Swedish rock solo project Winterland approaches music with a down-to-earth perspective. Reminiscent of rock bands like Fleetwood Mac, Dire Straits and Hall and Oates with strong influences from the 70s, while making it their own sound, blending nostalgic sounds with a fresh approach.

Listen on Spotify here:open.spotify.com/artist/3Tt6uqSiDr4QMC8efjaIKG

A music enthusiast from an early age, Fredrik Nilsson the bands writer has played with several bands over the years, allowing him to develop a mature sound, which permeated his previous project, the band Waterhil!

Winterland was signed to Gothenburg-based Rexius Records in 2021, and released it’s first album titled Winterland in February 2023. Winterland currently works on their second album which will be released during 2023.

instagram.com/winterland.music

Love is a double-edged sword. At its highs, nothing beats it. At its lows, you’re fully defeated. Toronto indie rock band The Alter Kakers captured the torrid experience of a love affair gone wrong in its latest single, “Stopped Being In Love.” Check it out on YouTube here:

Combining influences from both rock and country, vocalist and guitarist Steve Bronstein serenades the listener with a twangy sound that emanates the emotion and turbulence of a relationship falling apart. He starts from the beginning, explaining how he and the nameless woman met at a truck stop some time ago. The relationship unfolded from there, but it fell apart down the line, and now Bronstein confesses that he might have stopped being in love.

The track intertwines with the band’s motif - alter kaker is a Yiddish term for an old person, or as the band likes to call it, it means “an old fart.”

Meïa Santiago’s new single “I Can’t Stay From You,” produced by Prince’s Music Director and keyboardist Morris Hayes, tells the full arc of a love story. Blending pop, jazz, and Latin with yearning lyrics, Santiago infuses each note with sensuality, infatuation, and heartbreak. Check it out on YouTube here:

Meïa found inspiration from a relationship that bloomed and ended in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic. As a Spaniard living in New York City, she was particularly vulnerable—being far away from home, friends, and even sense of self. Despite love lost, Meïa’s lyrics center hope: “Through the open window I hear / 3 little birds singing / To make a new start / Sweet love bring me your wings / So I can fly away.” And in the midst of darkness, she rekindled another love: her love of music.

Award-winning singer-songwriter Julian Taylor releases a new single “Georgia Moon,” out now. It is one of the new songs from his forthcoming retrospective collection, “Anthology Volume One”, set to release October 20, 2023.

Listen on Spotify here: open.spotify.com/track/4rccvQd9g94LPiej5ZQk4l

Julian Taylor talks about “Georgia Moon”: This is one of the first songs that I wrote when I was still in high school and my band was starting to do some shows in and around the city. I remember really focusing on writing this song from a third person point of view and trying to convey a tale that took place in a sort of Wild West, modern romantic era. Even though the song is very dark, it doesn’t come off that way. tells the tale of a bandit and someone chasing him all over the Eastern Seaboard. I used to play this song frequently at open stages, and it went over really well. It was never officially recorded before this, and as I reflect on much of my work, it felt like the right time to go back into the studio and finally nail it down."

Watch it on YouTube here:

In celebration of Emancipation Day, JAMBANA™ One World Festival takes place on Monday, August 7^th from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Gage Park in Brampton. Canada’s premier “fun for the family” festival, JAMBANA™ celebrates the sights, sounds, and tastes of this nation’s diversity.

The festival ignites passion and inspires creativity, while representing Canada’s African and Caribbean communities through performances by internationally acclaimed bands, artists, and JUNO Award winners.

Headliner Fab 5 celebrates 50 years in the music industry, while other featured acts include Steele, Nana McLean, Joshua Lucas, Rayzalution, Kairo McLean, Chelsea Stewart, Dance Caribe, Dale Brown & True Praise, and Hardcore Band. The festivities this year are hosted by Master T and Tanya Mullings.

Admission is free and, in addition to great vibes and rhythms, the festival will feature arts and crafts vendors, community vendors, as well as delicious food. There’s tons of free parking in downtown Brampton. Bring a lawn chair for maximum enjoyment of the show!

About JAMBANA™ One World Festival:

An ode to the golden age of crooners, Mississauga-based Jazz musician/vocalist Heather Christine dazzles with her latest uplifting song about the timeless romance of being with your partner on the new original single “Walking With You” – Check it out on YouTube here:

Inspired by vocal legends like Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett and Judy Garland, “Walking With You” is a wonderous musical number that draws on the careers of giants and was recorded and produced by renowned Canadian Producer and pianist Bill King.

Sometimes when you’re in the heat and tumult of living, it’s hard to know exactly what a particular time of your life might mean. Toronto-based folk rocker Gary Edward Allen captures the beauty and confusion of youth in his warm, reflective new single “Understood” – Check it out on YouTube here:

Featuring the very steel guitar used on Gordon Lightfoot’s “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” Allen’s “Understood” is jangly, melancholy, and journeying through the years. The song begins with a beautiful walk home, one that the narrator can still see vividly in his mind’s eye:

The trees they dance and sway

The traffic rolls by
We live in complicated times
From the floor of an old friends house
...pictures hanging upside down 

When you're worried too much about what others think of you, it can be hard to be yourself. Sometimes, the right song can give you the encouragement you need to let go of other's perceptions of you. Long Island, NY based Hip-Hop artist Freddy D aims to encourage listeners to be themselves in his new single, "Life Of The Party."

Check out the "Life Of The Party" on YouTube here:

The song kicks off with the chorus right from the start as Freddy D asserts that they will keep being who they are even when no one is paying attention or when people hate them. He raps against a trippy backbeat that is just as catchy as the lyrics.

There’s nothing more torturous, and bittersweet, about being half in and half out of a relationship. Louisville, KY-based rockers Feral Vices capture that limbo with their dark, driving, metallic anthem “Black As The Sea” – check it out on YouTube here:

“Black As The Sea” chronicles a relationship that’s become soul-sucking, no matter how much the narrator also wishes he could stay:

You want to take it from me,
This hole's as black as the sea
You want to take it from me,
But I would give it to you

We all need to get away sometimes. Depending on where you are, some places are better vacation spots than others. For Middleport, NY-based alternative folk singer Evan Anstey, that place is "Arizona", as heard in his jubilant new single. Check it out on YouTube here:

The song opens with a stirring guitar and fiddle intro before Anstey starts singing against a steady train-like rhythm before the banjo launches into the chorus. The rhythm creates a sense of wistful wanderlust that enhances the emotional impact of the lyrics as Anstey sings of a place to beat the blues. By the time the chorus comes in, Anstey’s vocals are passionate and soaring as he sings of Arizona and the state's gorgeous mountain views.

Sometimes, it feels like everyone is on their own. When this happens, you can feel powerless to do anything to make your life better. However, the right call to action can motivate people to change things. Toronto-based rock artist Carlos Thurler rallies the people in his new single "Divided."

Check it out on YouTube here:

The song opens with a steady blues rock riff that hooks the listener right before Thurler comes in with gravelly vocals. The first verse establishes the song's grim tone as it discusses how people try to stay sane in a hopeless world. As the chorus comes in, Thurler sings of how it might take the world burning before people come together to make a change.

54-40 has been telling Canada where they came from and where they’re going for the last 40 years. Now, it’s time for lead vocalist and guitarist Neil Osborne, bassist Brad Merritt, guitarist, keyboardist and vocalist Dave Genn, and drummer Matt Johnson (with the help of keyboardist David “Oz” Osborne) to reveal their band culture in a collection of songs called ‘West Coast Band.’ Through self-referential and often very literal stories, the songs explore bizarre shenanigans, odd dynamics, and personalities of its members. 

‘West Coast Band.’ Is the first single offering from the forthcoming album of the same name, out October 6, 2023. The track is an autobiographical origin story of 54•40. The sound and production pay homage to the local Vancouver music scene that inspired Neil and Brad to form 54•40 and commit to a creative life. Check it out on YouTube here:

Danny Michel and Steve Poltz met at a little Canadian folk festival a dozen years ago and became quick pals, creating one-of-a-kind live musical experiences on the spot.

Danny Michel is one of Canada's finest songwriters. A musical chameleon, able to slip into many genres with ease. An adventurous and unbounded artist. Danny's single "Don't Be So Hard On Yourself" was the 2022 #1 Fan Voted Song Of The Year on CBC Music's Top 20.

Halifax-born, California-raised Steve Poltz is a storytelling genius, weaving threads through songs to make you laugh and cry. He's hyper, charismatic, spontaneous, joyous. A little bit Robin Williams, a little bit James Taylor - a live show legend.

On this tour, they'll hit the stage with their own solo sets and sweeten the evening with impromptu collaborations. Carefree. Fearless. You have to be there to see it LIVE. Expect the unexpected.

Recent Women in Music Canada Honour Roll recipient and Cultural Diversity Award Winner, Shumaila Hemani, Ph.D., releases a non-western art song: “Primordial Covenant” from her upcoming second album: Kashf (unveiling). Check it out on YouTube here:

“Primordial Covenant” is based on Hemani’s poem that was published in Alberta’s literary feminist magazine: New Forum (2021) and nominated for the Alberta Magazine Awards in Poetry (2022).

“Primordial Covenant is an anthem for trans-Cultural Canada, as it strives for greater equity, diversity, and inclusion while integrating the multiple beliefs and faith practices in its cultural life,” says Hemani.

Warm days, wind in your hair, not a single care in the world. Nanaimo, BC- based singer-songwriter Glen Foster captures the ease and breeze of the perfect summer road trip with his new single “Different Highway” from his forthcoming album Unnatural Tendencies.

Using a 12-string electric guitar to imbue the song with a little bit o’ twang reminiscent of the Byrds’ Roger McGuinn or George Harrison on “Eight Days a Week,” Foster purposely sought a ’60s Summer of Love vibe on “Different Highway.”

That was me you saw for a fleeting glimpse
Out of the corner of your eye
You were standing in line with him waiting there When I went shuffling by
You looked so cute when I caught your glance Your ticket in your hand
I knew you were excited to see me again
Here on my one night stand

The song waxes introspective and philosophical on the musician’s life itself. “The concept is that musicians may be on a different highway, but still chasing the same old dream,” Foster explains.

Highly renowned Canadian classical guitarist Emma Rush is set to captivate audiences with the release of her latest album, "A Dream of Colour” is inspired by the life and works of impressionist painter, William Blair Bruce. Collaborating once again with her long-time producer Kirk Starkey, Rush recorded the album in her hometown of Hamilton, Ontario. Check it out on YouTube here: music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nhmHFg8af71rcaa2p-_QrFB7W_setxA2U

The well-travelled classical artist’s new record features daring new music by esteemed Canadian composers, all beautifully capturing the essence of Bruce's artwork. While growing up, she developed a deep connection to fellow Hamiltonian William Blair Bruce's paintings, which decorated her family's homes and the Art Gallery of Hamilton. Motivated by family ties to the celebrated artist, she embarked on a musical journey, inviting composers to interpret Bruce's work through sound.

Eclectic Revival, the quartet Celtic fusion band, is pleased to announce the release of their highly anticipated new single, 'Cry Havoc!' from their upcoming album 'Weight of the World.' This bluesy, soulful lament serves as a poignant reflection on the burdens of existence while evolving into a powerful call to action, encouraging listeners to lend a helping hand and truly listen to one another. Check it out on YouTube here:

Since its birth in 2005, Eclectic Revival has captivated audiences with its unique blend of east coast traditional, original rock and blues with a twist of Celtic tradition. The band's diverse backgrounds in acting, stand-up comedy, and music infuse their performances with an engaging and participatory atmosphere that leaves a lasting impression on all who attend.

Introducing Blake Little, the 22-year-old singer-songwriter from Toronto making waves already, and just released his highly anticipated new single, 'Spring' – check it out on YouTube here:

With his undeniable passion for a musical story and a unique low-fi rock sound, Little delivers an emotionally charged song that explores the complexities of heartbreak, personal growth, and the fleeting nature of life.

Little's musical journey began at a young age when he discovered his love for singing and playing the guitar. Pulling on inspiration from a formidable range of rock genres, including Zeppelin, Little's music offers raw authenticism mixed with 90s grunge and early 2000s rock. His distinct vocal palette shines through, commanding listeners to hear his words.

New love can come in many forms, whether it be a new romantic relationship, a new friendship, or a newborn child. When this happens, everything feels like a fresh start filled with promise. Trois Rivières alt.rock band Around Joshua celebrate this newfound hope in their new single, "Baby Stardust".

Listen on Spotify here: open.spotify.com/track/09qKBCqvrsU4JvMuyDdloN

The song opens with upbeat guitar riffs from guitarist and vocalist David Talbo as well as a steady drumbeat from Jean François Houde and keyboardist Marie Claude Chateauneuf and David Leclerc on bass guitar that makes the listener want to get up and dance. Then the song's first verse comes in as Talbo sings of the bliss of waking up and starting the day with someone he loves. The words "I'm ready to begin" serve as the hook that leads into the song's jubilant chorus.

"Baby, baby stardust
Tears falling down
You choosing us"

Sometimes, you need music that will serve as a slice of soul salvation. It doesn't matter what genre, as long as it lifts your spirits and gets you through another day. This summer, ‘Peace In My Soul,’ from New York-based indie rock Americana band Smoke Ring Days, just could be that song. Check it out on YouTube here:

The song opens with a distinctive Thin Lizzy-style dual harmony guitar riff from multi-instrumentalist Rick Eppedio, paving a path for vocalist Cindy Keyser-Posner to come in with the first verse, describing isolation and alienation in an everyday, easily relatable way, before offering a mantra to soothe the solitude: