Even back then, MF DOOM knew what was up.
My Next Read: “There and Black Again: The Autobiography of Don Letts”
Starring the Grammy award winning filmmaker, rock star, DJ, radio broadcaster, social commentator, husband and father Don Letts, There And Black Again takes in many lives and places. It is written as scenes from a movie shot on location in London, Kingston, New York, Los Angeles, Windhoek, Salt Lake City, and Goldeneye. Co-starring a cast of hundreds, including Joe Strummer, John Lydon, Bob Marley, Chrissie Hynde, Chris Blackwell, Paul McCartney, Nelson Mandela, Keith Richards, Pattie Smith, Chuck D., Malcolm McLaren, and Vivienne Westwood, it takes in major cultural movements from skinhead through punk to Black Lives Matter, and includes scenes of civil unrest, live music, humour, and political struggle. There And Black Again describes in clear-eyed detail a life of work and love, of battles against prejudice and negativity, of failures and great successes. It describes a six-decade journey through sound and vision which has left a unique body of award-winning work in film, television, and music.
CMAOntario Festival & Awards Weekend Rescheduled for September 3 – 5, 2021
The Country Music Association of Ontario has rescheduled the 2021 CMAOntario Festival & Awards Weekend in Hamilton to September 3 – 5, 2021, following the recommendations from officials regarding COVID-19. Previously scheduled for May 28 – 30, the CMAOntario Festival & Awards Weekend, presented by Slaight Music, will now host three drive in concerts in September at Ancaster Fairgrounds including the Legacy Revival, the New Faces Showcase & Concert, and the 9th Annual CMAOntario Awards.
CMAOntario took the steps to reschedule the festivities to ensure that the health and well-being of artists and audiences is protected. CMAOntario is committed to presenting and promoting the work of Ontario’s country music industry and looks forward to celebrating in the Fall.
Hosted by Jason McCoy and Beverley Mahood, the CMAOntario Awards Show will close out the CMAOntario Festival & Awards Weekend on Sunday, September 5 with performances and 18 award presentations at this drive-in finale. Tickets go on sale Friday, April 23 at 12pm.
Previously announced performers, subject to change, include Tim Hicks, nominated for five awards at the 2021 CMAOntario Awards; Robyn Ottolini, nominated for five awards; Buck Twenty, nominated for four awards; Aaron Allen, nominated for two awards; Owen Barney, nominated for two awards; Sacha, nominated for the Rising Star of the Year Award; David Boyd Janes, nominated for Male Artist of the Year; Reney Ray, nominated for the Francophone Artist or Group of the Year Award; The Redhill Valleys, nominated for the Roots Artist or Group of the Year Award; and the CMAOntario Awards house band The Western Swing Authority, who are nominated for two awards.
Canadian Female Vocal Group ViVA Trio Reveal New Theatrical Sound & Style in “Siren Song”
Award-winning and Internationally acclaimed Canadian female vocal group ViVA Trio are set to summon audiences out to sea with this, their stunning new single, “Siren Song.”
The three-piece’s two sopranos Anna Bateman and Katya Tchoubar, along with mezzo-soprano Erin Fisher, discovered a rare silver lining in the interruption of their international touring schedule due to COVID-19; the newly-freed up time meant they could create some new musical masterpieces to follow their breakthrough debut, Nothing Else Matters.
Telling the ancient sailor’s tale of the ‘Siren’s’ hypnotic voice and powerful lure, “Siren Song” instantly surrounds, haunting and hypnotizing from start to finish between its electronic mixing and multi-layered vocal mastery.
“Anna naturally has the highest voice in the group,” Tchoubar shares and jokes of Bateman’s role as the song’s ‘siren.’ “We usually refer to her as the dolphin of the group!”
“She’s not wrong!” Bateman laughs. “My voice is just happy there.”
Featuring the three artist’s signature powerful vocals, “Siren Song” serves as a preview for what’s to come with ViVA Trio — both with this single and their forthcoming sophomore and third release; currently being finessed in tandem, the two albums reveal a new yet familiar sound, style, and story for the Mississauga, Ontario-based group.
“Cinematic, electronic, ethereal, and dramatic are some of the words I would use to describe the sound we are creating for this next push of music,” Fisher shares of “Siren Song,” and beyond. “We’re pouring all of our creativity into these upcoming releases.”
Set to feature full storylines, characters, costumes, elaborate makeup, hair and effects for their live shows, album art, and music videos, the theatrical overtones reflect each member’s professional background in opera and stage arts.
“It’s been a while since any of us have done character work on stage,” Tchoubar hints. “We’ll be leaning into our roots, and we look forward to revealing our hybrid show — blending a concert with mics with a staged show featuring a full plot line.”
ViVA Trio is a Canadian classical crossover group that quickly gained global critical acclaim from CityTV, CityNews, the Toronto Star, Canadian Beats, WestJet Airlines, Doosan Group, the Doosan Bears, and more.
Winners of a 2018 Mississauga Arts Award, and featured TEDx Talk performers, they are known for their stunning, unique takes, transforming well-known songs by the likes of Duran Duran, Leonard Cohen, Metallica and Sia into cinematic, operatic gems from their breakthrough debut, Nothing Else Matters.
Toronto Rocker ROBERT CORBETT Sets a Nostalgic Scene with Synth-Laden Love Song, “Drive85”
Canadian pop-rock singer/songwriter Robert Corbett sets a nostalgic scene with this, his new synth-laden love song, “Drive85.”
His sixth single, the Toronto-based artist uses the song to usher audiences on, not only a metaphorical musical journey, but one of the highs and lows of being in love too.
Though the sonic elements of this spacey love song might inspire a happy-go-lucky feeling, the lyrical content is much deeper than it may seem on the first spin; Corbett reveals its creation spawned from the concept of trying to navigate one’s way through the denial of being in a great relationship — one that’s almost-ethereal — and the fear of heartbreak. “If you don’t put yourself out there, it’ll never work,” he considers. “Facing the possibility of heartache and loss is worth the gamble of potentially gaining real love.
“If we’re lucky, we may meet someone who makes us feel whole,” Corbett continues. “If we’re really lucky, that feeling is reciprocated. I find we give up too easily, and move on when things get ‘real’ as our own way of coping with things that make us feel like we’re alive and have something ‘real’ to lose.
“It’s only through acceptance that you can truly love someone and let them in your life. It’s about having patience and understanding with the one you love… Seeing their faults and accepting them.”
The only reasonable vice to have with this romantic earworm is that it ends too quickly; at the snap of a finger, it’s over. But that’s why there’s a repeat button, right? With an undeniably catchy drum, bass, and synth loop, this one will have audiences bopping heads and tapping feet for days.
Adding to his 50,000+ streams across platforms, “Drive85” lands on the heels of Corbett’s previous five single releases — including his popular early-2021 dispatch, “Spring of 86.”
‘HEAL THE EARTH’ Online Concert for Earth Day Canada with Andy Kim, Glass Tiger, Gowan, Julian Taylor, Murray McLauchlan + more
Entertainment Music Group (EMG) has gathered legendary artists and young independent artists from around the world to create a virtual music-doc to be pre-produced and released on April 22, 2021 in honour of Earth Day. The project is headed up by Executive Producer Sandy Graham, a music industry veteran and owner of the legendary Cashbox Magazine Canada, in conjunction with celebrity icon, Dr. Tom Jackson, C.C., LL.D, who will act as the host for this music initiative.
“When we sent out the call to action tour global music world contacts to help us celebrate Earth Day from the global the resounding feedback was overwhelming and positive,” says Sandy Graham. “So much so we were humbled by the legendary artists who want to help get the word out for the mission of Earth Day and beyond. Although our home base of production is in Canada, we have artists from Canada, the USA and Europe who have all submitted relative videos.” and will be reaching out to our global network to make this a success for a much needed initiative about not just funds but awareness of the work that Earth Day is doing on a daily basis.”
“Heal the Earth is here to lift conscience, mind and spirit to a higher ground,” says Tom Jackson, producer and host of Heal the Earth. “This is a moral and musical compass designed to guide you on a road paved with caring and compassion. There is hope in our future if we use our voices to take action against the sounds of silence. These are songs to be sung and celebrated so our children can bear witness to the enduring strength that is the love and beauty of Mother Earth.”
“Earth Day is global and to participate from Europe is wonderful. Right now, all our focus must be pointed to improve the environment for the entire world. This is a task that can only be done by working together to build a better future, says Peter Astedt, European Consultant for EMG. Heal The Earth is one of the voices that is needed to bring people closer to a better world. It’s great to be involved in a project that is so important and can make the world a better place.
Featuring Video Performances by:
Andy Kim – Who Has the Answers (Canada/USA)
Barry Stagg – Shine a Little Light (Canada/USA)
David Pomeranz – It’s in Every One of Us (USA)
Don Graham – You Can Count on Me (Canada)
Glass Tiger – Diamond Sun (Canada/Scotland)
Gowan – Dancing On My Ground (Canada)
Julian Taylor Band – Just a Little Bit (Canada)
Kingstown Experiment – Letter to Mother (Canada)
Marshall Potts – That’s How It Starts (Canada)
Murray McLauchlan – The Farmer’s Song (Canada)
Spoons – New Day New World (Canada)
The Magnettes – Indifferent (Sweden)
Tom Jackson – Blue Water (Canada)
Tommy James – Crystal Blue Persuasion (USA)
“Earth Day Canada” is excited and grateful to be the recipients of the funds raised through this event and would like to thank Entertainment Music Group and all of the performers involved in the Heal the Earth event for their generosity,” says Earth Day Canada. “Your contribution will support our mission of helping people and organizations to reduce their environmental impact.”
The one hour docu-music special will be available on a live stream at 7-8 pm EST – April 22, 2021 and available on social media and web platforms around the globe as legendary musical offering to celebrate this day while raising awareness about the needs of our planet regarding waste management and re-aligning ourselves to sustain a healthy planet. Entertainment Music Group has secured the services of an online streaming company who will make the docu-music special available with a link that will be available in advance to secure a viewing ticket. Donations are accepted with all proceeds being given to Earth Day Canada.
“The legendary artists are all committed to the same mission and are excited to be part of what could grow into an annual event for Earth Day Canada. As this will be available on a global social media network, our hope is to get thousands of people to raise awareness to the effects of climate change and what we can do to reset this beautiful world back to factory settings through change, awareness and positive action – our future depends on it.”
100% of all proceeds raised are donated directly to EARTH DAY CANADA.
California Singer/Songwriter BOBBO BYRNES Pays Tribute To Canada with New Song “Chasing Rock and Roll”
It’s ‘the thrill of the chase’ in this cut from California songwriter Bobbo Byrnes as he weaves yarn on the tale of a van of young American dudes ready to tear up the stage, night after night, in Canada.
Byrnes quickly sets the scene from the first sentence: crossing the border, passing by Niagara, and heading to Toronto to play a host of sets at some of the nation’s finest clubs along the troubadour passageway.
Byrnes chants, “chasing rock and roll for the rest of our lives.”
And aren’t we all.
In his signature melodic fashion, Byrnes observes the nightly pastime of many-a-rocker: winning over patrons and audiences alike, finding inspiration at the sound of a Blue Rodeo album, seeking refuge on the floor of hotel rooms for a few moments of rest, and doing it all again the following night.
What “Chasing Rock and Roll” provides the listener with is an insight audiences rarely get to see; the song delivers the inside track on the path to stardom for a band that kicks it nightly on the stage. Suddenly privy to the goings-on behind the curtain instead of dancing in front of it, Byrnes offers audiences a lyrical “backstage pass.”
“Chasing Rock and Roll” is in good company on Byrnes’ most recent record, SeaGreenNumber5 — and one he attributes to having an unabashed “house party” vibe.
Wanting to encapsulate a living room concert — an intimate portrait, sans amplifiers or gimmicks — SeaGreenNumber5 is Byrnes stripped down to his core, providing the listener with a host of songs that will make you feel like the only person in the room.
“In the past few years I’ve done a lot of house concerts,” Byrnes reveals. “There’s something special about performing in a small room with a handful of people connecting that really is a different experience. It’s exactly what I was going for.”
When it came to penning “Chasing Rock and Roll,” Byrnes says the details are true — right down to being gifted that Blue Rodeo album referenced in the lyrics. A bonafide love song to the Canadian musical landscape, “Chasing Rock and Roll” becomes an antidote of sorts for live music fans missing out on concerts during pandemic restrictions. A playback on the song transports audiences to the clubs, the concert halls, and the bars and places once called “home.”
“The El Mocambo and Hotel Brunswick were two places I remembered playing,” he recalls. “I remember wandering into Don Cherry’s Sports Grill and watching a hockey game instead of going to soundcheck. I remember hanging with band members from ’63 Monroe, Landslide and Osterberg, and staying at one of their houses where the only food in the fridge was Labatt’s 50s and a couple of ketchup packets.
“I remember cutting my arm open on my guitar strings, and finishing the set with someone else’s guitar and bleeding all over it.
“I remember it being one of my favorite places to tour,” he adds. “I remember falling in love with Canada, and not wanting the tour to end.”
New Jersey-Based Pop Artist ALEX SU Showcases the Rise & Fall of Love in New Single, “Jenga”
Pop artist Alex Su stacks the building blocks of love with this, his new single “Jenga” — available now.
Drawing some 2012 The Weeknd vibes, the New Jersey-based Su takes audiences on a honeyed journey through the shaky ups and downs of a scenario many have been through: Deep in love, lacking control, carefully investing and building in a relationship… All just to see our efforts, heart, and ego tumble to the ground.
Love can be a playful yet dangerous game and, as the title provides in a clear, almost rough-hewn metaphor, Jenga (the game) is an obsessive and artful combination in concentration, soft movement, careful motions, and general unease. Not to mention, it often ends in a shocking, free-fall of disappointment.
“I love the game of Jenga and, one night, I found similarities between the game and toxic relationships,” he shares. “You keep pulling and hurting each other until the whole thing crumbles down.”
At three-minutes-fifteen-seconds in length, this achy single reminds listeners that love, too, can be an unpleasant yet invigorating game of building and breaking, all its own. On “Jenga” (the song), Alex Su provides an aesthetic that, over the course of the perfectly planned pop tune, makes the listener feel the bobbing, up and down sensation we sometimes find in many early relationships.
“Stop the rollercoaster escalator, I’m too scared of riding off into a life without you,” Su groans, before ‘So the Jenga pieces fall’ in full audio as Su infused a subtle, yet dreamy reversed sound of an actual Jenga tower falling into the song’s intro.
Su, whose “Jenga” lyrical video showcases both stacked and individual wooden Jenga blocks engulfed in flames, ultimately finds himself admitting that “nobody really wins.”
Dali Van Gogh Face Their “Past Crimes” in the Lore of Love with New Single and Video
Well, with the annual day of ‘unbridled love’ long out of the way, Canadian rockers Dali Van Gogh are soldiering on with a brand new video and release for their favourite “anti-love song”; “Past Crimes” is available now.
The freshly pressed video depicts two lovers at the onset of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic; it serves as an allusion to the stress and turmoil of the last year, and the toll it’s taken on even the closest relationships. It was originally envisioned as a live action story but, after numerous delays due to related restrictions, the band converted the concept into an animated lyric video.
Highlighted with a Tchaikovsky-inspired keyboard line, the song churns through a near-despondent ‘lost love’ narrative and the haunting consequences of old mistakes. The groove-centric duet features bandmates John Scotto and Rachelle Moreau trading lead vox as they’re supported by the rest of the Halifax-based five-piece: drummer Johnny Moore, bassist Lance Hicks, and guitarist Isaac Kent.
Inspired by real-life experiences, it was Kent who first tabled the song’s concept. “Without getting into too much detail, the first draft of the song was written about the breakdown of a close relationship in my personal life,” he shares. “It wasn’t originally going to be a duet but, once it clicked to me that this could be taken as a love story of sorts, the lyrics came together.”
With a sound best described as “infectious, gritty, and surprising” by Recording Artists Guild founder Byron Booker, Dali Van Gogh have received international radio play and charting status, over half a million streams across their various platforms, were named semi-finalists in the SOCAN Canadian Songwriting Competition, and have released five records — Verbal Warning (2010), Mask Identity (2012), Wild Blue City (2012), From Ashes (2017), and Under Her Spell (2019) — the latter two of which were recorded at Kent’s newly minted HouseFire Studio One after the fire.
Produced by JUNO-nominated songwriter Rob Laidlaw (Platinum Blonde, Honeymoon Suite), “Past Crimes” is Dali Van Gogh’s second 2021 offering, and the fourth tying into the band’s ongoing concept release; The Testimony. The song follows last year’s singles: “Heavy Living” and “Boneyard” — the latter also produced by Laidlaw — and this year’s “Stand Up, Wake Up,” a re-imagining of a track off of 2017’s “From Ashes”.
First formed in 2008, Dali Van Gogh returned to the stage in 2015 following a fire that destroyed Kent’s home and recording studio: every instrument, computer, and master disk, not to mention countless mementos from his personal life, were lost. “Almost nothing was recovered,” he recalls. “Needless to say, it was a major roadblock, but also the driving force behind everything I’ve done, everything I’ve fought for since.
“That includes Dali Van Gogh.
“It’s been quite a journey getting this far”, Kent continues, expanding on putting material together for the release. “The pandemic has wreaked havoc every step of the way, not the least of which on the music video, which we had to change dramatically last minute.
“On the bright side, animation allows us to tell any story we want, and in some ways made it much easier to tie the concept into The Testimony,” Kent — who created the animation himself — adds.
The Testimony, a story the band has been delivering through both music and a digitally-issued tie-in novel, is a high-concept journal of sorts, that takes place in the near future. With multiple viewpoint characters, and conflicting accounts, Dali Van Gogh have used The Testimony to tell the story of those who have come into contact with its main character, ‘The Preacher’ — an enigmatic figure whose very presence alters the world around him.
By using an animated video, “we can keep things more mysterious with our ‘Preacher’ character,” Kent adds. “When we show less of him, it lets the audience make up their own minds on what he’s doing, and what his goals are.”
1-minute tip for social media post ideas: Creative blocks.
It’s not so much the inspiration of your art, but how you got over the hill when you’re stuck creatively that connects with your audience.