Jazz legend Herbie Hancock went on “Sesame Street,” in 1983, and showed kids what made the Fairlight CMI synthesizer one of the most futuristic pieces of music equipment at the time.
Women In Music Canada Welcomes Robyn Stewart As Executive Director
Women in Music Canada (WIMC) is happy to announce Robyn Stewart (she/her) as its Executive Director.
Stewart is welcomed into the association by Chair and Founder, Samantha Slattery, who has spent the past eight years administering the non-profit organization, since its 2014 inception. Stewart will oversee all aspects of WIMC, including its various educational, career development and networking events, as well as programming, industry engagement, research and advocacy initiatives. An accomplished veteran in the Canadian cultural industries, Stewart brings with her a wealth of knowledge from all facets of event management, partnership relations, fund development and beyond.
Women in Music Canada (WIMC) is a registered non-profit organization and one of the largest music industry associations in Canada. The organization is dedicated to fostering gender equality in the music industry through the support and advancement of female identifying professionals and creatives at every stage of their career. The goal is to strengthen the social-economic balance of the music industry by providing professional development, support and resources for our community. Women in Music hosts educational, career development and networking events alongside broader programming initiatives, industry engagement, research and advocacy to serve the needs of our diverse community. Our panels, seminars, webinars, workshops and performance serve to educate, empower, and celebrate female contributions to the music world, and strengthen community ties.
“I am excited to take on this role, bringing immense passion for the importance of culture and music and of supporting emerging talent,” says Stewart. “Following my tenure at the Western Canadian Music Alliance, I am thrilled to support gender equity in the Canadian music industry through WIMC programming, training support and community building. I look forward to learning the experiences of those struggling to reach their dreams and aspire to be a part of paving the way for a more equitable future for women and gender diverse artists and industry folks. I also look forward to working with fellow intersectional service organizations, IIMS, ADVANCE and others, to maximize the support we can provide for all under-represented creators and innovators.”
Stewart is an accomplished 19-year Event Director, currently holding the role of Executive Director and CEO of the Western Canadian Music Alliance. Having started her career as a theatre Stage Manager, among other roles in the cultural industries, she is passionate about the creative process and the role culture plays in communities. Her experience reaches all areas of event management and talent buying, with her strongest skills lying in financial management, complex logistics, government relations and fund development, and partner relationship building.
Celebration Sites Coordinator for the Vancouver Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games 2010 and Entertainment Buyer for PanAmerican Games 2015 are among the projects Stewart is most proud of, as well as her work with the WCMA, which allowed her to support developing artists and engage in passion projects including working towards gender parity in the music industry on an international level. A travel enthusiast herself, Stewart is incredibly driven by her work supporting artists to showcase and develop business in international markets. Stewart holds positions on the Polaris Music Prize (national), Canadian Live Music Association (national) and KeyChange (international) Boards of Directors, and the Manitoba Heart and Stroke Foundation advisory board. Robyn is a mom to Jasper (9) and Ty (1), who are her greatest joys and challenge in life, to ensure they grow up to be good humans.
Slattery shares, “We are absolutely thrilled to have Robyn at the helm of Women in Music Canada! Her depth of experience, passion and knowledge will prove invaluable as we enter into the next chapter of the organization.”
Slattery, also a music industry veteran, has been working throughout North America and the UK for over two decades, primarily in the live sector on major music festivals (including Coachella Music Festival, Reading & Leeds Music Festivals, Virgin Festival and JUNOS to name a few), as well as spending several years on Nettwerk Management’s UK artist management team, working for major-label multi-platinum artists. She will continue on as the Chair of the WIMC Board of Directors.
Along with Stewart’s appointment to Executive Director, Women in Music Canada will be announcing the new members of its Board of Directors. Stay tuned for that news coming soon.
About Women in Music Canada
My Next Read: “”21 Hit Wonder, Flopping My Way To The Top Of The Charts” by Sam Hollander
On November 1, songwriter and producer Sam Hollander will release his new book, 21 Hit Wonder, Flopping My Way To The Top Of The Charts on BenBella Books Inc., a true story about his adventures in songwriting.
As one of the most renowned multi-platinum selling songwriters and producers in the game, Hollander has written and produced for the likes of Panic! At The Disco, One Direction, Katy Perry, Weezer, Def Leppard, blink-182, Fitz and the Trantrums, Train, Ringo Starr, Carole King, Tyga, The O’Jays, Gym Class Heroes and many others.
But rising up the charts seemed, at many points in his career, highly unlikely. This is his story of failing his way to the top. Sam Hollander spent thirty years trudging through the peaks and valleys of a songwriting career. Before he was stacking up hits, he was piling up bad luck, calamitous flops, fake starts and feeling like the world was moving on and up without him while he spun in place. Now he wears his failures like a badge of honor.
In 21 Hit Wonder, Hollander has collected anecdotes from his weird waltzes around the banquet of pop to help aspiring songwriters and other creatives learn about survival, endurance, scheming, hustle and the importance of laughing even on the worst days of the journey.
21 Hit Wonder is one part chronicle of a songwriter’s storied career and another part love letter to anyone who has been counted out-from no hit wonders to the novelties and never-beens – and just needs a bit of inspiration to persevere. Sam’s inspiring story is proof that setbacks are just steps on the road to success.
Today, Hollander has achieved 22 Top 40 Hits as well as 10 Number 1’s, 10 Top 5’s, and 87 Top 10 chart positions globally. His songs have streamed over 5 billion times and in 2019 he held the #1 position on the Billboard Rock Songwriters chart for nine weeks, a year-end record. Sam has also been featured on Variety’s Hitmaker list as well as being named as Rolling Stone’s Hot List Producer Of The Year.
Hollander’s career has recently hit new heights from collaborations with Fitz and the Tantrums’ multi-platinum, billion streamed worldwide hit, “HandClap” and eight songs he co-penned on Panic! At The Disco’s Billboard 200 No. 1 album Pray For The Wicked, including the billion streamed, record-breaking global smash “High Hopes” (5x platinum) and “Hey Look Ma, I Made It!” (2x platinum) which replaced “High Hopes” at No. 1 on the Hot Rock Songs chart. Other notable recent successes include writing Banners’ “Someone To You” (platinum), blink-182’s Alternative Top 10 single “Blame It On My Youth”, James TW’s “When You Love Someone” (platinum) and writing and producing two songs on the legendary Ringo Starr’s recent release What’s My Name.
“Looking back on my career thus far, I think I’m most proud of the fact that I’ve been able to bridge so many generations as a collaborator,” says Hollander. “There’s something really special about getting in a room with different types of creators and allowing them to inspire each other, and we can make something great out of it. I feel like the luckiest conduit in the world. I’ve written tunes with artists age 13-90.”
Hollander’s career began when he collaborated with Carole King on her critically-acclaimed Love Makes The World record. This lead to co-writes with industry legends like Paul Williams, Nile Rodgers, Cyndi Lauper & Donna Summer. Within a few years, he achieved his first platinum successes with Gym Class Heroes (“Cupid’s Chokehold”) which went #1 at Top 40 radio, Metro Station (“Shake It”), Boys Like Girls (“The Great Escape” & “Love Drunk”) & We the Kings (“Check Yes Juliet”), Daughtry (“Waiting For Superman”) Train (“Save Me San Francisco” & “Marry Me”) among others. These triumphs lead to producing 25 songs for the second season of NBC’s Steven Spielberg-helmed series SMASH including the Emmy-nominated “Voice in a Dream.” In 2019, Hollander sold his songwriting catalogue to Hipgnosis Songs Fund. His current work is administered by Sony Music Publishing.
Beyond songwriting, Sam has served as a Governor of the New York Chapter of The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (The GRAMMYs). He currently sits on the Advisory Boards for Musicians On Call and Songwriters of North America (SONA). As an essayist, he’s been published in The New York Times, Variety & Billboard among others.
Depeche Mode 12″ Vinyl Singles Project Continues With The Release Of ‘Playing The Angel’
Rhino’s Depeche Mode 12″ vinyl singles project continues with the release of Playing The Angel | The 12″ Singles on November 11, 2022.
Playing The Angel | The 12″ Singles, a collector’s edition deluxe box set, contains ten 12″ vinyl discs presenting singles—”Precious,” “A Pain That I’m Used To,” “Suffer Well,” and “John The Revelator/Lilian”–alongside B-sides, remixes, instrumentals, dub versions, and other recordings contemporaneous to Depeche Mode’s 11th studio album, Playing The Angel, originally released in October 2005.
Playing The Angel | The 12″ Singles presents electrifying remixes of Depeche Mode originals including a disc devoted to “The Darkest Star,” the track from which Playing The Angel derives its title. The tenth disc in the box is newly compiled for this collection, bringing together B-sides and mixes first released across CD and maxi-singles throughout the Playing The Angel campaign.
The first Depeche Mode album to be produced with Ben Hillier, Playing The Angel found the classic DM lineup (Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andrew Fletcher), 25 years into the band’s history, breaking open new sonic terrain with a raw, grittier sound bridging the cosmic spiritual connection between the primal roots of rock and throbbing 21st century Techno dance-floors around the world. The Playing The Angel campaign continued Depeche Mode’s tradition of issuing monumental 12″ singles to supplement and compliment their album releases. Playing The Angel premiered essential new additions to the DM canon including “Precious,” “A Pain That I’m Used To,” Suffer Well,” “John The Revelator,” “Lilian,” “The Darkest Star,” and more.
From their earliest days as a band, Depeche Mode have championed 12″ vinyl, embracing the format’s singular power and potential for innovation. The 12″ single allowed the band to explore new sonic possibilities while the tactile real-world beauty of physical packaging gave Depeche Mode room to develop their consistently sophisticated and commanding design aesthetic. Depeche Mode have used their singles discography as a means of offering fans the opportunity to enjoy left field remixes, rare B-sides, standout concert performances and other exclusive delights.
Rhino released the first two box sets in the Depeche Mode 12″ singles series–Speak & Spell | The Singles and A Broken Frame | The Singles–in August 2018 with the second batch–Construction Time Again | The 12″ Singles and Some Great Reward | The 12″ Singles–arriving in December 2018. Rhino released Depeche Mode’s Black Celebration | The 12″ Singles and Music For The Masses | The 12″ Singles on May 31, 2019. 2020 saw the release of Violator | The 12″ Singles in July and Songs of Faith and Devotion | The 12″ Singles in October. The ninth collection in the series, Ultra | The 12″ Singles was released on September 27, 2021 with the tenth volume, Exciter | The 12″ Singles, arriving on June 10, 2022.
Each box set in the series contains the singles from each Depeche Mode album on audiophile-quality 12″ vinyl, with audio mastered from the original tapes. The artwork for the exterior of each of the box sets draws on iconography inspired by the original releases, while the vinyl sleeves themselves feature the original single artwork.
The Depeche Mode 12″ Singles Series will continue over coming years, with plans to release boxes containing the singles from each of the band’s albums in similar deluxe audiophile-grade collector’s editions.
Playing The Angel | The 12” Singles
Precious (12BONG 35) / LP01
A1 Precious (Sasha’s Spooky Mix – Full Length)
A2 Precious (Sasha’s Gargantuan Vocal Mix – Full Length)
Precious (L12BONG35) / LP02
A1 Precious (Misc. Full Vocal Mix)
A2 Precious (Michael Mayer Balearic Mix)
B1 Precious (Motor Remix)
B2 Precious (Misc. Crunch Mix)
A Pain That I’m Used To (12BONG 36) / LP03
A1 A Pain That I’m Used To (Jacques Lu Cont Remix)
AA1 A Pain That I’m Used To (Jacques Lu Cont Dub)
A Pain That I’m Used To (L12BONG 36) / LP04
A1 A Pain That I’m Used To (Bitstream Threshold Mix)
AA1 A Pain That I’m Used To (Bitstream Spansule Mix)
Suffer Well (12BONG 37) / LP05
A1 Suffer Well (Tiga Remix)
A2 Suffer Well (Tiga Dub)
B1 Suffer Well (Narcotic Thrust Vocal Dub)
Suffer Well (L12BONG 37) / LP06
A1 Suffer Well (Metope Remix)
A2 Suffer Well (Metope Vocal Remix)
B1 Suffer Well (M83 Remix)
B2 Better Days (Basteroid ‘Dance Is Gone’ Vocal Mix)
The Darkest Star (XL12BONG 37) / LP07
A1 The Darkest Star (Holden Remix)
AA1 The Darkest Star (Holden Dub)
John The Revelator / Lilian (12BONG 38) / L08
A1 John The Revelator (‘Dave Is In The Disco’ Tiefschwarz Remix)
AA1 John The Revelator (Tiefschwarz Dub)
AA2 Lilian (Chab Dub)
John The Revelator / Lilian (L12BONG 38) / LP09
A1 John The Revelator (Murk Mode Dub)
AA1 John The Revelator (Boosta Club Remix)
AA2 Lilian (Chab Vocal Remix)
Playing The Angel Promotional Collection (PSTUMM260) / LP10
(newly compiled exclusive limited edition)
A1 Free
A2 Better Days
A3 Newborn
A4 John The Revelator (Single Version)
A5 Lilian (Single Version)
B1 Precious (Michael Mayer Ambient Mix)
B2 Suffer Well (Alter Ego Remix)
B3 Lilian (Robag Wruhme Slomoschen Kikker)
B4 A Pain That I’m Used To (Goldfrapp Remix)
B5 A Pain That I’m Used To (Telex Remix)
Dick Van Dyke and Julie Andrews lip sync each other’s lines in this outtake from Mary Poppins
Dick Van Dyke and Julie Andrews lip sync each other’s lines in this outtake from Mary Poppins.
EXCELSIOR Coming From STEVEN PAGE, First Album In More Than 4 Years Out September 30
On September 30, Steven Page will release Excelsior digitally; it’s his first solo album since 2018. The album on Page’s Fresh Baked Goods imprint will be available on CD November 11 with a 2-LP vinyl version out early in 2023.
The album’s 11 tracks were composed and produced entirely by Page, who co-founded the band Barenaked Ladies, before departing on a solo career in 2009. The lion’s share of material on Excelsior was “workshopped” for audiences on his wildly popular virtual concert series Live From Home that Page has been conducting via Zoom since April of 2020 from his home near Syracuse, NY. Thousands of fans throughout the world have been tuning in on Saturdays (5 PM Eastern, 2PM Pacific,10PM/UK, 7AM Sunday – Australia-Eastern), which are limited to 1000 ticketed audience members per show, with an estimated to-date paid viewer total of 85,000+. The more than 90 episodes of Live From Home are available through Patreon. The Excelsior track titled “Zoom” is, in fact, the album’s first single and out this week.
While Page played most of the instruments heard on Excelsior, other musicians participating include Craig Northey (guitar, vocals) and Kevin Fox (cello, vocals), members of the Steven Page Trio, his touring ensemble who are well known to Live From Home viewers for their ability to accompany Page from remote locations. Also heard on Excelsior are Doug Elliott of the Odds (bass), as well as Joe Pisapia (pedal steel), who had been a member of Guster and has both backed and produced k.d. lang. Steven’s brother Matthew Page guests on drums.
Once the Canada-US border re-opened, Page was able to complete Excelsior at his Fresh Baked Woods (FBW) studio in Blackstock, Ontario with some of the basic tracks recorded in the Upstate New York basement from which Live From Home originates most Saturdays. FBW is the same facility where several Barenaked Ladies albums, including Barenaked For The Holidays were recorded. Seven of the 11 tracks comprise a thematically linked song cycle that Page characterizes as “a suite of songs tied into what we’ve been involved with over the last ten years.” These will occupy sides A and B of the 2 LP version of Excelsior when it is released next year along with the unrelated additional four songs (“gifts with purchase,” Steven jokes) to be found on side C of the second LP. Side D will be silent and occupied by an etched graphic. “So you have two buckets of songs, so to speak. One speaks to an ‘outer life’ — bigger picture stuff. The others are largely about our very online existence and isolation we’ve all experience. It’s about all of us who spend too much time online.”
The songs on sides A and B are, in some way, an overview of humanity’s plight as reflected in the struggles of the individual. Says Page, “I don’t want to make it totally prescriptive as in ‘this is how you should hear it,’ but you might want it to apply it to your own lives if you feel so moved.”
“Feel” takes place at a funeral and deals with loss and grieving, a church choir plays inside the mourner’s head while “What Will I Do Now” is about learning to live with loss. “Human Doll” imagines a world where the ideal partner can be acquired by mail order and shipped to one’s door, the outcome of which is equally lonely and troubled as our current reality. “How Much Is Enough” that had been set to debut but was postponed due to COVID19 as part of Here’s What It Takes, the musical Page wrote for the 2020 Stratford Festival in Ontario.
“Look To the Stars” is a musical contemplation of what might be “bigger than us” and beyond our ability to understand. Page describes “Infinitely Light Years” along these lines: “In my mind we’re floating through space . . . it’s a duet with myself but imaged as between two separate people, a kind of quantum entanglement. It asks if it’s possible that we’re tied to somebody else who we don’t even know.” That’s followed by “Safe” in which one member of a couple explains the benefit of boundaries; Page suggests it’s “a plea for time and letting people set their own space.” In more than one way it calls back “Feel,” the opener.
The free-standing songs on side C include “Xylorimba,” conjured up for a special episode of Live From Home that called for Steven to perform 26 songs, each starting with a different letter of the alphabet. For Live From Home A to Z, Steven had 25 letters covered with existing repertoire, so he commissioned himself to write a song titled with a word starting with ‘X.’ He chose an arcane musical instrument that he calls a “the oddball child of a xylophone and a marimba” popular 90+ years ago and not often spoken of or played in more recent times. The song addresses that oversight, both in a titular and musical sense.
The song “Zoom” is paradoxical for Page to have created, as he is something of a skeptic. “There’s a point of view that we’re supposed to believe that technology somehow makes our lives worse. During the pandemic Zoom did what it was supposed to do so you gotta hand it to them.” “The Golden Age of Doubling Down,” is focused on “our desire to be cruel to each other,” but is musically quite upbeat.
There’s also the self-deflating “Something About Me,” which Page characterizes as “a personal song about my own tendency to make everybody else’s problems about me. People’s sense of empathy is defined by their own ego. I like to point fingers at myself, not at other people.”
The album’s title, taken from the state motto of New York that relates to a Canadian living there and unable to go back to his native land for more than a year and half to see his parents or kids. Page, who was born in Scarborough, Ontario and inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in explains, “I was kind of stuck here (Manlius, NY) and, in essence, became a true New Yorker. The state’s vaccine passports are called Excelsior Passes and we reflect the slogan’s ‘onward and upward’ meaning in the album’s artwork.”
Beyond Live From Home and the new album, Page was commissioned to write “Canada Loves You Back” on the occasion of Ryan Reynolds being given the nation’s 2021 Governor General’s Performing Arts Award. In a Tweet seen by almost 4 million, Reynolds referred to Page as “a friend and a legend” and thanked him “for wasting this amazing song on me.”
This fall, the Steven Page Trio open select North American dates for The Who. “We’re not using drums on the Who dates; we can’t compete with them so the best thing you can do in that situation is to do the thing you do well.” He points out that “The Who was the first band — that wasn’t the Beatles — that I fell in love with.” The Steven Page Trio is additionally doing Midwest tour dates and expects to be on the West Coast in January in support of Excelsior.
Steven Page – Excelsior track list
Side A
1) Feel
2) What’ll I Do Now
3) Human Doll
4) How Much Is Enough
Side B
1) Look To The Stars
2) Infinitely Light Years
3) Safe
Side C
1) The Golden Age Of Doubling Down
2) Xylorimba
3) Zoom
4) Something About Me
Side D – intentionally blank with etched graphic
Excelsior Streaming and Purchase Links can be found here:
https://linktr.ee/stevenpage
STEVEN PAGE TOUR DATES
Steven Page Trio UK Tour
Thu Sep 8: Luton – Bear Club
Fri Sep 9: Birmingham – Castle and Falcon
Sat Sep 10: London – Omeara
Mon Sep 12: Brighton – Komedia
Tue Sep 13: Cardiff – Clwb Ifor Bach
Wed Sep 14: Leeds – Brundenell
Fri Sep 16: Manchester – Band on the Wall
Sat Sep 17: Glasgow – King Tuts
Sun Sep 18: Glasgow – King Tuts
Steven Page Trio BC Dates
Wed Sep 28: Nanaimo BC – Port Theatre
Thu Sep 29: Campbell River BC – Tidemark Theatre
Fri Sep 30: Maple Ridge, BC – Act Theatre
The Who Hits Back support dates (Except Nashville)
Sun Oct 2: Toronto, ON – Scotiabank Arena
Tue Oct 4: Detroit, MI – Little Caesars Arena
Fri Oct 7: Elmont, NY – UBS Arena
Sun Oct 9: Columbus, OH – Schottenstein Center
Mon Oct 10: Nashville, TN – City Winery
Wed Oct 11: Chicago, IL – United Cente
Steven Page Trio US tour, Part 1
Fri Nov 11: Minneapolis, MN – Dakota
Sun Nov 13: Madison, WI – The Bur Oak
Mon Nov 14: Milwaukee, WI – Shank Hall
Wed Nov 16: St Louis, MO – Delmar Hall
Thu Nov 17: Kansas City, MO – Madrid Theatre
Fri Nov 18: Council Bluffs, IA – Arts Center at Iowa Western
Sun Nov 20: Dallas, TX – Granada Theatre
Steven Page Trio US Tour, Part 2
January 2023: West Coast dates to be announced
Steven Page Trio Cross-Canada Tour
Starting in Spring 2023: Canadian dates to be announced
Calgary Country Star KIM THOMPSON Says ‘HEY COWBOY’ With New Single
From Calgary, the country capital of Canada, indie cowgirl Kim Thompson is charging forward with her latest single – “Hey Cowboy”!
Her seventh single is a country anthem, sashaying like a request from the saloon jukebox. The song is uptempo and authentic, complete with Thompson’s swinging vocals wrapped like a lasso around the melody.
The Alberta native is a trifecta of talent; a singer, songwriter with further credits in commercial and film including Heartland, and the Oscar-winning Brokeback Mountain. In addition to her work on screen, Thompson is routinely found on the stage in Calgary, and spun on Sirius country stations. Accolades include a CCMA, Country Music Alberta, YCC Awards and ACMA nominations, a SOCAN Travel Grant and Thompson continues to represent Alberta with ISSA. Thompson is also the vocal prowess behind the anthem while riding at Canadian Pro Rodeo and JHL Games.
Now saddled up with her latest single, “Hey Cowboy” is another win for Thompson and her commitment to pure country music. It’s a yarn-spinning, boot-stomping, railway rushing ditty that evokes nostalgia and compels you to want to sing along.
“‘Hey Cowboy’ is a song about the movies and production, written when I was working on set for the TV series, ‘Heartland’ with the horses and cowboy wranglers, riding and roping,” says Thompson, adding: “It speaks about simple cowboy spirit behind the scenes. I always liked to talk to the cowboys and hear the stories about movie work. The fantasy of movies we have painted with the cowboys and cowgirls as heros and cool folk. The importance is to recognize the dream of living the cowfolk life in the movies and so many characters.”
Thompson’s music is complete with visual components – videos that bring to life the story she’s telling. In “Hey Cowboy”, the viewer is up close and personal with true-blue cowboys, wrangling calves, roping, and riding.
A co-write by Thompson and Chard Morrison, “Hey Cowboy” was produced by Chris Birkett in Ontario, Canada. It follows Thompson’s previous releases “Heartache Heartbreak”, “This Christmas”, “Thinkin’ Bout” and “Game Of Love”. “The songs are energetic love empowerment for all ages,” Thompson describes.
So, dust off the boots. Tip your hat. Find a worn pair of Levis and head out to the ranch with “Hey Cowboy”. Kim Thompson promises to wrangle your attention and your heart.
Try Not Speed While Listening To Niagara Falls’ Hölt On Blast As “Eyes On 55” Is Advice Worth Taking
Wailing guitars and thunderous drums are conjured to form a good ol’ fashioned tune about a run-down place and its seedy clientele from St. Catharines, Ontario-based rock band Hölt with their visceral new single “Eyes On 55.”
Hölt’s blistering new single is the first release from their upcoming album “Turn Me Ön,” an ensemble of epic tracks with a distinct aesthetic that merges multiple schools of rock to create something entirely new.
“Eyes On 55” is based on an old dive of a gentleman’s club that is no longer open but had a certain charm. Founder of Hölt and primary singer/songwriter Kenny Holt wanted to produce a specific kind of track while paying homage to one of the legendary rock acts of all time. “I just figured that if Mötley Crüe could have a song about good clubs, we could have a song about a bad one.”
The music’s kinetic energy moves in tandem with edgy lyrics, which paint a portrait of a shabby gentleman’s club and all the associated debaucheries that lay within.
“Dancing undercover
She’s the devil in disguise
Lipstick and leather
I’ve got Eyes on 55.”
Like many other bands afflicted by the pandemic, the new album “Turn Me Ön” was a labour of love for band leader Kenny Holt who dug deep to put together a collection of music with meaning that was heavier than the average rock band. “it wasn’t hard to write songs about the isolation and loneliness I’ve faced at times, the hypocrisy of governments, failed relationships, missing my family back home in England and so on and so forth.”
The recording process was relatively streamlined as Holt sat at the helm of his sonic vision with startling efficiency and not sacrificing quality. “The songs came together reasonably easy for the most part. I pulled out my Rolodex of riffs and put some lyrics to them one line at a time.”
Bringing Hölt to life on stage to ensure the longevity and vibrancy of rock n roll is a talented group of local musicians out of the St. Cathe Catharines rines area. Accompanying Holt’s guitar and vocal work is percussionist Michael Lamb, Dylon Murray on bass, and Ryan Etherington ripping on guitar. Hölt has been bringing audiences throughout Canada to their feet for over 15 years with no signs of stopping any time soon.
NYC Singer Songwriter Jill Fiore Pays Tribute To The City That Never Sleeps With “On Being Good”
A musical tale of unreciprocated love emerges from the city that never sleeps with the vulnerable new single “On Being Good” from New York City-based singer/songwriter Jill Fiore — available now.
The emotional new single follows up Fiore’s debut 2021 EP “Ten Feet Tall,” a quint collection of rock tunes she decided to record after over 20 years as a performing artist. Wearing her heart on her sleeve, Jill Fiore connects with audiences through her hard-edged vocals and stellar production value.
Fiore facilitates a reflective tone on “On Being Good,” with cinematic guitar work and lyrics that relate to anyone who has felt unheard and unwanted in a relationship yet still gave their best.
“I tried to tell him where I was coming from
Right when he told me where he’d been
I listened closely to his every word
I couldn’t get one of mine in.”
Born in Carteret, New Jersey, Jill Fiore has been a relentless artist with an aptitude for audience connection through her powerhouse vocals and infectious instrumentation. Her music captures all of life’s idiosyncrasies as she grounds her art in shared lived experiences that are distinctly personal and worth sharing.
Fiore became known to many during the pandemic due to her original conception of THE FIORE ESCAPE, a concert series for the public organized and performed for free on her beautifully transformed fire escape/pseudo-venue. Fiore’s performances have been featured across numerous national television outlets and on the renowned “Humans Of New York,” which continues to draw international audiences to her music.
In a city like New York, where you can get anything and much more, The Aquarian’s Kate Schafer said that Jill Fiore represents that “so much more.”
“On Being Good” was brought to life in the heart of the big apple, with recording duties overseen by Joey Wunsch (SUPR8) at Flux Studios. On Being Good was produced by Jill herself for her first time, along with guitarist Derek Cruz. Ten Feet Tall was produced by New York singer songwriter Jesse Malin, while award-winning Craig Weinberg mixed the single at the Sound Association in midtown Manhattan while mastering was handled by Fred Kevorkian (The White Stripes, Maroon 5) of Kevorkian Mastering.
Folk-Rock Songstress Erika Lamon Captures the Storminess of a Guilt-Laden Love on “Yellow Sundress”
A yellow sundress conjures imagery of sunny days and lack of complication, but Kingston, ON-based folk-rock songstress Erika Lamon takes that idea and turns it on its head in her stormy piano-driven single “Yellow Sundress” – available now – from her forthcoming album Hues.
“Yellow Sundress” begins and ends with the ticking of a clock, creating a feeling of suspense and time running out, and it maintains that metronome beat under thunderous piano and introspective vocals. The song deals with a cut-off relationship where there’s a shortage of honesty, as well as some internal conflict on the part of the narrator:
It wasn’t you, it was bad timing,
my cowardice looking
for a way out.
It wasn’t just a fling,
but I flung it in your face
on the way out
The moodiness of the piano and Lamon’s willingness to delve into complexity is reminiscent of some of the best of Tori Amos, though the inclusion of a piano track on Hues arrived as somewhat of a surprise to Lamon.
“I grew up playing the piano but I stopped practicing when I left for university,” she says. “If there’s one thing I know about playing an instrument, it’s that it’s not like riding a bicycle. Getting back into it is long and discouraging. You’ve lost the ease with which you used to play, and touching the keys can conjure a sense of loss. But sometimes, in this beginner-state, ideas flow naturally.”
And then “Yellow Sundress” began to emerge. “I sat down at the piano, and started fiddling with the keys. A main piano line appeared,” she recalls. “I had some half-finished lyrics hanging around nearby, written a couple of days prior, so I reached out for them.”
The clock element is a very deliberate part of the song. “All I could see was a guilt-laden love story unraveling as time ran out in the background, the ever-ticking clock,” Lamon says. “The clock and keys intertwining in the beginning still give me shivers. I get that ‘the movie’s about to start’ feeling.”
Folk-rock songstress Erika Lamon has been charming crowds with a sound steeped in reverie ever since her music-scene debut in 2013. In 2017, she released her self-titled debut EP to a packed house in her hometown of Kingston, ON, and spent the next two years performing and touring from Toronto to Charlottetown. In 2020, Erika released her much-anticipated single, “Omen,” which received CBC radio airplay. Hues is her first full-length record, set for release on September 9th with support from the Kingston Arts Council, FACTOR, the Ontario Arts Council and Canada Council for the Arts.