Bluesy, twangy and reflective, Gary Edward Allen’s “First Day of School Part 1” – is an ode to one’s inner child and the immutable person within us. Check it out here:

 “I like the idea of being true to yourself and knowing that the core of you is just as true at seven as it at 27 or 54 or however old you are,” Allen says.

If I could run away .... but not to follow
I'm so easily led astray …
Once I passed a note to the child I once was…

The acclaimed, JUNO-winning Canadian saxophonist and composer Christine Jensen is proud to announce her forthcoming jazz orchestra album Harbour, due out on June 28^th via Nettwerk/Justin Time Records. The follow-up to her two previous award-winning jazz orchestra albums Habitat (2013) and Treelines (2010), Harbour features a searing set of originals penned by Jensen over the last decade. Featuring some of New York and Montreal’s top improvisers, Harbour represents a departure point from leaving shelter and emerging into the new world, with the ensemble playing with acoustic and electric elements from Jensen’s compositions. The first taste of the album comes with “Fantasy On Blue,” a feature for Ingrid Jensen commissioned in celebration of the 60^th anniversary of the Miles Davis’ seminal work, Kind of Blue.

The Canadian hard rock powerhouse hailing from Ottawa, Ontario, The Space Between, known for its articulate riffs, powerful melodies, and aggressive rhythms is excited to announce the release of their newest single, "Crooked & Hollow" – Check it out on YouTube here:

Crooked & Hollow delves into the introspective journey of lead vocalist and lyricist Maryn Pegan, exploring themes of self-perception and grappling with personal demons. "The title 'Crooked & Hollow' sparked images of looking into a mirror and not recognizing oneself," says Pegan.

This song serves as a cathartic outlet for angst and anger, fueled by Pegan's personal battles with self-confidence, a struggle that resonates with many young people.

Penning a tribute to a fallen loved one is an unavoidably personal undertaking. Whether the finished product ends up sounding like a private moment we shouldn’t be eavesdropping on, or like a gift to be shared with all humanity, is entirely up to the quality of the artist.

Toronto-based singer-songwriter Matt Von has taken the latter tack on his affecting new single, “Still in My Heart.” Ostensibly a paean to his mother, who passed away in 2023 after a more than 18-month battle with cancer, the song strikes a universal chord that transcends his own harrowing experience and rockets it straight into the stratosphere of mass catharsis. And in the algebra of popcraft, mass catharsis equals a great song. Watch it on YouTube here:

Life’s highest highs often accompany its lowest lows. Regina, Saskatchewan pianist and singer-songwriter Jeffery Straker knows this well. He’s opening up about some of the lessons he’s recently learned on his new single, “The Time You’ve Got,” out everywhere now. Check it out on YouTube here:

 “In the past five years I’ve watche both of my parents pass away,” Straker shares. “I’ve also found love in my partner of four years, Michael. Losing my parents has made me reflect on where it is that I was born, then decided to leave, and then felt drawn back to in recent years. All throughout this I’ve become cognizant of time: how precious it is and how important it is to use it wisely.”

In the realm of music, there are songs that transcend mere melodies and lyrics, touching the very soul with their heartfelt resonance. "Hold Me Tight," the latest release from the talented artist Harriet Chung, stands as a shining example of such a song—a poignant anthem of love and security that captivates listeners with its emotional depth and sincerity. Check it out on YouTube here:

 Crafted by the skilled songwriter George Chiang and brought to life through Chung's soul-stirring vocals, "Hold Me Tight" is more than just a musical composition; it's a journey through the intricacies of human emotion, wrapped in the soothing embrace of harmonious melodies and heartfelt lyrics.

The award-winning Oregon-based jazz singer-songwriter Halie Loren is proud to release her new full-length album Dreams Lost and Found out now via Nettwerk/Justin Time Records. 

This collection of songs explores themes of longing, seeking, and seeing with new eyes — the falling away of old illusions and outgrown desires, finding new visions for love and life, allowing some dreams to die to make space for new dreams to be born. The album captures the live essence of her music, that has led to tours and performances for audiences worldwide. The 14-song effort sees Halie lend her take on standards, originals, and her personal favorites. 

When you need a pep talk in how to get the most out of life, you always want to turn to a woman who grows food out of her own poop.

Okay, hear us out. Yes, it’s true that Goldy Locks, lead singer and mastermind of Nashville’s house-shaking Goldy lockS Band (yes, that’s how she spells it), recently appeared on a 2023 of TLC’s Extreme Cheapskates to explain how she uses her own feces as garden compost. She also mentioned that she collects stray socks from the laundromat to use as sanitary napkins and cuts down on her bar tab by finishing strangers’ discards. But before you dismiss her as some sort of crackpot, you owe it to yourself to take a listen to her band’s new single, “Just Say Yes,” a simply undeniable instant anthem that could convert just about anyone to her philosophy that the glass is always half full (especially when it isn’t yours).

Listen on Spotify here: open.spotify.com/album/6w5oQUynNcVNuJz8mkosIc

After four decades in the music business, Glen Foster has earned the right to break any rule he wants. And this happy iconoclast shows no signs of compromise on “White Funeral,” a whimsically morbid country-blues number that appears on his latest album, the trend-bucking Unnatural Tendencies. Check it out on YouTube here:

Like a winking eulogy to a vanishing era, the song finds Foster chronicling the impending demise of one Old Snake, a “hardened old metaphoric character” who gets stranded in the desert just as it’s starting to snow.

Ruth Moody is releasing the second single from Wanderer,her first new album in over a decade. Moody's clear soprano soars on "Already Free," a song Moody says is "for anyone who is ready to let go of the weight they are carrying and be free”.

Check out Ruth Moody on YouTube here: youtube.com/@ruthmoodyvideos

"I wrote the lyrics during the pandemic This was me, saying ‘I’m not coping well, I’m losing my grip’ and finding strength in that admission. It’s a song about that moment of reckoning, that acceptance of vulnerability and surrender that ultimately helps us to find our resilience.”

Les Stroud, the renowned Rock musician from Huntsville, Ontario, is proud to announce the release of his newest single, “Ancients Call,” – Check it out on YouTube here:

 This impactful and moving song breaks through musical limits, encouraging listeners to rekindle their bond with the earth and the knowledge of their ancestors. Ancients Call is more than a mere track; it's a deep dive into Stroud's spiritual and emotional exploration, inspired by earth ceremonies around the world.

Drawing inspiration from the survival expert’s adventures while filming the series Beyond Survival, Ancients Call mirrors his immersion into numerous earth ceremonies, from Ayahuasca and San Pedro rituals to ceremonies honouring the elements and Incan high priests.

It’s been quite wild ride for Ottawa roots singer/songwriter and keyboard player Jeff Rogers over the past 6 months.

Last fall he had the thrill of opening for The Legendary Downchild Blues Band on their sold-out Ontario theatre tour, to great response. The February 16, 2024, American and international release of his new album Dream Job, recorded in the revered music mecca of Muscle Shoals, Alabama, helped the album hit Top 5 on the Roots Music Report Canada Album Chart alongside The Dead South on March 30, 2024. Stellar album reviews south of the border from respected magazines like Downbeat and praise from Billboard Canada as “one to watch in 2024”, have helped put Jeff Rogers on the map internationally.

On June 27^th, Rogers will hit the stage with his 10-piece band at the Ottawa Jazz Festival to open for American alternative/indie darlings Lake Street Dive, who just happen to be one of Rogers’ favourite bands.

With the buzz building, Rogers is set to release his brand-new lyric video for his first single “Lock & Key” TODAY. Watch it now at https://youtu.be/hZXP6n_NG8g

Cashbox Canada has spent the last few years forming a strong bond with Sweden and we have seen so many talented emerging artists that deserve some recognition. So we now have a column devoted to that called Knock! Knock! based on the song by Sweden’s Bara Jonson and Free. The artist reviews will be written and presented by Malin Osth and Jonas Tancred of BjF, carefully chosen by their expert musical ears and featured here, proving as always that music has no borders.

Knock! Knock! Meet:

Agnes Mai – An Old Soul With A Young Heart

Submitted by Malin Ostha and Jonas Tancred

One way of describing Agnes Mai is that she is a 21-year-old singer-songwriter from Lund, Sweden. Softspoken, maybe a bit shy.

Another way to describe her is that she from her first note grabs a firm hold of you and that she will not let go until she has told you all her stories, until you feel what she felt, until you understand.

An old soul with a young heart indeed.

When one man honestly commits his emotions to record, that’s par for the musical course. But when he conscripts nearly 200 people to join him in it … well, you’re in for a lot of feelings.

And a lot of feelings is what we get on “Hearts On Fire,” a spotlight track from Brookfield, Nova Scotia-based singer/songwriter/ukulelist James Hill’s latest album, Uke Heads. Hill enlisted a legion of his friends and fans to appear with him on the record, with the new single as a particularly effective advertisement that an enormous collective can still convey the solitary sorrows and joys of an individual soul. Watch YouTube here:

Break out your velvet couches, champagne flutes, and Soul Train swagger: Performance artist, musician and author John Orpheus brings back the golden age of get-down on his mood fixer of a new single, “Get Right!” Watch on YouTube here:

Like an urgent, time-traveling bulletin from an era when funk, punk and pop coexisted happily on the dancefloor, the new record finds the Trinidad-born, Toronto-based Orpheus applying his talent for musical shapeshifting to deliver a motivational sermon that's nostalgically succinct:

If it feel right, jump on it
If it ain’t right, we don’t want it
If it ain’t right, we don’t get your money

Canadian singer and songwriter Annabel Gutherz unveils her new single, “Shame,” out now. Following the success of her latest single, “Eclipse,” this new track continues to introduce listeners to Annabel’s unique blend of classic rock influences and modern pop sounds. "Shame" was co-written with and produced by Mikal Blue (OneRepublic, Jason Mraz, Colbie Caillat) and Bret “Epic” Mazur (Crazy Town, Prince, The Black Eyed Peas). Check it out on YouTube:

Every once in a while, you need to hear a friend say, “Just keep going.” Would that they could all do it with the priceless gift for melody Canadian country upstart Angie Bohlke brings to the subject on “Don’t Give In,” a musical wellspring of support that’s the latest single from her debut album, The Best Part of Me. Check it out on YouTube here:

It’s impossible to remain unswayed by Bohlke’s sincerity as she implores a loved on to persevere and vows the result will be worth it. Imparting thoughtful coping strategies like “trust in yourself” and “think of something beautiful; a place you’ve never been,” she makes the emotional stakes plain on the song’s absolute haymaker of a chorus:

Having a foot in two cultures can sometimes feel like being torn between two lovers, and never getting any satisfaction. Turkish-British alternative artist Onur Sevigen tackles this conundrum in his sensual, suspenseful, and cinematic new single “My Way” – check it out on YouTube here:

Fusing R&B, hip hop, and a falsetto rivaling Prince, “My Way” is percussive and passionate and perfectly captures a spirit in conflict.

“Growing up the son of immigrant parents packs on more challenges than one’s average coming of age story,” Onur explains. “Trying to navigate relationships, life, ambitions and also not belonging fully to either country is almost like being bisexual and not ever fully experiencing what it is to love both sexes, or at least being repressed in a way by society to choose one or the other.”

Some things never go out of style, like having your heart broken and boozing away the pain. Vancouver country crooner Justin Mattock pulls up a barstool and aligns himself squarely with that proud tradition on his latest single, the irresistibly besotted “Where I Come to Drink.”

An instant classic of the tears-in-your-beer genre, the song chronicles the fallout of what Mattock has called “a goodbye that wasn’t meant to be permanent.”

“We had stories in this bottle/ Never time to take a sip,” our crestfallen narrator laments. “Black and white label and a colt cigar hanging off my bottom lip.” The picture painted and the stage duly set, his voice rises in righteous self-pity to let us know just what this night is going to entail. 

Exploring the contents of our grandparents’ houses as children can be a profound sensory experience, a journey back in time for our imaginations, and a map of clues to who we are, where we came from, and who we can become. For Michael Saracino, it was the wonderment of his childhood discoveries of Christmas cards from Duke Ellington, scribblings from Louis Armstrong on a Blue Note napkin, and his grandfather Ernest’s own simple words of advice that molded those deep, lasting impressions. In his lifetime, Ernest Orlando was a part of establishing the Toronto Jazz Society along with lifelong friend, pianist & composer Norm Amadio, which helped bring touring jazz musicians to the city, which brought touring jazz musicians into Canada and provided them a place to perform. “If you want to play music forever, that’s great'', Ernest had told Michael as a boy. “Just make sure you have a plan.”