A unique rendition of ‘Old Apartment’ performed by Barenaked Ladies and a capella group The Persuasions. The full set of performances from this once in a lifetime collaboration will be available March 22nd on http://sessionsx.com/.
https://youtu.be/HIJ_t7FMiR0
As the Harlem Globetrotters make their way north for their Canadian tour starting in April, the viral video of the week comes out of Charlotte, NC. Star player Zeus McClurkin surprised the world famous “handshake students” in their recognizable hallway of Ashley Park PreK-8. Zeus studied and learned the personalized handshake ritual that made fifth grade teacher Barry White, Jr. and his students worldwide internet sensations. Zeus also joined the kids in the classroom to inspire them to believe in their dreams.
Stuck in a traffic jam? Hum Rider is here to help. With the push of a button, Hum Rider widens and elevates and lets you drive over cars in front of you. Problem solved. “Hum” is a device by Verizon Telematics that makes your car smarter and more connected with features like a mechanics hotline, maintenance reminders and boundary and speed alerts. And, starting today, a wifi hotspot in the car with HumX.
54•40 will be inducted into the Hall of Fames at both The 17th Annual Independent Music Awards (The INDIES) and the Canadian Music and Broadcast Industry Awards. 54•40 will also perform at The INDIES at the Phoenix Concert Centre on Wednesday, April 19, and at the Canadian Music and Broadcast Industry Awards on Thursday, April 20 at the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel.
With more than three decades of performing and recording behind them, 5440 has an unbelievable catalogue of hit songs. Lead by chief songwriter Neil Osborne, 54•40 have carved out a legacy of gold and platinum albums and an outstanding reputation for their live performances that carries through to this day. Over 35 years, 2500 performances, and 17 album releases the secret to 54•40’s longevity is their ability to redefine and reinvent themselves.
54•40’s latest 2016 release La Difference: A History Unplugged, produced by Dave ‘Rave’ Ogilvie, is an intimate and unplugged reimagining of their greatest hits. 54•40 is currently preparing for their 2017 release entitled Keep On Walking.
The Canadian Music and Broadcast Industry Awards, hosted by Jessi Cruickshank on Thursday, April 20, 2017, will celebrate the best and brightest in all fields of the Canadian music and broadcast industries. Previously announced 2017 inductees to the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame include Jann Arden, Marilyn Dennis, RUSH and Arthur Fogel.
The Jim Beam INDIES with Indie88, hosted by Indie88’s Matt Hart and Josie Dye, celebrates the best of independent music – both Canadian and international. In addition to a special performance by 5440, Hollerado, The Wooden Sky, Repartee (nominated for Pop Artist/Group Of The Year), The Nursery (winners of the Jim Beam Make History Talent Search), and Dan Mangan (recipient of the Make History Award) will also perform.
The enigmatic electronic music duo Daft Punk has released a really interesting compilation of the songs they’ve sampled, naming both artist and title, alongside an example of how they incorporated that sample in their own music. Watch how songs from Sister Sledge, George Duke, Tavares, Little Anthony and the Imperials, ELO and Barry Manilow tranform themselves into different segments of songs.
https://youtu.be/dgKCrbwGKpA
The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) today announced the host and performers for the 2017 JUNO Gala Dinner & Awards presented by SOCAN, on Saturday, April 1 at the Shaw Centre in Ottawa.
Hosted by Tom Power, host of cbc radio one q, the private industry ceremony will see 34 JUNO Awards given out and, the 2017 Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award (Randy Lennox) and the Allan Waters Humanitarian Award (Buffy Sainte-Marie) will be presented to trailblazers in Canadian music.
The 46th annual JUNO Gala Dinner & Awards will also feature live performances by 2017 JUNO Award-nominees Daniel Caesar(R&B/Soul Recording of the Year), Jess Moskaluke (Country Album of the Year), Koriass (Francophone Album of the Year), and William Prince (Contemporary Roots Album of the Year sponsored by National Arts Centre and Indigenous Music Album of the Year sponsored by Aboriginal Peoples Television Network). The event will also feature a special performance by one of the three 2017 Allan Slaight JUNO Master Class winners, Neon Dreams.
Music fans across the country will also get an all access pass to the exclusive event with the JUNO TV live-stream, starting at 6 p.m. ET, at www.junotv.ca.
Whether it’s acting, singing, or appearing on the cover of Vogue, Selena Gomez is doing it all. Instagram’s biggest star invites Vogue in and takes a shot at answering 73 unexpected questions. Selena reveals the last movie that made her cry, the food she can’t live without, and her favorite jingle of all-time.
The surviving members of Queen can say they’ve been honored with their own special edition of Monopoly. Guitarist Brian May announced the upcoming tie-in, telling fans to expect a May release date and adding that they’d been “very secretly developing Queen Monopoly for over a year.” Writing that he’d had “a blast” helping put the game together, May went on to compare the process to making an album and concluded, “We hope you love it! Choose your weapons!”
Elvis Costello: I’ve seen people, quite eminent people, completely lose their mind in his company. I didn’t want to turn up and be kind of bothersome in that way. I wanted to get something good done. Something that justified the invitation.
Paul McCartney: I do get a bit of that in life generally, but I’ve adapted, I’ve developed a way of trying to put people at ease that kind of eliminates the vast majority of this syndrome. With Elvis, I didn’t need to do it. He’s sensible enough to know that. We’d sit around and talk and have a cup of tea. By the time we got down to songwriting, we knew the deal.
We just sat on these couches. Each of us got an acoustic guitar. Sat across from each other. I said to him, “The way I’m used to working with a collaborator is really, mainly with John.” And the way we used to do it is sit opposite like this. And the thing for me that was kind of nice . . . because I was left-handed and he was right-handed, as was the case with Elvis, too, it was as if I was looking in the mirror.
Costello: I was sort of a little startled when he made that reference. I think it’s more to just try to explain the immediacy of the way we worked rather than put me in the same bracket as Lennon. I don’t see myself like that. In terms of the immediacy and just the musical role. . . .
I can’t sing above him so I would naturally harmonize below. Which is often the relationship of Lennon and McCartney’s harmonization. That would draw some comparison. Hey, I sing through my nose some of the time. What can I do?
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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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