A new band of multi-award-winning not-so-new blues players are set to make their musical mark: The Hogtown Allstars have released their debut album, Hog Wild, via Stony Plain Records.
Featuring eight new all-original songs, and two covers, Hog Wild was recorded throughout 2021 once the group nailed their first challenge: coordinating everyone’s schedule to hit the studio. It’s the first release for the undeniable supergroup that first started in 2013 as a collaborative, creative outlet for Toronto-based musicians dedicated to the genre.
As for ‘Allstars,’ they come by the moniker honestly; built with some of the most dynamic and experienced players on the global blues scene, the 7-piece adds up to Downchild Blues Band alum Chuck Jackson, Pat Carey, Gary Kendall, Jim Casson, and Tyler Yarema alongside Maple Blues Band alums Teddy Leonard and Howard Moore.
Their collective shelves are lined with more than 20+ Maple Blues Awards, five JUNO Awards, two Lifetime Achievement Awards, and countless international blues and jazz music awards.
// Hog Wild Track Listing:
“Mr. Lucky”
“Hog Wild”
“Real Good Night”
“I Just Think Of You”
“Angel In My Bed”
“Subway Casanova”
“The Sad One”
“Biscuits & Beans”
“She’s Got The Stuff”
“I Ain’t Lyin”
When you’re going it alone, sometimes all you need for that extra pep in your step is an encouraging anthem about independence. Thankfully, Canadian country songstress Bree Taylor delivers just such an antidote with the release of her brand-new single, “On My Own.”
Bursting with a catchy, head-bopping chorus, “On My Own” is validating to anyone who might doubt their ability to do it alone. “I’m ok on my own/ I can do this alone/ I’ll find the road that will lead me home/ Because I’m ok on my own,” Taylor sings as an affirmation.
“I originally wrote this song about being fed up with disappointing dating experiences and wanting to just get to a place of being okay on my own and not needing someone to ‘complete’ me,” she shares. “The song was written almost four years ago now, so its meaning has taken a turn for me in the time since I originally wrote it…
“Now, the song means more to me on a level of being okay with one’s self in life on our unique path,” she continues. “That, no matter what we go through, the relationship with ourselves is most important and determines our outlook on a situation.
“I want people to know they’re okay on their own in life, regardless of the circumstances, and that no matter what we’ve been through, we are strong and capable of getting through on our own.”
Bree Taylor knows the matter of resilience first-hand in an ultra-unique way given her craft and shares that practicing self-love and self-care have been something she’s had to learn along the way as important pieces in the puzzle of life.
“I am a singer who has hearing loss and wears hearing aids,” Bree Taylor explains. “From the age of six years old, I knew I wanted to be a recording artist and have a career in music; I endured ongoing hearing loss as I got older, however, and underwent several ear-related surgeries throughout my childhood.
“I, unfortunately, had a doctor who did bad surgical work on my ears, despite being told by my parents I had dreams of singing professionally. By the time I turned 16, he didn’t know what else to do with me and referred me to my current specialist, Dr. Halik, who gave me two options after hearing my story: more surgery and risk my hearing entirely or get started with hearing aids. I decided on the latter and have never regretted my choice for a second.
“I completely changed once I was finally able to hear properly!” she continues. “My hearing aids have allowed me to keep going as a singer and musician, regardless of my hearing disability.”
Having trained with legendary vocal coach to the stars, Bob Garrett in Los Angeles, as well as Lorraine Lawson in Toronto, Bree Taylor’s new single “On My Own” comes on the heels of 2021’s “Kryptonite” — a song that explored how someone who can be bad for you can be irresistible at the same time, and how the magnetic attraction with someone can grab ahold of you despite your better judgment.
With a career and a brand built on authenticity, honesty, and resilience, Bree Taylor’s creative ambitions have no limitations. No matter what life throws at her, she is and always will be a fighter and she will keep writing songs, keep singing, and will remain truly unapologetically Bree.
In the age of social media, we are theoretically more connected than we’ve ever been, but that connection can prove tenuous when there’s bullying, anger, or unkind words, and Canadian jazz songstress Katie Ditschun captures the sadness around having one’s voice drowned out in her new single, “One Voice.”
“I feel disillusioned and dismayed about the ways people communicate these days — especially by what gets attention and engagement on social media,” Ditschun shares. “My own efforts at reaching an audience online focus on encouraging people to be kind and seeing the good in life; on finding moments of joy and beauty…
“But positive messaging has trouble competing with all the indignation, accusation, and animosity that people apparently prefer to spread.”
The song is the title track for the Alexandria, Ontario-based artist’s newly released EP, One Voice. Accompanied by warm, full-bodied piano, nuanced drums, and heartbeat-like bass, Ditschun sings with a wholehearted melancholy of feeling small, or unheard, even as her voice glides, floats, shimmies, and soars.
One voice, one small voice, that’s all we got
One voice, one solo voice, but it’s not enough
To be heard over angry, angry words,
And hearts filled with fear, making it clear that
Your voice, a little voice, even when it cries,
Is one voice, just one voice trying to sing its song
The message, even though it’s filled with sadness, is also one of hope and optimism. “I truly believe that the only thing that will change the world for the better is love,” Ditschun says. “It is incredibly easy to react in anger or pass judgment on others, but the effort it takes to act out of love is ultimately always worth it. It is my hope that with my one voice I can spread that message further and louder with the songs on One Voice.”
Ditschun is joined on the four-song EP by Mark Ferguson on piano, Tim Bedner on guitar, Normand Glaude on bass, and Scott Latham on drums. “These jazz masters are extraordinary storytellers,” Ditschun reveals. “Each instrument gives life and adds color to the characters and events featured in these songs.”
One Voice includes a French version of “One Voice” titled “Une Voix.” The EP also includes a bilingual song called “Un Oiseau” that expresses a yearning to fly away and escape life’s challenges. That sentiment is balanced by “The Moonflower,” a song with a Latin groove, which confronts the fear many of us have of not measuring up.
The one and only Jack Black joins some of San Francisco’s Blue Bear School of Music’s students in a rousing cover of David Bowie’s Suffragette City to celebrate their 50th Anniversary.
Johnny Marr is never shy about performing The Smiths‘ iconic song “How Soon Is Now,” and rightfully so – he never disappoints, and here he is at The Crazy Face Factory, Marr’s studio in Manchester, England.
In 2015, 1000 Rockers performed simultaneously “Learn to Fly” by the Foo Fighters in Cesena – Italy. The video got more than 32 million views and the Foos actually held a concert in town. This time around, the massive group pays tribute to the late, great Taylor Hawkins.
To commemorate the band’s 60th anniversary, the new LEGO Art the Rolling Stones set invites adults to dive into their passion for the iconic music by building the famous tongue logo.
The LEGO Group brings a rock ‘n’ roll image to life in brick form. The bright red lips and tongue known worldwide as the logo for the Rolling Stones will thrill adult fans looking to combine their passion for the band’s music and LEGO® bricks.
The logo, first seen on the Stones’ Sticky Fingers album 50 years ago, is a 1,998-piece tribute to their 60 years as one of the most legendary rock bands of all time. It is the first organically shaped set from LEGO Art and fans will be delighted to know that the LEGO designers included a hidden surprise.
While assembling the bold, colourful lips that measure over 22 in. (57 cm) high and 18.5 in. (47 cm) wide, fans can enjoy an accompanying soundtrack with almost an hour of tailor-made content, including an exclusive interview with John Pasche, the graphic designer who created the tongue logo for the Rolling Stones back in 1970.
“Who would have believed, 50 odd years ago… that design would be made into a LEGO piece. Wow!” says John, after seeing the LEGO Art set for the first time.
“Since the tongue logo is one of the most recognized logos, our biggest challenge was to figure out how we could get the LEGO Art design as close to the original as possible. Previous sets have been created with 1×1 round LEGO tiles as a mosaic, but this time, in the spirit of being more Rock ‘n’ Roll, we have used the full spectrum of LEGO bricks to capture the organic curves that John created. Hearing his reaction to our final design makes me so happy!” says Fiorella Groves, Design Manager at the LEGO Group.
The LEGO Art the Rolling Stones set will be available from June 1st from LEGO.com and all LEGO retailers.
In a riveting reassessment of Adele’s record-breaking single, Natalie Nicole Gilbert transforms her rendition of “Easy on Me” into a desperate plea for vulnerability between two aching lovers in the heat of an argument.
The multi-award-winning pop-soul artist’s soaring vocals are countered by Chris Sloan in a harmonious amalgamation that is poignant, to say the least. With each building to the emotional swell that synthesizes into a moment of clarity for our protagonists, Gilbert’s prowess is put on a pedestal as she delivers a captivating performance once again.
“I really wanted it to feel more conversational,” Gilbert shares. “I saw room for it to take a turn like The Civil Wars’ ‘Poison & Wine’ – where this argument doesn’t have to end in finality, but could maybe open a door of vulnerability and understanding, whatever the eventual outcome.”
One of the most impactful elements of this riveting production is the seemingly simple choice to accompany Natalie Nicole Gilbert and Chris Sloan’s vocals with different instrumentations; Gilbert’s vocals are intertwined with swelling piano while Sloan’s vocals are fused into crescendoing guitar. As the two voices meet in the middle, they are met with compelling string swells and an interwoven piano/guitar duet.
“Production-wise, I chose to have the piano under my segments and the guitar under Chris’s portions, with the strings tying us both together and all the instruments in when we harmonize on the verses,” Gilbert shares. “The instruments are framing and executing the duet themselves.
“It was Robert Eibach’s idea to drop the beats out on the bridge to let that section stand on its own,” she continues. “Chris’s voice has such strength but is also so delicate in some phrases… I felt like the piano was too buttoned up for that sound on his solo lines; it needed to feel more ‘small venue’… More stripped back and unplugged.
“At the same time, we still wanted to pay homage to Adele’s original in a way her fans could enjoy — to feel like we built on the foundation she’d already put in place.”
Based in Los Angeles, Natalie Nicole Gilbert is an exalted multi-award-winning recording artist notorious for her impassioned vocals, fervent lyrics, and extensive knowledge of the music industry. Gilbert has released 13 solo albums, and 17 singles to add under her belt. Paving the way for home producing, she built her own home studio in 2005 and continues to produce and co-produce her own music.
In addition to her tenure in music, Gilbert has more than 10 years in broadcast radio as a radio host and voiceover talent and has done national commercials for McDonald’s, Cadillac, Quiznos, and other international brands.
Natalie Nicole Gilbert’s talents know no bounds. In addition to her award-winning pop-soul music, she performed as a session vocalist for the Dublin Studio Hub, and film and TV composer with Music + Pictures, whose credits include Smallville, Law and Order, The Office, and many others worldwide.
Natalie Nicole Gilbert recently won the LIT Talent Award for songwriting and was nominated for a Hollywood Music in Media Award.
Sometimes having a passion can be both a blessing and a curse. Canadian rockers Blaze Project capture this very conundrum with their blues-infused single, “Sweet Little Misery,” from their brand new album, Enjoy This Moment – both available now.
“Sweet Little Misery” is a thumping, bluesy, head-bopping rock ‘n’ roll song with a wailing guitar solo that brings to mind the energy of an arena. Its message is somewhat meta: “It’s about an artist and his great passion for music, as well as his vision of a performance on stage,” the Baie-Comeau, Québec-based band shares. “A musician who was born with this talent and passion, and despite all the paths taken, he will always end up finding the stage and music on his way.”
It fits nicely with the overarching theme of Enjoy This Moment, which is to grasp a positive mood with an open heart and open arms. Composed in the band’s home studio and practice space during the pandemic, the album was fueled by Blaze Project’s need to create even amid the unfortunate medical diagnoses, family deaths, and even a car accident that various band members experienced throughout the writing and recording process.
“The songs deal with the beauties of the world and nature, interpersonal relationships, passion, determination, the happiness of living and enjoying the good things in life,” the band says of the 10 songs, adding that though the members come from different musical tastes and disciplines they were able to achieve a cohesive sound, albeit one that spans traditional rock, blues, funk, and even indie rock at times.
“Each musician brings his color,” they say. “This is what gives it the Blaze Project touch.”
Though each song deals with a different message and narrative, the thread that runs throughout Enjoy This Moment is the desire to create positive, emotional, and catchy music.
