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ALFIE SMITHEvery Rome Needs A Nero Alfie Smith released his eighth album, Every Rome Needs A Nero, in October 2024.The Hamilton-based troubadour is a popular and crowd-pleasing fixture on the Ontario’s blues/folk/roots festivals and club circuit, but it has been a full decade since his last release, Come On In My Kitchen, a duo record with his wife, Nicole Christian.In a relaxed conversation, Alfie Smith shared some of his songwriting inspirations and discussed various tunes on the album, as well as some of his thoughts on guitars, tunings and songwriting in general.
Every Rome Needs A Nero, is a timely and provocative album filled with some intimate lyrics and deeply felt performances. An album to treasure for years to come.
“His return to the recording arena with Every Rome Needs A Nero finds Alfie at the height of his creative powers. He is a triple threat: a guitar virtuoso fluent on slide and vintage National and resonator instruments, an eloquent songwriter in the classic blues tradition, and a powerful singer with a voice to match his formidable physical presence. That deep voice sounds like it has been dredged from the depths of the muddy Mississippi River. It is rich and earthy, and capable of expressing tenderness, melancholy, joy, and, in the case of the new album’s title track, righteous anger.Alfie fully flexes his songwriting muscle on Every Rome Needs A Nero, and the gap between albums meant he had a large selection of material upon which to draw. The title tune and opening cut sets the stage sweetly, via a cool trumpet solo, crisp acoustic guitar and a laid back vibe. Smith’s voice locks into a mellow groove, while lyrics featuring historic references remain relevant today. -
‘Shepherd’, Bywater Call’s third studio album, released August 9, 2024, is an emotional tour de force that sequences and builds from song to song into a profound musical statement and merits every bit of the attention and accolades it is receiving. Meghan Parnell, lead vocalist, gave us the time to discuss the album before heading off on an extended tour.
Bywater Call has received many blues music award nominations, including most recently, Best International Artist for the 2024 UK Blues Awards. They have toured extensively in Europe where shows have been praised by Dutch, German and UK media, with references to Meghan as one of the best female voices in blues and roots today.
The band’s music is an exploration of life’s highs and lows. From intimate ballads that lay bare the complexities of human emotion to electrifying anthems that demand to be played at full volume, their catalogue is a journey through the human experience, incorporating influences from the likes of The Band, The Wood Brothers, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Otis Redding, Little Feat, Sly and the Family Stone, among others.
Bywater Call is a powerhouse seven-piece Southern soul, roots rock band from Toronto, Canada, featuring:Meghan Parnell (vocals),Dave Barnes (guitar),Bruce McCarthy (drums),Mike Meusel (bass),John Kervin (keys),Stephen Dyte (trumpet) andJulian Nalli (tenor sax).
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Toronto based singer-songwriter Terry Donaghue is releasing his 4th solo album “Looking For Redemption” September 6th. The album was recorded at Toronto’s legendary Kensington Sound.
Looking For Redemption is a roots/americana/alt-folk genre is a concept album of 9 tracks telling the story in film noir style of a man on the run from his past and a woman he meets along the way also on the run from her past.
Born and raised in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, now based in Toronto I’ve been involved in music since my early teens. I remember vividly the music I heard on the radio in the ’50s and ’60s – the local stations with their mix of country and pop and faraway places like Chicago, Detroit and Wheeling West Virginia that my brother and I could pull in on an old tube radio at night when the weather was right. It was my older brother who really got me playing an instrument. He was playing electric guitar and big on Dwayne Eddy, the Ventures and ’50s/early sixties rock & roll. Somewhere he heard Gordon Lightfoot’s self-titled first album, went out and bought it, a Guild 12 string guitar (which I still have) and became a folkie. I began playing folk and bluegrass on the banjo, later picking up the guitar and more recently the mandolin. This all led to the folk groups we were in together in Sault Ste Marie. As The Natural Men together with some friends we were one of the top folk groups in the Sault during my high school years. All that music has stuck with me and forms part of my musical DNA.
Over the past few years, I’ve channelled my songwriting output into a series of original solo albums. “Songs of Love and Longing” was released in May 2020. “Northern Reflections” was released in January 2022. In 2023, I celebrated the release of “Shades Of Blue.” All three albums were recorded and produced by Vezi Tayyeb at his legendary studio, Kensington Sound, he founded for more than 50 years ago recording over the years with an incredible range of artists and styles.
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Jesse’s debut album, Mansion Full of Ghosts, heralded by Vancouver Sun, Penguin Eggs, and The Georgia Straight, was an exploration of a city’s duality, with all of its beauty and shadows, expressed through varying moments of lush, orchestral arrangements to hushed duets over expert fingerpicking. The result was a beautifully crafted album that celebrated the pursuit of hope, and gently reflected on an oftentimes weighty effort to “keep a light on in the dark”. Canadian Beats praised, “infused with a hopeful tinge, Mansion Full of Ghosts is a wholesome, masterfully written debut that will appeal to fans both old and new.”https://jessewaldmanmusic.com/home
Jesse’s sophomore album, The Shimmering Divide, set for release September 20th, 2024, sees him collaborating with long-time musical partner Marc L’Esperance. The storytelling on Divide is deeply personal, delivered with the acuity of Jesse’s poeticism and Marc’s glittering harmonization and multi-instrument contributions. The songs are watercolours of people and places Jesse has encountered and truly cared about, presented humbly and gorgeously as an acoustic-based collection of alt-folk ruminations. The album holds a fresh wisdom gained since Mansion but maintains the virtuosity of playing and delicate ear for arrangements, serene and richly lulling like that of a train, which some of the songs just happened to have stirred from, jotted down in journals from the West Coast to Ontario.
Reflecting on the album title, Jesse shares, “For me the title ‘The Shimmering Divide’ represents the age-old battle between good and evil, which path to take to do the right thing in your life. Those points are charged with possibilities that can change you forever.”
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The new album “HAPPY LITTLE ACCIDENTS” by Dominic Quarto is fresh music but with hints of nostalgia from the many artists that influenced him since he was a kid, like the Beatles, Aerosmith, Rick Nelson, Johnny Cash, Hank Williams III. This album is laced with touches of humor, great melodies and catchy lyrics while paired with a completely unique vocal style which all help make this a extremely well balanced collection of get off your chair tunes. “HAPPY LITTLE ACCIDENTS” includes premier players like Doug Pettibone, Kenny Aronoff, Jorgen Carlsson from Govt Mule, Brent Harding from Social Distortion. Produced by Dave Jenkins (producer and co-writer, studied under Brian Wilson – produced Dolly Parton’s version of “Magic Man” with Howard Leese). Recorded the old fashioned way with stand up bass and vintage condenser microphones.
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Coming off two acclaimed studio albums (Black Dawn, Tightrope), and an energized historic live album, Birth of Cactus, founding member and world-renowned drummer Carmine Appice returns with the ultimate tribute to his legendary rock band, CACTUS. Temple of Blues- Influences & Friends, merges the members of Cactus with a super ensemble of guest artists, all of whom have called the group among their biggest influences. Once heralded by critics as America’s answer to Led Zeppelin, Cactus recorded four hard rockin’ albums for Atco Records before Appice and bassist Tim Bogert left to form their own supergroup: Beck, Bogert & Appice.
“The music of Cactus has always been steeped in blues tradition,” says Appice, who wanted the group to re-visit its best songs within a modern rock approach to traditional blues. “We kept hearing from so many of our music celebrity friends how much Cactus influenced them and how they would love to be a guest on a Cactus album. Even our label President, Brian Perera from Cleopatra Records, suggested to us that this album happens. So, Temple Of Blues was the logical next step.”
In addition to Appice on drums and vocals on all tracks, original Cactus guitarist Jim McCarty also appears on Temple of Blues. Current band members vocalist/ guitarist and harmonica player Jim Stapley and bassist Jim Caputo also appear on many of the tracks. Appice announced today a new member to the band’s line-up: guitarist Artie Dillon will handle guitar duties for live tours and plays on one track for the new album. Founding member Jim McCarty currently contributes as a writing and recording member of Cactus on occasion but no longer does live tours.
The current line-up of Cactus came together in 2021. Lead vocalist Jim Stapley comes from England and had worked with ex-Faces/ Who drummer Kenny Jones in the Jones Gang and Humble Pie. “Nearly five decades after I formed this band, the time had come to re-invent Cactus once again,” -
On this record Devil Talking, David Myles cuts loose, bares his soul, and leaves it all on the table. The New Brunswick-based song and dance man has never been one to shy away from heavy topics like love, loss, and faith, but over his career he's tried his best to stay positive. Amongst the soulful, bluesy, rockin', and countrified grooves of Devil Talking, Myles knocks down the walls he's constructed to protect his vulnerable self, and instead dives headlong into what makes him—and all of us—human: suffering, and all the many ways we cope with it. Aptly, the album contains some of Myles' most intimate and honest songwriting, buoyed by the liberating power of accepting your flawed self. He's grown fond of calling Devil Talking his sinnin' record.Look no further than the title track for an acute introduction to a side of David Myles you may have only caught a glimpse of at a particularly rollicking live show. He wastes no time taking the advice of the pitchfork-wielding character on his shoulder, espousing the benefits of rolling and reeling on the weekend like a preacher possessed. The driving anthem "Break Free" finds him getting honest about the lies he's told to protect himself, and on "Twenty One," Myles' world-class band creates a shadowy vibe to set the scene for a tragic tale about a young man's past catching up with him well after he's turned a new leaf.Even when Devil Talking gets deep into its weightier subject matter, there's a lightness and inspired verve about the sound of it that abounds, as if Myles and the band feel certain that if one of them were to fall, the others would be there to pick them up. That's the result of a special camaraderie between these collaborators—Dean Drouillard, Asa Brosius, Leith Fleming-Smith, Reeny Smith, Alan Jeffries, Logan Richard, and Ray Legere—that's developed over the years. Joshua Van Tassel, an indispensable co-conspirator and multi-hyphenate, handled percussion, mixed, and co-produced the album alongside Myles.
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The Janzen Boys have been playing music together since the very beginning, but it started as “The Janzen Boys” shortly after they moved back to Canada from Japan in 2012. They’re a rootsy, harmony-singing folk trio from Winnipeg, Manitoba, consisting of brothers Simon and Mick, and father JJ. Whether they’re playing at music festivals, theatres, venues, or intimate house concerts, they’ll have you laughing, crying, and singing along to classics that you know and love, and catchy original tunes that’ll be stuck in your head for days! https://www.thejanzenboys.com/
“We started playing music together from the very beginning, but it really only started as “The Janzen Boys” after we moved back to Canada in 2012 after a childhood spent in Japan. I (Mick) was 9 years old and Simon was 12 and he wanted to try busking at The Forks in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Dad (JJ) likes to talk about how I would never sing when we played together, so for me to join them at The Forks, I would have to sing harmonies. That was the condition. It was here that “the father-and-sons trio, The Janzen Boys” started.
“In the summer of 2014, sticking with what we knew, we went on what we call our “Western Canada Busking Roadie.” This “tour” took us all the way to B.C., playing in music venues, farmers markets, on the street, and public spaces from Winnipeg to Kelowna, where we bought a baritone guitar from a friend and then turned around. It was the beginning of realizing that we could have a lot of fun doing the thing we love while getting paid for it.
“In 2018 after a successful showcase at the Manitoba Arts Network Emerging Artists series, we booked concert dates in towns and cities all around Manitoba. We didn’t know what to expect but it turned out to be a great series of shows, in little historic theatres, many of them in the out-of-the-way parts of the province.
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DON ROSS
During fingerstyle guitar legend Don Ross’ spring, 2024 tour, I had the incredible opportunity to have long conversation with Don about his latest album, 2023’s “Water”, a stunning collection of tracks which includes “Seabright” and “Three Views of a Secret” (a rendition of the Jaco Pastorius classic).
His 17th solo release—not counting numerous collaborations with other artists— “Water” was inspired by the aquatic vistas that surround Ross’ home in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. The 10-song collection is a thoroughly modern version of a Don Ross album, blending solo guitar music with instrumental and vocal touches from pedigreed collaborators like Bruce Cockburn, Brooke Miller, Sean Hall, Atlantic String Machine and The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.
Ross possesses almost supernatural skills, which made him the first two-time winner of the prestigious U.S. National Fingerpick Guitar Championship. In his 36 years as a recording artist and performer, he’s become widely recognized as one of the all-time greats in his field, possessing an uncanny ability to slap out percussive backbeats while speeding through a dizzying cascade of melodic runs. Styles from new age to Americana to jazz to pop to folk all fall effortlessly into the repertoire he’s performed on stages across the globe—on his way to picking up the Walter Carsen Prize for Excellence in the Performing Arts, administered by the Canada Council for the Arts.
In addition to his landmark work as a solo player, Ross has been a member of the combos Eye Music, Men of Steel and Don Ross Louder Than Usual. During the COVID pandemic, he earned a master of arts in orchestration that’s led to a thriving sideline as a scorer of orchestral and electronic music for video games, films and TV.https://donrossonline.com/
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GRAVEN (Matty McKechnie) - Always EverythingA new album from Graven is always an eagerly anticipated event. Always Everything released June 30,2024, is a set of songs that look all the ups and downs, the highs and lows that every life must pass through, captured in a way that only songwriter Graven is capable of.
GRAVEN (Matty McKechnie) is an independent folk-rock singer-songwriter from Ottawa, Canada. An innovative Nepean-born songmaker with a key focus on cultivating joy and wonder in Canadian geography, Matty (Graven) is a wiley wordsmith whose passion is to create a highly accepting and inclusive community of music lovers.Although exposed to classical tunes with piano lessons during childhood and playing the alto sax in Grade 9 - none of that moved the needle. Hearing his dad spin endless vinyl through the floorboards to the tune of Lionel Richie, Kenny Rogers, Whitney Houston, Neil Diamond and many others in his preteens, however, was the spark in Matty's musical fire. Later, he was enthralled by the rhymes and rhythms and wordplay of Hip Hop and rap music, with Run DMC, Beastie Boys, LL Cool J and the Fat Boys kicking open a door in his subconscious teen mind. Lyrics have always been Matty's true north and they provide the canvas for the rainbow-coloured paint spatter of his heart-sleeve songs.Graven's first release was a basement recording in 1999, and since then, he's shared stages with the likes of Steve Poltz, Jim Bryson, Danny Michel, Sarah Harmer, Elliott Brood, Joel Plaskett, Kathryn Calder (New Pornographers), Stephen Stanley, Ron Hawkins and many more. Focusing on the guitar and vocals, and having eclectic and broad contemporary Canadian musical influences with more than 16 major releases under his belt, Matty has toured all the way across Canada thrice, with a powerful mission to empower his listeners to embrace their authentic selves without judgment.https://www.graven.ca/biography
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Her new album, ‘RESONANCE’, is out now! Full of exciting new songs and sounds, Briar is clearly destined for national renown with her brand of infectious pop-rock. Nothing is stopping Briar’s ascendence into pop stardom!
Briar Summers is a singer-songwriter from Muskoka, and now based in Toronto.
Produced and mixed by Wayne Cochrane, mastered by Chris Crerar, at Metalworks Studios, Mississauga ON, it features the incredible talents of Ben Riley (drums), Drew Jurecka (viola, violin), Jack Gaughan (guitars), Cole Jodouin (bass), Daniel Dennis (cello), and Louis Tusz (trumpet).
Briar has performed on many stages throughout Muskoka and beyond - Summerfolk Festival, Muskoka Pride, Muskoka Music Festival, Bala Cranberry Festival and Huntsville's Festival of the Arts, and has played countless other concerts and venues as well. She is performing in Europe for the first time this summer.
Her debut album FROM THE ASHES (2021), was produced and mixed by 3x Grammy-award winner David Bottrill.
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Adrian's fifth solo album released, February 27, 2024, ‘You’re Just A Place That I Know’, tracks the story of his Ukrainian grandparents’ flight from their homeland in the 1940s, settling to begin life anew in Montreal. Situated somewhere in Glynn’s usual wheelhouse of dark indie folk, the album has tinges of traditional Ukrainian folk music, featuring instruments like the bandura and the lira (or “hurdy-gurdy”), as well as strings, a full band and a young men’s choir.
Adrian Glynn McMorran is a Vancouver, Canada-based actor and musician. Raised in Vancouver, Adrian received a BA in Theatre from the University of British Columbia and studied acting at New York's Atlantic Theatre School.
Adrian also records and tours as a singer-songwriter ("Adrian Glynn") and has spent the past few years playing shows in Canada and Europe, both as a solo act and as a member of the Canadian modern folk group, The Fugitives.
The Fugitives 2014 release, Everything Will Happen, garnered them nominations for the Canadian Folk Music Awards and the Western Canadian Music Their most recent album ‘No Help Coming’ is a stunning reflection on the looming environmental crisis that we can’t seem take seriously.
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Nothing ever really, truly ends. Even with our sights set on the future, once a significant event—a love lost, a love found, the birth of a child, the death of a friend—passes, we're bound to our memory's eternal return. On New Kind of Familiar, his second album under the Clever Hopes moniker, Andrew Shaver explores the texture of transition with lush folk-rock and poetic lyricism, from a liminal vantage point that offers both views of where he's come from and the places he might be headed.
Between writing his debut Clever Hopes album, Artefact, and the songs that comprise New Kind of Familiar, Shaver experienced his fair share of significant events—falling in love, moving to Nova Scotia, becoming a father. These are the things occupying his mind on the new record, and yet, they don't exist in a vacuum; Shaver rejects tidy narratives and time's linear arrow, and instead lets the album take shape with the same flow and verve of real life, bouncing back and forth in his lyrics between memory, the glorious, the complicated present, and anticipation.
The result is appropriately dreamy, drifting, rhythmic, and charged. On the record's soulful, simmering opener, "The Only One," Shaver's dusky delivery plays foil to longtime collaborator Eva Foote's airy vocals as he tentatively moves into new romance while acknowledging the lingering sting of a past breakup. The horn-blasted "Thrown It Open" finds him fully fallen into a big love and embracing the unknown; haunted pedal steel colours the reflective "Holes" as the relationship shifts and unsettles; with the quick-shuffling "Blue Parachutes," hazy memories of a lost year in Australia convince the songwriter's present self to pull it together.
"There was a lot of looking back on Artefact," Shaver says. "New Kind of Familiar is far more forward looking; there are songs on which I've been able to celebrate the place I'm in now - a place of stability and clarity.
As Shaver puts it: "I love a slow fade to black."
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NATE SILVA RETURNS with ‘The Chase’
Nate Silva has made a name for himself as a consummate guitarist, songwriter, singer and entertainer. On June 07,2024, Nate will return to Huntsville, in concert, with his trio, showcasing a new album- ‘the Chase’, tour and triumphant set of songs at Canvas Brewing Company.
Known primarily for his virtuoso guitar stylings with the Slyde (2009-2021), an internationally successful recording band, he was much beloved for his exhilarating cover sets where he displays his artistry and melodic flourish on acoustic guitar. http://natesilvamusic.com/
Nate is also highly regarded for his extensive studio work as session player and producer. He has toured with an impressive variety of artists, in almost every genre available in today’s music scene, such as Gabrielle Goulet, Cindy Doire, Reuben and the Dark, Tim Piper and many more.
His powerful, multi-octave singing range, often compared to Geddy Lee and Freddie Mercury, is beyond thrilling. Above all, Nate is a dynamic, exciting presence on stage and engagingly charismatic considering how thunderous his music can get.
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LORI YATES - MATADOR
“Matador," released on January 29, 2024, is an exciting, thoughtful album from a veteran songwriter and performer. In this delightful, easy-going conversation, Lori discusses the album and what it means her and her many years thriving in the music industry.
Lori Yates is a renowned voice, a respected singer/songwriter in roots music, and a pioneer of “alternative country music” in Canada.
The Band's Rick Danko once described Yates as having "that desperate Canadian sound," sealing her legendary status.
Yates returns with her eighth album, "Matador," released on January 29, 2024, a testament to Yates’ enduring influence and artistic evolution.
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NO HELP COMING. - THE FUGITIVES
'No Help Coming', to us, isn't a negative," says Glynn. "It means humanity's alone in this, but we're alone in this together."
The Fugitives are:Adrian Glynn: vocals, guitars, bass, balalaika, piano, additional percussionBrendan McLeod: vocals, guitars, ukulele, bad banjoCarly Frey: vocals, violinChris Suen: vocals, banjo, ukulele
BIO:Formed in Vancouver, Canada in 2007, The Fugitives are a folk collective headed by songwriters Brendan McLeod and Adrian Glynn. The band has toured extensively in Europe & Canada, won multiple folk music awards and released 5 critically-acclaimed albums. On "No Help Coming" they took the learnings from months of research from their JUNO nominated previous release, "Trench Songs", to playfully take on deadly serious topics. "No Help Coming" is concerned with the climate emergency, and how humanity's only choice is to work together.
The Fugitives are an acoustic folk-roots group headed by songwriters Adrian Glynn and Brendan McLeod. They’re joined by banjo player Chris Suen (Viper Central) and violinist Carly Frey (The Coal Porters).
Over their first five albums, they’ve amassed a JUNO nomination, numerous CFMA and WCMA nominations, and toured extensively through Canada, Europe, and the UK. Performance highlights include most major Canadian folk festivals, a slot at Glastonbury, and a tour opening for Buffy Sainte-Marie. In 2020, the band created “Ridge”, a WW1-centered theatre show, which was named a Globe & Mail “Top Arts Pick of the Year”, and has toured to over 30 theatres across Canada.
The band has earned a reputation for unforgettable live shows, brimming with complex harmonies, infectious storytelling and top-notch musicianship. As the CBC has it: “This show is simply brilliant.”
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54•40 is a legendary Canadian rock band that emerged from the vibrant music scene of Vancouver, British Columbia. Formed in 1981, the band's name is derived from the westward expansionist James K. Polk (11th President of the USA) political slogan “54-40 or Fight”!The band’s core members are Neil Osborne (vocal’s, guitar and Brad Merritt (bass). Both high school friends with a shared passion for music, they were later joined by Phil Comparelli (guitar) and Matt Johnson (drums), who became important contributors to the band’s signature sound. After Phil Comparelli's departure from the band, Dave Genn joined 54•40 as the new guitarist. His addition to the lineup brought a fresh perspective and musical talent that complemented the band's existing sound. Dave Genn had already gained recognition in the Canadian music scene through his work with the band Matthew Good Band. With Dave Genn on board, 54•40 continued to create memorable music and deliver electrifying performances. Their chemistry as a group remained strong, and they embarked on successful tours, both nationally and internationally, further solidifying their status as one of Canada's most cherished rockActs.In 1984, 54•40 released their self-titled album debut, which included tracks like "Baby Ran" and "I Go Blind." These songs garnered significant video exposure on Much Music and quickly established the band as a promising force in the modern rock scene.Throughout their career, 54•40 has earned critical acclaim and numerous awards, solidifying their status as Canadian music icons.
In the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, the band achieved even greater success with albums like "Show Me" (1987) and "Dear Dear" (1992), “Smilin’ Buddha Cabaret” (1994). The latter featured the hit single "Ocean Pearl," which became one of their most recognizable and beloved songs.
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Otis released a new single on March 8,2024. It’ll be a bluesy, rockin’ cover of a 1969 song by soul sister Betty Harris called There’s a Break in the Road. The band absolutely kills it with their version and makes it their own.Lead singer/guitarist Boone Froggett (is that a cool name or what?) spoke to me March 05,2024 and we don’t want you to miss the opportunity to check this young band out.Recorded in a live full band take at The Rock House in Franklin Tennessee, the single features electric piano from and mixed by renowned Grammy Award winning musician Kevin McKendree (Brian Setzer, George Thorogood) and mastered by Ty Tabor of the acclaimed US rock band Kings X.Kentucky born and bred, OTIS is a young, hard rocking quartet who performs and plays their exciting original music like they’ve been around for 40 years.Alongside Boone, John Seeley (bass), Alex Wells (guitar), and Dale Myers (drums), these tight-knit guys stay connected to their homegrown roots having been around traditional instruments from a young age in piano, fiddle, and guitar instilling in them an appreciation of country-rock, bluegrass, blues, soul, and folk music.
The band blends roots, blues, classic rock, soul, and, of course, Southern rock and has created an original sound reminiscent of some of the great blues-rock/Southern rock bands like the Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, ZZ Top and Wet Willie.The band’s debut album, 2014’s Tough Times: A Tribute to John Brim, is a raw, groove-oriented, blues drenched masterpiece that got rave reviews and was a blueprint for things to come for the band.The blistering Eyes of the Sun was released in 2018 on Cleopatra Records and more than lived up to the promise of the band’s debut album.
And now comes There’s a Break in the Road, which is a precursor to a full album that will be released sometime in 2024.OTIS website: https://theotisband.com
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On March 01,2024, The Hello Darlins released the Alders and the Ashes, a double album follow-up to their breakthrough smash 2020 album, Go by Feel.
A lot has happened for the band and its principal songwriters, Candace Lacina and Mike Little, since they garnered world-wide attention with their debut. The lock down, Mike’s recovery from a worrisome health issue, the loss of family and friends, an extensive 2023 tour in support of Go by Feel and the rigorous demand placed on them as preeminent, highly sought after, studio musicians.
The Alders and the Ashes is a masterfully written and produced, sophomore album. For fans, eagerly awaiting more material from the songwriting duo and their esteemed bandmates, it is generously playful, soulful and dare I say, spiritual - a bountiful sonic feast of Americana Roots, Rock and Country.
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‘A Way Through Time’ JJ Shiplett.
Americana Roots singer-songwriter JJ Shipplet’s breathtakingly personal new album, A Way Through Time, released on March 15,2002 via Red Buffalo Records under the exclusive license of Jayward Artist Group (distributed by The Orchard).
This new album showcases the Calgary, AB-based artist's evolution both sonically and lyrically, as he explores a sound he has been searching for a long time. And please, please, please listen to the last track, "You and I Will Never End"... it is devastating and heartbreaking.
A Way Through Time was written throughout the course of a few years, in and around my house here in Calgary. These were the songs and melodies I would hold tightly to; something inside said they mattered and constantly drew me in further every time I’d sing them. When I’d pick up my guitar, or play the piano, these were the songs that would come out.
As a thread began to weave itself through each song, it became clearer and clearer that each song had a purpose, a story to tell, and something to work towards. It was the recognition that life barrels on, lap after lap, and as we learn to ride the wave, we begin to take advantage of the very moment, allowing us to give it away and to love recklessly.
Armed with the songs and time running out, I went to Fort Records in Fort Langley, BC, with Jay Stewart at the helm. His positive mental attitude, attention to detail, and willingness to dive deep into the songs was so crucial to making this album. Together, with close friend Jeremy Friesen, we set out to capture the truth of each song by connecting the lyrics and melody to the rhythm and emotion. It was extremely important that these songs be recorded with Jeremy, as he was battling stage 4 cancer. With each session, I could see him fading away. We knew we had to make the most of each moment. The very last session we did, finishing vocals for You and I Will Never End, was the last time I saw him.
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