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Lee Aaron Elevates Her Game 

Roman Mitz
Lee Aaron Elevates Her Game 
By Roman Mitz Lee Aaron has a new album called “Elevate,” and the Merriam-Webster dictionary says that verb means “To raise in rank or status” or “To raise the spirits of.” Well, her new album certainly succeeds on both counts.  The award-winning songwriter, producer and Canadian vocalist blazed back onto the rock scene in 2016 (after a ten-year hiatus to... Read More

Country & Roots – Audio Treats – Happy New Year!

Roman Mitz
Country & Roots – Audio Treats – Happy New Year!
Open Spaces – By Roman Mitz New releases drop down to a trickle toward the end of the year and the beginning of the next, but Open Spaces has brushed away a layer of snow and found a few cool audio treats that we wouldn’t want you to miss out on. Multi-platinum hit-making trio Cheat Codes, popularly known for their smash... Read More

Madeline Merlo Rides High With ‘Slide’  

Roman Mitz
Madeline Merlo Rides High With ‘Slide’  
by Roman Mitz for Open Spaces. Raised in Maple Ridge, British Columbia, near Vancouver, Madeline Merlo has been on a fast track after being discovered on YouTube and signed to a record label at only 18. Radio success, tour dates and awards quickly followed, and she was honoured with the Canadian Country Music Association’s Rising Star Award in 2015. In... Read More

Jully Black – R&B Queen Still Reigns  

Roman Mitz
Jully Black – R&B Queen Still Reigns  
by Roman Mitz for Open Spaces Long live the Queen, Jully Black, Canada’s Queen of R&B and Soul.  A true icon, and long-time advocate of female empowerment through her music, spirit and activism, Jully champions important causes and uses her career as a platform to celebrate and inspire greatness. Along the way the multiple Gemini and Juno award winner has... Read More

Sykamore’s ‘Pinto’ Fires On all Cylinders By Roman Mitz

Roman Mitz
Sykamore’s ‘Pinto’ Fires On all Cylinders By Roman Mitz
Born in a small town outside of Calgary, pop/country vocalist Sykamore grew up on a cattle ranch surrounded by country music which laid the groundwork for her to start writing her own songs. Soon her songwriting would garner attention in Canada, leading her to be nominated for the Canadian Country Music Association’s (CCMA) coveted Discovery Award in 2015. Her biggest... Read More

Canadian Country Summer Round-Up 2022 by Roman Mitz

Roman Mitz
Canadian Country Summer Round-Up 2022 by Roman Mitz
Hot Fun Country Summertime Sounds to Round Up the Summer of 2022 Singer-songwriter Riley Taylor pictured above, has just released his debut single, “Good Things.”  The 24-year-old, hailing from Burton, New Brunswick, grew up surrounded by music from a young age. His influences from the country classics being played on his uncle and grandfather’s guitars at bonfires are apparent in his... Read More

Sass Jordan – Still Alive & Well

Roman Mitz
Sass Jordan – Still Alive & Well
Sass Jordan can be a little bit sassy. Calling to talk about her terrific new album “Bitches Blues”, the free-spirited Sass is not averse to dropping the occasional colourful adjective in order to make a point, and she often punctuates the conversation with her extremely infectious high-pitched laugh. Her new album can almost be considered part two of 2020’s “Rebel... Read More

High Valley – Way Back & Way Cool.

Roman Mitz
High Valley – Way Back & Way Cool.
Have a little faith. This may well be the signature catchphrase of High Valley, the country band which originated in a small Mennonite community in Alberta and is now based in Nashville. Family values have always been an integral part of the band’s music and this remains an important underlying theme on their latest album ‘Way Back’.  Lead singer Brad... Read More

Spring Country Round-up  

Roman Mitz
Spring Country Round-up  
Gord Bamford’s “I Ain’t Drunk” featuring celebrated Canadian country star Terri Clark By Roman Mitz Spring is a time of rebirth so we’ll begin with the rebirth of Gord Bamford’s album “Diamonds In A Whiskey Glass” in an expanded Diamond Deluxe Edition. Spring is a time of rebirth so we’ll begin with the rebirth of Gord Bamford’s album “Diamonds In... Read More

Hailey Whitters – Raised On Country Sunshine

Roman Mitz
Hailey Whitters – Raised On Country Sunshine
You can take the girl out of the cornfield, but you can’t take the cornfield out of the girl. Hailey Whitters represents small town America at its finest as she hails from Shueyville Iowa, population 731. The singer/song writer has just released a new album called “Raised” and like Hailey herself, the record is steeped in the culture of the... Read More

Amanda Jordan – Everything’s Coming Up Roses

Roman Mitz
Amanda Jordan – Everything’s Coming Up Roses
by Roman Mitz Smith Falls native and Nashville transplant Amanda Jordan has been on a pretty wild ride as of late. The country chanteuse released the singles “Pretty Girl” and “Love You To Pieces” in March and August of 2021. It ended up being a breakout year for Amanda which saw the two songs amass over half a million streams... Read More

Roman Mitz’ Open Spaces – Country Holiday Wrap 2021!     

Roman Mitz
Roman Mitz’ Open Spaces – Country Holiday Wrap 2021!     
Petric End-of-year music releases are typically few and far between, but this year we’ve seen a plethora of country recordings from both emerging artists and go-to favourites. This may be due to the fact that performers are preparing to hit the road again now or in the New Year, and they need some new product to trot out before the... Read More

Lee Aaron – Rocks Out With Radio On!

Roman Mitz
Lee Aaron – Rocks Out With Radio On!
Multi-platinum, award-winning vocalist Lee Aaron is back with “Radio On!”, a collection of 12 brand new original songs that continues to build upon this rock legend’s legacy. Lee has gone through several incarnations as a performer, dealing heavy metal thunder on her mid-eighties classic “Metal Queen”, crooning jazz with the best of them on “Slick Chick” from 2000, and then... Read More

45 Years of Music Express Magazine: Building A Legacy – Part One

Roman Mitz
45 Years of Music Express Magazine: Building A Legacy – Part One
by Roman Mitz What a long strange and wonderful trip it’s been. It seems appropriate to paraphrase this album title when describing the history of Canada’s most enduring magazine, Music Express, which celebrates its 45th anniversary this month. The wonderful part of the trip begins with the magazine’s impressive reach as it is the only contemporary publication in the history... Read More

The Road Hammers – Back At It

Roman Mitz
The Road Hammers – Back At It
Roman Mitz – Open Spaces An undeniable staple in Canadian country rock since 2004, The Road Hammers (singer/guitarists Jason McCoy and Clayton Bellamy, and bassist Chris Byrne) have had six Top 10 hits and nine Top 20 singles, amassed over 25 million streams and collected five CCMA Awards and one Juno Award along the way. After a two-year hiatus, the... Read More

One Ugly Cowboy – Making Beautiful Noise

Roman Mitz
One Ugly Cowboy – Making Beautiful Noise
By Roman Mitz – Open Spaces Up and coming Toronto-based country-rockers ONE UGLY COWBOY are a relatively new band but the quintet is steeped with experience, and it shows on their latest album “Ride With The Wind”. The group is fronted by dynamic vocalist Jane Sowerby and her axe-wielding soul mate Richard Zwic, who has written and worked with several... Read More

Hourglass – Murray McLauchlan’s Timely New Album

Roman Mitz
Hourglass – Murray McLauchlan’s Timely New Album
 by Roman Mitz Murray McLauchlan has one heck of a resume. The renowned singer/songwriter is an 11-time Juno Award winner and an Order of Canada recipient who has authored a bestselling autobiography, hosted CBC Radio’s Swinging On A Star, and starred in Floating Over Canada, a recurring CBC/PBS TV special which followed Murray, a licensed bush pilot, across the country... Read More

Tim Hicks – Campfire Troubadour

Roman Mitz
Tim Hicks – Campfire Troubadour
Tim Hicks – Photo by Dustin Rabin By Roman Mitz While Tim Hicks is known for his raucous live shows and the party atmosphere surrounding them, his evolution as a performer had humble beginnings, as he charmed bar patrons nightly with a vast repertoire of solo acoustic material designed to please a crowd. His latest EP, “Campfire Troubadour“ pulls from this model, reimagining... Read More

Samantha Martin & Delta Sugar – Little Bit ‘O Soul

Roman Mitz
Samantha Martin & Delta Sugar – Little Bit ‘O Soul
Samantha Martin is a musical chameleon.  She first showed off her soulful vocals on her 2004 EP entitled ”Fade”, followed in 2008 by her terrific full-length debut album ”Back Home”, which contained her loving tribute to Janis Joplin fittingly entitled “Pearl”.  Samantha then took off in a rootsy-rockabilly direction for the eponymously titled Samantha Martin & The Haggard in 2012... Read More