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Pop-Country Artist Sylvia Kay Pens Nostalgic Ode to Coming of Age in Shimmering New Single, “Legacy”

Eric Alper
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Pop-Country Artist Sylvia Kay Pens Nostalgic Ode to Coming of Age in Shimmering New Single, “Legacy”

There’s that wistful, scary realization many of us have on the cusp of becoming adults that nothing – absolutely nothing – is going to stay the same. Canadian pop-country songbird Sylvia Kay captures that heady mix of emotions so beautifully in her new single “Legacy” — available now.

“Legacy” starts out shimmering with mellow beats underneath, and then Kay’s voice comes in ethereal and crystalline, painting a watercolor of her hometown — the blue skies, the violets, the dusty, tree-lined backroad where her dad used to speed. She’s looking around, soaking it in, taking mental snapshots, and taking us along on this journey to adulthood. “What does living on the edge of seventeen even mean? / All these people tryna tell me who they want me to be,” she sings.

It was in the process of sitting down to write “Legacy” that the realization came to the Caledon East, Ontario-based artist that she was right on the precipice of a whole new life. “In August of 2021, the songwriting process really began and it hit me that this was my last year of high school, my last year in this hometown, and the last time I’d see a lot of these people ever again,” Kay recalls. “The whole first half of the song is exactly that: reminiscing and the nostalgia behind it all. The second half is all about the process to maturity — that there was something so much greater beyond, a whole world I hadn’t discovered yet.”

Fittingly, she started writing the song on an old piano in her parents’ basement, which she had had since she was five years old. She finished the song with VEC Entertainment Group’s Bruno Vecchio and Acrylic Recording’s Harley Tamblin, who helped her focus the lyrics and add a killer guitar line and some gorgeous harmonies.

Sylvia Kay is a bright new talent who lived most of her life in a small town in Ontario. As a child, she had terrible stage fright, but with the help of some beloved music teachers, Lisa and Nick Carione at INKey Music Studio, she overcame her shyness. Ten years later, the stage feels like her home, and she is a Music Minister at her parish and writes music any chance she gets.

Kay got her start playing live shows last year at Bolton’s Journey of Hope and, in February 2021, released her first single, “Wild,” a direct reflection of her feelings, a diary in the shape of song lyrics and melodies.

Dan Frechette & Laurel Thomsen Say “Money Shouldn’t Talk That Strong” in Folk-Roots Single

Eric Alper
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Dan Frechette & Laurel Thomsen Say “Money Shouldn’t Talk That Strong” in Folk-Roots Single

Under the soaring redwood forest canopies of Bonny Doon, California, folk-roots artists Dan Frechette and Laurel Thomsen tell the tale of dark money interests within the hopeful and positive community call-to-action that is their new single, “Money Shouldn’t Talk That Strong.”

Complete with an accompanying video, the new song accompanies a list of harmonic pleasures on the duo’s recent studio album, After The Fire. Drawing on their collective experience traveling the American landscape and witnessing the devastating effects of poverty and addiction, the verses about nonspecific problems set the stage for the shift, “in the vibe of the song, of course — but hopefully also in policy, focus, and more,” they share.

While heading back to California from a Canadian prairies tour in 2019, the impending US presidential election, combined with hostile economic conditions, made the issue hard to turn away; “from politics to the housing and homelessness crises, to climate and catastrophes, the common thread seemingly being that money often gets the last word.”

Accompanying Dan Frechette’s moody guitar playing are Laurel Thomsen’s inspirational lyrics — which are derived from the hope of those negatively affected by public policy in a non-partisan way. With ease, the song emphasizes “universal sentiments, dreams, and goals rather than putting weight into past grievances or the stance of any particular race, religion, or side of the political spectrum.”

“Overall, the song is intended to leave people feeling uplifted and inspired and — with Dan’s rocking backing band and my violin, viola, and cello trio — reinvigorated to do what they can to help create a fairer world,” Thomsen adds.

“Just bubbles in a bathtub
But poison was seeping to the bone, alone
In times the sages warned
No sign of a savior, we mourn, no
When selling off our decency ain’t a crime
Sends empathy cowering to the corners of our minds”

After meeting in 2012 and forming a once-in-a-lifetime connection Pinawa, Manitoba’s Dan Frechette and Monterey, California’s Laurel Thomsen have been dazzling audiences across North America. Frechette and Thomsen’s lush sonic palette has also taken them across international borders to several European countries, further proving the duo’s resilience and dedication to their harmonic craft. Between Frechette’s experience as an established songwriter and Thomsen’s classically informed compositional work as an accomplished violinist, this duo has only scratched the surface of their collaborative potential.

Their fifth studio album release, California’s Covid-19 stay-at-home order gave Frechette and Thomsen the necessary time to form After The Fire.

The potent title of the album comes from the forest fires that continue to sweep the California region; the duo was directly impacted after a freak lightning storm located near Frechette’s home studio led to several hundred houses being consumed by a ferocious blaze. Thankfully, all the band equipment and music were rescued before the studio fell to ash.

“After our evacuation to the safe haven of a friend’s home, After the Fire marks the end of an era, and a fresh start,” they share.

GURTH Offer Up a Potent Post-Hardcore Anthem in New Single, “Take Me Home”

Eric Alper
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GURTH Offer Up a Potent Post-Hardcore Anthem in New Single, “Take Me Home”

The new track from post-hardcore outfit GURTH is a simple request and, after one spin, you’ll be ready to accept; “Take Me Home” from the Canadian rockers is available now.

The band — Taylor Martin (Frontman, Vocals, Guitars), Brody Post (Vocals, Guitars), Vadim Balanyuk (Bass), and Daniel Goldstein (Drums) — have laid down a screamo anthem for the ages. An understated plea that builds to a begging bellow, infused with a haunting melody that coils your heart along the way, this hard-hitting rock track is punk at its core, alternative in its layers, and metal on the fringes.

“Take Me Home” explores Martin’s introspection in the aftermath of a love gone very wrong. He describes his “vulnerability to her hook” in the lyrics:

You were built to tap into my anxiety,
I was built to build the need for you to rescue me,
There are kinds of hardened wounds that travel deeper than the bone…
My straw heart was always filled by the place I laid my head,
And in your arms I starved or over fed.

He recalls “cycles of chaos, of extreme love bombing, to ice-cold indifference — the latter always leaving me yearning for the former…”

“At the time, I felt this experience was significant, but unique to me,” he continues. “Looking back, I realize it’s a pretty normal thing many people go through.”

This realization fueled by formidable courage to scream, pound, and playout raw, painful truth results in the resonating power of the entire album.

The creative power of The Well, an apt image synonymous with a dark, subconscious force, suggests that music needs Martin just as much as he needs it. More than a mere breakup album, “The Well represents an awakening: the shift from autonomic, robotic movement through life to self-awareness, and a conscious understanding of why the hell I got myself into this mess,” he continues. “I already feel nostalgic for this period of instability, pain, transformation, and growth; an indication that I need music to deal with the discomfort I feel in times of peace.”

As a band, GURTH’s birthplace was in 2015 in Toronto, the heart of Canada’s indie music mecca, when Martin and Goldstein first met and began developing a distinctive sound. They released two experimental EPs — Autophage in 2018 and A Better End in 2019 — both well-received by the hard-rock community of the 6ix.

Building on that early success, they fleshed out the lineup with Post and Balanyuk, and set out to write and record their forthcoming debut LP, The Well.

The Well highlights GURTH’s iconic blend of contrasting sound: the sweet highs of euphoric infatuation and deep lows of eviscerating heartache, “Take Me Home” begins soft and builds like a rollercoaster, taking us on a wild ride through intense obsession, barreling toward the inevitable reckoning.

This ride is the maniacal muse for ensnaring melodies, electrifying beats, and crushing lyrics — all demonstrating GURTH’s mastercraft. Beyond first-rate composition, The Well is all heart.

These four musicians from Toronto have seen love in the dark. They’re not afraid to bring it into the light and take it home.

“Take Me Home” is available now. The Well is set for release on Friday, June 24th, 2022.

Blues Dynamos Jim Dan Dee Deliver Premium Grit & Growl with New “Bleed Me Dry” Single

Eric Alper
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Blues Dynamos Jim Dan Dee Deliver Premium Grit & Growl with New “Bleed Me Dry” Single

Racing along the thin, permeable line between blues and rock is the high octane, precision-crafted, musical muscle car driven by Canadian power blues quartet Jim Dan Dee. On the way to delivering their much-anticipated second full-length album, they’re stopping just long enough to drop a hot and heavy appetizer, their searing new single “Bleed Me Dry.”

At the fiery crossroads where Thorogood, the Fab Thunderbirds, and the Stones meet you’ll find Jim Dan Dee’s “Bleed Me Dry” revving up and running the red. It’s a raw, hard-rocking lament about giving it all that revels in those desperate, after midnight moments of total careless abandon.

I need a break cuz it’s never enough
Knock ‘em down and they jump back up
What happens next, I don’t know
Caught between a spoonful and diggin’ a hole

Featuring Jim “Dan Dee” Stefanuk on vocals/guitars, Bobby Sewerynek on saxophone, newcomer Dwayne Lau on bass, and Shawn Royal on drums, this Southern Ontario-based four-piece has a tight, interlocked sound only a multitude of live shows can foster. Their recordings, including this one, give the listener that heady sense of ‘being there’ as all that good stuff was laid down from the stage, not the studio.

“Nothing is more important to us than our live show, and that energy is what we tried to capture on this record,” notes Stefanuk. “The band recorded with the same amplifiers and instruments we use on stage to keep our performance and tone authentic.”

Authentic blues infused with a modern rock swagger is what will be found on the band’s upcoming second album Real Blues — set for release May 13. Real Blues follows the group’s self-titled first album released in 2018, and an EP, Five Stiff Shots, that introduced the band in 2015.

“Bleed Me Dry” is the lead single from Real Blues’ dirty near-dozen tales of struggle, loneliness, love, and lust, with co-writes by Stefanuk, Sewerynek, and Royal. A rugged, brawny cover of Eddie “Guitar Slim” Jones’ “The Things That I Used to Do” sets the tone for the rest of the tracklist that creates the feeling that you just heard, felt, and saw a killer live set from the group.

“We tried for a no overdubs approach whenever possible; listeners will get about as close as they can to the live band experience without leaving their homes,” Stefanuk explains. “We really wanted this album to breathe; all the squeaks, breaths, clicks, and buzzes remain on record, so the quiet moments have a life of their own. You’ll understand when you hear it.”

Listeners will also understand that this raw and honest creative statement from Jim Dan Dee was formed from the unprecedented and life-shaking experience we’ve all experienced during two years of dealing with a global pandemic.

“Real Blues comes out of a dark and unprecedented time for most of us on planet Earth,” says Stefanuk. “Fighting an unseen enemy in a battle that lasted years instead of weeks, we’ve lost careers, mobility, hope, and sometimes even the people we love.”

Turning to the innate healing power of music was a natural response for the group, who’ve shared major festival stages with Canadian legends such as Big Wreck, I Mother Earth and The Trews.

“Music may be one of the only ways to describe the individual battles we all fight within our own minds, and it may have saved more than a few lives.”

Jim Dan Dee, which takes its name from the expression “everything is just Jim Dandy,” is a foursome of survivors, thrivers, and prolific creatives. The 10 original tracks they chose to record for Real Blues were picked from a pile of sixty songs and span the full spectrum of dark to light subjects and emotions.

“Over the ‘damndemic’ we got to know the dark sides of ourselves a little better. We lost some people. We strengthened some bonds. It was a war of self-awareness and patience.”

With Real Blues, the band also wanted to pay reverence to the 100-plus-year-old music genre that has been the foundation and framework of their own music.

“We hope the album can bring Blues fans great joy and remind them at least a little of the incredible giants whose shoulders we humbly sit on.”

With the May 13th album release date quickly approaching and a summer of shows starting to pile up in Ontario and the Maritimes, so far, Jim Dan Dee will get many chances to show off their prowess at paying tribute in their own, exciting and unique style.

“Real Blues has 11 stories, some relate to this viral prison we’ve lived in, and some are a beautiful distraction that harkens to better times in the past and a future that is opening up…fast.”

Opening up fast for Jim Dan Dee and the whole world of music.

Kele Fleming Releases New 90s-Infused Rock-Remix for “Me Oh My”

Eric Alper
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Kele Fleming Releases New 90s-Infused Rock-Remix for “Me Oh My”

Canadian folk-pop artist Kele Fleming’s song future-fuelling song “Me Oh My” gets a 90s-infused rock-remix glow-up with singer/songwriter and producer Marty Zylstra.

Originally recorded for Fleming’s 2016 album, No Static, the song’s very roots are woven with collaboration; written solely by Fleming’s longtime collaborator and friend, Ron Yamauchi, Fleming was up to the challenge of interpreting her friend’s song as she was navigating big life changes herself at the time.

“I can still hear the intensity of the emotion I was feeling at the time in my vocal performance,” Fleming notes. “I was hopeful and fierce that the shifts and changes I was following in my life would bring me peace and love.”

With the original video for “Me Oh My” described by Fleming as “walking as a life metaphor” and “a love letter to Vancouver,” the current video features a candid video chat with Zylstra talking about the song, the remix, and all things music.

Never devoid of muse or inspiration, Fleming continually produces singles, songs, tracks, albums, and anthems seasoned with her charming blend of authenticity and poetic license. “Me Oh My”s remix is the latest in a string of acclaimed releases from the British Columbia-based artist — including 2016’s No Static, 2010’s World in Reverse, and 2020’s The Song I’ll Write For My Whole Life.

A fearless and gifted songwriter with the ability and agility to encapsulate the environment around her, Fleming’s ethereal twist on traditional roots and folk music sets her uniqueness apart from her peers in the genre. Bridging from her deeply talented vivaciousness as a wordsmith, her undeniable attention to detail in lyrics is matched solely by the music it’s mounted against. Soothing tones, upbeat tempos, changing melodies — Fleming knows no bounds in her prowess to create music that suits the score of the song at hand.

A transplant from Ontario, the indie songstress began her professional songwriting journey fronting the 90s indie outfit “Hazel Motes” of BC before branching off into the solo artist we know today. She has performed on stages, festivals, and performance halls, where she thrives in front of live audiences. Included among her impressive roster of appearances include gigs at Vancouver’s world-renowned venues like The Cultch, The Railway Club, and the Wise Hall.

Gabi Epstein Pays Tribute to Barbra Streisand with New Single, “Don’t Rain On My Parade”

Eric Alper
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Gabi Epstein Pays Tribute to Barbra Streisand with New Single, “Don’t Rain On My Parade”

Hailed “Canada’s Queen of Cabaret” by CTV, award-winning Canadian songstress Gabi Epstein insists “Don’t Rain On My Parade” with the release of her playful new rendition of the Barbra Streisand classic.

Epstein’s version of the whimsical, self-affirming hit from 1968’s Funny Girl begins as less theatrical and more reverential, highlighting the beauty and range of the singing and the poetry of the lyrics. Then, towards the song’s final third where there’s typically a staccato, Epstein’s band adds a little bit of Latin flair, which is then where the vocals take on a fullness and theatricality.

The overall result is fun and cabaret-inspired and guaranteed to tickle even the staunchest Babs fans.

Growing up as a young Jewish Canadian woman and aspiring performer, the Toronto-based multi-talented artist looked to the entertainment icon as a role model to help her find her way. Now, as a seasoned performer in her own right, Epstein’s love of Streisand translates into a forthcoming sophomore album, the aptly titled Gabs Sings Babs — set for release this Spring.

“Growing up without a lot of people who looked or sounded like me, I really turned to Barbra Streisand,” Epstein shares. “Babs is a champion of ‘not fitting a mold’ and using her extraordinary talents to prove naysayers wrong.”

The concept for Gabs Sings Babs began as a cabaret back in 2015; Epstein and her producer/accompanist Mark Camilleri had been playing around with different arrangements of Streisand’s greatest hits, and, being a cabaret artist, Epstein decided to use these arrangements to tell some of her own stories.

“My goal for the development of the piece was to find more ‘Gabs’ in this story and to lead with that,” Epstein reveals. “I never set out to do an imitation of Barbra Streisand. It was always about using her inspiration to create something uniquely true to myself.

“But despite my best efforts, the show was still about ‘Babs.’”

Then, the pandemic hit in 2020, and Epstein found that “the great pause,” as she calls it, forced her to think about who she really was and what she wanted to put out into the world, and she began reworking the Streisand arrangements.

“The subsequent arrangements that came out of this time are bold statements of who I am as an artist and person,” Epstein says. “Even though these songs were made famous by someone else, this is the truest representation of myself I have ever put out. I finally found the ‘Gabs’ in all of the ‘Babs.’

Hailed “Canada’s Queen of Cabaret” by CTV, Gabi Epstein is a DORA AWARD winner and one of Canada’s leading stage/cabaret performers best known for playing Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors at the Stratford Festival, and Fanny Brice in Funny Girl at the Segal Centre and for the Harold Green Jewish Theatre. Epstein also released her debut album Show Off in 2010.

Her stage show Gabs Sings Babs debuted at the Toronto Jazz Festival and has subsequently been performed at the Segal Centre, Globus Theatre, and will open the Port Stanley Festival Theatre’s season this June.

Downchild Members Chuck Jackson & Gary Kendall’s New Band THE HOGTOWN ALLSTARS Debut Is Out

Eric Alper
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Downchild Members Chuck Jackson & Gary Kendall’s New Band THE HOGTOWN ALLSTARS Debut Is Out

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”

Bree Taylor Inspires Strength & Self-Love While Overcoming Challenges with “On My Own”

Eric Alper
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Bree Taylor Inspires Strength & Self-Love While Overcoming Challenges with “On My Own”

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.

Jazz Songstress KATIE DITSCHUN Captures A Lonely Sense of Melancholy in Stunning “One Voice”

Eric Alper
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Jazz Songstress KATIE DITSCHUN Captures A Lonely Sense of Melancholy in Stunning “One Voice”

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.

Jack Black Celebrates Blue Bear School of Music’s 50th Anniversary With A Cover Of David Bowie’s ‘Suffragette City’

Eric Alper
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Jack Black Celebrates Blue Bear School of Music’s 50th Anniversary With A Cover Of David Bowie’s ‘Suffragette City’

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.

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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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