This week was supposed to be a busy one for Amadeus. They were booked to play in front of music business professionals from around the world at the Mastering the Music Business Conference and Showcase Festival. Like almost all other events, it got cancelled. So Amadeus decided to have their concert online, from their rehearsal room, for the whole world to enjoy. 

Amadeus has been working hard for more than a month. Xenti Runceanu, the band's composer, and producer finished writing and arranging the songs. Andreea, Patricia, Bianca, and Laura rehearsed daily. Amadeus' showcase at MMB was supposed to be a big step in the quartet's artistic evolution. They were ready to showcase their brand new, never heard before songs from their future album.

These are songs that express the current personalities of the four Amadeus members like no other songs have done it before: strong, independent women in love with playing music together, on their instruments.

Ontario-based indie rock singer/songwriter Craig Dougan harkens the daily experience of some 7,000 people who call Nunavut’s remote capital home in his newly minted single, “Iqaluit” — available now!

“The music was done first, and the lyrics came after,” he recalls of the songwriting process. “The video essentially became a storyboard for the song.”

Inspiration and the songwriting process was almost meditative in its origins for Dougan this time around, with the subject matter coming to him with a sense of ease — eyes closed, quiet on his couch. “I went into a deep concentration and kept asking myself, ‘what should I write about?’” he shares. “A few minutes later, the word ‘Nunavut’ popped into my head.”

From there, the song started to spring to life, taking on the feeling of a research project as he dove headfirst into learning the lighter side of day-to-day life for the residents of Canada’s northernmost capital city.

Canadian alt. wave, art pop indie artist Kendal Thompson (literally) exercises her acting chops in this, her latest video for “Not UR Girl”.

Watch “Not UR Girl” here:
https://youtu.be/CygZOXq4vic

“The song was born from a place of gaining back my power,” she shares. “It helped me understand that my happiness relied on belonging to no one other than myself.”

“Not UR Girl” is Thompson’s latest from her most recent album, Ok Cool. The deeply personal collection of songs picks up where previous single, “Human Feel” — and its exploration of universal love and acceptance of both one’s self and others — leaves off, and serves as a welcome follow-up to her take-notice debut EP, One, and feature in John Orpheus’ song, “BUTTAHFLY.”

The new single "Home" by the acclaimed Swedish folk/Singer-Songwriter Simon Alexander has been released today and added to Spotify New Music today in Germany, Switzerland, Norway,Denmark & Iceland as well as Spotify editorial playlists "Hangover Friendly" and "New Talent"

Alexander has had mentions in  Influential blogs as TONSPION.DE - museek.de - altitude - dansendeberen - popmuzik.se - Gas Mask Magazine - CashBox Canada

On the heels of his successful EP "In The Rust”, the single “Home” is sure to make new airwaves happen for this singer/songwriter sensation.

Watch “Home” here:
https://youtu.be/DucuRX9RraQ

Simon Alexander, a Swedish singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Simon Alexander emerged in 2017 with the self-released debut EP ’Won't Be Found’, breathing new air into the modern folk scene.

What happens when you mix the passion for Roots, Rockabilly and Gypsy music with the love for Americana, Country and Jazz music? You get a whole new genre called "Gypsybilly" created by THE VIGNATIS. This aurally and visually colourful Los Angeles based Franco-American duo is dynamic, with performances that charter audiences on a journey from nostalgic times to the unknown future. They defy classification yet cover a gamut of genres forming a unique musical alloy of Neo Roots Alt. Americana Swing. They innovatively fuse American/European traditions, musicianship and a sense of humour cleverly expressed in the music and lyrics of their songs. 

The Vignatis are gearing up for a new 4th album release of their Gypsybilly originals slated for May 15, 2020, entitled "Red, White & Blue - Gypsybilly Vol. 4". This album is sure to get anyone excited to load up the car complete with a picnic basket, cooler, blankets and hit the highway for that long summer road trip.

Award-winning BC Country Music Female Artist of the Year Ajaye Jardine has released a new video for her good vibe track, “Fill It Up Again”.

Watch “Fill It Up Again” here:
https://youtu.be/DkQFpd_XEgY

With over 100,000 streams and counting, the song is the latest to shine off the Richmond, BC-based country/roots/pop artist’s award-nominated debut album, Midnight & Bourbon.

A finalist for the 2016 Ole on The Spot via Anthem Entertainment (previously Ole Publishing), Jardine was nominated for both Record of the Year at the Tennessee Songwriter Association International Awards and multiple BC Country Music Award nominations — in addition to her 2019 win for Female Artist of the Year.

Canadian indie alt-rocker Laszlo is paying retrospective homage to MTV and its stars in his latest single, “Girls on MTV (80s Guy, The Way It Should Be)”.

The song and its lyrical muse take on a whole new meaning when you learn Laszlo grew up in a fundamentalist religious cult, and his access to music — particularly rock music — was a journey all its own.

Quick backstory:  despite not having much in the way of money, Laszlo’s mother had one requirement of her children — piano and violin lessons. While the music of all genres would ultimately play throughout the house, his first CD (Rush’s Farewell to Kings) had to be hidden under his bed and listened to quietly, his ear pressed against the speaker.

Still young and not having the funds for his own guitar, Laszlo was eventually given one from his brother; it had four or five strings, he recalls, and in light of his relentless rock-centric practicing, the family started to come around to his sound.

How do you warm up on frigid frosty Friday in February in Toronto? With some hot music at Toronto’s iconic listening room Hugh’s Room Live. The Western Swing Authority’s return engagement at Hugh’s Room was a show for the ages. The night was a typically cold February night in Hogtown but the searing licks and the powerful vocals and an enthusiastic crowd suddenly made the room Texas Hot.

The Western Swing Authority’s album is called Big Deal and the band is the Real Deal. Every member of this band is at the top of their field in Canadian music, a virtual supergroup. Drummer Jimmy Boudreau puts the swing in Western swing, the bass player for this night was Mark McIntrye filling in Matthew Lima, guitar wizard Paul Chapman is one the best you’ll hear on the other side of border, Ed “Pee Wee Charles” Ringwald on steel guitar has won CCMA’s top award so many times he’s no longer eligible and has inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame and spent 18 years with Gordon Lightfoot, the twin fiddle pairing of Shane Guse and Dan Howlet give WSA that authentic Western swing feel that is so hard to produce on stage.

Toronto alt-pop singer/songwriters Caardia caution the dangers of cell phone and social media dependency in their newest single and video, “The Deep End”.

The second single — and the title track — from their critically acclaimed debut EP, The Deep End, sisters Celia and Annie Siriopoulos penned the song with producer Ryan Guay and Erik Van Wissen.

“‘The Deep End’ is about the dependency people have on cell phones in society today,” Celia offers on the song’s origin. “And the false reality they create for themselves,” Annie adds.

For the song, the Siriopoulos sisters were keen to shine a light on the issue by stressing the importance of wrongly-represented realities and false intimacies of relationships — no matter the context — through a screen. The pair spare no allusive punches staking claim to the severity of the situation, playing out real relationships fragmenting and handcuffs attached to cell phones.

“Not only do people depend on social media, but they fall so far into this false reality that they are unable to escape,” Annie continues. “The video is a visual experience symbolizing how lost and vulnerable people become.”

Canadian electro-pop dynamo Mauve has released her dazzling, must-hear and newest single, “Must Be” — the latest off her recent and award-winning EP, Palette.

To say Mauve delivers a velvety lush voice perfectly folded within her infectiously catchy, light but a layered brand of chill-bop tropical house and RnB beats would be understating just how immersive and engaging the listening experience for this self-produced artist’s work is.

With more than 1,460,000 streams across all platforms — including features on more than 350 influential playlists — the rapidly emerging artist has stacked those stats with good reason; Mauve was nominated for a 2018 Niagara Music Award for “Best New Artist” and her single “Come Around” took top honours at the 2019 InterContinental Music Awards for “Best of North America.”

Canadian country sensation Kelsi Mayne says she made decisions on the fly when it comes to this, her newest single “As I Go” — and the results could not be better. 

“The hook states, ‘I’m gonna make it up As I Go…’ which is precisely what we did when we wrote this song!” Mayne says, recalling the process. “My two brilliant Nashville co-writers, Brett Sheroky and Drew Powell met with me at the end of my long-winded, five-month writing trip in the ‘Music City,’ but we were all drained of ideas.

Canadian jazz-pop artist Katie Ditschun marks a new spot on the music map with the release of “Here We Are” — the latest single off her debut album, Spare Skirt, available now! 

Recorded in Ottawa, and featuring some of Eastern Ontario’s best jazz musicians, the track and album feature Ditschun on vocals, piano, and ukulele — a nod to the singer/songwriter’s self-described style of quirky piano pop meets serious jazz notes and thematic, explorative story-based lyricism. 

“My songs are about relationships — of love, and of those often confused for love,” she explains of the album’s overall notion. “I’m particularly interested in situations where people lack self-knowledge or gain greater awareness about oneself or one’s place in the world.

“‘Here We Are’ speaks to the feeling that there’s some distance between what your life is and how you thought it would turn out, who you thought you’d become, or where you thought you’d be.” 

Watch Katie Ditschun - Here We Are (Official Music Video)
here: https://youtu.be/rUDYNTcQH5E

Canadian indie darkwave dance-pop artist Elizabeth Leslie releases “To The Next” and Brave Animal, a searingly insightful EP calling attention to a world grappling with problems of man’s making.

“To The Next” is one of three bewitchingly packaged in Brave Animal. The release stands as Leslie’s (she/her) monument to the contemporary ennui of living through climate change and capitalism as a non-binary queer person in a vastly heteronormative society.

Watch “To The Next” here:
https://youtu.be/8GBYZsbK7sY

JUNO and multi-Maple Blues Award winner Steve Hill is “All About The Love”.

Under the newly minted guise of Steve Hill & The Devil Horns, the rollicking musical mashup of 70s rock mixed with 60s Gospel and Soul is an unexpected hear-to-believe moment in Hill’s extensive library of songcraft — and a glimpse into Hill’s forthcoming new album release this year.

“It’s basically a mix of two styles that aren’t really supposed to fit together in the same song,” he says. “Somehow, though… It works.”

Beyond the wildly surprising juxtaposition of genres, the song’s origin story continues with case after case of self-admitted near-misses and thank-goodnesses.

Five-time JUNO Award winner and three-time GRAMMY Award nominee — plus the recipient of the Order of Canada, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal, and the Premier’s Award for Excellence — Jane Bunnett and her all-female collective Maqueque have been nominated for a 2020 JUNO Award. 

The nod for Jazz Album of the Year: Group comes for the collective’s latest release, On Firm Ground / Tierra Firme (Linus Entertainment). 

In just five years, Bunnett harnessed her veteran jazz icon status and talent as a soprano saxophone player, flautist and composer to evolve Maqueque from a creative mentorship into a GRAMMY Award-nominated, critically acclaimed and industry heralded support platform that honours, amplifies and elevates the newest generation of young, female musicians hailing from around the world. 

Watch Jane Bunnett and Maqueque here:
Monkey See Monkey Do
https://youtu.be/Hnh-LEhThzA

Esteemed pianist, bandleader and educator Andy Milne is excited to announce the release of his new album, The reMISSION, out April 10 on Sunnyside Records with his new trio Unison. Marking Milne’s first foray into piano trio performance, the album is a stunning shift in direction in the artist’s illustrious career. In late 2017, a life-changing cancer diagnosis forced Milne into a period of reflection over his fruitful career, a reevaluation of his direction as an artist, and finally, remission. Added to the mix was an unexpected offer (which he accepted), for a full-time professorship from The University of Michigan. After conquering his diagnosis, Milne seized the opportunity to tackle a musical venture that he has always found exciting, and at times daunting: the powerful intimacy of the piano trio format.

This is the third single from Simon Alexander, from the upcoming EP “In The Rust” which is due out February 28, 2020.

Swedish singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Simon Alexander emerged in 2017 with the self-released debut EP ’Won't Be Found’, breathing new air into the modern folk scene. By continuously releasing several self-recorded acoustic tracks he quickly gained recognition for his profound lyrics and heartfelt vocal melodies, getting comparisons to Matt Corby and Dylan LeBlanc. After a collaboration with producer Tobias Ekqvist, from Hurricane Love, two singles, ’Slide' and ’Last Dance', was released in 2018 after signing with Swedish record label Rehn Music Group. The new singles showed a wider range of songwriting, venturing into a more pop-infused direction, and was featured on Spotify curated playlists such as New Music Friday in several countries.

Irene Atman’s newest release “Because I’m A Woman” is more than just a single and album for the Canadian jazz-pop singer/songwriter... The song — and its uplifting video featuring a diverse montage of women from around the world — are the multi-talented artist’s passionate and celebratory anthem for empowerment and movement towards equality.

“Now more than ever, I thought it was time for a women’s anthem,” Atman reflects on the bluesy, gospel-inspired song and its newly minted video, available in time for International Women’s Day. “In writing ‘Because I’m A Woman’ I was able to personally tap into some of the emotional challenges that face many other women in their various careers, from pay equity to ageism, and beyond.

“I wanted to do something as a global salute to women around the world this March 8th — International Women’s Day,” she continues of the day’s importance. “This is for women everywhere. This is my tribute.”

“Because I’m A Woman” single is streaming now and the video is in tribute to International Women’s Day is available on YouTube starting today.

Award-winning contemporary jazz artist Fiona Ross is out today with her newest single, “For My Dad” — available now! The second track on her newest album, Fierce and Non-Compliant, ‘For My Dad” is especially noteworthy for being one of two especially raw and pared-down productions as live, musically pared-back takes completed in a stairwell.

“I wanted the production to reflect the honesty of the song: raw and real,” Ross confides. “This album ended up being a really personal journey, and this song just happened. I was going through my songwriting book and found a list of chords. I had no idea what they were for, and they had no lyrics with them.

“So I turned them into a song for my dad.”

Listen and Watch Fiona Ross: “For My Dad” here:
https://youtu.be/eS9rmWHB4_Q

Derry, Ireland alt. indie electro-rock export Ramshackle Rodeo has released a debut album, 2019’s Back from the East, and new single “Duga 3”.

Helmed by frontman and main brain Stephen Cassidy, and produced by Nail O’Doherty, “Duga 3” is a sonic cycle through grunge up guitar riffs and consistent, persistent percussion at its feet.

“This is a spiritually coherent, no-frills, bedroom-produced, genre-splitting musical narrative,” Cassidy says, laying bare the genesis of both the track and the nine songs that precede it on the record. “There are melodies and rhythms that trade places in ambient, rock and dystopian electronic soundscapes.

“There are echoes of early 90s Baggy and House to be heard, re-remembered like foggy dreams.”

“Duga 3” and Back from the East are available now.