Let’s start the year off right, with a look back. In this case, Winnipeg, Manitoba, in this Manitoba Department of Industry and Commerce-produced film hosted by the late Ed McCrea, whose son found it in storage and whose grandson shared it to YouTube.
Hey Rosetta!, Jenn Grant, Fortunate Ones, and City Natives among initial performers announced for 2016 East Coast Music Awards Gala
Hey Rosetta!, Jenn Grant, Fortunate Ones, and City Natives are among the initial performers announced for the 2016 East Coast Music Awards Gala. The gala, co-hosted by Ashley MacIsaac and Heather Rankin, takes place on Thursday, April 14 at Centre 200 in Sydney, NS and will be broadcast live on Eastlink TV. The evening will also feature a special tribute to the late Ron Hynes.
On the heels of their JUNO nominated and Polaris Prize short-listed album, Seeds, Hey Rosetta! returns with Second Sight, a record that sees the orchestral driven seven-piece band from Newfoundland experimenting with their sound and expanding their sonic horizons. Blending haunting and distinctive vocals, instantly resonant choruses, and shifting musical textures, the band describes their latest effort as “warm, yet mysterious.”
A heralded singer and songwriter from Prince Edward Island, Jenn Grant has been touring steadily around the globe in support of her JUNO nominated album, Compostela. Teetering on psychedelic folk and staying true to her intricate melodic storytelling, the album is full of lush and adventurous offerings.
Newfoundland-based folk-pop duo Fortunate Ones endear audiences with wide-eyed energy, pragmatic optimism, and an earnest mission for connection. Their debut album, The Bliss, released on JUNO Award-winning songwriter Rose Cousins’ record label Old Farm Pony Records, features two songs that hit #1 on CBC Radio 2’s Top 20 and took home the 2015 Canadian Folk Music Award for Vocal Group of the Year.
With members from New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, City Natives combine their cross-provincial talents to create a sound “reminiscent of Los Angeles’ grittier hip-hop, easily mainstream and full of the ego and heavy bass lines that make great rap” (Polymic). Their album Red City earned the group the 2015 East Coast Music Award for Aboriginal Recording of the Year.
Early bird Gala tickets, early bird wristbands, and early bird festival passes are on sale until December 24 at http://ecma.com/festival/tickets. For a limited time, Gala tickets are $39.50, wristbands are $65, and festival passes are $160. VIP Passes are also on sale for $350. All prices include tax and fees.
Award nominees and initial showcasing artists will be announced on Tuesday, January 26 at 11:00am. The announcement takes place in the Membertou Trade and Convention Centre in Sydney, NS.
Canada’s first-ever Pride Month to feature expanded Toronto-wide programming
The countdown is on! With only five months until the kick-off of Pride Toronto, the city’s most vibrant and inclusive arts and cultural festival and North America’s largest Pride celebration, preparations are well underway to deliver the most dynamic, inclusive and expansive programming ever.
Canada’s first-ever Pride Month will launch on June 1, 2016, featuring extended programming and provocative events throughout the city, culminating with the 10-day Pride Toronto festival, June 24 – July 3. Pride Month will begin with its inaugural city proclamation and the raising of the Rainbow flag at Toronto City Hall, set to occur for the first-time at the beginning of June.
Pride Toronto’s major cultural partners will offer expanded installations, festivals and programs. Signature events delivered by prominent institutions like the Art Gallery of Ontario, Buddies In Bad Times Theatre, Inside Out, the Royal Ontario Museum, OCAD University, Ryerson University and the University of Toronto will spark meaningful conversations with new audiences across the city. Leading community partners include The 519 Community Centre and PFLAG Canada.
On July 3, 2016, Pride Toronto will make Canadian history with the first time a sitting Prime Minister participates in the annual Pride Parade. Come and join the leaders of the municipal, provincial and federal government who have the Parade in their calendars already — Toronto Mayor John Tory, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
On the 35th anniversary of the infamous Bathhouse Raids that incited mass protests and spurred the development of Pride in Toronto, Pride Month and the Pride Toronto festival will reflect on the community’s victories since 1981 and explore the issues that still require change, commitment and focus.
Pride Toronto is on track to make the 2016 Guinness Book of World Records and claim the title of the World’s Largest Drag Queen Stage Show from the Gay Softball World Series in Columbus, Ohio, which set the record in 2014 with 55 participants. Don’t miss DRAG ON! — the marathon extravaganza at Yonge-Dundas Square on July 2.
The final weekend of the 2016 Pride Toronto festival will vaunt exquisite beauty and art with an immersive Middle Eastern cultural performance on Pride Toronto’s stage. For the Canada Day festivities, extend a warm, patriotic welcome to newly arrived queer Syrian refugees.
Pride Toronto’s 2016 festival will run Friday, June 24 – Sunday, July 3, 2016. Pride’s 2016 festival theme, honourees, artists and additional signature events will be announced shortly.
In a year of progress and transformation with Executive Director Mathieu Chantelois, Pride Toronto released its 2016-2021 strategic plan, Beyond 20/20, and currently boasts its largest-ever Trans representation on the Board of Directors.
Download the strategic plan and annual report and learn more at www.PrideToronto.com.
Amy Schumer, Aaron Sorkin, Nick Hornby, Meg LeFauve gather for THR’s Writer Roundtable
A teacher. An executive. An actor-director. A comedian. Those are some of the professions that writers on the annual roundtable tried out (and still are doing, in some cases) on their way to becoming scribes. Put them all together, and what do you get? A panorama of modern Hollywood, with strong views on everything from death threats to sexism (“They were like, ‘How many dicks have been dangling in front of you?’ ” says Amy Schumer, 34, as THR discovered when it brought together the former teacher, Nick Hornby (Brooklyn), 58; the onetime executive, Meg LeFauve (Inside Out), who declined to reveal her age; the present-day actor-director, Tom McCarthy (Spotlight), 49; and the omnipresent comedian, Schumer (Trainwreck) — along with novelist Emma Donoghue (Room), 46, and former playwright Aaron Sorkin (Steve Jobs), 54.
WATCH: Beastie Boys’ Mike D and Ad-Rock Reflect on ‘Paul’s Boutique,’ Adam Yauch and More
In June 2014, Mike D stated that the Beastie Boys would not continue their careers as a group, as a promise to Adam “MCA” Yauch before he passed away of cancer of the parotid salivary gland. Mike and Adam Horovitz recently caught up with Zane Lowe on Beats 1 to talk about MCA’s legacy, and the classic album, Paul’s Boutique.
Infographic: Artists That Have Sold 100 Million Copies
100 million. Think about that for a moment. The artists in this infographic from Completely Ignored have sold that much around the world, according to Wikipedia. You’ll find the very best in soul, rap, country, RnB, disco and old-fashioned rock’n’roll. One band that surprised me on this list was Chicago, until I saw they are second only to The Beach Boys in Billboard singles and albums chart success among American bands. There you go!
YouTube For Business Have Two New Spokespersons: Lisa Simpson And Mr. Plow
YouTube isn’t just a place for brands with primetime budgets, it has become a powerful tool for small and medium businesses too. If it works for Homer Simpson, it can work for you. YouTube video ads help your small business succeed on the web, just like Mr. Plow.
https://youtu.be/iyi67AJhB74
The Allman Brothers’ Isolated Vocals For “Ramblin’ Man”
“Ramblin’ Man” is The Allman Brothers Band’s first and only top 10 single, peaking at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Written by guitarist Dickey Betts, the song was inspired by a 1951 song of the same name by Hank Williams. It is considerably more inspired by country music than other Allman Brothers Band compositions, which made the group reluctant to record it. Johnny Sandlin, producer of Brothers and Sisters, remarked that he thought it was “crazy” to be released as a single, because “nothing else sounds remotely similar.
https://youtu.be/HWALyVs_HbM
Stevie Ray Vaughan Makes The Smoothest Guitar Swap In History
Beautiful and affecting, the late, great Stevie Ray Vaughan and his roadie, Texas guitar whiz Rene Martinez make a dynamic duo.
Vaughan, who can be seen performing “Look at Little Sister” for an Austin City Limits special in 1989, breaks his B string just a few seconds into his guitar solo at around 22 seconds in, or at the 3:00 mark of the video. He keeps playing, motions to Martinez, who makes one of the smoothest guitar swaps on video.
Want To Have a #1 Single? Here You Go.
Strange things happen to a #1 single. Fame, fortune, and the ability to have another single released. But it’s only in hindsight that any central idea on how exactly to hit #1 is seen, but this infographic is a pretty good look at what you need, except for, you know, the words and melody and actual tune. Those you’ll have to come up on your own.
Via Ticketbis