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Postal Service Pays Tribute to Bluegrass Music

Eric Alper
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Postal Service Pays Tribute to Bluegrass Music

That high lonesome sound was celebrated here today with the dedication of the Bluegrass Forever stamp at the Bluegrass Hall of Fame and Museum.

Bluegrass is a singularly American music style, born in the mid-20th century. It defies time, drawing inspiration from the past while also openly embracing innovation.

“Like Bluegrass, the Postal Service finds inspiration in our nation’s history — which is why we are so proud of the role we play in portraying the American experience,” said Steven W. Monteith, Postal Service chief customer and marketing officer and executive vice president. “Bluegrass music is a legacy that can make us all proud, whether we’re a musician or a fan. And it is a legacy we are proud to recognize with this stamp.”

The genre blends old-time folk and fiddle music with elements of blues, jazz, country and gospel. The signature sound of bluegrass relies on tight vocal harmonies, driving tempos, and perhaps most of all, outstanding musicianship.

“I am very pleased and excited that the U.S. Postal Service is issuing a commemorative stamp for our beloved bluegrass music,” said Ricky Skaggs, 15-time Grammy® Award-winner and bluegrass ambassador. “Millions of people around the world will see this stamp and many of them will want to know more about the music. A huge door has opened up to us!”

The stamp dedication event occurred before a concert by Skaggs.

The signature sound of bluegrass relies on a mix of acoustic string instruments. The five-string banjo dominates and, along with guitar, mandolin, and bass, sets the rhythmic foundation of this often fast-paced music. Fiddle, mandolin, banjo, and guitar evoke a range of melodic flavors and emotions in their solos and backup.

Music historians generally agree that bluegrass as we know it originated with Bill Monroe (1911–1996). Drawing on old-time fiddle and church music as well as gospel, blues and jazz, Monroe fashioned a style that was both brand new and achingly familiar.
By 1945, Monroe and his band, the Blue Grass Boys, had solidified the key components of bluegrass: refined vocal harmonies, driving tempos, and outstanding musicianship. Once viewed as a type of country music, bluegrass — famously described as “folk music in overdrive” by musicologist Alan Lomax — emerged as its own distinct genre and could be found just about everywhere, from college campuses and large urban areas to television shows and movies.

Inspired by vintage bluegrass concert posters, the stamp art features four acoustic string instruments typical of bluegrass bands — guitar, five-string banjo, fiddle, and mandolin — below the word “Bluegrass.” Text at the top of the stamp reads “High Lonesome Sound,” the title of a 1963 documentary about Appalachian folk music and a familiar nickname for bluegrass.

Antonio Alcalá, an art director with the Postal Service, worked with designer and illustrator Heather Moulder to produce the stamp art. Moulder created the design as a letterpress print, with each layer carved by hand from wood and linoleum.

The Black Keys Receive Soundexchange Hall Of Fame Award

Eric Alper
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The Black Keys Receive Soundexchange Hall Of Fame Award

SoundExchange, the premier music tech organization powering the future of music, announced today that The Black Keys have been honored with the SoundExchange Hall of Fame Award, recognizing their stature as one of the most streamed acts in the organization’s 20-year history.

“Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney have redefined rock music for a generation as The Black Keys, releasing powerful hits like ‘Tighten Up,’ ‘Lonely Boy,’ and ‘Gold on the Ceiling,'” said Michael Huppe, President and CEO of SoundExchange. “We are honored to present The Black Keys with the SoundExchange Hall of Fame Award.”

Patrick Carney and Dan Auerbach were presented during the SXSW conference and music festival in Austin, Texas, where duo delivered a featured keynote, premiered the Jeff Dupre-directed documentary This is a Film About The Black Keys, and performed a pair of headlining sets. The band will release its twelfth studio album, Ohio Players, on April 5 via Nonesuch/Warner Records.

Formed in Akron, Ohio in 2001, The Black Keys are singer/guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney. The Black Keys have been called “rock royalty” by the Associated Press and “one of the best rock ‘n’ roll bands on the planet” by Uncut. Cutting their teeth playing small clubs, the band has gone on to sell out arena tours and has released eleven previous studio albums: the debut The Big Come Up (2002), followed by Thickfreakness (2003) and Rubber Factory (2004), Magic Potion (2006), Attack & Release (2008), Brothers (2010), El Camino (2011), Turn Blue (2014), “Let’s Rock” (2019), Delta Kream (2021), and Dropout Boogie (2022). The band has won six Grammy Awards and a BRIT and headlined festivals in North America, South America, Mexico, Australia, and Europe.

SoundExchange is the premier music tech organization on a mission to power the future of music. It was independently formed in 2003 to build a fairer, simpler, and more efficient music industry through technology, data, and advocacy. The only organization designated by the U.S. government to administer the Section 114 sound recording license, SoundExchange collects and distributes digital performance royalties on behalf of 650,000 music creators and growing. Through proprietary music tech solutions that turn data into accurate revenue, SoundExchange has paid more than $10 billion in distributions to date. For more information, visit soundexchange.com.

ClimeCo, Music Sustainability Alliance Report on State of Sustainability Efforts, Attitudes in Live Music Industry

Eric Alper
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ClimeCo, Music Sustainability Alliance Report on State of Sustainability Efforts, Attitudes in Live Music Industry

 ClimeCo, the leading global decarbonization and environmental solutions company, recently partnered with the Music Sustainability Alliance (MSA), the hub for learning, innovation and collaboration for driving sustainable operational change in the live music industry. Together, they are pleased to share the results of their recent study on the state of sustainability in live music presented at MSA’s Music Sustainability Summit. Their research engaged more than 50 influential stakeholders, including tour managers, promoters, record labels, venues, production managers, non-profit organizations, festival operators and others, through in-depth personal interviews conducted in late 2023. The findings shed light on present challenges, successes and areas of opportunity, including drivers, barriers and emerging sustainability focus areas shaping the narrative of the live music industry.

Top-level Findings

Perhaps the most significant key finding is that all groups interviewed recognized the importance of sustainability efforts and indicated that they are actively working to improve in this area. Also, there was substantial overlap among the various survey groups in identifying possible areas of focus, but the options were prioritized differently based on role and functional area.

Key Drivers

Ninety-one percent of groups interviewed indicated that the anchor of sustainability in the live music industry is the influence of artists. Artists play a pivotal role in shaping the vision for their tours and engagement with fans. This influence is further accentuated by the widespread adoption of green riders, prompting venues to become more responsive and accommodating of the expectations set by artists. Promoters also emphasized sustainability as a common pre-requisite for booking acts, especially with artists who are vocal about climate change. Smaller artists may have difficulty asking their partners to improve their sustainability practices since the clout of more prominent figures is undeniably more significant.

Fan engagement and sincere commitment to driving substantial change are important in effectively implementing sustainability improvements. Tours have reported heightened success in engagement when artists and artist communities actively advocate for climate adaptation directly with fans during events. Tour managers highlighted the growing trend for artists to include tabling events and on-site volunteer registration opportunities, fostering deeper connections between fans and their admired artists through shared values. Additionally, eighty-two percent of groups interviewed reported that involving fans in sustainability efforts was critical to ensuring their success. They also noted that fans often expect and actively seek sustainability measures at live events and are eager to participate in impact mitigation both on-site and off-site.

Successes

Ninety-one percent of groups interviewed pointed to successful waste reduction initiatives and/or pilot programs exploring the use of cleaner energy sources. Venues mentioned efforts to increase recycling and composting capabilities. Festival operators highlighted reductions in single-use plastics over the past several years. On the alternative energy front, non-profit organizations and production managers have tested the use of solar energy for live performances and as a diesel generator replacement, while tour managers and logistics partners are exploring the adoption of alternative fuels in transportation and logistics.

Challenges

Navigating the sustainability landscape in the live music industry poses challenges, with key barriers that include prohibitive costs and access to granular data. Seventy-three percent of groups interviewed mentioned the steep cost of implementation as an organizational challenge. Venues noted the difficulty of measuring baseline data for live event footprint calculations, and record labels stressed the need for more industry-wide standardization in measuring greenhouse gas emissions.

Non-profits and several touring managers suggested using sponsors to underwrite the cost of key environmental initiatives and the measurement of their success as a possible solution to mounting cost pressures. That said, concerns about fan and partner reactions to greenwashing remain a consideration in any effort. A widespread lack of clarity around which group should assume primary ownership over environmental matters, including policy decisions, measurement and reporting, has also slowed progress. As the industry grapples with these challenges, a growing consensus across all groups is that the music industry needs to work with outside experts to set accurate goals and key performance indicators to ensure alignment.

Emerging Issues/Opportunities

While the challenges of enhancing overall responsibility and impact reporting are already evident, all stakeholders stressed that the momentum behind these efforts will only grow in popularity, creating significant opportunities for early adopters and innovators. Consultants and managers suggested that the industry expand avenues for attendees to reduce their impact and empower fans interested in contributing to sustainability improvement. Since fan travel is generally the largest source of carbon emissions for tours and festivals, several venues and festivals discussed efforts to create ride-sharing or shuttle programs to lower single-occupant vehicle use for fan travel, creating significant emissions savings and providing sustainable options to fans. Many stakeholder subgroups noted the importance of pre-planning tours to mitigate climate impacts. They also noted the pivotal role of education and awareness in sustaining momentum across the industry and the general public. Several groups also indicated that location-specific policies (venues, cities, etc.) and the political landscape of local communities often impact the success of sustainability efforts.

Garrett Keraga, Senior Manager of Sustainability, Policy and Advisory at ClimeCo, who spearheaded the project, noted, “Given its visibility, platform and passion, the entertainment industry is one of the most important and influential drivers of climate action. This effort shows that while sustainability progress is being made in live music, industry groups need help in navigating the process. ClimeCo has worked with numerous industry players to create sustainability strategies, plan and implement abatement solutions, create measurable impact and communicate progress. We are thrilled to partner with forward-thinking groups like the Music Sustainability Alliance to use the power of music to create a brighter future.”

“Working with ClimeCo to conduct stakeholder engagement interviews shined a light on the depth of work the music industry is engaged in, along with the success stories and challenges it is facing in becoming more sustainable,” noted MSA Director Eleanor Anderson. “This research is a step towards understanding where we are in our sustainability journey, the challenges we need to solve and the opportunities for action,” added MSA President Amy Morrison.

Maestro Masters Bach: Musician Stuns Audiences with Performance on World’s Largest Pipe Organ

Eric Alper
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Maestro Masters Bach: Musician Stuns Audiences with Performance on World’s Largest Pipe Organ

Concert virtuoso Felix Hell embarked on a journey to Atlantic City, New Jersey, to pay homage to Johann Sebastian Bach by delivering a mesmerizing rendition of the iconic Toccata and Fugue in D Minor for Organ, BWV 565. His performance took place on the legendary Boardwalk Hall Auditorium pipe organ, certified by Guinness World Records as the largest of its kind globally.

Photo Gallery: Ministry with Gary Numan and Front Line Assembly at Toronto’s History

Eric Alper
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Photo Gallery: Ministry with Gary Numan and Front Line Assembly at Toronto’s History

All photos by Mini’s Memories. You can contact her through Instagram or X.

Ministry
Ministry
Ministry
Ministry
Ministry
Ministry
Ministry
Ministry
Ministry
Gary Numan
Gary Numan
Gary Numan
Gary Numan
Gary Numan
Front Line Assembly
Front Line Assembly
Front Line Assembly
Ministry

 

‘Art During Wartime’ Podcast Examines Cultural Beauty of Ukraine, Kicks Off Its Second Season With Rapper OTOY

Eric Alper
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‘Art During Wartime’ Podcast Examines Cultural Beauty of Ukraine, Kicks Off Its Second Season With Rapper OTOY

Art During Wartime, a podcast that examines the beauty and richness of Ukrainian culture, kicks off its second season with an interview with rapper OTOY, one of the most conceptual Ukrainian rappers today.

The podcast was conceived by Ohio native David Junk, who first started working in Ukraine in 1999, not long after the fall of the Soviet Union, as a record executive for Universal Music. At the time, no other Western record label had ventured into Ukraine. David played a pivotal role in opening Universal’s first branch office in the country, which was a major boost to the early development of the Ukrainian music industry.

As Vice President of Universal Music, he was instrumental in defending the rights of Ukrainian songwriters and combating music piracy controlled by criminal groups. Under his leadership, Universal Music soared to become Ukraine’s most successful international label. This achievement was largely attributed to the Ukrainian youth’s love of Hip Hop and rap music from Universal’s premier labels, Interscope and Def Jam Records.

Now, David has created Art During Wartime to keep Ukraine on American listeners’ minds. The podcast focuses on art and culture instead of military or political topics. “Americans need to know that Ukrainians are fighting for their culture,” David explains. “Russia has overshadowed Ukraine for centuries. That’s happened nowhere more profoundly than in arts and culture.”

Because of this overshadowing, most of us know much more about Russia than Ukraine. The Art During Wartime podcast will hopefully contribute to more Americans becoming aware of the beauty and richness of Ukrainian culture. And the understanding that Ukraine is not Russia.

The star of the first episode of Season 2, Ukrainian rapper OTOY is an award nominee, and is widely recognized in Ukraine for his original style and visual aesthetics. He highlights living stories that resonate with everyone who gets to know his work, and his outsized energy during performances will not leave anyone indifferent!

Music has accompanied OTOY since childhood, after his mother gave him his first hip-hop cassette by A Tribe Called Quest. This was then followed by music lessons at school and jams on the streets accompanied by his guitarist friends. In his work, he promotes values such as a respectful attitude towards women, the importance of mental health, and the preservation of local traditions and cultural characteristics.

In the inaugural episode of Art During Wartime’s second season, OTOY talks about his first music impressions and influences, the balance between his UX designer job and his music career, how the war has impacted his music, and how it felt to be on the frontline.

The second season of Art During Wartime is available now on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Folk Icon JAMES GORDON Goes On A Hunt For Harmony In “Leonard’s Secret Chord” From New Album ‘Wrinkles and Scars’

Eric Alper
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Folk Icon JAMES GORDON Goes On A Hunt For Harmony In “Leonard’s Secret Chord” From New Album ‘Wrinkles and Scars’

One of the more curious aspects of the artistic temperament is that the more you accomplish, the more you strive for. Case in point: Canadian folk legend James Gordon, who after a whopping 42 albums and successes in multiple other avenues of creative and civic life is still looking for “Leonard’s Secret Chord” — which is not only a metaphor for the elusiveness of the proverbial muse, but the title of his new single to boot.

And yes, that title is indeed a Leonard Cohen reference. Gordon wrote his song after watching a documentary on the omnipresent “Hallelujah,” which Cohen recorded in 1984 and which later became a staple of films, TV and the repertoires of other artists.

“Looking at his great body of work, I believe Cohen was always searching for meaning, for truth,” Gordon says. “Looking for a key solve the mystery of the universe. I think all creatives share that quest.”

A more uptempo cousin to the Cohen track, “Leonard’s Secret Chord” finds Gordon remarking on the intellectual and spiritual wanderlust of the driven—a group he feels we all fall into at one time or another:

Painters and poets, philosophers and kings
Looking to the cosmos for the same things
Rebels and angels, singers and dancers
Everybody’s out there looking for answers
We’re all looking for, we’re all looking for
Leonard’s secret chord

The ridiculously prolific Gordon absolutely fits that description. As a founding member of folk trio Tamarack, with whom he performed from 1978 to 2000, and subsequently as a solo artist, he’s made enough albums to fill a decent-sized independent record shop while touring extensively across the globe. He’s composed for symphony orchestras, the musical theatre and dance troupes, written film scores, and served as a songwriter-in-residence on CBC radio for over a decade. As a record producer, he’s credited on CDs by numerous Canadian folk artists, and his mentorship programs have spurred the careers of countless youth and adult songwriters alike. That’s not to mention his accomplishments as a published author, playwright, theatrical director, podcast host and even a two-term city councillor in his native Guelph.

Yep — textbook underachiever.

The latest jewel in his crown is Wrinkles and Scars, a forthcoming live album of which “Leonard’s Secret Chord” is but one facet. Recorded at Guelph’s River Run Centre in January 2024, the performance finds Gordon backed by his “Exceptional Ensemble” of Ian Bell, Randall Coryell, Anne Lindsay, Katherine Wheatley and David Woodhead. The 14 songs run the gamut from personal musings on aging and loneliness to some of the more politically charged material for which Gordon is known—including musical protestations against climate change, religious fundamentalism and the Rwandan genocide.

“I try to stay optimistic despite our current challenges,” he says. “As an activist, I want to hold onto hope, otherwise there’s no point investing energy into ‘the cause.’ That often feels pretty unrealistic in my moments of despair.”

Ah, but therein hangs the eternal quest for that secret chord of harmony and fulfillment. Thanks for still fighting the good fight, James. And hallelujah.

Nanaimo’s Kerilie McDowall Wins Women of Influence Creative Innovator Award

Eric Alper
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Nanaimo’s Kerilie McDowall Wins Women of Influence Creative Innovator Award

Musician-turned-TV-filmmaker Kerilie McDowall was humbled and honored to win the Women of Influence (WIN) Creative Innovator Award for her documentary short In the Zone: Rick Kilburn—a profile of the Vancouver Island/Vancouver, BC jazz bassist/producer/composer—at WIN’s February 2024 awards gala in Nanaimo, British Columbia.

Along with 100 fellow nominees in 11 categories, McDowall was in attendance to receive her award, which was sponsored by Canada’s Inland Truck & Equipment.

The objectives of the evening were extremely special to McDowall: Proceeds went to the Footprints Infertility & Pregnancy Loss Support Initiative. Run by the organizer of the sold-out awards evening, Blaise Hunter, Footprints champions reproductive health awareness and advocacy. The organization provides care packages and support to women who have miscarried and are in grief—a much-needed service for every community.

Award recipients honored at the February event included representatives of the entire Nanaimo community, including members of its business, social services, arts, Indigenous, LGBTQ+, and trades sectors.

In the Zone: Rick Kilburn documents the life and career of the multi-JUNO/East/West Coast Award-winning jazz bassist and producer, who has performed with artists ranging from Chilliwack and Mose Allison to Dave Brubeck and Chet Baker. As a bassist-composer, Kilburn spent over a decade in New York learning the craft of production while playing with some of the icons of U.S. jazz.

McDowall is a cross-media champion for jazz and the arts whose TV shorts and self-produced and -hosted radio programs—as well as her own accomplishments as a guitarist—have earned her 15 awards from around the globe, six of them from the USA.

She mentored as a volunteer in television from 2015 to 2022, directing for five to six years and hosting and producing for seven with the brilliant Shaw Spotlight team of Cameron McLean, Todd Jones, Jocelyn Matwe, Stas Bobkov, and volunteer Doug Tombe. With their assistance, McDowall released her first documentary short on March 17, 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic.

That first outing as a documentary filmmaker netted McDowall an award for Best Director from the Seoul Short Film Festival in South Korea and the Best Web and New Media award at the IndieX Film Fest in Hollywood.

In the Zone: Rick Kilburn also won the 2021 Best Short Documentary award at the Hong Kong International Short Film Festival, the Outstanding Achievement Award for Best Web and New Media at Hollywood’s Indie Short Fest in June 2021, and an Honorable Mention Award for Best Web and New Media at the Independent Shorts Awards in LA in March 2020.

At the 2021 Milan FFI Film Fest International, Kerilie and technical supervisor Jones (her directing mentor) picked up an award for Best Editing of a Short Documentary. The film went on to be named Best Short Documentary at the Japan International Film Festival in October 2022. Later McDowall received two more awards of prestige at the Vegas Movie Awards, Best Inspirational Film and Best Short Documentary, as well as another award from Japan and a Best Short Documentary award from London, UK.  McDowall and the team and crew were delighted to receive the Best Canadian Short Documentary from the Toronto Independent Film Festival of CIFT.

Upon the release of the film, Kilburn peaked at 11.3+ million hits on IMDB Pro’s STARmeter; McDowall herself hit 8.7 million hits while the doc was screening in Japan and Hong Kong. Monthly hits for the film peaked at 12.7 million in September 2023 and February 2024.

An accomplished musician in her own right, McDowall holds a degree from York University in guitar/composition. She began performing professionally as a guitarist at age 16/17, and by 23 was leading a jazz quintet in Vancouver, BC. That gig lasted from 1989 to 2000.

“Well, there may be 8 million guitarists in the world, but Kerilie McDowall is certainly one of the best,” remarked Paul Grant, host of Vancouver’s CBC Hot Air, after a 1999 recording session of McDowall’s quintet by producer Neil Ritchie. “Guitar Player magazine calls her playing ‘smooth and elegant’—to which I would add  ‘intelligent and original.’”

As the owner of Canadian Online Guitar Lessons (& Creative Services), McDowall now enjoys teaching and mentoring student guitarists and other musicians. She works with rising stars and JUNO Award and Order of Canada-winning recording artists and aspiring young players. Beginner and advanced guitarists—and even the newly curious—are welcome to join and participate in her new Facebook group, How to Play Guitar for Beginners & Guitarists.

“I have been thrilled to just hear that a gifted jazz artist I have worked closely with in the past has just been nominated for a JUNO award,” McDowall reports. “That artist worked very hard, is brilliant, and earned that status. I am so happy that national judges are highlighting Canada’s best to the globe. We have a lot of exciting talent in this country, and it is an honor with my business Canadian Online Guitar Lessons (& Creative Services) to work with such fine artists. As a Polaris Music Prize judge, I have discovered that our Canadian musicians are some of the best artists in the world.”

McDowall is committed to helping students in multiple areas maximize their potential for success, which is why Canadian Online Guitar Lessons welcomes inquiries from not just players and other musicians, but also aspiring filmmakers, writers,  businesses, and non-profits.

In 2024, McDowall ranked 39th in the Alignable contest for #1 Biz Person in North America and #1 in Nanaimo. In March she ranked #20th  in the top 20 women ranked in North America with 94 votes she had received while networking in February. Alignable is a business networking site with 8 million North American members.

A former music publicist, McDowall is also a freelance and national music writer who was a monthly contributor to DownBeat from 2016 to 2020 and still judges in their DownBeat Critics Poll. More of her music writing can be found at All About Jazz, Canadian Musician, Inspired 55+, and other publications.

To hear further news and insights from McDowall,  subscribe to her blog, In the Zen, at In the Zen (beehiiv.com), where she writes about Canadian jazz and other creative music, and shares stories, and tips as a director, host, and producer in TV and radio. The blog also features interviews with high-profile personalities, as well as McDowall’s tips on lifestyle, health, organic gardening, filmmaking, and guitar playing.

You can also catch McDowall on her new YouTube channel, How to Play Guitar for Beginners & Guitarists. From March 8th-21st, 2024, she is a speaker at the Women’s Spirit Festival .

Film festival invites continue to flow in for 2024, yet McDowall herself has been off the circuit since 2022—ironically due to the unexpected and overwhelming response to her first effort. Seeking solitude from a continuous stream of global emails and social media messages, she retreated to the peace of her Canadian mountain home to focus once again on all things music, including her bucket-list agenda item of releasing her past recorded work as a jazz guitarist-bandleader.

At one point during Christmas 2022, after posting about her favorite sitarist, the late Ravi Shankar, McDowall received hundreds of foreign-language messages in just 12 hours. Despite it being Christmas Eve, she tried to reply by using Google to translate her words into various African languages and Hindi. The task was so overwhelming that it strengthened her resolve to step back and take a break from the computer for a while.

“I can’t believe how wonderful 2024 has been,” McDowall says. “It has brought me much joy to be acknowledged by the Women of Influence Awards and the Nanaimo community, and by business colleagues from the USA on Alignable. I am very honored and grateful to the Nanaimo community, Blaise Hunter, and the Alignable team and community. I am very excited to be working on a special treat with some wonderful upcoming interviews for readers to bring to you at All About Jazz and In the Zen. And there will be more surprises to come.”

Learn more about McDowall and her services and workshops at her current website Services | In the Zen (beehiiv.com).

 

Which Way To The Flip Side? Double Single Shows Two Faces Of Janet Panic

Eric Alper
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Which Way To The Flip Side? Double Single Shows Two Faces Of Janet Panic

One of the hardest decisions a recording artist has to make is which single to pull to accurately represent their new album. For Indigenous, Sechelt, BC-based folk-popper Janet Panic, the ultimate answer was “Why choose?” That’s why she’s heralding her latest record, A Mighty Rip Through the Page of My Life, with a double-A-sided release that showcases two distinct aspects of her highly compelling musical personality.

On one side, we have “Goodbyes”—which, given the title of the album, might seem to portend a seriously bitter kiss-off. But this is actually an exquisite breakup song that’s exactly the sort of loving benediction you’d hope to receive from a partner when things finally reached their end.

“May all the troubles that you spoke of/ Be blessings in disguise,” Panic coos, with the utmost sincerity. “And the obstacles you face/ They shrink as you rise/ And I wish you goodbyes/ Goodbyes.”

Panic’s husky yet tender voice is the perfect conduit for her message of good will, and so is the musical arrangement—the kind of gospel-tinged, dirty-fingered country rock Sheryl Crow learned from the Rolling Stones after they had borrowed it from Gram Parsons.

On the other side, “I Forgot” strikes a distinctly more downbeat tone, telling the first-person tale of a child who was ripped from her family and raised among strangers. The almost playful singsong of the vocal melody is in direct contrast to the mournful lyric and the accusatory drums that slam like jailhouse doors shutting off access to the past.

And I don’t remember freedom
Don’t remember how to talk
I don’t remember my family
I forgot

Panic says the song is based on the real experiences of some of her own friends and relations. “They were each placed with well-meaning families, but of a completely different culture and skin colour,” she says. “One thing I noticed that they have in common is deep remorse for forgetting any memory of who they were and of their times before. They long for the missing pieces of their identity that can never be known.”

That’s a tragedy of particular relevance to Panic, whose heritage is Métis from the Red River and Fort Carleton area and whose maiden name is Pruden – Panic is the surname of her Serbian first husband.

The double single is a tantalizing appetizer for A Mighty Rip Through the Page of My Life, a 10-cut collection of folk-roots numbers Panic calls “raw as road rash, bare as your birthday suit, and melancholy as first love.” They’re “songs about relationships,” she says—whether the relationship in question is with a hoped-for soulmate (“Live to Grow Old”), a lover whose habits are starting to grate (“Critical Slow”) or just a certain illicit substance (“Mary Jane”).

In keeping with the theme, the relationships between the players were particularly tight-knit. Janet’s husband, Will, plays bass on the record, and the drums are by one of his old friends and bandmates, Craig Wright (who now plays with Nashville singer-songwriter Eric Church). Some of Wright’s colleagues were brought in to augment the album’s acoustic sounds with electric guitar and pedal steel. At the writing level, the kinship was even more baked-in: Panic co-wrote songs with her husband, her father, and her brother-in-law.

“This album is about connections both in terms of the lyrics and in terms of how it was made,” Panic says. “Everyone chipped in to make a family.” Even the ones who weren’t already related.

A self-described “Bohemian-Métis” artist, Panic already has more than four solo records under her belt, multiple appearances on major Canadian TV networks to her credit, and a slew of awards honors on her CV. In 2011 alone, she was nominated for a Canadian Folk Music Award and an Aboriginal People’s Choice Music Award. Her subsequent release, Samples, was named Best Folk Album at the 2012 APCMAs and netted her a nomination in the 2013 JUNO awards.

The new record is bound for even greater glory. It’s economical of sound yet expansive of mood; clever of thought yet never taken with itself. And with “Goodbyes/I Forgot” as its striking introduction, it’s certain to turn heads. For the legion of new fans she’s about to earn, the relationship starts here.

Properly Tailored: Rapper Bently Boy Stays Clothes-Minded With Three New Takes On “Alexander McQueen”

Eric Alper
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Properly Tailored: Rapper Bently Boy Stays Clothes-Minded With Three New Takes On “Alexander McQueen”

Everybody should have more than one outfit, no matter how swank it might be. That’s why rapper Bently Boy is dropping three brand-new mixes of his sartorially oriented single “Alexander McQueen” featuring NLE Choppa and Elise Estrada — each version perfectly suited to its own particular occasion.

There’s an amped-up club mix for when you wanna get on the floor. A funk mix to make your ride bump and rattle. And a sinister, sinuous trap mix that whispers “Time to creep.” As produced by Adam H. (DJ Khaled, Ne-Yo, Ray J), the three reimaginings on Alexander McQueen: The Versions couldn’t be more different from one another. But each one is just the right ensemble to throw on once you’ve decided what you’re in the mood for. No matter where you’re headed, the cut, so to speak, is always gonna be perfect.

What all three mixes have in common is a lyrical thrust that exalts the sharp-dressed man as a paragon of triumph over adversity:

I got that drip
From head down to my toes
Hopped in the B and I flooded the scene
I’m soakin’, I’m drippin I’m like a marine
I’m mindin’ my business so don’t intervene
Designer on me: Alexander McQueen

The 24-year-old Bently Boy is a lot closer to that personal ideal than he was back in 2020, when he first started freestyling the number over a beat he had ripped from YouTube and pasted into Garageband. Back then, he was just an Iraqi-born Australian transplant trying to weather a severe culture clash while avoiding the dead ends of drugs and the other pitfalls of the street life. Oh, and all of it while enduring one of the most protracted and isolating COVID lockdowns the world had seen.

But he had faith in the trap-based track he had come up with, so he saved money from his day job in construction to record a studio version with producer Opentil8.

And he reached out to Memphis-based rap luminary NLE Choppa—who had already graciously retweeted some of BB’s prior efforts—to contribute a verse. Happily, the answer was “yes”—it just took two years to finally get it done.

In the interim, Bently Boy had been trying to get into the United States to take his nascent music career to the next level. But his cultural and personal background didn’t exactly make him the darling of the visa board, so he spent a good deal of time cooking his heels in Mexico instead. (When he finally made it to the States, a thank-you visit with NLE Choppa was naturally one of the first items on his itinerary.)

The true turning point was signing a distribution deal with Canadian music mogul Adam H.—who in addition to being a multi-platinum hitmaker is also a film producer, songwriter, record executive and artist manager. Thinking like a producer and not just a distributor, Adam H. took it upon himself to rip the track apart at the seams and sew it back together in three different ways. Most crucially, he added the voice of Filipino-Canadian pop icon Elise Estrada on the choruses, which gave the track a simply irresistible hook. A mixing job by five-time Grammy winner Orlando Calzada (Destiny’s Child, Lady Gaga, B2K) lent the entire project the commercial sheen that says “ready to wear.”

Now all that’s left is for the various markets and programming formats to follow, um, suit. Bently Boy hopes listeners will see themselves in at least one version of “Alexander McQueen”—and hopefully something of themselves in all three. Not everybody is an Iraqi citizen of the world who’s fluent in Chaldean, Arabic, Spanish and English, and neither can everyone claim to have found their life’s calling from an early appreciation of Kodak Black, 21 Savage and DaBaby. But everybody knows what it’s like to aspire to something better—and to want to wear the evidence on your back.

“I’ve decided to dedicate my life to music and have no Plan B,” Bently Boy says. “Even though it has been very hard and a tough journey, I cannot stop now. I didn’t get this far for nothing. I know that I was not born to be average. I was born to break the generational curse in my family and give my family and kids the life and opportunities I never had.”

Sounds like we’re all going to need a bigger closet.

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That Eric Alper

Eric Alper is a 6-time nominee for Publicist of the Year during Canadian Music Week and has overseen the publicity campaigns for over 183 JUNO Award-nominated albums (and 16 in 2025), 45 Grammy-nominated albums, including 47 JUNO Award, 58 Canadian Folk Music Award, 126 Maple Blues Award-winning albums and is also truly honoured to work with some of the biggest and most important artists of our time.

Contact me: eric@thatericalper.com

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