Chris Caulfield Turns Pain Into Alleviative Art In New Single “Walls Come Down”

Fri Sep 23, 2022

Probing intensely poignant themes of self-destruction and relationship turmoil, Chris Caulfield turns pain into alleviative art in “Walls Come Down,” a new single out September 2nd, 2022. The track melds unblemished trap beats with impassioned, 2000s emo-rock sensibilities, akin to the genre-bending amalgam of artists like Machine Gun Kelly and iann dior.

Listen on Spotify here: open.spotify.com/artist/7g3mUTTgFVHHjfSW8UUXRU

The single chronicles a harrowing conversation between Caulfield and his wife, who sings alongside him on the song. In the Fall and Winter of 2021, the couple experienced a trying strife that tested their 12 years of marriage, but they came out stronger on the other side, creating a contemplative, conversational song that pulls at the heartstrings with the umbra of achingly familiar pain.

Chris Antonik Releases “Trust In Me” From #1 Roots Music Report Album Morningstar

Fri Sep 23, 2022

Chris Antonik, whose album, Morningstar, still sits at No. 1 on the Roots Music Report, has released a blues/hip hop hybrid single, “Trust in Me,” something a little different for the chart-topping blues-rock guitarist who has always pushed the boundaries of blues.

Check it out on YouTube here:

"I wrote this song as a commentary on how toxic, childish, and mean politicians were becoming in the media in the years leading up to the pandemic,” says the Toronto-based musician. “As a single parent, I needed to work extra hard to drown it out and outweigh it with positive behaviour examples for my kids because there was no help from the top.  How we talk to people is important and it's incredible how crazy the world was getting in this respect."

Art of Time Ensemble Set To Release ‘Songs of Leonard Cohen Live’ on September 29

Fri Sep 23, 2022

Toronto-based musical collective, Art of Time Ensemble, come together to celebrate Canada’s best poetic export, Leonard Cohen, with their album ‘Songs of Leonard Cohen Live'. Released on September 29th. The collaborative group of Canadian musicians from the world of jazz and classical music came together in 2018 and over three nights recorded the live album in front of a captive audience.

They also partnered with fifteen Canadian authors and poets on this album, many of whom knew Leonard Cohen personally.

Check it out on YouTube here:

Timber Masterson Explores Heartbreak on “Every Time (Jenni’s Song)”

Fri Sep 16, 2022

Tim “Timber” Masterson has been in and amongst Toronto, ON’s music scene for as long as he could remember. His earliest memories came from listening to his mother play the family’s 100-year-old Steinway piano, an instrument he now uses to compose his own songs. As a young adult, Masterson was a part of the city’s art party scene where he was inspired to make his own music. Heavens So Dark is Masterson’s first attempt at a full album. It’s the result of his artistic journey up to this point – playing piano at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood, guitar at The Viper Room in Los Angeles, and organizing warehouse jams in Toronto and New York.

The Damn Truth Announces El Mocambo Show September 10 Ahead of U.K. Tour

Fri Sep 16, 2022

The Damn Truth, celebrated Montreal rock and roll band, today announced a September 10, 2022 show in Toronto at the storied venue El Mocambo before launching their United Kingdom Tour in October 2022.

The Damn Truth includes Lee-la Baum (lead vocals, guitars), Tom Shemer (lead guitar, vocals), PY Letellier (bass, vocals), and Dave Traina (drums, vocals). The band’s third album, Now or Nowhere, showcases their definitive sound and explores the deeper side of the band, current times, and everything else in today’s tumultuous world. In addition, three noted Grammy Award winners are featured on the album: Bob Rock, Vance Powell, and Nick DiDia.

Lead singer Lee-la Baum says, “I believe that we are here on this planet to connect with one another and leave this world a better place once we've left  it. That is our mission in every Damn Truth concert- to connect and share love wherever we go.”

Check out YouTube:

JUNO Award Nominated WEDNESDAY Named Lifetime Achievement and Hall of Fame Award Recipient at Oshawa Music Awards

Fri Sep 16, 2022

Award-winning, JUNO-nominated, Oshawa-native group Wednesday is set to be named a Lifetime Achievement and Hall of Fame Award recipient at this year’s Oshawa Music Awards - The OMAs.

The 2022 Oshawa Music Awards will take place Thursday, September 29th, and are proudly presented by Durham Region Economic Development and Tourism, 360insights, Spark Centre, Trent University Durham GTA, and Durham College.

A chance meeting in Oshawa in July 1967 of Paul Andrew Smith and Randy Begg set the seed that became Wednesday. Randy and Paul spent the summer hanging out, playing impromptu concerts at local Oshawa parks and drop-in centres until meeting up with Mike O’Neil and John Dufek. The Cellophane Spoon was formed and managed by John Hall until 1971 when the task was taken over by Bill Diel, a former keyboardist with Ronnie Hawkins and Fats Domino. In 1970 the name was changed to Wednesday with the release of their first single ‘Hang On Girl’, recorded in Toronto and produced by John Driscoll and released on Ampex Records.

Pianist Taurey Butler Follows Up His Justin Time Records Debut with One Of The Others

Fri Sep 16, 2022

Pianist Taurey Butler is a native of East Orange, New Jersey and now makes his home in Montreal. During his last year of high school, a prescient teacher, who was also a distinguished percussionist, Barry Centanni handed Butler a CD of Oscar Peterson and advised him to listen. He did, and from then on, he knew where he was going. ”I didn't know a piano could do that!" he recalls and began to focus more on jazz studies.

With his self-titled debut, released on Justin Time Records in 2011, Butler firmly established his signature artistry in his adopted home base – he is a well-known and favorite performer in Montreal’s preeminent jazz clubs, including Dièse Onze, the Upstairs Jazz Bar & Grill and the illustrious Festival International de Jazz de Montréal. He has toured internationally with stops in Asia, the Middle East, and in the USA including New York City’s Blue Note Jazz Club and The Cotton Club in New Orleans as well as the Detroit and JVC Jazz Festivals.

Toronto Pop Songstress Sam Casey Releases “New Company” Alex Exists Remix

Fri Sep 16, 2022

Drunk dialing your ex — or, worse, that person with whom you were just in a situationship — is never ever a good idea. And while Toronto pop songstress Sam Casey knows that, first she’s going to wrestle with it for a while (like we all do) in her soulful and starkly honest new single, “New Company” – already available, but now has a new remix, courtesy of Alex Exists.

Directed by Agata Waclawska, Sam Casey and Alex Exists have collaborated on a new music video for the song, a widescreen epic version of the song from Sam’s current EP, New Company.

You can check out the new remixed video here:

Slow, smooth, sassy, soul ballad-y, and fresh from her forthcoming New Company EP, the song eventually comes to the foregone conclusion that the embattled narrator needs to find a new man. But just for tonight, she sits with her phone in her lap and fights with herself and an absent paramour –

Toronto’s Propter Hawk Gets Rowdy With First Single “Theatre Of The Whole World”

Fri Sep 16, 2022

Toronto rock and roll group Propter Hawk’s new single, “Theatre Of The Whole World,” buzzes with triumphant energy while telling a relatable story of yearning to escape from the mundane cycle of everyday life – even if you are not prepared to do so.

Watch “Theatre Of The Whole World” on YouTube here:

"People are fascinated by those who go out and explore the world, but they are a lot more fascinated when things go wrong and how they react to it,” songwriter and guitarist Andrew Blake says. “Seeing what people are capable of enduring, both physically and mentally – I wanted to write about someone who tries to have that experience but doesn't quite have the spirit or knowledge that they need to endure it. Once I had that concept, the lyrics sort of wrote themselves. I had the entire world to take reference from."

Ollee Owens Releases New Album “Cannot Be Unheard”

Fri Sep 16, 2022

An excellent showcase for Calgary-based Ollee Owens' soulful, bluesy voice, her upcoming debut album Cannot Be Unheard, coming out September 16th, lives up to its title. Leading a cast of expert musicians, Owens encompasses soul, R&B, Gospel, and blues to establish herself as a true contender on the Canadian music scene. For more information please visit any of the links below or Owens’ website.

Cannot Be Unheard is an exploration of life birthed from her personal, yet universal experiences, both good and bad, and the lessons learned along the way. Examining various feelings of self-worth, and being careful with one’s actions, to the very concept of love itself, the songs touch on Owens’ philosophy of moving through the world with intention, love, and the affirmation that one is worthy of the happiness that life offers.

Propelled by a powerful, distorted electric guitar, the soulful ballad "THROUGH THE DARKEST NIGHT" pays tribute to a long term romantic relationship that stands up to the tests of time.

Lisa Richard’s New Single Has “News You Can Use” With Live Off The Floor Video

Fri Sep 16, 2022

Talk about Promises Kept… Downhome Halifax country maven Lisa Richard is back with some “News You Can Use” -

The East Coast crooner shares a deeply personal, uplifting, and uptempo track that shines a light on homegrown values, staying optimistic, and finding the good in the everyday.

The magic behind Lisa Richard’s heartfelt songwriting is the authenticity that oozes from every note; her vocal prowess delivers on the melody, unearthing what matters most to each of us. Matched with her ability to write a track that is equal parts catchy as it is sincere, “News You Can Use” is another capturing of the moments that matter the most. Richard is spellbinding, and captivating; coercing you to swim in nostalgia, and you appreciate the world at present.

Canadian Pop Artist Lady Charles Imagines A Healing, Gender-Fluid Deity on Synthy, '80s-Heavy "Godx"

Fri Sep 16, 2022

Gender is a construct cobbled together by a multitude of influences over the millennia, but our concept of a deity, or deities, has certainly had a significant impact. Ottawa-based pop artist Lady Charles tackles religion’s influence on gender and the LGBTQ+ community in the lighthearted, dance-heavy banger “Godx” – check it out on YouTube here:

Synth-y and steeped in the ’80s in the best possible way, “Godx” boasts a bubbly groove and a fierce-but-whimsical bassline.  “I wanted to write a song about gender that touches on issues like how colonialism enforced the gender binary and how LGBTQ+ people have historically been excluded from religious life,” Lady Charles said. “I did not, however, want to create something too serious or overt, and instead wanted to create a silly pop song you could dance to that would still feature those themes beneath the surface.”

Julian Taylor Releases New Album “Beyond the Reservoir”

Fri Sep 16, 2022

Award-winning, Toronto-based singer-songwriter Julian Taylor is set to release his next album, the powerful and engaging Beyond the Reservoir, on October 14, 2022, via his Howling Turtle, Inc. label, with distribution via Warner Music/ADA. For more information please visit any of the links below or Taylor’s website: juliantaylormusic.ca

Beyond the Reservoir’s name is grounded in a specific geographical touchstone Taylor recalls from the days of his teenage youth in Toronto. “I used to hang out at a place called the St. Clair Reservoir,” he says. “If my last album, The Ridge, was a childhood record in a lot of ways, Beyond the Reservoir is an adolescence record – a coming-of-age story – about moving into adulthood. It addresses identity, loss, sadness, hope, and redemption, and the themes of resilience, courage, and strength. It has this infinite sadness to it, but it also has this infinite hope to it as well."

Indigenous Rocker Joey Nowyuk Looks Back To The Past With “Inuugama” Covers Album

Fri Sep 16, 2022

From the lush geographic tapestries of Pangnirtung, Nunavut comes chart-topping, award-winning rock singer/songwriter Joey Nowyuk with his interpretation of a legendary Rankin Inlet artist with the riveting new single “Tappaani” – check it out on YouTube here:

Performed in his native language Inuktitut, heartthrob Joey Nowyuk’s spell-binding rendition appears on his kinetic new covers album, Inuugama. The album title translates to “I am Inuk” and is a sonic celebration of Nowyuk’s Inuit culture and language.

“Tappaani” is a meditative musical experience that continues to establish the rest of the album as a homage to popular Inuit music. The single is a stylish take on Ishmael Naulalik’s classic song with rhythmic sophistication, Inuktitut lyrics, and compelling guitar work that breathes new life into the original recording.

Caribbean-Dutch Canadian Rapper Big Lou Empowers Listeners With Messages of Self-Acceptance In Hard-Hitting Single, “Tayrona”

Fri Sep 16, 2022

Through the day-to-day struggles of life, we often get lost in the monotony, something that resembles an inescapable cycle of ups and downs paired with a tall glass of anxiety – and maybe even some dread. It’s Big Lou’s anthem that reminds us that we are in control of this supposed destiny and our lives ahead of fate. It is “Tayrona” – and it is available now!

There is power in the comforts that those closest to us can provide – while it may not always be easy to ask for help, it is often the bravest outcome. This message becomes rapidly present in Big Lou’s newest single, “Tayrona.” The song opens, teasing its deeply rooted message of perseverance;
“A letter to depression / born from reflection / upon inspection he sees resurrection.”

From there we are delivered a heartfelt message of survival packaged with a hard-hitting production – an infectious Spanish guitar lick paired with deep bass kicks programmed to subconsciously open the listener to “blue pill” themes while covered by a façade of trap music.

Check out “Tayrona” on YouTube here:

Multi-Honoured Hamilton, ON Blues Artist André Bisson is in a Total Funk with "Missing You"

Fri Sep 16, 2022

It’s a sad symptom of the human condition. Sometimes we just don’t realize what we really have until it’s gone. This cornerstone component of the blues gives award winning singer-songwriter André Bisson the foundation for his funky, driving new single, “Missing You” – check it out on YouTube here:

The first taste of the Hamilton-based, internationally touring artist’s 9th album, “The Ballad of Lucy Stone”, due out September 30, “Missing You” emphatically checks all the boxes of a killer, scathing blues track with a funkified soul. Bisson’s guitar is meaty and rhythmic, and his voice is primed with emotion and gravelly heartache. The horn section jumps in with searing melodic fills and the super tight rhythm section solidly ushers the whole song along at a pace guaranteed to inspire maximum groove.

Canadian TV/Film Star And Breakout Indie-Alt Pop Artist Zenia Marshall Explores The Duality Of Love In “Prove Me Wrong”

Fri Sep 02, 2022

Slow and steady wins the race, and that is often the case when it comes to blooming romances. It is hard to know what the future holds, and we know all too well what we have been through, but that’s the beauty of love, isn’t it? This is what Vancouver, BC-based Zenia Marshall explores in her newest single, “Prove Me Wrong” – check it out on YouTube here:

The Northwest Are Looking To The “Shoreline’ For New Single Inspiration

Fri Sep 02, 2022

Sault Ste. Marie, ON’s The Northwest have released their introspective, alt-rock single, “Shoreline” – Watch it on YouTube here:

The Northwest - made up of Wayne Watkins (Vocals/Guitar), Greg Callaghan (Guitar/Vocals), Mike Yak (Guitar/Vocals), Mike Smykacz (Bass) and Marc Santos (Drums) - have been a band for nearly a decade - writing and performing together while inspired by life, the world around them, and the human existence. “Shoreline” acts as the first single of their June 2022 EP release, All In.

“‘All In’ was a challenge for us to take things to the next level,” they say, adding: “In 2019, we received an Ontario Arts Council grant for a recording project, and we knew we had to step up to bat.”

Folk Rocker Multi-Instrumentalist Sammy Duke Encourages Empathy on Jangly, Inspiring “Speed Of Life”

Fri Sep 02, 2022

New mindsets and new beginnings can be challenging to usher in, but Waterloo, ON-based folk-rock artist Sammy Duke aims to motivate and inspire in his new single “Speed Of Life” – available now – from his album of the same name. Check it out on YouTube here:

Pop Singer/Songwriter Olenka Relives Sweet Revenge And A Scorned Love In Her Newest Single “Happy Birthday”

Fri Sep 02, 2022

Sometimes it’s worth being the bigger person – although it can be very cathartic to get the last jab in at the end of an unhealthy relationship, not so much out of spite, more so for closure. Olenka captures the feeling of sweet revenge in her newest single, “Happy Birthday” – check it out on YouTube here:

Relationships can be great – when they go right. However, the problem with there being “so many fish in the sea” is that sometimes you catch one you must throw back. Often, we blame ourselves for making the poor choice, regardless of circumstances or what some would call destiny. There comes a point where, regardless of fate, we must take things into our own hands – and that’s what makes Olenka’s story of love gone wrong so powerful.