The highest vocal note by a male is E in the 8th octave – that’s 8, 5243 Hz – and was achieved by Wang Xiaolong on the set of Happy Camp of Hunan TV Station in Changsha, Hunan, China, on December 27, 2017.
Legendary music producer Bob Ezrin joins Canadian Journalism Foundation Board
The Canadian Journalism Foundation (CJF) is pleased to announce the appointment of Bob Ezrin, the legendary music and entertainment producer and entrepreneur, to its Board of Directors.
“Bob Ezrin cares deeply about the state of our national conversation,” says David Walmsley, CJF chair and editor-in-chief of The Globe and Mail. “His accomplishments across the cultural scene speak for themselves, and we are proud to have attracted someone as passionate, talented and determined as Bob to our Board to ensure journalism flourishes in this country.”
For his part, Ezrin says: “Our fate as a civilization depends more now on a free and principled press than on any other institution. With so much being done in both the foreground and the background by governments, multinational corporations and powerful entities and individuals that can impact the entire world, we absolutely require the watchful eye of an unfettered press to help to keep them all honest, and when necessary to expose any improprieties.”
In a career spanning nearly 50 years, Toronto-born Ezrin has worked around the world on recordings, TV, film and live events with artists including Pink Floyd, Alice Cooper, U2, Taylor Swift, Kiss, Lou Reed, Andrea Bocelli, Kristin Chenoweth, Aerosmith, Jay-Z, Peter Gabriel, Rod Stewart, Lang Lang, Nine Inch Nails and Pete Seeger, among many others.
He is a co-founder of The Nimbus School of Media Arts and Wow Unlimited Media Inc, both in Vancouver.
For his contributions, Ezrin is an inductee into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame and Canada’s Walk of Fame. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.
Says Ezrin: “I worry now that, with all the unverified and sometimes completely fabricated information being disseminated via both new and old media, the truth is harder for the general public to recognize. And that is why it is more important than ever to promote and celebrate true journalism and to rebuild the trust that has been eroded in the misinformation age.”
Founded in 1990, The Canadian Journalism Foundation promotes, celebrates and facilitates excellence in journalism. The foundation runs a prestigious awards and fellowships program featuring an industry gala where news leaders, journalists and corporate Canada gather to celebrate outstanding journalistic achievement and the value of professional journalism. Through monthly J-Talks, a public speakers’ series, the CJF facilitates dialogue among journalists, business people, academics and students about the role of the media in Canadian society and the ongoing challenges for media in the digital era. The foundation also fosters opportunities for journalism education, training and research.
Mumford and Sons playing “The Cave”, before they were famous, outside a Pizzeria
The first video recording released on The Cave from SXSW. Later re-recorded and released as third single from Sigh No More from 2009, which went on to win Album of the Year win at the Brit Awards later that year.
Photo Gallery: Gordon Lightfoot at St. Catharines’ FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre
All photos by Mini’s Memories. You can contact her at minismemories@hotmail.com
Calling All Musicians! The #GONZERVATORY2019 Is Open For Applications
In 2018, Grammy Award-winning composer and entertainer Chilly Gonzales called all performing musicians to join him in a journey into the unknown: The Gonzervatory, a music school where freedom and fun coexist with discipline and reverence. The selected students were musicians from all over the world. They were trained, they were self-taught. They were acoustic, electronic. They were singers and rappers and instrumentalists.
This year, Chilly Gonzales is proud to present the second Gonzervatory, an all-expenses-paid 10-day music performance workshop taking place in his hometown of Cologne, Germany this Fall. Five selected students will win a trip to hone their musical skills in preparation for a final concert led by Chilly Gonzales himself.
The Gonzervatory is open to every musician 18 or older, from all parts of the globe, who write and perform their own material: composing instrumentalists, singer-songwriters, rappers, producers. Together with their professors, students will explore Musical Humanism, audience psychology and what it means to be a performing musician in 2019.
At the Gonzervatory, students arrive to a Convocation Concert on Monday, October 28, 2019. Their first meeting with Chilly Gonzales will be… on stage!
During the workshop, students will live and work together in a musical home created at Cologne’s own 25hours Hotel, The Circle. Each day starts with one-on-one coaching sessions with Gonzo, followed by afternoon masterclasses from special guests selected from his friends and collaborators. Each evening the students rehearse together, learning and practicing each other’s songs for the Graduation Concert on Friday 8 November 2019.
The experience, with all its inevitable struggles and triumphs, will be documented and shared with viewers all over the world. Livestreams and daily video debriefs will allow audiences to witness personal exchanges in real time and develop an emotional investment in the participants’ musical progress.
You can apply here, but hurry, it closes May 1, 2019..
Kelly Clarkson, Lauren Daigle, Khalid, Panic! at the Disco and Sam Smith & Normani Announced As First Performers for 2019 Billboard Music Awards
dick clark productions and NBC announced today the first round of performers for the 2019 Billboard Music Awards, which include top artists Kelly Clarkson, Lauren Daigle, Khalid, Panic! At The Disco and Sam Smith & Normani. The three-hour telecast will air live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Wednesday, May 1 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC and will feature this year’s hottest musical acts, unexpected collaborations and buzzworthy moments.
Five-time BBMA nominee Clarkson, who performed her sultry song “Whole Lotta Woman” in 2018, will pull double duty this year by performing her new single and hosting the awards show for the second time. Four-time 2019 BBMA nominee Panic! At The Disco will grace the Billboard stage for the very first time as will Daigle, a two-time BBMA winner and three-time 2019 nominee. Following last year’s show stopping performance of their smash hit “Love Lies,” BBMA winner and six-time 2019 nominee Khalid, as well as Normani a two-time 2019 nominee, will return for separate performances. Normani will join Smith, a three-time BBMA winner and first-time BBMA performer this year.
Since making a splash on Billboard’s charts back in 2002, after being crowned the first winner of “American Idol,” Kelly Clarkson has notched three No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 chart and claimed more than 20 top 40-charting singles on the Billboard Hot 100 (including three No. 1s). Her most recent album, Meaning Of Life, marked the singer-songwriter’s eighth top 10 album on the Billboard 200 chart, and spun off three top 20-charting hits on the Adult Pop Songs airplay chart. In total, Clarkson has sold over 50 million albums and digital tracks in the U.S., according to Nielsen Music.
Lauren Daigle has notched three No. 1s on Billboard’s Top Christian Albums chart, all since 2015’s How Can It Be, Behold: A Christmas Collection and Look Up Child. The Louisiana native has earned four No. 1s on Hot Christian Songs, including “You Say,” which crossed over to the Billboard Hot 100’s top 40 and the top 10 of the Adult Pop Songs and Adult Contemporary airplay charts.
It’s been only three years since Khalid made his Billboard chart debut, but he’s quickly established himself as a chart force and streaming juggernaut. His catalog of songs have earned more than 4.7 billion on-demand streams in the U.S., according to Nielsen Music, while his albums have tallied over 3 million equivalent album units. His album, American Teen and EP SunCity, both hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Top R&B Albums chart, while he’s also claimed a pair of No. 1s on the Hot R&B Songs chart: “Young Dumb & Broke” and “Better.” His success isn’t restricted to the R&B charts, as he’s also notched two No. 1s on the Pop Songs chart, with “Love Lies,” with Normani, and “Eastside,” with Benny Blanco and Halsey. Most recently, Khalid released his highly anticipated sophomore album Free Spirit.
Over a dozen years into its career, Brendon Urie-fronted Panic! At The Disco is hitting new heights on Billboard’s charts. The act scored its first No. 1 Billboard 200 album, Death of a Bachelor, in 2016 and followed with its second, Pray for the Wicked, in 2018. The latter LP also generated Panic’s single “High Hopes,” which became the act’s second Hot 100 top 10, and first since 2006. “High Hopes” also hit #1 simultaneously across three Billboard radio airplay charts (Pop Songs, Alternative, and Adult Pop) while also holding the longest #1 position this decade on the Adult Pop Songs chart. 2018 also brought the act’s first two No. 1 hits on the Alternative Songs chart.
Just six years after Sam Smith made his Billboard chart debut, the singer-songwriter has racked up a string of hit albums and singles on the charts. His debut full-length studio album In the Lonely Hour reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart in 2014, and launched the No. 1 Pop Songs airplay chart hit “Stay With Me,” which also reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. Lonely went on to earn over 5 million equivalent album units in the U.S., according to Nielsen, while its songs generated 2 billion on-demand audio streams. Smith’s second studio release, The Thrill Of It All, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and was led by the top 5 Billboard Hot 100 hit song “Too Good at Goodbyes.” Most recently, Smith’s duet with Normani, “Dancing With a Stranger,” reached the top 10 on the Adult Pop Songs airplay chart and the top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Normani took the charts by storm in 2018 with her hit single “Love Lies” with Khalid. The track spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Pop Songs airplay chart, tied the record for the longest-run ever on the Pop Songs chart, hit No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100, and collected more than a half-billion on-demand streams in the U.S., according to Nielsen Music. She followed “Love Lies” up with another smash duet, “Dancing With a Stranger,” with Sam Smith. The track hit the top 10 on both Pop Songs and Adult Pop Songs airplay charts, and became her second top 20-charting hit on the Hot 100. Before Normani notched hits with “Love Lies” and “Dancing with a Stranger,” she earned chart success as a member of the pop vocal group Fifth Harmony, which notched four top 10-charting albums on the Billboard 200, and four top 40 hits on the Hot 100 between 2013 and 2017.
Billboard Music Awards nominees and winners are based on key fan interactions with music, including album and digital song sales, streaming, radio airplay, touring and social engagement, tracked by Billboard and its data partners, including Nielsen Music and Next Big Sound. The awards are based on the chart period of March 23, 2018 through March 7, 2019. Since 1940, the Billboard charts have been the go-to guide for ranking the popularity of artists, songs and albums, and are the ultimate measure of success in music.
THE CULT to Perform Select Dates in North America and the UK On ‘A Sonic Temple’ Tour
In recognition of the forthcoming re-issue of THE CULT’s multi-platinum-selling Sonic Temple album on Beggars Banquet Records, the British group that’s led by Ian Astbury and guitarist Billy Duffy will embark on select dates in North America and the UK starting May 2 in Houston, TX (itinerary below). Tickets are on sale now for the “A Sonic Temple” tour and available here. Meanwhile, the band expects to announce another block of dates very soon for 2019/2020.
The set list will draw from THE CULT’s 10 studio albums with the centerpiece being a super set that’s focused on the core songs from Sonic Temple; some of these songs have not been performed since the album (their fourth) was originally released in 1989. Sonic Temple–a pivotal, game-changing album that brought together the alternative and hard rock audiences–will be reissued in a 30th anniversary edition by Beggars Banquet Records (exact release date TBA). Sonic Temple features the singles “Fire Woman,” “Edie (Ciao Baby),” “Sweet Soul Sister” and “Sun King.” Read a new Q&A with Astbury and Duffy below.
Each show will be a gathering and celebration for Cult fans–an opportunity to come together for one night–an event that will be memorable for all who attend. In Los Angeles only, where Astbury and Duffy live, the band has created something extra special. The Greek Theatre will become “A Sonic Temple” on June 15 with a diverse multi-act bill that has roots in THE CULT lead singer Ian Astbury’s pioneering pre-Lollapalooza festival “A Gathering of the Tribes” (1990). Prayers, Zola Jesus and Vowws will join headliners THE CULT. Read the press release here.
THE CULT 2019 Initial Tour Dates
DATE LOCATION VENUE
THU 5/2 Houston, TX House of Blues
FRI 5/3 New Orleans, LA The Fillmore
SAT 5/4 Jacksonville, FL Welcome To Rockville Festival
THU 5/9 Dallas, TX House of Blues
FRI 5/10 Atlanta, GA Tabernacle
SAT 5/11 Marston, NC (Charlotte) Epicenter Festival
SUN 5/17 Grand Rapids, MI 20 Monroe Live
MON 5/18 Columbus, OH Sonic Temple Festival
TUE 5/19 Chicago, IL Chicago Open Air Festival
WED 5/25 Catton, United Kingdom Bearded Theory Festival
THU 5/26 Gateshead, United Kingdom The Sage
FRI 5/28 St. John’s, NL Canada Mile One Center
SAT 5/30 Moncton, NB Canada Casino New Brunswick
SUN 6/1 Montreal, QC Canada MTELUS
MON 6/2 Rama, ON Canada Casino Rama
TUE 6/5 Winnipeg, MB Canada Club Regent Casino – Event Centre
WED 6/7 Enoch, AB Canada River Cree Resort & Casino
THU 6/9 Vancouver, BC Canada Vogue Theatre
FRI 6/10 Seattle, WA Moore Theatre
SAT 6/12 San Francisco, CA The Regency Ballroom
SUN 6/14 Reno, NV Grand Sierra Resort Casino – Grand Theatre
MON 6/15 Los Angeles, CA Greek Theatre
SAT 6/22 Vitoria, Spain Azkena Rock Festival
FRI 9/13 San Diego, CA Kaaboo Festival
Montreal’s My Father’s Son Gets Worthy “The Greatest Thaw” Ready For Alt-Country Folk Fans
Indie folk / alt. Country outfit My Father’s Son’s new single “Ribbon in the Wind” floats outward — complete with an exclusive video shot among church arches via Southern Souls.
Helmed by Montreal-based singer/songwriter Mark Kulmala, the song and forthcoming full-length release was recorded with Paul Pfisterer (The Beauties, Laser, RHYE) at Freckle’s Farm in Chatsworth, Ontario, mixed by Dean Nelson (The Rolling Stones, Beck), and mastered by Martin Davis Kinack (Broken Social Scene, Stars).
The track’s layered lyrics and embracing sound land like the comfort food of music and coziness of a patchwork quilt, and have received early support from CILU, Bandrec, Two Story Melody, Stopify, and more.
“It’s a very personal song I wrote just after turning 30,” Kulmala shares. “The further I get away from childhood, the more I find myself looking back on it. It’s about how time ahead is seemingly infinite, and the time behind was only a moment.
“The second verse is about a recurring dream I had anytime I was sick while I was growing up,” he confides. “In the dream, I found myself in a desert and there were scattered stones and boulders all around me. Although I never knew why, the objective was clear: I had to build fortification.
“The biggest boulders could be moved with ease, but the smallest pebbles wouldn’t budge. I always joke about how big a revelation that is for a fevered child to have and, as a minimalist, it seems quite fitting.”
Having played in varying bands in a variety of genres over the years, his new iteration in My Father’s Son is a pared-away embodiment of lived experiences — both musical and personal. “Ribbon In The Wind” and the forthcoming album at large poetically create an emotionally complex set of subdued, reflective songs.
My Father’s Son’s debut album, 2016’s Heart of Wood, explored thematic notions of fleeting innocence, love’s lost and found, determination, and the simple beauty of the landscape.
For this, his sophomore release — and with tracks recorded, and ‘set on ice’ over a two year period until they were ready — an April debut of the first single off The Greatest Thaw is a nod to the album at large. “The title track from the album was written on a bench, beneath a towering willow tree in the Montreal’s Botanical Gardens in April 2017,” Kulmala recalls. “I wanted to capture the feeling of rebirth, the payout for persevering through another harsh Canadian winter.
“I am always filled with excitement and hope while winter shifts to spring,” he continues. “Paul Meadow’s string arrangement captures this feeling, much like the strings in Vivaldi’s “Spring” in his masterpiece, The Four Seasons. The Greatest Thaw speaks to struggles in everyday life: the simple joys of childhood, heartbreak, depression, coming of age, perseverance, and love.”
From festivals to living rooms, and everything in between, My Father’s Son has shared the stage with the likes of Ben Caplan and the Casual Smokers, Dylan Menzie, Joey Landreth, Craig Cardiff, NQ Arbuckle, Zachary Lucky, Rachel Beck, Belle Star, SloCan Ramblers, Carl Dixon (April Wine, The Guess Who), Damhnait Doyle, Skydiggers, and more.
Featured on The Greatest Thaw are Mark Kulmala on vocals and acoustic guitar with Paul Meadows (violin, string arrangements), Jack Meadows (piano, drums), Lauren Campbell (vocals), Lisa Lobsinger (vocals), Felix Deak (cello), Julia Wedman (violin), Brian MacMillan (mandolin), and Michael White (trumpet). Paul Pfisterer also features on bass.
“Ribbon in the Wind” is available now. The Greatest Thaw is set for release June 2019.
Morrissey and Interpol are teaming up for 14 coast-to-coast U.S. tour
Morrissey and Interpol are teaming up for a U.S. tour with 14 dates this fall in support of their upcoming new albums – Moz with his covers album California Son out May 24, and Interpol with their new EP A Fine Mess out May 17.
Morrissey and Interpol Tour Dates:
September
05 – Washington, D.C. @ Merriweather Post Pavilion
07 – New York, N.Y. @ Forest Hills Stadium
09 – Philadelphia, Pa. @ BB&T Pavilion
11 – Kettering, Ohio @ Fraze Pavilion
13 – Detroit, Mich. @ Meadow Brook Amphitheatre
14 – Chicago, Ill. @ Ravinia Amphitheater
18 – Dallas, Texas @ Verizon Theatre
20 – Austin, Texas @ Frank Erwin Center
21 – Houston, Texas @ White Oak Outdoor Lawn
28 – Salt Lake City, Utah @ SaltAir
30 – Portland, Ore. @ Theatre of the Clouds
October
03 – San Francisco, Calif. @ Bill Graham Auditorium
05 – Irvine, Calif. @ Five Point Amphitheatre
06 – San Diego, Calif. @ Pechanga Arena
The Legendary Downchild Blues Band Announce 50th Anniversary Tour
DOWNCHILD are celebrating 50 years of the blues – and taking the party across North America.
Hot on the heels of their JUNO-nominated 2017 album Something I’ve Done, THE LEGENDARY DOWNCHILD BLUES BAND have announced their 50th Anniversary Tour, bringing their iconic sound and timeless hits to theatres and festivals in Canada and the U.S.
Kicking off at Grossman’s Tavern in Toronto, the place where it all began, the year-long tour takes the Canadian blues icons from B.C. to the Maritimes, and features a special appearance by Blues Brother Dan Aykroyd for a main stage, headline performance at the Rochester International Jazz Festival in June. Tickets for most shows go ON SALE Friday, April 12, 2019 at 10:00 AM in most markets here.
It’s hard to believe it’s been half a century since, bandleader, songwriter, guitarist and harmonica player Donnie “Mr. Downchild” Walsh and his brother, the late Richard “Hock” Walsh, formed The Legendary DOWNCHILD Blues Band in Toronto in June 1969.
From humble beginnings, DOWNCHILD performed their first gig at Grossman’s Tavern in Toronto. Fittingly, the band will return to the infamous juke joint for a rare, intimate club performance, to kick off their year-long 50th Anniversary Tour, with a SOLD-OUT show on June 19, 2019, that will no doubt go down in history.
Named after a Sonny Boy Williamson II song, DOWNCHILD’s story begins when Donnie “Mr. Downchild” Walsh was a mere teenager and got his first taste of Blues at a sweet 16 birthday party for his girlfriend. “I was absolutely amazed by the music and, like most people who heard blues, started looking for more,” says Donnie, who soon discovered artists like Muddy Waters, Jimmy Read, John Lee Hooker and B.B. King.
Inspired by those classic sounds, DOWNCHILD launched an unstoppable career that has included 18 albums, countless awards and sold-out shows around the globe. The band’s 1971 debut Bootleg, one of the first independent albums in Canada, was recorded in a makeshift studio in parking garage at Rochdale College. Soon after, they scored their first smash hit with a jumping version of Big Joe Turner’s classic “Flip Flop & Fly.”
“I was pretty lucky to get a hit record just a few years after starting the band. As I like to say, if you have a hit record, the rest is geography. You just get in the van and go, and that’s what we did. For the longest time, we played 250 to 300 dates a year,” says Donnie.
DOWNCHILD came to international prominence as the inspiration for Hollywood stars Dan Aykroyd and the late John Belushi’s hit film The Blues Brothers. In fact, two Downchild songs, “Shotgun Blues” and “(I Got Everything I Need) Almost” were even covered on The Blues Brothers’ 1978 multi-platinum album Briefcase Full of Blues.
The current lineup of DOWNCHILD features some of the most well-respected musicians in the country, who have performed together for over 25 years: Lead singer and harmonica player CHUCK JACKSON, PAT CAREY on tenor sax, MIKE FITZPATRICK on drums, GARY KENDALL on bass, and former American super-group rocker MICHAEL FONFARA (of Rhinoceros/Lou Reed fame) on keyboards.
DOWNCHILD 50TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR DATES
19/06/19 Grossman’s Tavern (SOLD OUT) Toronto, ON
21/06/19 Rochester International Jazz Festival Rochester, NY*
20/07/19 Porquis Rock N Blues Festival Porquis Junction, ON
17/08/19 Chenango Blues Festival Norwich, NY
29/08/19 Charles W. Stockey Centre Parry Sound, ON
28/09/19 Regent Theatre Oshawa, ON
18/10/19 McPherson Playhouse Victoria, BC
19/10/19 Sid Williams Theatre Courtenay, BC
20/10/19 The Port Theatre Nanaimo, BC
22/10/19 Tidemark Theatre Campbell River, BC
24/10/19 Kelowna Community Theatre Kelowna, BC
25/10/19 Charles Bailey Theatre Trail, BC
26/10/19 Key City Theatre Cranbrook, BC
30/10/19 Memorial Centre Theatre Red Deer, AB
01/11/19 Festival Place Sherwood Park, AB
05/11/19 Vic Juba Theatre Lloydminster, AB
08/11/19 Bella Concert Hall Calgary, AB
09/11/19 Esplanade Theatre Medicine Hat, AB**
12/11/19 Lyric Theatre Swift Current, SK
16/11/19 E.A. Rawlinson Centre Prince Albert, SK
21/11/19 FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre St. Catharines, ON
22/11/19 Showplace Performance Centre Peterborough, ON
23/11/19 Orillia Opera House Orillia, ON
27/03/20 River Run Centre Guelph, ON
23/04/20 Capitol Theatre Moncton, NB
07/05/20 Richmond Hill Performing Arts Centre Richmond Hill, ON
*Featuring Dan Aykroyd
** Featuring Colin James