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Jann Arden Makes Her Koerner Hall Debut at The Royal Conservatory’s Star-Studded Royal Occasion Gala

Eric Alper
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Jann Arden Makes Her Koerner Hall Debut at The Royal Conservatory’s Star-Studded Royal Occasion Gala

The Royal Conservatory of Music’s marquee annual fundraiser returns April 22 at Koerner Hall in Toronto, and this year’s Royal Occasion brings a lineup that makes the $750 ticket price feel like a bargain. Multi-platinum Canadian icon Jann Arden headlines the evening, making her Koerner Hall debut and receiving an Honorary Fellowship from the RCM in recognition of her extraordinary legacy as a songwriter, author, and performer. Eight JUNO Awards, sixteen albums, and nineteen top-ten singles speak for themselves. You can buy tickets here.

Special guests Laila Biali and Donovan Woods round out a bill that keeps the evening firmly in the hands of some of Canada’s finest. Biali, an RCM alumna and JUNO Award winner for Vocal Jazz Album of the Year, has headlined stages from Carnegie Hall to Beijing’s National Centre for the Performing Arts. Woods brings his emotionally precise folk and roots songwriting to the Koerner Hall stage, earning his own JUNO win for Contemporary Roots Album of the Year for ‘Both Ways’ in 2019, with songs recorded by artists including Tim McGraw.

The Royal Occasion has raised $3.6 million over the past decade in support of RCM education and performance programs, from the Oscar Peterson School of Music to The Glenn Gould School. Every ticket purchase directly funds the next generation of Canadian artists. The evening runs from a 6:30PM cocktail reception through an 8:00PM concert and a high-energy after party at 9:30PM.

Tickets are $750 per person and available now. VIP Lounges are sold out. A raffle package featuring six days in Vienna and Budapest is also available, with Air Canada as travel partner.

The Royal Occasion takes place April 22 at the TELUS Centre for Performing and Learning, 273 Bloor St. West, Toronto.

How to be more tech-savvy with your smartphone

Eric Alper
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By Mitch Rice

Your smartphone sits at the centre of your daily life. There are many shortcuts and features that can make everything run more smoothly that you might not have discovered yet. Whether you play arcade games online or scan tickets at the door of a gig, there are features your phone contains that enable you to be more tech-savvy.  When you understand how your phone really works, you waste less time fighting settings and gain more moments for the things you enjoy.

Optimise your device

Modern smartphones come with impressive hardware, but software habits often slow them down. Apps that refresh constantly in the background drain battery life and chip away at performance, which causes games to stutter and the camera app to take too long to open. A quick audit of background activity can free up memory and make everyday tasks feel snappier, especially on older devices. You also benefit from regular updates, as developers fix bugs and improve efficiency behind the scenes rather than adding flashy extras. You can schedule updates to install overnight so your phone stays current without interrupting your routine.

Boost your efficiency

Your phone can act as a personal assistant if you set it up to support your habits. Small tweaks to notifications and gestures save surprising amounts of time. For example, grouping alerts by app stops your screen from lighting up every few minutes, while swipe gestures let you switch tasks without hunting for buttons. Set up app-specific notifications so only important messages break your concentration.

Once you do that, you can use features like split screen to reply to a message while checking a calendar or browsing the web. These changes help you move through tasks with less friction, which means fewer mental interruptions during a busy day.

Improve your security

Your smartphone carries more personal data than your wallet ever did, from payment details to private photos. Good smartphone security means setting sensible barriers that protect you when something goes wrong. App permissions, for example, prevent unnecessary access to your location or contacts. You feel the benefit most when you lose your phone or connect to public Wi‑Fi, as strong settings limit the damage.

Enable authentication and review app permissions so each app only accesses what it needs.

Store all your documents

Paper still creeps into modern life, yet your phone can replace folders and envelopes with ease. Cloud storage keeps everything backed up. Use a scanning app and cloud storage to digitise key documents and organise them into clearly named folders.

When you need proof of purchase or a travel document, you can pull it up instantly instead of rummaging through drawers. That convenience adds up, especially when life moves quickly.

Becoming more tech-savvy with your smartphone does not require technical jargon or endless tinkering. With a few thoughtful adjustments, you turn a familiar device into a reliable tool that works the way you do.

Data and information are provided for informational purposes only, and are not intended for investment or other purposes.

The Wonder Licks Turn a Brooklyn Closet and a Broken Heart Into Sweeping New Ballad “There’s A Place I Go”

Eric Alper
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The Wonder Licks Turn a Brooklyn Closet and a Broken Heart Into Sweeping New Ballad “There’s A Place I Go”

The Wonder Licks know how to make a small space feel enormous. Their new single “There’s A Place I Go” began in a 5×5 rented room in Brooklyn that frontman Jacob Wunderlich used as a creative refuge, and it carries that intimacy into something genuinely cinematic. This is the fourth single from their upcoming album ‘Simping For Big Toilet’, and it is their most sweeping statement yet.

The song sits in the fragile space between heartbreak and acceptance, told from the perspective of the one left behind. It does not rush toward resolution. It lingers in the in-between, where memories still have weight but something that might be healing is quietly taking hold. Wunderlich’s writing here is deceptively simple, which is exactly what makes it work.

Built on a chord progression that moves from intimate verses into a soaring C-F-G chorus, the arrangement is where the song truly opens up. Pablo Leira Filgueira delivers a standout electric guitar and pedal steel performance, while lush violin arrangements, piano flourishes, and layered background vocals push the minimalist structure into full cinematic territory. Wunderlich calls it his “Purple Rain-adjacent ballad,” and that reference earns its keep.

The Wonder Licks have been building toward something with this run of singles, and “There’s A Place I Go” makes the clearest case yet for what ‘Simping For Big Toilet’ could deliver. Four singles in, the album cannot arrive soon enough.

London Singer-Songwriter Liya Shapiro Confronts the Ache of Unrequited Love on Chamber Rock Single “Another Woman”

Eric Alper
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London Singer-Songwriter Liya Shapiro Confronts the Ache of Unrequited Love on Chamber Rock Single “Another Woman”

Liya Shapiro thought she had already healed. Then she found out the person she once loved had moved on, and “Another Woman” arrived from that specific, irrational sting. The title track from her upcoming EP is out now, a chamber rock meditation on the contradiction of feeling something you know you no longer have the right to feel.

The song does not flinch from that paradox. Shapiro sings about not loving someone anymore while still feeling the hurt of watching them move on, and the honesty in that framing is what makes it land. This is not a breakup song. It is something more complicated and more human than that, a portrait of self-worth struggling against emotion that refuses to follow logic.

Sonically, “Another Woman” is built to carry that weight. Soft, melancholic verses swell into a raw, frustrated crescendo, the chamber rock instrumentation recorded live and given real visceral texture. Shapiro’s vocals are effortless and theatrical at once, full of character, the kind of performance that makes a song feel lived-in from the first listen.

Shapiro came to music through an unusual path, studying art history, fashion, and anthropology, and all three disciplines show in how she builds her world. Art shapes how she hears sound. Fashion drives her visual identity. Anthropology gives her a framework for examining the human condition. The result is an artist whose work feels considered at every level.

The momentum behind her is real. Since her 2021 debut single “Mirror,” she has crossed 150,000 Spotify streams, earned press and playlist support, and headlined a sold-out show at The Troubadour. “Another Woman” is her most fully realized statement yet, and the EP promises more of both the closure and transformation she is building toward.

Photo Gallery: July Talk And Julianna Riolino At Toronto’s History On March 31, 2026

Eric Alper
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Photo Gallery: July Talk And Julianna Riolino At Toronto’s History On March 31, 2026

All photos by Mini’s Memories. You can contact her through Instagram or X.

July Talk
July Talk
July Talk
July Talk
July Talk
July Talk
July Talk
July Talk
July Talk
July Talk
July Talk
Julianna Riolino
Julianna Riolino
Julianna Riolino
Julianna Riolino
Julianna Riolino
Julianna Riolino

Darkwave Phenomenon Artemas Takes His Moody Alt-Pop Universe on a 38-Date Global Tour

Eric Alper
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Darkwave Phenomenon Artemas Takes His Moody Alt-Pop Universe on a 38-Date Global Tour

Artemas just mapped out the rest of his year and it covers the globe. The darkwave alt-pop phenomenon has announced a 38-date world tour, his biggest live run to date, kicking off September 8 in Vancouver and closing December 14 at the legendary O2 Academy Brixton in London. Support comes from Henry Morris across the run.

The tour follows the release of his new mixtape ‘getting up to no good’ and the close of his LOVERCORE Tour across North America. Artemas has been building momentum at a pace that is hard to ignore, and this run scales that vision to its largest audience yet. His live shows are known for being fully immersive, deeply atmospheric experiences that translate his moody, addictive sound into something that hits differently in a room full of people.

The numbers behind Artemas tell the story of an artist whose moment has fully arrived. Over 3.6 billion global artist streams, including more than 2 billion on his RIAA 3x Platinum breakout “i like the way you kiss me.” With ‘getting up to no good’ marking a new creative peak, the demand for this tour is real and the venues reflect it, from amphitheaters in Austin to storied rooms across Europe and the UK.

VIP and presale tickets go on sale Tuesday, April 7 at 10am local time. General on-sale follows Wednesday, April 8 at 10am local time.

2026 Tour Dates:

North America:

September 8: Vancouver, BC @ Malkin Bowl

September 10: Sacramento, CA @ Channel 24

September 11: Las Vegas, NV @ Brooklyn Bowl

September 13: Tucson, AZ @ Rialto Theatre

September 16: Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall

September 18: San Antonio, TX @ The Aztec Theatre

September 19: Austin, TX @ Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater

September 22: Dallas, TX @ The Bomb Factory

September 24: Kansas City, MO @ Uptown Theater

September 26: Oklahoma City, OK @ The Criterion

September 29: Minneapolis, MN @ The Fillmore

October 1: Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave

October 2: Royal Oak, MI @ Royal Oak Music Theatre

October 3: Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues

October 5: Charlotte, NC @ The Fillmore Charlotte

October 7: Atlanta, GA @ The Tabernacle

October 8: Nashville, TN @ Marathon Music Works

October 10: Philadelphia, PA @ Franklin Music Hall

October 11: New Haven, CT @ Toad’s Place

Europe + UK:

November 12: Paris, FR @ Le Bataclan

November 14: Esch-sur-Alzette, LU @ Rockhal

November 15: Cologne, DE @ E-Werk

November 16: Zurich, CH @ X-Tra

November 18: Barcelona, ES @ Sala Apolo

November 20: Milan, IT @ Fabrique

November 22: Prague, CZ @ SaSaZu

November 23: Warsaw, PL @ Progresja

November 25: Hamburg, DE @ Docks

November 26: Berlin, DE @ Huxleys Neue Welt

November 29: Stockholm, SE @ Fallen

November 30: Oslo, NO @ Rockefeller Music Hall

December 1: Copenhagen, DK @ Vega

December 3: Brussels, BE @ La Madeleine

December 7: Amsterdam, NL @ Melkweg

December 10: Edinburgh, UK @ Edinburgh Corn Exchange

December 12: Manchester, UK @ O2 Victoria Warehouse

December 13: Birmingham, UK @ O2 Academy

December 14: London, UK @ O2 Academy Brixton

Trippie Redd and Young Thug Connect on Euphoric New Banger “Paperbag Boy”

Eric Alper
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Trippie Redd and Young Thug Connect on Euphoric New Banger “Paperbag Boy”

Trippie Redd opens 2026 with a statement. “Paperbag Boy,” his first new single of the year, arrives with a music video and a feature from Young Thug, two of modern rap’s most distinctive melodic voices stacking up on a J-Bone production built from candy-coated synth arpeggios and speaker-obliterating 808s. The result is exactly as euphoric as it sounds.

The track captures something specific: the feeling of having made it while still carrying the memory of where you started. Trippie and Thugger slide through the beat’s crevices with the kind of effortless melodic chemistry that reminds you why both of them matter. The hook lands hard and stays there, which is the whole point.

Trippie spent 2025 in strong form, dropping the defiant “Can’t Count Me Out” with Platinum-selling trap architect ATL Jacob and the soaring Nick Mira-produced “Sketchy.” Then his 2018 Diplo collaboration “Wish” took on a life of its own, resurging through an emotional social media trend that generated over 8 billion views across TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. At its peak the song was pulling 10.5 million weekly streams, and it eventually climbed onto the Billboard Hot 100 more than seven years after its original release.

The numbers behind Trippie Redd are staggering: Diamond-certified, 14 billion streams worldwide, and a catalog that has consistently pushed modern rap’s emotional boundaries through fearless experimentation. “Paperbag Boy” keeps that momentum moving forward, and his highly anticipated album ‘NDA’ is coming later this year via 1400 Ent., 10k, and Atlantic.

Singer-Songwriter Pete Muller Shares Stunning “Stopping Time” Video Shot at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios

Eric Alper
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Singer-Songwriter Pete Muller Shares Stunning “Stopping Time” Video Shot at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios

Pete Muller does not make small records. The new music video for “Stopping Time,” a highlight from his album ‘One Last Dance’ out now via Two Truths Music, offers a behind-the-scenes look at a track recorded at Peter Gabriel’s legendary Real World Studios in Bath, England, with additional overdubs captured at New York City’s famed Power Station. The locations alone tell you something about the ambition at work here.

The song itself is a plea against the clock, unfolding through emotionally resonant vignettes exploring longing, memory, and the stories we construct to make sense of time passing. Genre-bending duo SistaStrings provide rich orchestration alongside Rob Mathes’s string arrangement, and the combination gives “Stopping Time” a cinematic texture that rewards close listening. It is one of the most quietly affecting tracks on an album full of them.

‘One Last Dance’ is Muller’s most vulnerable songwriting to date, self-produced alongside his band the Kindred Souls and featuring Grammy-winner Allison Russell on the Latin-flavored title track. Other highlights include the empowering “Fire Child,” the uplifting “Dream Small,” and the bittersweet “New York In The Rain.” Americana UK and Americana Highways have both offered praise, and the album earns every word of it.

This is Muller’s fourth studio release in five years, following 2024’s ‘More Time’, which drew acclaim from Consequence and Rock & Roll Globe. His path here is genuinely compelling: after success in quantitative finance, he followed his creative instincts, built a catalog, and earned tour dates alongside John Oates, Lisa Loeb, Jimmy Webb, Livingston Taylor, and Paul Thorn, plus festival slots from Telluride to Montreux.

Muller also founded the nonprofit Live Music Society, which provides critical grants to independent music venues across the country. He is an artist and an advocate, and ‘One Last Dance’ reflects both sides of that commitment fully.

Two-Time Folk Music Award Winner Crys Matthews Signs With TRO Essex and Releases Rallying Cry “Forged In Fire”

Eric Alper
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Two-Time Folk Music Award Winner Crys Matthews Signs With TRO Essex and Releases Rallying Cry “Forged In Fire”

Crys Matthews has never been an artist who looks away. “Forged In Fire,” her powerful new single produced by Seth Glier, arrives as both a document of a specific moment in American political life and a rallying cry that reaches back to the Civil Rights movement for its emotional foundation. It is urgent, fully realized, and exactly the kind of song Matthews was built to write.

The single was written during a particularly turbulent week under the second Trump administration, born from headlines covering birthright citizenship battles, farmworker raids, press freedom violations, and the targeting of undocumented children. Matthews connects those headlines directly to the conditions endured by Civil Rights activists before her, and the song carries that weight without flinching. Hopelessness, she reminds us, is not an option.

The production matches the ambition. Powerhouse vocalists Kyshona, Kiley Phillips, Nickie Conley, Wil Merrell, and Jason Eskridge surround Matthews in a performance that draws fully on her A.M.E. upbringing. This is a song that takes you to church, and means it. The blend of Country, Americana, Folk, Blues, and Bluegrass that defines Matthews’s sound gives “Forged In Fire” both roots and reach.

The single also marks a significant career milestone. Matthews has signed an exclusive publishing and recording agreement with TRO Essex Music Group, home to Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Pete Townshend, Pink Floyd, and Black Sabbath, alongside its label arm Shamus Records. It is a signing that places her in company that reflects exactly the kind of artist she is.

The recognition has been building for years and is now impossible to ignore. Matthews is the 2025 and 2022 Song of the Year winner at the International Folk Music Awards, making her the first artist to claim that honor twice since the award’s inception. She was also named 2024 Artist of the Year. “Forged In Fire” is out now.

Country Road Warrior Chas Collins Delivers Barroom Comedy Gold With New Video for “This Bar Sucks”

Eric Alper
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Country Road Warrior Chas Collins Delivers Barroom Comedy Gold With New Video for “This Bar Sucks”

Chas Collins has seen the inside of more bars than most, having played over 3,000 live shows across 43 states, so when he says a bar sucks, he knows what he’s talking about. The official music video for his fan-favorite single “This Bar Sucks” is out now, a tongue-in-cheek, self-penned romp through a night out gone gloriously wrong. Listen here.

The video delivers exactly what the title promises. Questionable clientele, an off-key band, a bartender who turns the whole night into a spectacle. Collins describes it as “a hilarious train wreck of a night where everything that could go wrong does,” and the video plays it with the kind of loose, good-natured energy that makes the song impossible not to enjoy.

“This Bar Sucks” follows “Slam Bam,” Collins’ previous single, a swaggering, hook-filled anthem built around neon lights and a shout-along chorus that premiered with The Music Universe and proved itself an immediate set-opener. Two singles in, Collins is showing a range that moves between high-energy bravado and sharp comic timing without missing a step.

The backstory behind Collins makes every song carry extra weight. A Southern-born singer-songwriter raised on gospel and honky tonk grit, he lost everything in Hurricane Katrina and rebuilt his life in Nashville, later channeling the losses of his mother, grandmother, and aunt into some of the most personal writing of his career. His breakout single “That’s What She Said” and Top 10 CMT hit “Try It On” put him on the national map, and he has stayed there through relentless road work and a sound that keeps getting sharper.

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That Eric Alper

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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