As Canada and the rest of the world emerges from a year-and-a-half of pandemic-induced shutdowns and closed borders, musicians everywhere are keen to get back to touring, or to travel to other cities for recording and songwriting sessions, and more. The problem is, the travel-related rules and regulations are still pretty unclear and constantly evolving, and often change when crossing into a new province or state, and certainly when crossing international borders. So, in this webinar, Canadian Musician Editor-in-Chief Michael Raine and a panel of experts will be explaining the legal requirements that musicians need to understand in order to plan their next shows or other work-related travel.
On Thursday, August 26th at 2pm EST, there’s a FREE live webinar that can assist with your questions, or just to hang out.
In this informative webinar, Michael Raine, Editor-in-Chief of Canadian Musician magazine will be joined by:
Dani Oliva is a Canadian artist advocate, speaker, and music attorney now based in Los Angeles who is focused on helping talented creators thrive in the music business.
Catherine Glazer is an attorney practicing U.S. immigration law in Toronto and an international consultant for the Norwegian Refugee Council. She also has a lot of experience helping musicians, artists, and athletes obtain visa and work permits.
A continued force within the immersive world of contemporary music, Canadian composer and singer/songwriter Carmen Braden has released her new single, “Kick Kick” — available now.
As the premiere glimpse of the multi-talented artist’s forthcoming third album Seed Songs, “Kick Kick” reveals the first of many moments captured and woven through song across the new full-length release.
“Each song has a core — a ‘seed idea’ — I tried to capture,” Braden shares. “They’re each a kind of vignette: a moment in time; a snapshot of joy or struggle, fragments; phrases; edges…
“Through this past fall and winter of the pandemic, the minutiae and small details of everyday life were my focus. I wrote dozens of these short ‘seed song’ ideas — all connected to moments of beauty I encountered, or struggles of the day-to-day. I strived to share things that may seem ordinary or simple at first, but are actually profound, fulfilling, and nuanced.
“Most of the songs are very short,” she continues — noting the shortest track clocks in at just 38 seconds. “I feel there is beauty in miniatures, in brevity. If I can say something meaningful and musical in one minute, then that’s all the time it needs to take!
“I chose 18 of the strongest ‘seeds’ to bring together in this album, and it was a journey in releasing expectations, allowing each song to have the sound or length it needed.”
Given how the album’s inspiration was gleaned somewhere between the ebb and flow of navigating Covid, the tangible construction of the album also presented a creative curveball, given social restrictions.
“I worked through the writing and recording of Seed Songs all by distance from my home in Yellowknife with my friend and producer Mark Adam in Nova Scotia,” Braden recalls of the process. “Working that way meant I brought the music to life with Mark in ways I hadn’t done before.
“Mark encouraged me to embrace the rough while not sacrificing the concise. I also used instruments and technologies that were new for me — guitars, synthesizers… This brought a process of freedom and exploration to the recording process.”
Carmen Braden is long familiar with the process of exploration. Her debut album, Ravens, was released in 2017 combining her songs and compositions, and her sophomore offering, Songs of the Invisible Summer Stars, followed two years later as a deep dive into her contemporary works for chamber ensemble.
Among her many accolades, Braden won the Western Canadian Music Award for Classical Composer of the Year in both 2019 and 2020, and received nominations for ECMA Classical Album of the Year (2020), WCMA Classical Artist of the Year (2019), and WCMA Classical Composition of the Year (2017).
And having taken the stage at intimate theatres and MainStage folk festivals — including the 2010 Olympics, Koerner Hall, the Northern Arts and Cultural Centre, Stratford Summer Music Festival, Folk on the Rocks, and many more — Braden is lauded as an esteemed solo performer and collaborator. Her extensive contemporary classical compositions are nationally recognized, and she has been commissioned and performed by world-class ensembles, including the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, James Ehnes and the Canadian Chamber Choir.
Seed Songs, Carmen Braden’s third album, is set for release Fall 2021.
Canadian singer-songwriter Amanda Kind’s new single ends with a namesake question: “Does it get easier?”
It’s a musing we’ve all wrestled with amidst the throes of heartbreak, and the new song — “easier,” stylized in the humble lowercase tradition of e.e. cummings — explores the more complex query of how to grieve the loss of someone who’s still living.
Based on a personal experience she describes as “the intersection of grief and rejection,” Amanda experienced a difficult break-up that wasn’t her choice. “Knowing that someone you love(d) is out there in the world, happier without you, is a complicated pain,” she shares. “I kept thinking, ‘does it get easier?’
“That question turned into a refrain.”
With a lyric video and cover art that make use of ocean imagery, Amanda belts her alt-pop ballad out with a bold, full-bodied confidence over elegant piano and strings. Listeners feel the engulfing pain, riding the waves of courage needed to move forward, before being enveloped in the searing heartache all over again; Amanda Kind’s voice soars above the choppy waters, the horizon always in sight, until she finds resolve.
Born in British Columbia, and based in Kitchener/Waterloo, Ontario, Amanda Kind is a multi-talented singer and songwriter with a wide range and a powerful voice; she is known as much for her own work as she is as one of the area’s most in-demand vocal coaches.
When the COVID-19 pandemic capsized the music industry, the change of routine allowed time to reflect on her own journey as an artist. After years of teaching students to ‘claim their space,’ ‘use their voices’, and ‘do what you love, no matter what,’ Amanda realized she needed to re-apply those lessons to her own life; she joined a number of virtual songwriting groups, met musicians and performers from across the country, reconnected with old performer friends, and began voraciously writing new music.
Her new single “easier” is one of the fruits of that time of radical self-care.
Grappling with her own grief, Amanda found relief and answers through Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Because of this, it was important for her to find a collaborator who understood the power of therapy, and she connected with songwriter and producer Sam Hillifer (JP Sunga, Safe as Houses, Will Currie and the Country French).
As personal as the song is, the two considered many iterations of loss while writing “easier.” “We talked about all the kinds of loss where the other person is still out there living in the world: Divorce. One-sided break-ups. Losing someone slowly to dementia or Alzheimer’s. Fractured friendships. Broken families,” she recalls of the process. Essentially, “the scenarios where you thought that person would always be in your life, and now they aren’t.”
Writing “easier” proved a cathartic and essential gateway to healing for Amanda. “Ironically, it helped me process the pain and made it easier to accept,” she says. “I hope it will strike a chord with others who have experienced the dissolution of an important relationship.
“It’s a special kind of grief.”
By the end, the song reveals the title is, in fact, the answer to the question… It does.
With positivity, love, and self-empowerment front and centre, ease into a musical escape like none other with Latin-Pop singer/songwriter Mia Lailani’s stunning debut album, Blink of an Eye — available now via Mighty One Music.
Backed by dulcet-ballads and fresh beats, Lailani’s breakthrough offering explores concepts of love, self-awareness, and the world around her. A natural storyteller through lyric, the 11-track LP lands as reflective, insightful, and wise beyond her years.
“If I had to use one word to describe this release, it would be ‘growth,’” Lailani shares. “In truth, this word not only describes my past year as an artist, but as a person…
“While being in the process of making this album,” she continues, “I realized and analyzed how each of these experiences helped me to develop, and become a more mature and understanding young woman. I also considered just how much time flew during that moment in my life… It made me think, ‘wow, everything just passed in a ‘blink of an eye.’”
As an album, Blink of an Eye also delves further into the concept that “people connect with music for several reasons, but one thing they have in common is that they go through an evolution,” she adds.
With that, songs like “Sweet Dreams” and “Mama Said” — a soulful, R&B swooner about self-improvement and embodying one’s self-worth, and a track touching on political issues in the world, and its effect on the younger generation, respectively — are mere starts at spanning the breadth of this 16-year old Bronx-based artist’s rich and varied perspective.
And if hot sauce and honey were lyrics, track “Sippin” would be it.
Primarily a Latin-Pop release, Blink of an Eye soars with added elements of retro-R&B and Reggaeton. Mid-tempo driven, the confidence in Lailani’s vocal execution — combined with a diverse lyrical content and instrumentation — makes for an infectious listening experience.
Blink of an Eye may be Mia Lailani’s first full-length album release, but she first officially stepped onto the scene in 2018 with the single, “We Have.” From there, follow-ups — including “Magic Hour,” “The Love You Owe,” “Clue,” and more — have garnered her upwards of 40,000+ streams across Spotify alone.
She also just unveiled a new official mini documentary, “You Found Me First;” the first-hand, behind-the-scenes eight-minute visual tracks Lailani’s path through today, and is available via YouTube.
Speaking of path, to say Lailani has been a singer from the start would be an understatement; discovered in her crib at age two singing Alicia Keys’ “No One,” her mother and their musical family would waste little time starting to nurture her craft. With her first songwriting credit by age 10, Lailani’s track — “Be With You” — was also the start of her work being produced by her brother, DJ and producer Devan Ibiza.
“The energy that was created by both of us was unintentional,” she says of working with her sibling in the studio. “But it captured instantaneous magic… He brought the incredible beats, which were so effortless for me to write to. Together, we’ve been unstoppable.”
Sonic Reducers: One topic. Two music geeks. Five minutes.
It’s a big week for classic rock fans: The Who’s iconic release Who’s Next just celebrated its 50th anniversary, while Metallica’s Black Album just turned 30.
Ahead of the release of the ‘Oasis Knebworth 1996’ documentary, Noel Gallagher chatted to us about what those shows were like and how Liam Gallagher and the rest of the band were at their best.
Gearing up for the highly anticipated film Flag Day, Seattle Surf/Republic Records/Universal Music Canada release “My Father’s Daughter” by Olivia Vedder from the upcoming Flag Day Original Motion Picture Soundtrack available August 20th. The song was written by Glen Hansard & Eddie Vedder.
The official music video for the song features footage from the Cannes Film Festival selected film starring and directed by Academy® Awards winner Sean Penn and starring his daughter Dylan Penn. The scenes from the film and the lyrics of the song tell the tale of the special bond between father and daughter.
Sean Penn says, “After this flood of gorgeous songs from Cat Power, Glen Hansard, and Eddie Vedder, we were just about to do a final mix on the film when Ed sent me Olivia singing ‘My Father’s Daughter.’ It became just the perfect cherry on top of the sundae.”
The upcoming soundtrack found Eddie Vedder bringing together Glen Hansard and noted singer-songwriter Cat Power who contributes three new original songs, along with one cover. It also features the debut of Olivia Vedder on two tracks. In total Vedder and Hansard collaborated on eight new compositions for the soundtrack. See the full tracklist below.
This marks Vedder’s second film collaboration with Penn, the first being 2007’s “Into the Wild” for which Vedder won a Golden Globe® for Best Song Motion Picture. In the same year, Hansard starred in and wrote the music for the film “Once”, which would earn him an Academy® Award for Best Original Song (“Falling Slowly”).
Praise for the soundtrack has begun to roll in with features from LoudWire, Audacy, and more, while NME described “My Father’s Daughter” as “a moving ode to adopting the traits of your parents.”
TRACKLIST:
01 Olivia Vedder – “My Father’s Daughter”
02 Glen Hansard & Eddie Vedder – “Flag Day”
03 Cat Power – “I Think Of Angels” (KK cover)
04 Glen Hansard & Eddie Vedder – “Tender Mercies”
05 Glen Hansard & Eddie Vedder – “Rather Be Home”
06 Cat Power – “I Am A Map”
07 Glen Hansard – “As You Did Before”
08 Olivia Vedder, Glen Hansard, & Eddie Vedder – “There’s A Girl”
09 Glen Hansard & Eddie Vedder – “I’ll Be Waiting”
10 Cat Power – “I Will Follow”
11 Glen Hansard & Eddie Vedder – “Wave”
12 Eddie Vedder – “Drive” (R.E.M. cover)
13 Cat Power – “Dream”
As the follow-up to their early 2020 debut EP Nights Like This, Loud Luxury’s new EP Holiday Hills is a six-piece offering steeped in dance-pop catchiness, musical prowess and cooperative spirit. Out today, August 13 on Armada Music it highlights features and collaborations with emerging rappers, singer-songwriters and producers like Cat Dealers, Drew Love, WAV3POP, Tyler Mann and Thutmose.
Over the past few months, Loud Luxury have been steadily working toward the release of Holiday Hills, releasing a multitude of infectious singles including “Red Handed” with Thutmose, “Wasted” featuring WAV3POP, “Safe With Me” featuring Drew Love, “Mistakes” with Cat Dealers, “Lemons” featuring Tyler Mann, and lastly, the title track “Holiday Hills,” each accompanied by a colorful and humorous video. To keep the momentum surging, now the moment has arrived for Canadian duo Andrew Fedyk and Joe De Pace to finally release their new song collection oozing with character, chaos and childhood nostalgia which is the Holiday Hills EP.
“Holiday hills is the place you grew up”, Loud Luxury explain. “It could be anywhere in the world. To us, it represents the idea of order, rules and being told no when you were younger. We think everyone dreams of going back to that place and turning it upside down. This EP is nothing more than our favorite songs, which we feel bring color to the dull, a party to the boring and chaos to the order. The neighbors can definitely hear us.“
With their worldwide smash hit ‘Body’ (feat. Brando), Loud Luxury—who is Canadian duo Andrew Fedyk and Joe De Pace—is officially certified Diamond (10x Platinum) in Canada, 7x Platinum in Australia, 3x Platinum in Switzerland, Double Platinum in Austria, Denmark, U.K. and the U.S., and Platinum in the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. ‘Body’ also held the #1 spot in the U.S. Mediabase Dance Airplay chart for two weeks, charted in the Top 40 of U.S. Pop radio and the U.K.’s Official Singles Chart (#4) and accumulated over a billion plays across the most popular streaming services. Its follow-up single, “Love No More (with anders),” garnered 12 million streams on Spotify alone in its first month and currently sits at over 140 million plays on the streaming platform, while “I’m Not Alright (with Bryce Vine)” adds to the tally with over 80 million streams. In 2020, the duo released their debut EP ‘Nights Like This’, followed by single releases ‘Like Gold’ featuring Stephen Puth with Frank Walker, ‘Amnesia’ featuring GASHI with Ship Wrek and ‘Red Handed’ featuring Thutmose. Loud Luxury also scooped up three 2020 JUNO Awards nominations for ‘Dance Recording Of The Year,’ ‘Fan Choice Award’ and ‘Group Of The Year’ (including one win) following four nominations (including one win) in 2019 as well as iHeart Music Awards nominations for ‘Dance Song Of The Year’ and ‘Dance Artist Of The Year’ in 2020.
Holiday Hills EP track listing:
Holiday Hills
Lemons featuring Tyler Mann
Mistakes with Cat Dealers
Safe With Me featuring Drew Love
Wasted featuring WAV3POP
Red Handed featuring Thutmose
Multi-platinum singer, songwriter & producer blackbear has released his highly-anticipated EP misery lake via ALAMO/Columbia Records.
The 6-track EP includes his previously released singles “u love u,” featuring fellow hitmaker Tate McRae, and “@ my worst,” along with 4 brand-new tracks, which showcase blackbear’s signature blend of honest lyrics, infectious beats and edgy pop production. Full tracklisting is below.
The release follows a massive week for blackbear- the hitmaker garnered his first MTV Video Music Award Nomination for Best Alternative, stars on the cover of Alternative Press’ new issue, and kicked off Maroon 5’s Fall 2021 U.S. tour as direct support. blackbear will join all 31 dates of the tour which will make stops at iconic venues such as Fenway Park in Boston, Chicago’s Wrigley Field, and Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles, before wrapping up in Concord, CA on October 8. Tickets are available now at beartrap.la/pages/tour. blackbear collaborated with Maroon 5 on their new album Jordi, where he featured on the single “Echo,” and co-wrote & co-produced “Beautiful Mistakes.”
blackbear recently teamed up with Kane Brown on “Memory,” which debuted at #9 on Billboard’s Hot Country Chart and racked up over 8 million streams in its first week. The instant hit further showcases why blackbear is one of the most sought-after artists in the industry today.
blackbear kicked off 2021 garnering nominations for two 2021 Billboard Music Awards (Top Rock Song x2), and two 2021 iHeartRadio Music Awards for “Best New Pop Artist” and “Alternative Rock Song of the Year.” This follows a whirlwind 2020 for him where his top-notch skills were highlighted through multiple hit tracks as he dominated radio airwaves. His 3x-platinum smash “hot girl bummer” hit #2 at Top 40 radio and peaked at the top of the charts in over 25 countries. He also brought his hitmaking prowess to numerous collaborations, most notably featuring on Machine Gun Kelly’s “my ex’s best friend” and All Time Low’s “Monsters,” both of which spent multiple weeks #1 at radio. His latest album, everything means nothing, has since garnered over 1 billion streams and he counts over 25.8 million monthly listeners on Spotify.
misery lake TRACKLISTING:
1. “alone in a room full of people”
2. “@ my worst”
3. “u love u” ft. tate mcrae
4. “ghost town” ft. sasha alex sloan
5. “imu” ft. travis barker
6. “bad day”
blackbear 2021 TOUR DATES:
8/14 – Albuquerque, NM @ Isleta Amphitheater*
8/16 – Dallas, TX @ Dos Equis Pavilion*
8/18 – Maryland Heights, MO @ Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre*
8/19 – Milwaukee, WI @ American Family Insurance Amphitheater*
8/21 – Noblesville, IN @ Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center*
8/23 – Clarkston, MI @ DTE Energy Music Theatre*
8/25 – Burgettstown, PA @ The Pavilion at Star Lake*
8/26 – Cuyahoga Falls, OH @ Blossom Music Center*
8/28 – Cincinnati, OH @ Riverbend Music Center*
8/30 – Chicago, IL @ Wrigley Field*
9/1 – Darien Center, NY @ Darien Lake Amphitheater*
9/2 – Toronto, Ontario @ Budweiser Stage*
9/4 – Camden, NJ @ BB&T Pavilion*
9/5 – Hershey, PA @ Hersheypark Stadium*
9/7 – Bristow, VA @ Jiffy Lube Live*
9/8 – Charlotte, NC @ PNC Music Pavilion*
9/10 – Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center*
9/12 – Boston, MA @ Fenway Park*
9/13 – Saratoga Springs, NY @ Saratoga Performing Arts Center*
9/15 – Raleigh, NC @ Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek*
9/23 – West Palm Beach, FL @ iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre*
9/25 – Dover, DE @ Firefly Music Festival
9/24 – Tampa, FL @ MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre*
9/27 – Del Valle, TX @ Germania Insurance Amphitheater*
9/28 – The Woodlands, TX @ Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion presented by Huntsman*
10/1 – Phoenix, AZ @ Ak-Chin Pavilion*
10/2 – Los Angeles, CA @ Banc of California Stadium*
10/5 – Chula Vista, CA @ North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre*
10/7 – Mountain View, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheatre*
10/8 – Concord, CA @ Concord Pavillion*
10/30 – Springfield, MO @ O’Reilly Family Event Center
*MAROON 5 SUPPORT DATE
Today, Tyler Shaw releases his lead single “I See You,” a mesmerizing song about seeing the inner beauty and true strength of those you love. Produced by Tyler and Martin Wave (NCT Dreams, Alok, Vince Staples), “I See You” is now available on all streaming platforms: Listen here. The song is the next single off Tyler’s just announced, self-titled album, set to release August 20, 2021.
“I get a lot of fans reaching out to me saying my songs lift them up when they need it most, and I wrote this song for those fans. The ones telling me stories about my music getting them through hardships and breakups, or the ones sending me DMs asking me to like their comment so they feel seen. It’s a song to listen to when you need a reminder you have support, you are worthy, you are loved,” Tyler explains of the track.
This year is like no other for Tyler, as this highly anticipated album comes three years shy of the release of his JUNO Award nominated and certified Gold, sophomore album, Intuition. Tyler Shaw features the smash hit “When You’re Home,” touted by Marie Claire as one of the ‘Best New Love Songs of 2021 (So Far), and certified Gold single “Remember.” It also includes “Be Like You,” “North Star,” and the recently released summer jam “Sex on the Beach,” which gathered a host of guest appearances for the visualizer such as Tynomi Banks, Matt & Omar, members of The Beaches, Roxy Earle, Ty Bridgwater, new MuchMusic VJs, and more.
