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Year: 2014

BLACK IS THE COLOUR — Headstones

Music Express
BLACK IS THE COLOUR — Headstones
Flames Central, Calgary | October 30, 2014 A secret memo went out to all participants to wear black; black shirts, black pants, and shoes. And to accessorize with black: black toques, black bandanas, and leather. The occasional suit, dropped from a nearby office tower cruised the edges of the scene with a brightly coloured shirt, but was soon lost in... Read More

Sam Roberts Band Session Ale Now Available at the LCBO Inbox x

Music Express
Sam Roberts Band Session Ale Now Available at the LCBO Inbox x
(Toronto, ON – 10 November 2014) — After a summer of quenching thirsts at local bars across Ontario, Sam Roberts Band Session Ale can now be enjoyed by craft beer lovers at home.  As Juno Award winning rockers Sam Roberts Band begin their Lo-Fantasy national tour, SRB Session Ale kicks off its tour of the LCBO, with a listing at stores across the province. In concert... Read More

MOTHER MOTHER Very Good Bad Thing

Keith Sharp
MOTHER MOTHER Very Good Bad Thing
(Island/Universal) By Keith Sharp There is no disputing the uniqueness of this five-member outfit from Quadra Island British Columbia who combine electronic/dance arrangements with precise vocal harmonies for a strong alternative pop sound and with ace producer Gavin Brown (Metric/The Tragically Hip) behind the console, the band’s fifth studio effort project a very “now” sound.  Led by guitarist/vocalist Ryan Guldemund... Read More

One Bad Son Defies Digital Replication

Keith Sharp
One Bad Son Defies Digital Replication
How weird is it that the province of Saskatchewan can produced two hard rock drummers both called Kurt Dahl. Drummer number one is Lanigan, Saskatchewan’s Kurt Dahle, percussionist for 1990’s rock band Age Of Electric who went on to play for the New Pornographers. Kurt Dahl, without the `e’, on the other hand, is the driving force behind Saskatoon’s One... Read More

For Moist It Was Either Now Or Never

Keith Sharp
For Moist It Was Either Now Or Never
It was simply a case of now or never. When Moist vocalist David Usher contacted guitarist Mark Makoway and keyboardist Kevin Young about the prospect of re-launching the band after a 14-year hiatus, there was a sense between the trio that the timing was finally right to initiate a reunion. “Both Mark and myself have young children and there was... Read More

Steve Kane Joins 2015 Inductees to Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame

Keith Sharp
Steve Kane Joins 2015 Inductees to Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame
Canadian Music Week is pleased to announce Steve Kane as a 2015 inductee to the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame. Kane, the President of Warner Music Canada, will be honoured for his achievements at the Canadian Music & Broadcast Industry Awards gala, taking place on Thursday, May 7, 2015 at the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel. In a career spanning... Read More

BLUE RODEO – Have Yourself A Merrie Little Christmas

Keith Sharp
BLUE RODEO – Have Yourself A Merrie Little Christmas
  (Warner Music Canada) Yes it’s that time of year again when every musician and his uncle deems it necessary to release a Christmas album with the 100th version of time-worn favourites. Fortunately, Toronto’s Blue Rodeo have saved us from that fate, and instead released a 10-track holiday record that is definitely not your Granddad’s holiday record. Instead they feature... Read More

BILLY TALENT Hits

Keith Sharp
BILLY TALENT Hits
(Warner Music Canada) After a career stretching four studio albums and 11 years, Toronto’s Billy Talent have reached a career milestone with the release of a 14-track `Hits’ best –of release which also contains two new tracks, the incendiary “Kingdom Of Zod” and the melodic “Chasing the Sun”. Sparked by Benjamin Kowalewicz’s distinctive vocals, Ian D’Sa’s fiery guitar work and... Read More

FM: Remastered Classic Keeps Band’s Spirit Alive

Keith Sharp
FM: Remastered Classic Keeps Band’s Spirit Alive
Cameron Hawkins vividly remembers the first time he laid eyes on Nash the Slash. “He was performing at Toronto’s Ontario Place in this punk, prog rock band called Breathless. At one point he spits a flame into the audience and sets six people on fire. I looked at that as absolute garbage and I said to myself, I could never... Read More

YOU+ME’S (ALECIA MOORE (P!NK) and DALLAS GREEN (CITY AND COLOUR) LP rose ave. DEBUTS #1 ON SOUNDSCAN and #4 ON BILLBOARD

Keith Sharp
YOU+ME’S (ALECIA MOORE (P!NK) and DALLAS GREEN (CITY AND COLOUR) LP rose ave. DEBUTS #1 ON SOUNDSCAN and #4 ON BILLBOARD
(OCTOBER 22 – Toronto, ON) – You+Me’s debut album rose ave. has debuted #1 on the Top 200 SoundScan Chart in Canada with 23,500 units sold in its first week.  The 10-track LP released last week on Dine Alone Records/Sony Music Entertainment Canada also enters the Billboard Top 200chart at #4 with over 49,500 units sold in its first week.  Other notable chart debuts include #2 in Australia, #6 in Germany and #10 in the UK. You+Me... Read More

The Honeyrunners: Mapping Out Their Own Direction

Keith Sharp
The Honeyrunners: Mapping Out Their Own Direction
If you want a template on how to operate a new Canadian band in today’s social media environment, look no further than Toronto’s Honeyrunners. This four-man unit comprising of lead vocalist Dan Dwoskin, drummer Brandon Robins, guitarist Marcus Bucci and bassist Mike Bolton not only book themselves, manage themselves and fund their own records but are also quite happy to... Read More

Franklins Dealers: Playing With A Full Deck

Keith Sharp
Franklins Dealers: Playing With A Full Deck
Franklins Dealers are not your average run-of-the-mill, snot-nosed kid, start-up rock band. Yes they’ve only been together less than three years. And yes, they have only just gotten around to releasing their first EP recording. But who else launches with their own record label, Greenstock Records, their own recording studio, their own rehearsal space, a spacious warehouse complex located in... Read More

BRYAN ADAMS Tracks Of My Years

Keith Sharp
BRYAN ADAMS Tracks Of My Years
(Universal) Anyone who has ever attended a Bryan Adams concert knows he’s always good for a couple of cover tracks so it’s hardly surprising that his first studio album since his 2008 `Eleven’ release is an ambitious collection of 14 covers of radio classics from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s as well as one new collaboration with long-time co-writer Jim... Read More

MOIST Glory Under Dangerous Skies

Keith Sharp
MOIST Glory Under Dangerous Skies
(Universal) The resurrection of Moist, kick-started by a brief tour at the end of 2013 has come full circle with the release of their first studio record since their “Mercedes 5 And Dime 1999 record, this one titled “Glory Under Dangerous Skies. It’s a new look Moist with Frances Fillion taking over the drummer’s seat from band original Paul Wilcox... Read More

Coalition Music Complex – Toronto’s Music Incubator For Emerging Talent

Keith Sharp
Coalition Music Complex – Toronto’s Music Incubator For Emerging Talent
Appearances can be deceiving. From the outside, a white-painted building which occupies 1731 Lawrence Avenue East in mid-town Toronto looks like a redesigned school house. Yet step inside the complex and you are confronted with what one music industry type described as “a Disney world for musicians”. Central to this three-storey operation is Coalition Music, a leading music industry management... Read More

Russell deCarle. Stepping Out Of His Shell

Roman Mitz
Russell deCarle. Stepping Out Of His Shell
“I’m right with you man,” Russell deCarle laughs with regard to the 30+ year-old tape recorder being used for this interview. This is the same recorder that was used to interview him several times over the years while he served as front man for the legendary Canadian country band Prairie Oyster. The old school unit would seem to be appropriate... Read More

Cowboy Junkies Announced as 2015 Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame Inductees

Keith Sharp
Cowboy Junkies Announced as 2015 Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame Inductees
Canadian Music Week is pleased to announce Cowboy Junkies as the 2015 inductees to the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame. One of Canada’s iconic alternative country/blues/folk rock bands, Cowboy Junkies have been producing their signature brand of roots music for more than three decades, simultaneously playing a seminal role in building the foundation of Canada’s independent music sector. On... Read More

Theory Of A Dead Man: Media Scorn Is Embarrassing

Keith Sharp
Theory Of A Dead Man: Media Scorn Is Embarrassing
It’s safe to say that one thing Theory Of A Dead Man’s Tyler Connolly and Co don’t do when they release a new record is scan the reviews in Canadian media. They know it’s a foregone conclusion that anything they put out is going to get trashed. Whether it’s because their records are released on 604 Records, a Vancouver label... Read More