Victoria, British Columbia-based artist Aaron Wylder melds his West-Coast charm and sense of musical exploration to create an ode to the one with his coming-of-age song “Woman.”
The blazing new single from Wylder’s upcoming EP The King Of My Own Heart is about the internal gears that shift to make a man want to find something deeper in his relationships. “I try to write what I hear in my head and what I feel in my chest,” says Wylder. “It’s a damn cool thing to write a song that not only you love but speaks to others as well.”
The King Of My Own Heart is a collection of songs about the trials and tribulations of life and brimming with harmonic personality. “I try to get better and better with every record. I try to grow my sound while exploring new ones,” says Wylder, who describes his music-writing process as constant trial and error. “Licks turn into jams, and jams turn into new songs. This is how it works, at least for me. In terms of inspiration, each song has its own unique meaning.”
“Woman” came together during a rainy cold Vancouver Island winter day as he reflected on his past relationships and experiences. “Damn, it is hard to find the person for you, If I’m honest. Not only do you learn a lot about yourself, but you also learn about what you want in a partner. For me, it was realizing that I am ready for a real woman.”
Wylder is anything but conventional in his approach to storytelling, which anchors his lyricism somewhere between a parable as much a cautionary tale of self-exploration.
“Deep down in the eye of the hurricane
My chest just keeps on burning
I got half a heart of love
The others waiting to fill up
Ask me what’s the point
I need a woman.”
Born and raised in the Cayman Islands, Wylder is a Canadian singer-songwriter based out of Victoria, British Columbia. He can be found most often with a guitar in his hands. Wylder’s musical cadence is inspired by the Beatles, Johnny Cash, Tom Petty and Townes Van Zandt.
Nothing motivates Wylder more than the prospect of creating resonating songs. “If I’m able to make music that I enjoy and people enjoy it too, then I’ll die a happy man.”
Tom Jackson, renown actor, singer, activist and Executive VP and Strategic Advisor for NeeStaNan Projects Inc. announced today, that the company is spearheading an endeavor to construct a deep-water port at the mouth of the Nelson River, on the Hudson Bay.
NeeStaNan’s First Nation business structure of mutual benefit and collaboration is designed to first create a transportation corridor from Alberta to Port Nelson, Manitoba, enabling the transport of fuel, wheat, potash, softwood lumber and other land locked Canadian resources to the world. This includes servicing and providing green energy to the prairie provinces. The railway will carry goods, and the natural gas pipeline will service a liquified natural gas plant at the port. The planned route of this corridor will run through Treaty 8, Treaty 6, and Treaty 5 territories in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.
Along with the creation of a corridor, plans are to build an Indigenous owned seaport to service the prairies and provide major freight access to tide water and markets around the world.
“This is a true example of reconciliation”, says Jackson. “First Nations have been conditioned to believe that poverty is normal. No one benefits from that poverty. That’s about to change for the benefit of all.”
NeeStaNan provides an Indigenous solution to a global crisis. Developed to save lives here and abroad, it is a potential catalyst for peace in the Russia/Ukraine conflict, especially as major supply chains of natural resources have been cut by Russia. This new supply chain will benefit Europe and the world, as well as meet urgent needs in Canada.
NeeStaNan will conduct an environmental assessment and social impact study with a goal of long-term export and import access of goods to and from international markets in the spirit of Indigenous economic reconciliation – all critical goals for Canada. It aims to exceed environmental standards throughout its operations with plans to reduce 30% of greenhouse gas emissions.
NeeStaNan Utility Corridor Project has been in the planning stages in conjunction with First Nations for five years. Utility corridor studies done by the School of Public Policy and the University of Calgary confirm the validity of the project.
When Phase One of the NeeStaNan construction is complete, Port Nelson will augment the existing port at Churchill and be capable of year-round operations transporting softwood lumber, potash and other products to the world markets.
“Neestanan puts health, hope, humanity, and economic independence for Canada’s First Nations at the forefront, in addition to facilitating access to state-of-the-art housing and potable water. The potential harvest is 80 billion dollars annually for First Nations, and hundreds of billions annually for the country”, states Jackson.
NeeStaNan Projects Inc. looks forward to further collaboration with the Manitoba Government and applauds Premier Heather Stefanson for her government’s insight and leadership.
We’ve witnessed and heard testimonies from countless musicians who were forced to struggle—financially and artistically—through the lockdowns of the pandemic. For some who have survived, there’s been the silver lining of a shift in perspective. Many artists dug deep in isolation and discovered the solution to long-elusive mysteries. Some let go of the tried-and-true and instead explored new means of expression.
While we’re hopefully emerging from the final COVID surge, it’s a welcome that an artist like Christine Jensen is opening ears to the magic of reflection on her long, turbulent days and months locked down.
The exceptional alto and soprano saxophonist from Canada releases the compelling Day Moon with her impressive quartet on Justin Time Records. The music is at turns, melancholic and ebullient, sober and playful. It’s a date where she creates an improvisational community of close friends in quartet and duo settings. “I got hit hard by the pandemic because I felt alone and was not doing what I’m supposed to do,” Jensen says. “So, I focused on my saxophones, teaching myself to present my sound, my solo voice. It’s almost like becoming the vocalist.”
At home leading her own renowned jazz orchestra, Jensen was forced to pull back by necessity into a more intimate space. “I had to shed the extra instrumentation that was always in my head,” she says. “So, I started to once a week play music with my longtime piano friend Steve Amirault. We worked together—he collaborated with me and pushed the boundaries. It created a stable place for me.”
Jensen invited her regular rhythm team of bassist Adrian Vedady and drummer Jim Doxas to mask workshop in small spaces to bring new colors into the ebb and flow of her compositions. The quartet members became, as she writes in her liner notes “my refuge and sanctuary.” She continues, “I feel like we met on thin ice through two cycles of seasons, meeting, greeting, and expanding on this repertoire, so that we could find a place that allowed us to trust and support each other at the highest level—not just in the music, but also in friendship, empathy and love, all words that the lockdown was attempting to repress.”
The album opens with the title tune that was written pre-pandemic for her chordless collective CODE Quartet that included trumpeter Lex French. The ‘60s Ornette Coleman-inspired band issued its Genealogy album for Justin Time in 2021. “It started out as a demo that ended up being the recording,” Jensen says. “At that point, the tune was just starting to jell, but I never glued to it. So, I thought let’s explore it wider harmonically with the piano instead of trumpet. The changes led to a surprising end.”
It’s the perfect lead tune inspired by a vision Jensen experienced. She was on her street in the middle of the day and saw a perfect moon in front of her with the sun glowing behind. “It was so strange,” she says. “It’s how the pandemic felt—living in another world. Other worldly and so sci-fi. It makes for a perfect prelude to the rest of the album where the world is shifting.”
The four-song suite Quiescence was written for a commission from New York’s Jazz Coalition that had raised funds for composers. Jensen sketched compositions including the Brazilian clave-feel “Tolos d’Abril,” her April Fool’s birthday song. “I wrote it because I was alone and I didn’t want to be in the Montreal snow and would just love to be anywhere from here,” Jensen says. “So, I thought of any opposite place, like a beach in Brazil.”
Highlights of the album feature the duo spots with Amirault, including the short-and-sweet torrent of the playful “Balcony Rules” based on “What Is This Thing Called Love?” and the gem of the album, the gorgeous rendering of Jimmy Van Heusen’s “Here’s That Rainy Day.”
“That’s one of my favorite cuts,” Jensen says. “Steve and I hit on the emotion in ballad playing that’s not often captured in this day and age. We just looked at each other, slowed the tune down and played our feelings. I take the melody line and Steve is focused on time. It’s a deep conversation and an elaboration of who we are as musicians. We stole the slowness of this tune from the style of Shirley Horn and her delivery of a ballad.”
Finally, Jensen is happy to play some gigs to support Day Moon. In the future she continues to be on the tenure track at Eastman School of Music and has more music ready to go, including another CODE Quartet album, more recording and performing with her sister Ingrid Jensen and a big band recording to be released by the end of 2023. “It’s all in motion,” she says. “And who knows, maybe even an album of duos in the setting I discovered on Day Moon.”
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Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Emma Frank just released her new album Interiors via Justin Time and Nettwerk Music Group with a nine-song effort that sees her make a departure from her previous, more jazz-adjacent albums with a lean into pop sensibilities with nods to 70s singer-songwriters like Judee Sill. Originally written during pandemic lockdowns, Interiors draws listeners in with intimate arrangements and warm vocals.
“With this album, and the things surrounding it – my space, my life, the artwork, the videos – I tried to make an immersive creative experience for myself. Writing happens in my space and I’m very sensitive to how my space feels and arranging my space feels like a musical act, one that is happening in conversation with my songwriting. During lockdown I had all this time on my hands and I gave myself the freedom to play. All of the vocals on this record were recorded at my house. A lot of the songs talk about doing chores and decorating, tending to the home, and all of the artwork for the singles are things I made for fun. I don’t necessarily love them, but that’s ok. It was more about giving myself permission to be my imperfect self and still create. The album cover is a photo of our dining table in the early morning. I’ve rearranged the room since then and I’m writing new songs but I think there is more of my whole self in this album than anything I’ve made before. That’s really the best I could hope for – to be fully engaged in making the thing and to document the self in this weird, sacred way.”
Originally from Boston, Emma Frank lived in Montreal for nine years of her adult life before moving to New York City. On her last two records, Ocean Av, and Come Back, Frank collaborated with critically acclaimed pianist and composer Aaron Parks and producer Franky Rousseau. The albums explored Frank’s jazz-adjacent folk songs, with a light-footed vocal approach complimenting the momentum of Park’s accompaniment.
On Interiors, the approach is significantly poppier, with Frank finding a new groundedness in her approach to creation. The music feels firmly rooted in Americana, with the opening track, “Keep Moving”, recalling some of the soulfulness of Bonnie Raitt. Other songs, like “Bad TV” and “Current”, feel almost anthemic, leaning into rockier and electro influences like St. Vincent and Hiatus Kaiyote. “Seeing Clear” is a quieter moment and evokes the winding-narrative folk of Laura Marling. The one cover on the record, “Lopin’ Along Through the Cosmos,” pays homage to 70s songwriting icon Judee Sill, and is one of the most profound moments on the record, sung as a duet with Thom Gill, who also plays guitar on the rest of the record. That 70s spirit bleeds in throughout, lending a dream-like, almost psychedelic sensibility to an otherwise minimalist approach. Producers and longtime friends, guitarist Franky Rousseau ( Chris Thile, Philip Glass, Jon Batiste, Phoebe Bridgers) and pianist Dominic Mekky (Caroline Shaw, Gabriel Kahane, Phoebe Bridgers, Sara Bareilles, Kaia Kater, David Longstreth) bring out so much magic in these songs, heightening the emotion of each one with intricate arrangements and lush sound design. Rounding out the players are Pedro Barquinha on drums, Matt Rousseau on bass Steve Raegele on guitar and saxophonist Charlotte Greve sits in on two tracks.
Interiors is an album about finding meaning in the mundane, in one’s home, and in oneself. Written primarily during lockdown, the songs document the boredom, compulsions, and joy of being home all the time: decorating, cleaning, napping, songwriting, and going mad. At once a celebration of creativity and play, Interiors invites the listener into Frank’s home and mind. Emma’s approach to songwriting is disarming in its simplicity and rawness. “Give me something that needs me, something I cannot ignore / maybe a dog or a baby, or a career or a lover,” sings Frank in “Dog or Baby” a bouncy track about a particular sort of mid-thirties yearning.
Track List:
1. Keep Moving
2. Current
3. Steady
4. The Table
5. Bad TV
6. Seeing Clear
7. Dog Or Baby
8. Lopin’ Along Thru the Cosmos
9. Begin Again
At the beginning of the summer, we’re usually treated to a string of song releases that look to define someone’s pool party, vacation, or road trip. Lindsay’s Timber Masterson’s latest single “Easy Peasy 1,2,3” enters the race with its easygoing lush sensibilities looking to insert itself into many summer memories this year.
“This was the very first song I created that was inspired by a relationship I began last summer,” says Masterson. “I wrote it on a summer night on the side porch of my mom’s house during the week when my girl was away on vacation.”
Masterson, known for his soulful vocals and brilliant songwriting, has teamed up with a talented group of musicians for the new release. The track features Timber Masterson on keyboards, Barry Haggarty on lead guitar, Marc Novoselec on bass, and Gary Craig on drums.
“I like to think of ‘Easy Peasy 1,2,3’ as representative of the new collection of songs that, yes, may have been based in longing and love, but more a kind of rejoicing over the whole romantic thing,” says Masterson.
As summer nights begin to bloom, so does Timber Masterson’s latest single “Easy Peasy 1,2,3” as the perfect accompaniment.
Sometimes, it feels like romantic love isn’t worth anything, especially when you’re not getting what you want out of the relationship. When this happens, you’re torn between wanting to stay with that person and wanting to leave. Toronto, Ontario rock artist Nice Vice captures this ambivalence in his new single, “Dust”.
The track opens with a bluesy electric guitar riff that immediately captures your attention. Then, Nice Vice’s somber and earnest vocals come in as he sings about walking on eggshells in a relationship and not wanting it to implode.
By the time the chorus kicks in, the vocals are passionate, and the guitar riffs are, too. They match the intensity of the lyrics as the singer discusses wanting to leave but being resigned to stay for the sake of their lover.
“Would you think that I was lying if I said I ain’t needing it
I could leave ya and believe me when I say that I’m thinking it
Now I’m in your bed had a cigarette and we’re talking and doing it all again
I’m a lover undercover but I do it for you
I do it for you, cause you wanted me to
I do it for you”
In fact, the singer confirms that the song is about a complicated relationship. “In my head the sound of the song was happy and light, but the lyrics came out the opposite. I ended up writing the lyrics from the perspective of someone who felt they had no choice but to leave their toxic relationship. I don’t know why it went there but it turned out to be beautiful.
At the next verse, the somber vocals come in again with a sense of determined calm before rising to the passionate tones again. This evokes the image of the singer trying to reason with their lover before ending up in a loud argument with them.
As a result, the chorus is given deeper meaning as it comes in again. Punctuated by guitar riffs that seem to cut into the listener, the chorus feels like an ultimatum to the lover addressed in the song that says, “I will leave you anytime I want to.” This resolve erupts into a stunning guitar solo that leads into the song’s closing verses.
Nice Vice is an exciting up-and-coming artist out to Toronto, Canada. Growing up in the city under a heavy influence of The Tragically Hip, Pearl Jam, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers to name a few, the 90’s hold the tightest grip on Nice Vice’s musical inspirations.
With his debut full length album set to come out in July 2023, the second single titled “Dust” gives us an exciting glimpse of what’s to come. Prior to this, the first single “Regrets and Cigarettes” gave us a funky rock n’ roll track dedicated to those trying to work towards their dreams.
Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Have You Ever Seen The Rain” became a hit for the group in 1971, reaching number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States. It remains one of their most recognizable and enduring songs, receiving significant airplay on classic rock radio stations and being covered by numerous artists over the years.
Lead guitarist and cofounder of Fall Out Boy shares personal stories from his youth and his experiences of modern rock and roll stardom in this memoir filled with wit and wisdom.
Trohman cofounded Fall Out Boy with Pete Wentz in the early aughts, and he’s been the sticky element of the metaphorical glue-like substance holding the band together ever since, over the course of a couple decades that have included massive success, occasional backlashes, and one infamous four-year hiatus. Trohman was, and remains, the emotive communicator of the group: the one who made sure they practiced, who copied and distributed the flyers, and who took the wheel throughout many of the early tours. As soon as he was old enough to drive, that is—because he was all of 15 years old when they started out. That’s part of the story Trohman tells in this memoir, which provides an indispensable inside perspective on the history of Fall Out Boy for their legions of fans. But Trohman has a great deal more to convey, thanks to his storytelling chops, his unmistakable voice, and his unmitigated sense of humor in the face of the tragic and the absurd.
None of This Rocks chronicles a turbulent life that has informed Trohman’s music and his worldview. His mother suffered from mental illness and multiple brain tumors that eventually killed her. His father struggled with that tragedy, but was ultimately a supportive force in Trohman’s life who fostered his thirst for knowledge. Trohman faced antisemitism in small-town Ohio, and he witnessed all levels of misogyny, racism, and violence amid the straight edge hardcore punk scene in Chicago. Then came Fall Out Boy. From the guitarist’s very first glimpses of their popular ascension, to working with his heroes like Anthrax’s Scott Ian, to writing for television with comedian Brian Posehn, Trohman takes readers backstage, into the studio, and onto his couch. He shares his struggles with depression and substance abuse in a brutally honest and personal tone that readers will appreciate. Not much of this rocks, perhaps, but it all adds up to a fascinating music memoir unlike any you’ve ever read.
During one of his first experiences in a ceremonial sweat-lodge in 2014, Indigenous jazz trumpeter Chuck Copenace heard a simple Ojibway melody that got stuck in his head. He did some research and learned of its original creator, Neil Hall from Sagkeeng, and received encouragement from an elder to use it in his current single “Creator” – available now – from his forthcoming album Oshki Manitou (Jayward Artist Group/The Orchard.)
Originally called “The Creator Helper Song,” it’s a piece of music meant to heal and encourage letting go. “I really loved how simple the melody is, but how it flows. All that you need is right there – it’s just one melody with one drum,” Copenace muses in a video about the making of the song.
“And it’s a structure that’s… finished,” he continues. “With Western music, there’s all these layers – well, it needs drums and it needs bass – but these songs don’t need anything else and they have a purpose, to help people and to heal people.”
It was a transformative experience for Copenace, both musically and personally. “Whatever happened in the lodge – the focus, darkness, pain, the heat – I was able to start singing that ceremonial music on my own,” he says. “From then on, all my compositions seemed to come from those melodies and that place.”
Oshki Manitou, out September 22, is a decidedly personal musical expression for the 45-year-old former social worker, a way to share his story of recovery and his spiritual awakening. On it, he fuses contemporary interpretations of sweat-lodge melodies with jazz and elements of dance, and electronica.
“When I met Chuck three years ago at the Indspire Awards, I knew immediately that I had just met a very special person and an extremely talented musician,” says Keely Kemp, Founder of CultureCap, Copenace’s management. “I wanted to help bring his gifts to the world and I’m thrilled that today we are releasing the first single from his upcoming album Oshki Manitou.”
“We are honoured to have Chuck Copenace as a Jayward distributed artist for his debut full-length release as a solo artist,” says Jayward’s Jill Snell. “Chuck’s story is compelling and the innovative merging of his jazz trumpet background with ceremonial Ojibway melodies creates pretty stunning music! We are excited to see Chuck’s song ‘Creator’ coming to music platforms on June 23rd, on the heels of Indigenous People’s Day in Canada.”
Music has been a healing force in Copenace’s life, starting with when he picked up a trumpet in Grade 7. Since 2015, he’s been leading his own band, performing around the world, and collaborated with Tom Wilson and iskwē.
“I’m committed to sharing my story to help heal and offer support to people, and I want to introduce young people to jazz, but I also want to bring Indigenous musicians together. And I think my music can be a platform to further that mission.”
Chuck performed at the Winnipeg Jazz Festival on June 21 to a rousing congratulations from the crowd. Upcoming shows include: July 1 – Canada Day at Assiniboine Park, Winnipeg, MB and August 11 – 13 – Live From The Rock Folk Festival, Red Rock, ON.
