to the Thirties or so with a sense she fits the period like a kidskin glove and with nary a break in character.

Two of Toronto’s iconic musicians, reggae master and soulful singer Jay Douglas and outstanding trombonist/composer Chris Butcher (of the Heavyweights Brass Band), have teamed up to write, record, and release “Messengers,” an anthemic reggae single and video that aims to be the change we want to see in this world by spreading the word of peace and love. The two recorded an instrumental version as well, for more varied radio play.

If there’s anything we need more of in today’s world, it’s peace and love. Jay Douglas and Chris Butcher bring that essential truth to the fore, and remind us of our crucial roles in creating that spirit. As the beautiful lilt of the song carries its gentle but insistent spiritual message, they encourage us to "Rise above hate and fear / Don't be no chump." Interesting – and intentional – how “chump” rhymes with a name we all know. ;) As the song says, “We can build a bridge with peace and love.”

"There are songs and lyrics that are timeless and that deserve to be heard. I think of music as timeless, an old song can sound new. If you haven't heard a song before, it's new to you. It's all about finding these songs I love and doing them my way. People who hear me sing say I seem to find just the right songs from an era that suit my voice, but that I don’t necessarily sound like any other singers in particular."

Introducing Linda Carone, vintage jazz and blues vocalist, a niche song stylist and interpreter of popular music from the 1930’s and beyond. A late bloomer currently making a name for herself around Toronto, an interpreter who goes way, way back and deep for her songs and then reimagines them. Delivers them with a voice that can do beautiful, rich, sultry and provocative, often in the same song. Ms. Carone’s natural and diverse approach to music has shaped her vocal style in a way that is playful, intimate, and unpretentious. An equal opportunity music appreciator, she's equally at home at a Jackie Richardson gig as at a concert by The Damned.

Monica Chapman has a love for the classic movies but it was the musical selections that stole her heart. As a young girl, she watched the movies and Broadway songs captured her.

This is her third CD offering and this one covers a span of over five decades, from the 1930’s, adding jazz classics and For her third album, she has gathered a number of tunes from motion pictures and put her own spin on them. They cover nearly five decades and go as far back as the 1930’s and up to the 1960’s.

With the extremely talented hand of producer/arranger/pianist Bill King and some of the best jazz players on the scene and you have her new CD Small World.  The song choices are exquisite and the production is smooth and tasteful.

The opening track, ‘A Shine on Your Shoes’ takes your right back to the time of Broadway show tunes. The band really cooks on this one and Monica Chapman belts it out with all her heart.

Blackjack Billy, good-time group, known for getting the party started, has a brand new single titled “How to Get the Girl” featuring Canadian country act, Madeline Merlo. The single, set for release to Country radio May 3 and available everywhere May 5, was written by Noll Billings, Jeff Coplan and Tim Hicks. It showcases the powerful vocals of both Blackjack Billy lead vocalist Noll Billings and Merlo, while playfully breaking down the right way to ‘read the signs’ and win over a girl in up-tempo, high-energy, Blackjack Billy style.

Born as a result of discussing failed attempts at winning the admiration of women as Billings, Hicks and Coplan were songwriting in Nashville, Coplan notes, “it became clear that some crazy things had been done and said to try to get girls. Tim said that maybe there’s actually some good advice from all our failures, and that’s how ‘How to Get the Girl’ was born. We thought it would be great to get the female perspective on it so we immediately thought of Madeline. We are all fans of her and not just for her killer voice. She’s a sweetheart and tons of fun,” said Jeff Coplan.

Listening to a Matt Andersen CD is an exciting audio experience, seeing Matt Andersen with a full band is awesome, but seeing Matt Andersen solo takes it to a whole other level. 

The man and his guitar is something I wasn’t really prepared for. Andersen was over the top on all levels, his hold on the audience, his powerful and controlled vocals with acres of dynamics and guitar mastery that made his acoustic guitar sound like an entire band.

Submitted by Lenny Stoute

"Please don't be smoking anything in the entrance. Please move away from the entrance." The security was addressing a large fogbank of high-grade resin hanging over the sidewalk directly in front of the venue as fans of the Aussie septet got their weed on. The vibe out front was all love and brotherly hugs as the fans of the neopsychedelic outfit adhere strongly to the hippie ethic and inside, it was thus also with the addition of genre touches like wizard hats and an excellent Lizard Gizzard mask.

There are some musicians who seem to achieve the near impossible by imprinting themselves in a memory with a flash of sheer individuality, a signature sound or something similar that makes them instantly recognisable. We can think of Dylan, The Beatles, The Stones – all musicians that have captured that remarkable essence over the years. I’m not trying to say that New York-born bluesman Eric Bibb is the new Lennon, McCartney or Dylan but he does have that extraordinary quality of a voice and musical style that renders him immediately recognisable, a rare familiarity bound up in his very being.

By my reckoning this is about his third release in the past twelve months, following hot on the heels of The Happiest Man In The World and Lead Belly’s Gold. Migration Blues takes as its theme the seldom more relevant subject of often necessary movement of the underprivileged and disadvantaged and the struggle for survival in a harsh world. Bibb has the evident ability to write songs with depth and meaning that also retain memorable melodic hooks and soulful purpose.

An early passion for jazz and blues developed upon first hearing the raw and emotive melancholy of Billie Holiday. This inspiration laid the foundation for growth as a vocalist and as an artist. Linda’s musical journey was further influenced by jazz and blues vocalists like Ella Fitzgerald, Carmen McRae, Mildred Bailey, Helen Humes, Valaida Snow and Lil Armstrong.

Linda’s eclectic repertoire includes rare and sometimes risque vintage songs of the 20’s, 30’s and 40’s, classic jazz and swing standards, cocktail lounge and torch ballads, to boogie woogie & roots blues.

Most recently, Linda has been found thrilling audiences at venues such as 70Down in Yorkville, Relish Bar & Grill, SpiritHouse/Foundry GastroPub, RasaBar, 120 Diner, Salutè Piano Bar, Gate 403, White Elephant Restaurant & Bar and Rasputin Vodka Lounge, and as well as various other venues and private functions.

Linda Carone’s debut recording, “Black Moonlight” is a must for any vintage blues/jazz lover and a worthy purchase for anyone’s music library.

On February 24th, 2017, Ian Janes released his latest solo album, Yes Man, to critical praise and acclaim from some of Canada’s most prestigious press.

A confident and soulful record, Yes Man creatively mixes Ian’s deepest influences and experiences. It is a combination of singularly written songs, as well as collaborations with other great writers from across North America. The album includes co-writes with Andy Stochansky (Goo Goo Dolls, Ani DiFranco, Shannon Noll), Jamie Hartman (Joss Stone, James Bay, Christina Aguilera) Lee Ann and Daryl Burgess (Irma Thomas, Colin James, Patty Loveless) and iconic Canadian songwriter, Joel Plaskett.

Earlier in February the first single from the album, “Broken Record”, was released and has been receiving regular play from CBC, Clic Franco, Sirius XM, and Stingray radio, and has kept Ian busy with interviews and in-studio performances.

Check out the lyric video for “Broken Record” here: http://bit.ly/2luXYbj

Orit Shimoni, the artist formerly known as Little Birdie, has a brand new album and it’s a dandy. The ten song set, ‘Soft Like Snow’, shows a whole other side to Orit than previous works. She has been dubbed “one of the nation’s most alluring vocalists,” by The Calgary Herald and “one of the most lyrically impactful vocalists” by Beatroute Magazine, and “a songwriters songwriter” by Cashbox Magazine Canada.

Orit (pronounced Oreet) became a full bore “hit the road “ touring musician after releasing two, highly acclaimed albums in Montreal.  She relocated to Berlin, Germany,   to write and record her third album. From that point on she has officially been living out of a suitcase. This is what makes her the songwriter she is. Songwriters often go on “songwriting trips” just to soak up a different climate, different customs and people. For Orit that is her life, always moving, always learning and experiencing by osmosis, life at its best and worst. She gets to write her songs on the road and perform them for a variety of crowds.

Yet again, Lucinda pulls out all the stops with another double album full to overflowing with her quirky, sly take on life, love, death and virtually everything in between.  Each of her previous two albums seem to have been sideshoots leading up to this offering where she again writes with extraordinary power and vision, depth and assurance, each of the 14 tracks seamlessly earning its place in the evocative and emotional mix.

A dozen tracks of complete hokum, as it clearly says on the album cover, from one of the USA's finest hoaxers and hoary frontmen. This guy is not just a comic with a challenging sense of humor, he's also one helluva singer/songwriter with an at times decidedly jaundiced eye on the skewed social and political world of modern America. I have to declare an interest from the very off with this offering: I absolutely love it. It makes me laugh out loud and the sheer inescapable mastery of the full-tilt, Stax-like horny (pun intended, as Barnes would expect) musical backing makes for totally irresistible stuff.

'Meet Me In The Bottom' is the first release for some years from New Jersey acoustic picker Fotusky. With echoes of his first album, 'Teasin' The Frets', Fotusky positively rips along here with simply stunning guitar mastery and an eclectic mix of material opening with Bo Carter's 'Who's Been Here', moving through Jelly Roll's classic 'Windin' Boy Blues', some Robert Johnson, Leroy Carr, Willie McTell, Gary Davis, among others, and the album title track from Bumble Bee Slim. Fotusky also includes a handful of self-written originals to good effect.

This is without doubt a top-dollar album, bursting at the 13-track seams with superb old-style acoustic ragtime-blues fretwork on both six and twelve-string guitars, and fine vocal accompaniment. Make no mistake, this guy is one Helluva guitar picker and this is an album that works really well in every way and at every level.

Praised for her “sensitive and passionate artistic interpretation”, Christine Vanderkooy performs extensively as a solo pianist and collaborative artist. She has completed the Young Artist tour as winner of the Ontario Registered Music Teacher’s Association Competition, a recital tour of Canada in 2007 as a SSHRC grant recipient, and a solo recital tour of Europe in 2008, also as a SSHRC grant recipient, performing in Ireland, England, and Spain. Christine has performed at the Eckhardt-Grammaté National Piano Competition, the Gaudeamus International Competition in the Netherlands, and was invited to perform at Carnegie Hall in the Dietrich Fischer Dieskau Workshop (before he cancelled!). Recent performances include solo recitals atBishop’s University, the JS BachHaus in Ontario, SUNY Oswego in New York, and the Regina Musical Club.