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SiriusXM and Audio Up Inc. Enter Into Creative and Strategic Agreement

Eric Alper
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SiriusXM and Audio Up Inc. Enter Into Creative and Strategic Agreement

SiriusXM Holdings Inc., the leading audio entertainment company in North America, announced today that its subsidiary, Sirius XM Radio Inc., has entered into a new creative programming and strategic agreement with Audio Up, an innovative podcast and audio entertainment production studio.

Under the agreement, Audio Up is expected to create new original scripted podcasts for SiriusXM and its owned audio platforms – which include the SXM App, Pandora, and Stitcher – while also collaborating with SiriusXM to develop new audio entertainment concepts and forge new promotional and distribution synergies across SiriusXM properties, furthering SiriusXM’s place as a leader in podcast hosting, production, distribution, analytics, and monetization.

The agreement gives SiriusXM an exclusive “first-look” co-production option for new Audio Up original podcast concepts, with accompanying options for exclusive distribution across SiriusXM properties, as well as exclusive rights to manage and sell advertising inventory and sponsorship in connection with any podcast produced for SiriusXM through its SXM Media combined sales organization.

In addition, Audio Up announced today that it has completed a $12 million Series B funding round led by SiriusXM. Andrew Moss, SiriusXM’s Senior Vice President, Business Affairs and Programming Operations, has also joined the Board of Directors of Audio Up.

Audio Up, established in 2020 by Jared Gutstadt, creator of the Jingle Punks creative music agency and Adweek‘s 2020 Podcast Innovator and Producer of the Year, is a podcast content production studio that has built a slate of distinctive, original scripted audio entertainment featuring marquee names across music (Machine Gun Kelly, 24kGoldn, Miranda Lambert, Nelly), Hollywood (Anthony Anderson, Garrett Hedlund, Jason Alexander, Gary Busey), publishing (James Ellroy, Stephen King), and more.

Forthcoming new Audio Up original podcast series include The Playboy Interview, which presents teleplay-type reenactments of some of the most iconic Playboy Interview conversations in history, featuring Taye Diggs as Muhammad Ali, Rosanna Arquette as Betty Friedan, Gina Gershon as Oriana Fallaci, among others.

A variety of original podcasts from Audio Up’s back catalog will also be re-presented across the SXM App, Pandora, and Stitcher, including:

  • Halloween in Hell: A first-of-its-kind, 4-part scripted music/horror mini-series set in a fictitious satanic reality show, featuring multi-platinum artists Machine Gun Kelly and 24kGoldn. Other shows in Audio Up’s hit “In Hell” podcast franchise include Valentine’s Day in Hell and Prom in Hell.

  • The Ballad of Uncle Drank: A dark-edged musical comedy starring country hip-hop superstar Nelly and Hollywood legends Gary Busey and Luke Wilson that tells the tragi-comic story of fictional “beach-country” singer Uncle Drank (Busey), with an original soundtrack on Warner Records featuring songs from Nelly, Blanco Brown and others from the country music realm.

  • Bedtime Stories of the Ingleside Inn: A scripted audio docu-drama starring Lance Bass (who also produces, alongside Oscar-winner Michael Sugar), and Jason Alexander as Mel Haber, the legendary 70s-era Palm Springs hotelier who brought glitz and glamour to the desert, attracting a slew of iconic regular guests including Frank Sinatra, Liz Taylor, and Howard Hughes.

  • Sonic Leap: The completely made-up backstory of real-life rock act “Hero the Band” – four Atlanta-based fraternal brothers who get sent back to 1985 to “change their future and the future of music.” Actor Anthony Anderson makes his podcast acting debut in this nostalgic scripted musical series. Rap star Trippie Redd co-stars and contributes music. The series unlocks the debut album from the Atlanta-based band, to be released on Audio Up Records.

  • Make It Up as We Go: The first-ever scripted country podcast musical, which tells the story of an ambitious young female singer (portrayed by series co-creator Scarlett Burke, who also contributes original music) who heads to Nashville’s male-dominated country hit factory to make her fame. Executive-produced by Miranda Lambert, who plays herself in the series. SiriusXM will re-distribute Season 1 and premiere the forthcoming 2nd season featuring Garrett Hedlund and award-winning Nashville songwriter Liz Rose.

“Podcasts have only scratched the surface of their potential as a powerful driver for discovery, and an entertainment medium with virtually no creative boundaries,” said Audio Up CEO and Founder, Jared Gutstadt. “With the vast reach and wide diversity of listeners that SiriusXM, Pandora and Stitcher together represent, we not only have a massive new multi-platform outlet for our original programming, but in SiriusXM we have a creative ally who shares our ambitions to keep pushing podcasting forward.”

Audio Up is expected to be an additional creative driver for SiriusXM in connecting artists, labels, brands, and creators of all types in developing new audio entertainment programming across SiriusXM channels, and exploring new possibilities for original scripted, podcasts and branded audio content opportunities for advertisers.

“Whether it’s inventing a new breed of boundary-breaking original podcasts or developing innovative audio concepts that let brands and creators connect with listeners in new ways, Jared and Audio Up have become the place where talent meets technology,” said Scott Greenstein, President and Chief Creative Officer of SiriusXM. “Audio Up is known for creating podcasts that combine music, entertainment, and rich storytelling to create bold new listening experiences, and we’re thrilled to welcome them to our extended SiriusXM family.”

The agreement follows SiriusXM’s acquisition of leading podcast platform Stitcher and its execution of several high-profile exclusive podcast content deals, including the acquisition of Roman Mars’ 99% Invisible podcast and the launch of Seth Rogen’s original podcast series, Storytime With Seth Rogen.

3x Guitarist of the Year & 6x JUNO Nominated DAVID GOGO Sips from a Silver Cup in New Album & Single

Eric Alper
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3x Guitarist of the Year & 6x JUNO Nominated DAVID GOGO Sips from a Silver Cup in New Album & Single

Nanaimo, BC’s multi-award winning and JUNO nominated Canadian artist David Gogo knows the blues, and so does his songwriting, his guitar, and his sharp-witted lyrics that relate as easily as they break your heart. And nowhere is this more apparent than on the roots rocker’s newest album and single of the same name, Silver Cup — available now.

‘All of my life has been the same, and I ain’t never, never gonna change,’ Gogo whiskey-sips over a slide guitar on “Never Gonna Change,” a lead track from his 2021 release, Silver Cup. It’s a set up to an old-fashioned, yarn-spinning story of life from the hard side of the tracks, and the commitment to leaning into what’s created of you.

“I was listening to my vinyl albums, going down rabbit holes on the internet, reading biographies of musicians, and playing my many guitars and just feeling the energy of so much great music,” Gogo says of the album and song’s inspiration.

Serving up his sixteenth full-length album, Gogo knows a thing or two about laying it all on the railroad ties of truth. This album, birthed of a global shutdown pandemic, is a passion project penned acoustically alongside long-time friend and producer, Steve Marriner. Gogo says he utilized the downtime the pandemic provided to delve deep into his heritage; Silver Cup becoming the liner notes of his history.

“The title track was inspired by an antique cup made in the 1800’s that was passed down to me from my 95-year-old grandmother,” Gogo reveals. “The cup once belonged to my Great, Great, Great Uncle James McKay who was a Métis builder of Canada. McKay was originally a trapper and guide, but eventually was involved in the negotiations of Treaties 1 through 5 and held several positions with the newly formed Province of Manitoba, including dealings with Louis Riel.”

How could this incredible Familia legacy not pour its way into the cup of Gogo’s creativity and immensely talented storytelling? “I am very excited about the release of my new album, Silver Cup,” he says. “These have been difficult times for all of us, and the music industry in particular has taken a severe beating. Despite the uncertainties, I felt that the one thing that I could focus on was to stay creative. Having spent my adult life playing on the road, I took the lockdown as an opportunity to woodshed and get back to the roots of what made me the artist that I am today.”

Gogo is a six-time JUNO Award nominated artist and hailed as Guitarist of the Year at the Maple Blues Awards three times. He was named Musician of the Year at the West Coast Music Awards, won Blues Recording of the Year at the Western Canadian Music Awards, and received the Great Canadian Blues Award for his lifetime contribution to the blues in Canada as voted by the listeners of CBC’s Saturday Night Blues.

While his own DNA may spur a classic blues tune (or in the case of Silver Cup, 10 blues tunes!), Gogo’s legacy is also one to be written about and praised. This album is cut after cut of authenticity; from trilling honky-tonk piano to Gogo’s, to spoon-slapping harp sung straight outta the boot-stompin’ blues stage, Gogo commits himself to his craft, and his allegiance to the blues. His vocals are laced with grit and grime, purity, and clarity, and the titular track produces captivating acoustic riffs, lyrics oozing truth and relatability — a vibe that causes you to wonder if you just walked into the best kept Western you’d never seen.

“Of course, there are a lot of blues to fill your shoes,” Gogo says. “Steve and I had fun getting the sounds we were looking for out of the vintage acoustic instruments on hand, and we even wrote a couple of songs together.

“I can’t wait for things to get back to normal so I can hit the road with these new songs. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy listening to this album as much as we enjoyed making it!”

Settle in. Sit back. Set the speakers. Let the needle drop on David Gogo. And sip.

Silver Cup is available now.

Toronto Rockers Eclecticus Celebrate the Joys of Concert Going with Fun and Frantic “Got Me Going”

Eric Alper
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Toronto Rockers Eclecticus Celebrate the Joys of Concert Going with Fun and Frantic “Got Me Going”

There’s no excitement quite like knowing you’re going to a concert tonight, and Canadian rockers Eclecticus capture that unique joy with their fun new single “Got Me Going” — available now.

Straight from their newly minted EP of the same name, “Got Me Going” is a song perfect for reemergence after a pandemic — and the long-awaited return of live music.

A pop-rock romp with energetic melodies, stomping drum beats, and soaring vocals, “Got Me Going” takes us on the frenetic trip of concert preparation. The video features Eclecticus singer-songwriters (and life partners) Gar Reid and Tiina LeMay, as well as a cast of friends and characters decked out in their funkiest concert-going attire. Each new person lip-syncs their portion of the song and performs their own exuberant dance, before the camera pans to the next friend. Interspersed between these vignettes is footage of packed concert stadiums and jubilant crowds.

“We did a lot of pre-production to give it a big, fun, and lively sound,” Gar Reid says of the single. “Everyone seems to get super charged before seeing a live concert, so this song along with the music video really celebrates this feeling associated with the pre-game festivities leading up to going to a live concert!”

“Got Me Going is such a catchy tune,” Tiina LeMay says. “It has all the elements of rock with a pop flare.

“It was so much fun to create! We kind of pinched ourselves once it was done and said, ‘Holy smokes, this song’s a hit!”

Not only is the song a great dance tune, but it’s also good for bopping along to in the car, as bassist Darrell Goodman points out. “I love ‘Got Me Going’ because it really seems to get people going!

“It’s a great driving song, too,” he adds. “It really captures the essence of Eclecticus.”

Eclecticus is a rock band hailing from Toronto, ON, fronted by singer-songwriters and life partners Gar Reid and Tiina LeMay, with Darrell Goodman on bass. With a passionate understanding for melody and dynamic sound, the band blends their talents to deliver all types of songs that span across many subgenres of rock.

Got Me Going, the EP on which the song appears, is Eclecticus’ third album in a year. It features three songs — “Got Me Going,” “Right Behind You,” and “Feels So Good.”

Got Me Going — the album and single — are available now.

Toronto-Based Nigerian Afrobeat Artist Sonia Aimy Revisits Her Roots With ‘Reconnect’ Album and Single

Eric Alper
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Toronto-Based Nigerian Afrobeat Artist Sonia Aimy Revisits Her Roots With ‘Reconnect’ Album and Single

Singer/songwriter, actress, and humanitarian Sonia Aimy grabs audiences hands and ushers them on a deep dive through her childhood roots and straight into her soul in this, her new album and single of the same name, Reconnect — available now.

Offering introspective and intimate glimpses into her creative heart, Reconnect exudes Sonia Aimy’s signature dynamic sound — a blend of afro-jazz, afrobeat, highlife, and elements of the African griot call-and-response tradition “in a string of easy flowing, yet virtuosic performances.”

The release is a reflection of the Nigerian-born and Toronto-based multi-talented artist’s recent sentiments around feeling overwhelmingly stuck, having constantly been on the move, touring the world to spread her influence and creativity.

“I cried,” she reveals of being forced to suddenly slow down, and feeling grounded — in a very literal sense. “I thought about so many things.

“But then, something happened… I began to feel a new connection to myself; I began to really dream about my past, about my childhood growing up with my mother in Nigeria, or about when I moved to Italy. So many things I’d not reflected on in the mad rush. I began to see my life in a sort of rewind that I’d not seen before.

“And that’s when the music and the words began to flow…”

These quarantine-facilitated reflections and self-realizations prompted Aimy to bury herself in the words and music that flowed through her during this reunification. Finely tuned and rooted in a rediscovery of her creative passion, Reconnect calls upon that desire to align oneself with “the festive, multicultural spirit felt when the various ethnic and religious groups of Nigeria come together in celebration.”

Inspired by traditional rhythms, “Reconnect” offers a seamless afrobeat groove. “‘Reconnect’ is a celebratory song of cultural heritage, as represented by traditional ruler kings who play significant roles in preserving traditions,” she explains. “I imagine myself someday in Africa, with my Caribbean brothers and sisters, and all members of the African diaspora reconnecting through music that resonates with culture and traditions that have been preserved.”

Sonia Aimy’s collective life experiences and travels fuse with her childhood roots to create the unique and cultural masterpiece that is “Reconnect,” and inevitably, the Reconnect album. Aimy’s work is interwoven with unpretentious altruistic double entendres, looking back on not only the global pandemic that led to the creation of her new album but also the much-needed self-love and self-care that we owe ourselves as human beings.

Sonia Aimy captures this sentiment perfectly: “What at first seemed like a completely negative experience forced me to pause, and allowed me to reflect and be grateful for being alive, to reconnect to myself musically, and to understand people from the outside as well.

“You find yourself in this situation, but you can also utilize the situation to benefit yourself and others.”

Reconnect is available now.

Ottawa Composer Huguette Lavigne Soars with Stunning New “On Cloud 9” Single

Eric Alper
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Ottawa Composer Huguette Lavigne Soars with Stunning New “On Cloud 9” Single

Music, at its very best, is a transportive experience. A bright, happy sounding melody can send our spirits soaring and, conversely, a sad, contemplative song can move us to tears. On that note, Canadian contemporary instrumental composer Huguette Lavigne is on a musical mission to lift us all into the happiest of places with this, her latest release, “On Cloud 9” — available now.

“In this piece, it’s a natural high,” says the Ottawa-based pianist. “You’re floating on air, happy, uplifted by the clouds and all is well with the world.

“The blue of the sky is also a constant and calming influence.”

It’s true. We all tend to look skyward at times for inspiration and comfort, and Lavigne’s joyous, ascending piano melody in “On Cloud 9” steadily rises up into the blue to give us a soft, fluffy landing.

Lavigne also knows that everyone’s ‘Cloud 9’ is decorated a little differently, and the routes taken to get there are not all the same. “Believe it or not, there are over 300 words and phrases to describe the phrase ‘On Cloud 9’,” notes Lavigne. “Take what you will from this!”

“On Cloud 9” is the opening track from Lavigne’s second album, Yin and Yang — originally released in 2018. Her debut album, Black Tie Affair, came out in 2015; she has also released Free and Easy in 2019, as well as her latest collection, Five O’Clock Somewhere, during the early months of the pandemic in 2020.

As we approach two years of living with COVID, reaching back to highlight “On Cloud 9” — a piece with the power to buoy the heart and soul — seems paramount.

“There is a certain earnestness or intensity felt in the playing, reflecting the forces of nature, strong and powerful but at times serene, with moments of tranquility — a dichotomy at play,” describes Lavigne.

A composer of over 40 piano pieces released on five albums over just five years, Lavigne’s approach and influences are as diverse as how listeners will relate to her songs. Her composition style is spontaneous, stream-of-consciousness magic. She forgoes the tradition of meticulously notating her compositions in favour of relying on a shorthand of her own to facilitate recall for future performances. Her final compositions are eventually stored entirely in her head and fingers. Once they’re recorded she moves on to the next piece.

“There is something about breaking the rules that can be terribly satisfying,” she notes. “My fingers sometimes go where they want to on the keyboard and, at times, I sort of have to take them back home or rein them in.”

An exciting and intriguing variety of styles thread their way through Lavigne’s compositions, considering her varied background and influences. She was raised in a milieu of three Canadian cultures, Franco Ontarian, Quebecois and English Canadian, and studied composition at McGill University and piano at l’université de Montréal. As such, a mélange of influences from Neo-Classicism and Neo-Romanticism to jazz, folk and Indian classical music have found their way into her songs.

Still, no matter what the influences, a happy sounding song that inspires joy is always a welcome addition to anyone’s day and Huguette Lavigne’s new release is a prime candidate for that from first note to last.

“A feeling of contentment carries us to the end, to reach the highest note of ‘On Cloud 9.’”

“On Cloud 9” is available now!

Folk-Rocker Howard Gladstone Releases “The World’s Become A Warmer Place” from Concord Sessions Album

Eric Alper
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Folk-Rocker Howard Gladstone Releases “The World’s Become A Warmer Place” from Concord Sessions Album

A hybrid folk album that holds a disarming mirror up to human nature, Toronto-based contemporary folk-rocker Howard Gladstone has released his new album, Concord Sessions, and singles “Building A Fence” and “The World’s Become A Warmer Place” — available now.

In the age of environmental and humanitarian crisis, and a future we have limited time to shape, the songs on Concord Sessions focus on the broader picture of where we humans are at — collectively, as a species.

Looking in the mirror reveals many sides of our human nature, our strengths, weaknesses, even foibles. “These are songs to help heal the planet,” the singer/songwriter shares.

There are themes such as activism and protest, the environmental crisis, human nature, history, forced migration, and the plight of refugees, as well as a constant theme of finding strength and resolve in facing difficulty, all to help heal the broken world and ourselves.

As the album’s opener, “Building A Fence” lands as a seemingly light and upbeat bluesy kind of tune before intricately layered lyrics reveal themes of division, privilege, separation, and impending crises. “These ideas are touched on throughout the song and album, sometimes just below the surface — like an underground river,” Gladstone explains.

Further along, “The World’s Become A Warmer Place” is an exploration in song around climate emergency and those displaced; the song and video take a global and historical journey through the more problematic sides of human nature, such as hubris.

Other highlights: “Occupy” pays tribute to idealistic activists who animate social justice movements with optimism and hope; “Love In The First Degree” is a sweet duet performed with Laura Fernandez; “Tear Down These Walls” and “When Lightning Strikes” are powerful new versions of previously recorded songs.

His seventh album release, the LP’s title pays tribute to the live off the floor techniques used at E-Room Studios on Toronto’s Concord Avenue with Peter J. Moore at the recording, engineering, mixing, and mastering helm. “What you hear is basically how it went down and sounded in the studio over the two-day recording period,” Gladstone says of the process that included features from Tony Quarrington, George Koller, Bob Scott, and Laura Fernandez. “There are no overdubs; the only thing that was added were background vocals.

“It’s recorded in high resolution audio, too, so every nuance and wrinkle is audible.”

Concord Sessions Track Listing:
Building A Fence
Occupy
Love In The First Degree – feat. Laura Fernandez
It All Falls Down
Tear Down These Walls (in God’s Garden)
When Lightning Strikes
The World’s Become A Warmer Place
Regret

JukeBox County Speak Volumes About Communication With Inner Space/Outer Space Album & “Words” Single

Eric Alper
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JukeBox County Speak Volumes About Communication With Inner Space/Outer Space Album & “Words” Single

Seldom do you get to sit back and enjoy pop-rock in its rawest, most sentimental form, but Canadian band JukeBox County — and their new album Inner Space/Outer Space — can give you just that.

Produced by Hugh Christopher Brown through Wolfe Island Records, the 10-track release marked the official rollout of Kingston-based artist Rich Tyo’s creative identity. It’s new song, “Words,” draws inspiration from his day-to-day experiences working as a mental health crisis worker.

A warm and heartfelt song about adventure, travel, and new love, the song also touches on the difficulty of communication and vulnerability in relationships and with ourselves, Tyo shares.

“The song ‘Words’ delves into the most intimate and challenging aspects of human connection and communication, and the limitations (and necessity), of words and the power of human closeness and physical touch.”

Upon first listen, “Words” doesn’t necessarily come across as a song laden with such a salient message. However, when you watch its music video, you really get a feel for the overall imagery JukeBox County is trying to create.

Featuring themes of comradery, and the intimate overtones that come with being vulnerable and having deep human connections, the video was conceptualized, filmed, edited, directed by JUNO-winning director and film-maker Sean Michael Turrell (Hawksley Workman’s ‘Jealous of your Cigarette’ video).

With a sound that already hints of Bob Dylan and Neil Young, with a splash of The Rolling Stones for good measure, it’s a release ready to whisk audiences down a bumpy, half-paved backcountry road at its first opportunity.

And that, it does.

“Making the video, we got dressed up and performed the song on the back of a big pick up truck,” Rich Tyo recalls. “We rode along the main strip of Marysville, Wolfe Island…

“There is an homage to Bob Dylan’s video ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’ in the selective lyrics on sheets of paper, too,” he continues. “Some of these ended up being subliminal poetic messages…”

While Rich Tyo took the bull by the horns when it comes to production of “Words,” it’s worth mentioning the band mates responsible for the comfortable and twangy feel that “Words” instills in the listener. Focusing on lead vocals and acoustic guitar, Rich Tyo recruited Hugh Christopher Brown to play keys while working on tracking the album.

From there, “Words” features Jason Mercer on the bass guitar, Greg Beresford on the drums, Teddy Kumpel on electric guitar, and Teilhard Frost on percussion. Hugh Christopher Brown makes another appearance in the background vocals, as well as Sarah McDermott. What an all-star cast making up JukeBox County!

“Words” is available off of the Inner Space/Outer Space album now.

Toronto R&B Singer/Songwriter PLAZA Debuts First Studio Album, Nocturnes & Emotionally Charged “Still Alive” Single

Eric Alper
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Toronto R&B Singer/Songwriter PLAZA Debuts First Studio Album, Nocturnes & Emotionally Charged “Still Alive” Single

With a blend of dark piano, synth hits and spacious vocals, PLAZA instills a feeling of cruising down empty boulevards late at night, pining for lost love, and “Still Alive,” off of the Canadian R&B artist’s debut album, Nocturnes, drives home the harrowing emptiness that comes with leaving old lovers behind — for better or worse.

With remnants of a solid Weeknd or Drake production sprinkled throughout the entirety of “Still Alive,” it is sure to resonate with PLAZA’s ever-growing cult following. And at tens of millions of views and streams across platforms, PLAZA’s previous signing with OVO Sound is sure to help bolster this talented independent R&B artist to the top of billboards across the country, and internationally, alike.

PLAZA’s creative process is very meticulous, and one spin of Nocturnes and “Still Alive” bestows the audience with multiple portraits of sonic imagery — all shaped around recovering and leaving behind toxic love.

As the name suggests, Nocturnes is an album made for the night. It summons memories of past love and heartbreak, of betrayal, and of the hellish depths one can fall to while trying to avenge a shattered ego.

‘Taking inspiration from the ghostly compositions of Chopin, PLAZA looked to convey a similarly evocative and eerie mood while writing his own nocturnes.’

“The album represents a rebirth after a long hiatus, and chronicles a desperate attempt to win back a former lover,” he reveals.

With a press-shy attitude and mysterious persona, however, the question remains: “who is PLAZA?” When you find talent of this caliber, it’s almost impossible not to seek more of it.

PLAZA is a Toronto-based R&B artist whose passion for music blossomed in highschool. Emerging from the rock scene after fronting local bands Decades and Lobby, PLAZA embarked on a solo career.

Mixing downtempo, ambient soundscapes with floating melodies, his first EP, ONE, quickly accumulated millions of streams, and attracted the attention of Toronto’s own Drake and his OVO Sound label. After signing with Warner/OVO, PLAZA released his second EP, Shadow, followed by a string of singles — including the standout track “All Mine,” which has 22+ million streams on Spotify alone.

“Still Alive” and Nocturnes are available now.

Canadian Blues Master DAVID VEST Doubles Down to Deliver ‘Live at Hermann’s’ and ‘Live in Calgary’ Concert Albums

Eric Alper
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Canadian Blues Master DAVID VEST Doubles Down to Deliver ‘Live at Hermann’s’ and ‘Live in Calgary’ Concert Albums

While we take tentative steps back into the electric atmosphere of our favourite live music venues, multi-award winning Canadian blues singer-songwriter and performer David Vest is here to deliver a double dose of the next best thing: not just one, but two live concert albums landing at the same time! Live at Hermann’s and Live in Calgary are both available now.

More than 18 months of pandemic lockdown has us all longing for that undeniably kinetic live music experience, and Vest is giving us a twin taste of what we’ve been missing. Live at Hermann’s and Live in Calgary feature two uniquely different performances, sets of songs and tones from the multi-talented and honoured vocalist and keyboard player recorded pre-pandemic in Calgary and in Vest’s hometown of Victoria, B.C.

However different, the two albums are unified by one distinctive theme: David Vest is truly a master of his craft.

Vest’s masterful manipulation of the black and whites is perhaps no better on display than with the featured single release from Live at Hermann’s, “Mr. Pine Top Boogie”. The jaw dropping dexterity of his fingers running up and down the keys on this grin-worthy, boogie-woogie jam have a seemingly effortless flow.

He’s been rockin’ and shoutin’ the blues since 1957 and Live in Calgary highlights Vest’s wild side, showing us what it must have been like during the early years of this genre. In contrast, Live at Hermann’s showcases the savvy showman who has sold out Hermann’s Jazz Club in Victoria over 50 times with intimate, captivating shows drawing from jazz, blues, rock and gospel, crafting a genre mix that renders each song a wholly unique and spellbinding experience.

Vest lives on the Canadian west coast paradise of Vancouver Island now, but the winner of five Maple Blues Awards including 2017 Piano or Keyboard Player of the Year started his life and art steeped in Southern boogie-woogie. Growing up in Birmingham, Alabama near Tuxedo Junction put him in the right proximity with the right talent to jam with the likes of Ace Cannon, Bill Black’s Combo, the Jimmy Dorsey Band, Big Joe Turner and to open for the legendary Roy Orbison on New Year’s Day in 1962.

He’s aptly described by veteran Canadian broadcaster, producer and Stony Plain Records founder Holger Petersen as a “huge blues and boogie talent” but, David Vest also refers to himself with more than a little tongue-in-cheek as “the world’s oldest living, promising young pianist”.

That kind of deep, rich and varied musical experience certainly deserves a first and second helping for fans to enjoy at the same time.

Live at Hermann’s and Live in Calgary are both available now.

My Next Read: “Seeing Sideways: A Memoir of Music and Motherhood” By Kristin Hersh

Eric Alper
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My Next Read: “Seeing Sideways: A Memoir of Music and Motherhood” By Kristin Hersh

Doony, Ryder, Wyatt, Bodhi. The names of Kristin Hersh’s sons are the only ones included in her new memoir, Seeing Sideways. As the book unfolds and her sons’ voices rise from its pages, it becomes clear why: these names tell the story of her life. This story begins in 1990, when Hersh is the leader of the indie rock group Throwing Muses, touring steadily, and the mother of a young son, Doony. The chapters that follow reveal a woman and mother whose life and career grow and change with each of her sons: the story of a custody battle for Doony is told alongside that of Hersh’s struggles with her record company and the resulting PTSD; the tale of breaking free from her record label stands in counterpoint to her recounting of her pregnancy with Ryder; a period of writer’s block coincides with the development of Wyatt as an artist and the family’s loss of their home; and finally, soon after Bodhi’s arrival, Hersh and her boys face crises from which only strange angels can save them. Punctuated with her own song lyrics, Seeing Sideways is a memoir about a life strange enough to be fiction, but so raw and moving that it can only be real.

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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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