Ronnie Earl, a four-time Blues Music Award winner as “Guitar Player of the Year,” follows up the critical and commercial success of last year’s Beyond the Blue Door album with another blockbuster disc of music, Rise Up, set for release September 11 on Stony Plain Records. Created to heal and move bodies and souls alike, the majority of the album’s value-packed 15 tracks were recorded in “Living Room Sessions” at Earl’s house, with a vibe that puts the listener right in the room with Ronnie & The Broadcasters. A special bonus is the inclusion of several tracks recorded live from a set at a “Daryl’s House Club” show.

Pre-order Rise Up here:  https://stonyplainrecords.com/lp/riseup/

Canadian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Trevor Sloan extends a psych-folk pop-rock nod to lush landscapes and the antics of youth in his new album, Green Reflections, and premiere single, “Green Summer”.

Watch and listen to “Green Summer” here:

Harnessing a long-held affinity for “quirky folk-pop that sounds breezy and generally as carefree as childhood is supposed to be,” the Toronto-based artist’s new songwriting is rife with artful symbolism and mindful contemplation.

“I spent a year writing and recording the songs for this album,” Sloan says of the LP. “Some of the songs are about getting older. Some of the songs are about love. Some of the songs are about being young and fearless.

“And some of the songs are just about the things I see in my neighbourhood now, in the Junction, or when I was growing up in the town of Markham,” he adds.

American alt-pop rockers The Light Workers have released a fresh, feel-good take on the inherent need to be free with their new single “Peppermint” — and debut self-titled album.

Watch and listen to “Peppermint” here:

With piercing imagery, sincere vocals, swelling cello undercurrents, and multi-layered guitars, the song stands as a take-notice intro to the newly minted musical collaboration from artists Anne Luna and Evan Woodward.

While it’s often said ‘that thing’s bigger’n she is,’ Luna makes playing the upright bass look easy; her graceful yet hard driving work is often found mostly in the bluegrass and acoustic roots fields, and she’s recorded with the likes of Alan Munde, Kenny Maines, Amanda Shires, and more.

Canadian pop-soul artist Tali is stepping out of the Shadows with this month’s release of her new single, “(Don’t) Wanna Be Yours” — available now.

And not a moment too soon.

An old soul in a modern world, hopeless romantic in a heartless era, and a timeless artist in a disposable age, the emerging Toronto singer-songwriter introduces us to them all on her darkly compelling (and aptly titled) forthcoming EP, Shadows.

But she also presents someone even more vital: A gifted, dynamic and unique talent whose boundless creativity and commanding presence are matched only by her spiritual commitment to her calling. "When I sing, I feel like I connect to my source, to my higher self," Tali explains. "It's like a channel for me. One of my favourite quotes — I forget who said it — is 'The function of music is to release us from the tyranny of conscious thought.' That speaks to me. I've been carrying those words with me ever since I first read them."

“It was an amazing dream,” rocker and multi-instrumentalist Erik Eimiller says, setting the scene for how his debut 80s-esque new wave-vibe single, “Cross the Ocean” came to mind. “Vivid. Palpable.”

Okay, yes. Tell us more.

“It was like a full-on music video,” the Buffalo-based artist obliges, detailing his REM cycle. “The singer was running towards the camera, and running away from something terrifying, whatever it was, that was chasing him.

“The chorus for what would become ‘Cross the Ocean’ was blasting inside my subconsciousness, and the chord progression and melody line were ingrained in my mind as I awoke. I quickly grabbed my phone and recorded a voice message, humming the vocal line while clicking my teeth to the beat.

“I couldn’t quite remember all of the words, but I had what I needed.”

Watch and listen to ‘Cross the Ocean’ here:

Stony Plain Records announces a September 4 release date for the first volume of music from roots “super group,” New Moon Jelly Roll Freedom Rockers: Charlie Musselwhite, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Jimbo Mathus, the late Jim Dickinson, and North Mississippi Allstars members Luther Dickinson and Cody Dickinson. Recorded at the Zebra Ranch Recording Studio in Coldwater, Mississippi, the 10 blues-drenched tracks of sublime roots music on New Moon Jelly Roll Freedom Rockers Volume 1 will be followed in the spring of 2021 by Volume 2. Pre-order the album here: https://stonyplainrecords.com/lp/newmoonjellyrollfreedomrockersvol1/

With their music sitting at well over one+ million plays across platforms, multi-award nominated and MTV-featured Canadian pop artists Kelly & Gibson continue to fête their debut EP, Affinity, as recently announced semi-finalists in the 2020 Unsigned Only Music Competition.

The four-track album’s most recent single, 2020’s “Get This Right,” was the second song the Vancouver-based duo of Chris Kelly and Nicole Gibson penned for the project, and speaks volumes on the album’s thematic muse.

Watch and listen to “Get This Right” here:

“In general, we were very inspired by relationships for this EP,” they offer. “We wrote ‘Get This Right,’ in particular, after a night spent talking with friends for hours about past relationships we all had, current long-term ones we were in, and what makes relationships work in the long run.”

Brooklyn-based producer GemimindBeatz and RnB singer/songwriter Ashley Sage have come together in a pop-trap pairing for this, their debut collaboration, “Wits End”.

Watch and listen to “Wits End” here:

Mixed by multi-Gold/Platinum selling and Grammy Award winning engineer Michael Ashby (Cardi B, Latoya Jackson, Fetty Wap, Zoey Dollar, Offset), “Wits End” smoothes the surface as a lyrical lid-pop into frustrations with the ‘talking phase’ of a new relationship and feeling fed up with random drips of romantic engagement. But dig deeper and music lovers will find themselves bearing witness to a debut crossover so rife with sonic chemistry, they’d never guess the collab came from a chance encounter.

Six-time JUNO Award nominated jazz vocalist and pianist Carol Welsman is set to release her 13th album entitled Dance With Me, marking her foray into Latin jazz. The recording scheduled for release July 31, 2020 on Justin Time Records is an eclectic collection of international songs arranged with Latin rhythms including salsa, boleros, cha cha cha, Afro Cuban and calypso; all the while keeping within Latin jazz and traditional rhythms.

Watch and listen to “Dance With Me EPK” here:

The selections include popular Latin standards adapted into English, Great American Songbook standards, original compositions, a Latin-flavored song penned by fellow Canadian Randy Bachman of Bachman Turner Overdrive, and a duet with multi-GRAMMY winning Latin superstar, Juan Luis Guerra on the title track and first single release, which is an English adaptation written by Carol of his song “Si Tú No Bailas Conmigo” (If You Don’t Dance With Me).

Canadian pop singer/songwriter Ryan Maynard is soaking up that “Summer Sun (Nothin’ on You)” with the release of his new single.

A timely preview to his forthcoming sophomore album, Matter of Time — an upbeat pop explosion with contemporary electronic sounds set for release this August — the video for “Summer Sun (Nothin’ on You)” was shot entirely on an iPhone 11 Pro at L’Aboiteau Beach across two picture-perfect days.

“This song was inspired by our east coast’s beauty during such a beautiful season,” he shares of the origins behind the track. “And now, it’s even better as restrictions are being lifted and people are starting to emerge from quarantine to be with their loved ones.

Watch and listen to “Summer Sun (Nothin’ on You)” here:

Kelowna, BC’s Afro fusion, house and hip hop artist Edge is out with his searing new single, “Vice City Vibes (S.S.C.R.C.Y.)” — available now!

Produced by Flowers in Narnia and Ramoon, “Vice City Vibes” lands as a two-part modern-day 80s disco dream mixed with hip hop vocals and Afro-fusion. As a follow-up to his previous release, “11:11” — which sits at over 70,000+ streams and counting — Edge reaffirms his multi-faceted versatility and inventive genre blending skills through distinctly rhythmic vocals.

Watch and listen to “Vice City Vibes” here:

Canadian grunge trap and alt hip hop rocker Krosst Out hits the open road for a “Drive” in this, his newest and most definitive single to date — available now.

“‘Drive’ is my anthem,” Krosst Out confirms. “It’s the song I’ve wanted to make for years, and it’s the song that, if someone were to ask me who I was, I would point to it and tell them: I’m that. It’s grunge, it’s metal, rap, and rock, all in the span of 2:44,” he adds. “It’s why I’ve spent the last 14 years of my life in a notebook.”

Watch and listen to ‘Drive’ here:

The track lands ahead of his forthcoming album, Phone Calls With Ghosts, a project that has the Toronto-based artist squaring away with his small-town upbringing. “Some kids treat piano lessons like a chore, but I treated them like a lifeline,” Krosst Out — nee Aaron Siebenga — offers. “They were my way out.”

It’s time: Canadiana x Americana alt roots rockers The Actual Goners are very much here with the newly minted release of their self-titled EP — and what single CILU calls “solidly traditional” and “fun to hear,” “Cannonball”.

Watch and listen to “Cannonball” here:

“It’s an attempt to verbalize the feelings of restlessness I’ve experienced throughout my life,” says co-frontman Duncan Symonds of “Cannonball,” a track hoers.de fittingly dubbed a “perfect soundtrack for a road trip.” “It’s about moving from one place to place, leaving behind people and relationships, all while trying to maintain a sense of purpose and routine in the shuffle.

Canadian folk/roots singer/songwriter Stan Simon explores the ‘strangeness of life, love, and loss’ in his newly minted album, Songs From Strange Places — available now through Slammin Media with worldwide distribution by Believe Distribution!

“I was going through a rough couple of weeks and, one morning, took it out on someone I cared for deeply,” the Toronto-based troubadour reflects on single, “Rest Well In The Blue Night.” “I was getting ready to head out the door and got into a very short and explosive argument; I threw my words around like daggers.

“Fuelled through my own frustrations, I only ended up hurting someone trying to care for me. I made my way to the train and knew I was going to sit with that anger for quite a while until we saw each other again.

“When my anger turned to regret, the sun was starting to set and there was a dark blue sky melting over the day,” he continues. “I took out my notebook and wrote the lyrics to this song, atoning for the hurt I caused.”

Retropop artist Pamela Claire delivers a love letter to music in her debut album, Lonely Sets Me Free — plus new single and video, “Thin Air”.

A skilful blend of genres creating a powerful, eclectic and beautiful album, Lonely Sets Me Free is not just one thing — and this is where Claire's subtle mastery lies. Each track feels like opening up an unexpected present you never thought you needed but now can not live without. The songs are soulful, sad, groovy and danceable, and sometimes all at once; Pamela Claire makes music for grown-ups.

There's the jazzy title track, the disco groove of “Real Love,” and the witty country/alt-folk of “Choir,” and “Let's Stay Miserable Together.” Claire explores a rock feel on the hard-edged “Naked and Blue,” and “Little Shadow,” blues on “Let the Love In,” and turns soulful on the dancey “Directing Traffic” and “Breakthrough.” Both “Thin Air” and the critically acclaimed “End of Days” demonstrate Claire's delicate gifts in words, music and voice, delivering a pair of heartrending tunes that tear away at raw emotional truths with characteristic warmth and a disarming honesty.

Canadian pop punk rapper Hollow River has unleashed some fun, fast-paced sonic chaos just in time for summer in this, his latest single, “Known To Lie”.

“This song is basically from the perspective of a liar, and that framing allowed me to take the song to some really creative places, lyrically,” says the man behind the moniker, Mark MacDonald. “It’s hard to tell which lines mean a lot and which are nonsense, which is a skill the best liars have mastered.”

Watch and listen to “Known To Lie” here:

Hollow River first fledged his music career interning at Hamilton’s legendary Grant Avenue Studio (Daniel Lanois, Gordon Lightfoot, John Cage) before heading to Boston, Massachusetts to attend Berklee College of Music — where he currently resides — to pursue a double major in music production and engineering/songwriting.

Canadian alt-garage rockers The Vaniers have gone “Wild” with their newest single, a decidedly nuanced, pared-down version of the track heard on this year’s debut EP, Who Are You To Say? — available now!

“The song has a rebellious undertone, and is mainly about being yourself, voicing your thoughts, and not caring what others think,” says the band: Diego Paz on bass guitar and vox, Alex Iacobellis on guitar, and Nick Donato on drums.

Watch and listen to “Wild” here:

The long-time friends are currently revisiting their five-track breakthrough March 2020 release, offering audiences acoustic versions of each song as well as insights into their makings. “We’d much rather be on stage or in the studio these days,” they assure. “But, for now, we all have to do our part and stay safe. Hopefully these acoustic sessions can help brighten everyone’s quarantine.”

At over 95,000+ streams across Spotify and counting, Canadian alt-rocker Matt Graham and Graham Show Music has released his sophomore EP and title track video —Follow Your Dreams — available now!

“The song ‘Follow Your Dreams’ is an anthem meant to be motivation for anyone who wants or needs it,” Graham offers. “The opening line is ‘every morning you wake up and see nothing but future hope and destiny.’ The chorus is to ‘live the life you never lived, dream the dreams you never dreamt, and never spend the energy on time not well spent.’

Watch and listen to ‘Follow Your Dreams’ here:

“What I wanted to offer was the message that you can go after anything you want in life,” he continues. “If you never give up, success will one day come.”

It’s a mindset Matt Graham can personally attest to.

If there’s two things Albuquerque, New Mexico and Montreal, Quebec have in common, it’s that they’re big fans of American dancehall/rap-fusion pioneer Nawlage, and they’re no stranger to summer heat.

And Nawlage wastes no time turning up the heat on both with the release of his new single paying honour and homage to them both, “ABQ to Montreal feat. Jawny BadLuck”

Watch and listen to ABQ to Montreal feat. Jawny BadLuck here:

Landing ahead of his forthcoming release, Influencing Since 2k5, the track features Jawny BadLuck and circles the story of a girl who’s left the desert for more Northern pastures.

“We wanted to capture the idea that a girl from ABQ — where Jawny BadLuck is from — was moving to Montreal, a place where they still appreciate and embrace Nawlage’s classic music as if it was still new,” Nawlage says. “I’ve never been to Montreal, but I noticed my Spotify streams at one point were mostly from there.”

Acoustic-folk, country-rock singer/songwriter Rocky Michaels is issuing a resounding call to action and plea for awareness in his new single, “Our Time Is Now”.

Watch and listen to  “Our Time Is Now” here:

Off the Danville, California-based artist’s forthcoming album, The Great American Dream, “Our Time is Now” is a decidedly environmentally conscious song, Michaels says, and befitting of his long-standing archive of observant, engaging and relatable songwriting.