Hailing from the tiny logging town of Ladysmith, British Columbia, Canada, 20 year old Stef Lang is perhaps at first glance an unlikely troubadour. But the unique combination of her mixed heritage coupled with growing up in the remote working town of 7500, provided just the right atmosphere to fuel Stephanie’s youthful pursuit of truthful expression and self-knowledge.
This drive to achieve her ultimate expression eventually caused her to pack up her guitar and walk away from small town life at 17 and relocate, on her own, to Vancouver, a city of over 2 million, to chase her songwriting dreams and locate kindred spirits.
An extremely prolific writer and performer, Stephanie now works closely with many diverse and talented musicians in the vibrant Vancouver songwriting scene. She has done vocals on Calgary’s killer’esque indie boys The Dudes and a co-writing credit for “Dust In Gravity” which will appear on Delerium’s upcoming album. She is also a participant in the respected weekly songwriting circle known as Hipjoint Throwdown, of which she has become a core member.
Stef recently penned a publishing deal with Nettwerk/H-Songs and was approved for a VIDEOFACT grant for her song “Straitjacket.”
DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES PHOTO (right-click “save link/target as”)
More information on Stef Lang:
http://www.myspace.com/steflang
Bodies rolled in sleeping bags…darkness on the dance floor. 6am and the band is serving breakfast. These are self-promoted all-ages all-night shows in unlikely places…art galleries, community halls and circus spaces. Earlier…swirling lights, pylons and projected images hover above a dancing crowd. Assemblies of acts take turns on stage as people and band members mingle and munch grilled cheese sandwiches. Some may stop to buy a Spiral Beach t-shirt carefully burned with a hot iron…. an evening collectible baring no band logo. At the entrance kids wander in from the winter snow and throw coats onto a towering pile. Their hats and scarves, furry sweats and headbands follow them to the dance floor. The show begins…and never seems to end.
“Everything the band does is very visual – we always think about the whole experience, so audiences feel like they’re a part of what it going on. We try to make each show feel like full-on sensory overload – there’s a LOT of energy coming off the stage, and every show is a chance to get an audience worked into a total frenzy… we’ve run a lot of our own shows that will go all night or into the next day, so there’s also an element of delirium involved,” says Drummer Daniel Woodhead about the performances. “Some of our biggest parties in Toronto have been at the Centre of Gravity, which is an old vaudeville/circus theatre, so we’ve taken that as our inspiration – we like to create an atmosphere that suits the music, so playing all-ages events in community centres and lofts where we can use the space to make something fun and interactive is the best.”
With the Canadian release of “Ball” in the fall of 2007 the buzz on the band became deafening. They had already graced the cover of Toronto street rag “NOW” and ruffled feathers when they unexpectedly invited fans in crazy costumes up on stage to join the broadcast of their performance on Canada’s MTV-LIVE… The band toured extensively throughout Canada and was invited to tour with both Sloan and the Hidden Cameras in the U.S. as well as opening up for like-minded acts such as the Go! Team and Tokyo Police Club. By the time all the members of the band turned 20, they had already been twice across the continent!
In the spring of 2008 dazzling reviews of their album “Ball” from bloggers and mainstream press started to appear. A live performance on XM’s ‘The Verge’ was rated as the show’s Top Performance of the Year and the band was nominated for “Best New Indie Band” at the Casby Awards. Canada’s most important media outlets like Much Music and Toronto’s The Edge radio station began to champion the band. They spent the summer performing at festivals across Canada, including Toronto’s Virgin Festival, and took their incomparable live show to the UK and US, where Tommy Boy/ADA released the album.
The band are taking it all to the next level this September with their new album “The Only Really Thing.” The album perfectly captures the jubilant frenzy of the band, filling out the kaleidoscopic pop sound they had already developed with intricate arrangements and unconventional instrumentation, including metal chains and a cell phone! Daniel says, “We had a pretty clear vision of what we wanted to achieve; to make a Bollywood-influenced multi-layered color collage kind of modern pop album, with songs that were good enough to stand on their own but put into this whirlwind of different sounds and textures. Once you’re there, you just kind of jump in!”
“The Only Really Thing” will be released on September 22 by Sparks/Tommy Boy.
DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES PHOTO (right-click “save link/target as”)
More information on Spiral Beach:
http://www.myspace.com/spiralbeach
Emma-LeeFrom the opening strains of “Bruise Easy”, the introductory track on Emma-Lee’s debut album Never Just A Dream, you feel like you’ve stumbled on a star. Brimming with that ’special something’ of stars like Feist, k.d. lang, Madeleine Peyroux and Norah Jones, the March 3, 2009 release of Never Just A Dream heralds the arrival of an artist with the power to reshape our definition of pop.
At times playful, at others wistful, Never Just A Dream is a collection of songs inspired by the sort of heartache that is universal to anyone who has lived a life worth living. Co-produced with Mitch Girio, the sound slips seamlessly from swingin’ jazz to dreamy 50’s pop, with hints of folk and blues tied together by vocals as rich and sweet as a red velvet cupcake.
Armed with a voice that transports you, Emma-Lee chose not to rest on this strength alone. She instead put a sincere focus on becoming a great songwriter and the results of her efforts are fully evidenced throughout Never Just A Dream. Her weakness for a great pop melody turns out to be one of her greatest strengths; on Never Just A Dream spectres of AM oldies radio mingle effortlessly with childhood influences like Joni Mitchell and jazz great Ella Fitzgerald, creating a hauntingly beautiful musical landscape at once complex and yet familiar.
Saucy and sweet, pensive and pure, Never Just A Dream offers a candid peek inside the romantic heart. Whether it’s on the epic “Flow”, which chronicles a girl who sublets the apartment of her globe-trotting ex-boyfriend and renders herself at the mercy of his memory, or the soaring “That Sinking Feeling”, with its sting of realization, or in the ragtime bounce of “Jealousy”, which cheekily suggests you get what you deserve for snooping, Emma-Lee deftly captures the many dimensions of love and loss.
And yet Never Just A Dream is so much more than an anthology of youthful heartbreak. It delves into the pleasures of May-December relationships, suggests regret for past mistakes, and calls out for understanding on tracks like the Dusty Springfield tinged “An Older Man”, the cinematic “Until We Meet Again” and the album’s darkly delicious title track.
The release of Never Just A Dream was almost a dream derailed. While preparing and
creating the album Emma-Lee was stricken not once but twice by any singer’s worst nightmare; the need for throat surgery. She first faced possible vocal chord paralysis while having half her thyroid removed in 2006 and almost a year to the day she went under the knife again for an unrelated polyp on her vocal chords.
While those experiences might have defeated another less determined, Emma-Lee was not about to be stopped by a scalpel. “When good things happen they say it’s fate, but when bad things happen you have to make your own destiny. My destiny was to be singing and writing songs. I wasn’t about to give up on that dream.” Emma-Lee says of the experience.
It’s that kind of dedication and unwavering faith that sets Emma-Lee apart. Her skill, patience and incredible business savvy mark her as a rare artist of foresight and uncompromising vision.
Emma-Lee self-released Never Just A Dream locally in the late summer of 2008 and it instantly caught the ear of key tastemakers at the Globe & Mail, Toronto Star, Now Magazine, iTunes Canada and CBC Radio, and the track “Flow” earned a spot on the hit CBC show The Border.
She also attracted the attention of management veteran Larry Wanagas (The Trews, Two Hours Traffic, k.d. lang), whose wife urged him to investigate after reading a rave review, and artist development exec David “Click” Cox who discovered her by way of the Toronto-based music collective GoodSoundsGood, which she co-founded. The pair signed Emma-Lee to a co-management deal shortly thereafter and chose to re-release Never Just A Dream through Bumstead Productions, with distribution by Universal Music.
Emma-Lee’s ambition is anchored deeply in her love to simply create. Almost accidentally she discovered an instinctive ability to take self-portraits – a vital part of how she shares herself with her audience, through her website and the album’s graphics – and since 2006 has developed a thriving photography business as well. For Emma-Lee the two disciplines are uniquely entwined. “Although photography can stand alone,” she muses, “music can’t live without imagery.”
“I have a very clear vision of me, the artist”, Emma-Lee states with assurance, and she exhibits that artistry across all platforms, including a live show that is known for an intimate, off the cuff charm that creates a special bond with the audience. “You never know what will come out of my mouth at a show. For me performing is an intensely personal experience and I find it truly satisfying to know someone got something out of something I created; that I moved them like so many artists have moved me.”
DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES PHOTO (right-click “save link/target as”)
More information on Emma-Lee:
http://www.emma-lee.com
http://www.myspace.com/emmalee
Reactions to Winter Gloves’ debut album, about a girl, and their energetic live shows has garned praise like “Best New Artist” from iTunes and an invite to join Thunderheist on the recent Exclaim! Tour across Canada.
The guys will continue to bring their constant buzz of bass and gritty synths (as well as the coveted CDs of exclusive material thrown offstage at their live shows) on the road this summer across the US and a series of festivals like Hillside, Osheaga, and Toronto’s Harbourfront Summer Series.
Look for a bonus album of complementary material to their debut to surface this Fall! (right-click “save link/target as”)
DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES PHOTO (right-click “save link/target as”)
More information on Winter Gloves:
http://www.myspace.com/wintergloves
Our band lives on a massive island that is pigment green with sharp grey mountains moving slowly and peninsula fingers stretching out and snagging the sea. The people in the band are all different heights and all have very different tastes in music and very different ways of expressing emotion or thinking about art.
We started making noises in a concrete basement on the wrong side of the railroad tracks in Victoria, Canada six years ago, and we had a lot of conversations with each other through many songs. Some of these conversations were long and sad and unsure of what they were about. Some of them were many voices talking at once but understanding each other perfectly and saying the same thing in different, unconscious ways; and after this type of conversation we would quietly get into our cars and drive back across the tracks and feel a beautiful buzzing in our heads.
We took a bunch of songs and recorded them in 2006 with Neil Osborne. We called the record “Bridges” and we played the songs to each other and also played them to other people over and over and over again all over Canada, America, and Europe. Sometimes there were five thousand people listening and sometimes not, but the band loved putting the music into the air and letting it go.
When we got back to the island we put some heaters and carpets down in our concrete basement and dimmed the lights a bit and sometimes took a sip of scotch and stared at each other and thought about music and the strange relief of Fall but didnʼt talk about it and instead had a lot of conversations with each other through many many songs. So many songs this time that the band felt new and old at the same time which is, I think, a wonderful feeling. In the middle of the winter we put all our instruments, carpets, heaters, lamps and do-dads in a giant truck and moved everything up to a cabin on another, smaller island off the western coast of Canada (Hornby Island, BC) that is crushingly beautiful and calm. We again asked Neil Osborne to join us, and together the band stood facing each other in a circle under an angled skylight. The sound of the songs filled the room and the sound would only stop when someone was frustrated or hungry or needed to watch some Flight of the Conchords or stand out on the porch in the dark and listen to the wind moving the huge trees.
We have put together a group of these new songs and we have called the record “No Nations”. The songs have played over and over again in our heads until they no longer sound like songs, but more like a list of a million decisions and feelings and moments. We are ready to put the music into the air and let it go.
- Antonia
DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES PHOTO (right-click “save link/target as”)
More information on Jeys Overhead:
http://www.myspace.com/jetsoverhead
Loveshit
After two independent albums, Puer Dolor and Up Go The Arms, Montreal singer-songwriter Jason Bajada has joined MapleMusic Recordings for the release of his third album Loveshit. Though the first two albums earned him accolades as one of Montreal’s best songwriters, listeners will be privy to Bajada’s best work yet with Loveshit. “This really does feel like a first record because the other ones were never quite what I was looking for. With this one we nailed it,” says Bajada. “I’m happy with what comes out of the speakers now.”
A heartfelt portrait of a rollercoaster relationship and its demise, the album showcases Bajada’s knack for dealing in dark subject matter, while delivering catchy pop melodies. Indeed, music blog More Nights notes that his live show is “full of sad songs, but somehow always manages to put a smile on my face.” These mesmerizing performances have landed him sold-out shows, headlining slots in Berlin and the opening spot on a tour with Quebec superstars Dumas and Charlebois, including two nights at famed Paris venues La Cigale and Le Bataclan.
“Ten Days in Miami,” the first single, and first song written for the album, came into being during a particularly desperate time – “I was sitting at my coffee table writing and crying,” Bajada says – but has a breezy feel that contrasts with lyrics like “I don’t blink when I look at you / ‘Cause I can’t let you go.”
Bajada calls his writing process “the chase for the perfect pop song,” and it’s a hunt that sees him touching on a plethora of genres and moods – elements that are tied together through the common thematic thread of one relationship’s heartbreak, and Bajada’s skilled songcraft. There’s the upbeat bounce and hand claps of “Hard Not To Quit,” and the stripped-down melancholy of “Sad Song About You #2.” Bittersweet boy-girl harmonies on “Home’s Still Your Bones” set the scene for what Bajada calls “a straightforward twee pop song.” “Tired Of Talking” was written after some ribbing from a friend who told him to create something that would inspire people to sing along. “Challenge is on!” Bajada said – and the result was the final track penned for the album.
Loveshit was recorded with production duo Les Troublemakers, one half of which happened to be a childhood friend of Bajada’s. With shared musical references, and the gear needed to get the sound Bajada was looking for, Les Troublemakers were a perfect fit. They brought Bajada into the studio when “things were still very emotional,” and channeled that energy into creating a searingly honest album.
Despite the fact that the songs were conceived in various cities across the continent, including Halifax and Los Angeles, the album is very much intertwined with Montreal. It was recorded at Troublemakers Studio in Montreal and includes a cover of “You Are A Runner (And I Am My Father’s Son)” by fellow Montrealers Wolf Parade. Bajada will also be heading out on tour as the opener for Montreal songstress Martha Wainwright in December. He credits the city’s other inhabitants with inspiring his songwriting (the strength of which earned him a place as a finalist in the International Songwriting Competition, judged by artists like Tom Waits, Robert Smith, Brian Wilson and Isaac Brock) as well. “When you have those kinds of quality musicians in your backyard, there’s a challenge there. It’s keeps you on your toes.” Bajada has risen to the challenge and then some with Loveshit, a collection of ten infectious songs that spin heartbreak into musical bliss.
“This album, a collection of lovesick rejection songs, should move him into the realm of fine Canadian craftsmen like Rufus Wainwright and Ron Sexsmith.” – Metro (4/5)
“…each of the 10 tracks on Loveshit are teeming with quiet wistfulness and longing.” – Chartattack (4/5)
“Expertly produced, and with a variety of tones and textures, this is quality emoting from end to end.” – Montreal Gazette (4/5)
“The stark themes of Loveshit and Bajada’s folk and country influences make this an easy one to compare to Lee Hazlewood’s Requiem For An Almost Lady.” – Exclaim
“…it’s funny how the saddest songs are often the most beautiful; Bajada writes sublime pop songs.” – National Post
DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES PHOTO (right-click “save link/target as”)
More information on Jason Bajada:
http://www.myspace.com/jasonbajada
Award winning Canadian hip hop artist and producer, Saukrates is known to have an ear for music (classically trained in the violin and cello) and a head for the music industry. Native to Toronto, Saukrates whose real name is Karl Amani Wailoo, started his career from the independent circuit on up to national prominence, becoming a highly respected MC and highly sought after producer.
In 2001, Saukrates produced the track “Uh-Huh” for Redman’s Malpractice album, and appeared on a track called “Enjoy Da Ride”. He also did a track called “Fine Line” for the soundtrack to Method Man and Redman’s How High movie. In 2002, Saukrates teamed up with fellow Canadian producer Agile from BrassMunk to produce the track “Heaven”, for Nas‘ album God’s Son, and it featured Jully Black. On November 19, 2006, he performed “Promiscuous” with Nelly Furtado at halftime show of the 94th Grey Cup (the CFL championship game). Two days later, Saukrates beat-boxed during her performance of “Say It Right” at the 2006 American Music Awards in Los Angeles. Off the road, Saukrates produced on Canadian songstress, Divine Brown’s self-titled album. On February 23, 2007, he appeared on the daytime drama One Life to Live with Furtado, performing “Promiscuous”. Saukrates also toured with Nelly Furtado on her Get Loose Tour.
Saukrates will release his much delayed second studio album, “Season One” in late 2009. Singles include “Fades Away”, “Ms. Yesterday” and “On The Run” with K-os and Nelly Furtado, which is also featured on the new K-os album, Yes!, as the alternatively titled “I Wish I Knew Natalie Portman”. Also working with another Toronto based artist, Andreena Mill, who won 2009 DJ Stylus Award Winner for Canadian R&B Single of the Year – U, Me, And Tomorrow ft Saukrates. He collaborated with Method Man and Redman in their top 2009 single “A Yo”.
DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES PHOTO (right-click “save link/target as”)
More information on Saukrates:
http://www.myspace.com/saukrates
With more than four million albums sold and nearly a dozen Top 10 hits to her credit, Terri Clark has emerged as a singular voice on the country music landscape – driving, passionate, spirited – and every bit her own woman. A dynamic, no-holds-barred live performer – and one of the rare female country artists capable of throwing down some impressive guitar work – the Alberta, Canada native has toured with such superstars as Brooks & Dunn, Reba McEntire, and George Strait on her way to becoming a seven-time, fan-voted Canadian Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year.
A prolific songwriter and hard-charging traditionalist, Clark spent years playing dive bars and entering talent competitions before she first hit the charts in 1995 with “Better Things to Do” and never looked back.
She is the first Canadian female to be inducted into the prestigious Grand Ole Opry and has received multiple CMA and ACM Female Vocalist nominations, in addition to a pair of Juno Awards and a remarkable 13 CCMA trophies.
For close to three years, Terri was the only woman in country music to score a #1 single when she soared up the charts with “I Just Wanna Be Mad,” one of a long string of successes including such hits as “You’re Easy on the Eyes,” “When Boy Meets Girl,” “I Wanna Do It All,” “Poor Poor Pitiful Me,” and “Girls Lie Too.”
As songwriter, vocalist, entertainer, and personality, Terri connects with listeners in a very genuine way, at least in part because of her willingness to reach past the obvious for the real-life bottom line in her music, embracing strength and vulnerability, playfulness, sexiness, and a refreshing emotional candor.
DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES PHOTO (right-click “save link/target as”)
More information on Terri Clark:
http://www.terriclark.com
[SinglePic not found]Max Kerman – lead vocals, guitar
Mike DeAngelis – vocals, guitar
Dan Griffin – vocals, keyboard, guitar
Nick Dika – Bass
Tim Oxford – drums
Sharing a love of the kind of raw, soulful “Springsteenesque” rock that inspires a teen to pick up a guitar and start a band, the Arkells formed in Hamilton, ON, in 2006. The ambitious and prolific five-piece quickly found its groove, and recorded debut EP “Deadlines” in 2007. From the strum of the first track, the six-song EP showcased the Arkells masterful blending of traditional blues hooks mixed with modern rock-laden riffs, and a touch of classic Motown era rhythms. Their catchy melodies and unbridled energy live garnered critical acclaim with NOW Magazine describing the Arkells as having “an awesome muscular quality that sets it apart from the output of so many of their sad-sack indie rock peers…”
Since the release of “Deadlines” the band has traveled across Canada sharing stages with Tokyo Police Club, Matt Mays & El Torpedo, Danko Jones, Ladyhawk, Alexisonfire, and City and Colour. More recent performances include a stint opening for legendary rockers Black Crowes, MTV Live and V-Fest. With live shows fueling the buzz created by the EP, the band quickly caught the ear of Dine Alone Records (home to City and Colour, Bedouin Soundclash, Attack in Black and Black Lungs) who re-released “Deadlines” digitally in March 2008.
The Arkells’ first full-length album titled “Jackson Square” (released October 28, 2008 on Dine Alone) features undeniably catchy tracks like No Champagne Socialist, Ballad of Hugo Chavez, and Oh, The Boss is Coming! which just hit Top 10 on the BDS Rock Radio charts. “Jackson Square” captures the essence of the band’s hard-hitting live show and their boundless passion for making meaty, rootsy rock that any listener can relate to.
DOWNLOAD HIGH RES PHOTO (right-click “save link/target as”)
More information on Arkells:
http://www.myspace.com/arkellsmusic
The Winnipeg, Manitoba-based Duhks have always gravitated towards traditional roots-based song structures, but they’ve never stopped evolving since their inception five years ago. Due in part to a collective musical worldview that knows no boundaries, that evolution led the band to their latest offering Fast-Paced World, the first Duhks record to feature prodigies Sarah and Christian Dugas (replacing vocalist Jessee Havey and percussionist Scott Senior respectively). It’s an album that reflects the quintet’s newfound confidence, with Sarah bringing five original songs to the band’s encyclopedic collection of originals and covers both old and new.
The French-Canadian born Dugas siblings have been immersed in music their whole lives, thanks in part to their musician parents. “We had a family band that toured across Canada when I was 7 and Christian was 9,” remembers Sarah. “My father had a recording studio in the house, so I grew up hearing a variety of musicians playing everything from rap to rock to world beat. I grew up in a fun and creative environment.”
Dugas’ emergence as a songwriter has clearly contributed to the group’s progression — the other members are fiddler Tania Elizabeth, guitarist Jordan McConnell and founder/banjo player Leonard Podolak — from the jaunty pop of “You Don’t See it” to the jazz-waltz of “This Fall,” the Duhks’ enthusiastic fan base has embraced the changes. “The reaction has been really positive,” says Dugas. “We’ve been able to keep the old fans and gotten some new ones as well.”
“There’s a more liberal attitude in the band when it comes to songwriting approaches,” admits Podolak. That attitude has even extended to drummer Christian’s use of a full kit, in contrast to the band’s previous use of just percussion. “My musical tastes have broadened immensely since we first started,” Podolak adds. “I think we’ve evolved musically, while maintaining our roots, but everybody in the band listens to so many different things, it was bound to happen.”
It’s that kind of musical DNA that makes the band’s spot-on fusion of traditional bluegrass, folk rock, Afro-Cuban jazz and soul so accessible and yet so hard to pigeonhole. It’s also earned them a Grammy Award nomination in the Best Country Vocal Performance category as well as a Juno award in their native Canada.
Accolades aside, the band doesn’t see any reason to pull their punches lyrically, as Dugas laments on the funky title track, “We’ve forgotten what’s sacred in this fast-paced world.” “It’s a song that’s essentially about over-consumption,” remarks Podolak. “We’ve all grown up with an outlook where’s there’s enough for everyone without destroying the earth.”
Environmental issues are a passion for the band, inspiring them to launch The Duhks Sustainability Project (www.greenduhks.com) in October 2007. Spearheaded by Tania Elizabeth, the band’s goal is to “tour on as sustainable a basis as possible; fueling our vehicle with Biodiesel, supporting local organic farmers wherever we go, wearing sustainable eco-conscious clothing, using earth-friendly shampoos, soaps and cosmetics and offsetting remaining CO2 emissions with carbon credits.”
“As a band, it’s something we feel very strongly about,” says Podolak. “We just want to reduce our carbon footprint as much as humanly possible.”
Fast Paced World was produced by the Nashville-based Jay Joyce (Patty Griffin, John Hiatt), who joins an impressive set of producers (Béla Fleck, Tim O’Brien) before him. “Jay’s basement studio was like something out of the Star Trek Enterprise,” laughs Podolak. Despite trying to quit smoking at the time (4 nicotine patches at once!), Joyce was “very open to our ideas and very easy to work with. I also think he learned as much from us as we did from him about combining the acoustic and electric elements of our songs in a studio setting,” continues Podolak.
As the band continues their own musical evolution, Fast-Paced World illustrates just how far the Duhks have come—and just how far they’re willing to go to challenge themselves artistically. Ultimately though, according to Leonard, the Duhks “just want to play music that speaks to everybody.” Mission accomplished.
DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES PHOTO (right-click “save link/target as”)
More information on The Dhuks:
http://www.myspace.com/theduhks
“Better than pancakes!” – Peggy
Local yokel rising crust folk singer, whatever that means. Described as a “hootenanny” by mother – tends to get a bit loopy. You decide!
The Mountains & The Trees are/is Jon Janes. He plays guitar, banjo, mandolin, ukulele, harmonica, bells, drums, and whistles, hums, and sings. He is often backed-up by the Valleys & Seas Orchestra featuring a collective of friends with a variety of instruments.
After spending most of his musical career behind the drums, Janes finally came out of hiding (it was a large drum-kit!) and embraced the singer-songwriter inside. Shy at first, he adopted the stage moniker The Mountains & The Trees and has been loving it ever since. Originally a two-piece, it shrunk to a solo act, then grew to a 3-piece, 4-piece, shrunk again to a 2-piece, grew again to a 3-pie… you get the idea. The size of The Mountains & The Trees changes with the weather and, often, with whomever in the crowd is brave enough to step on stage to play and sing along.
Genre-wise, Janes has too many effects pedals for folk, too many banjos for rock-n-roll (if you’re wondering how many banjos are too many – it’s one). He playfully describes himself as Folk-Pop or Folk-N-Roll. Recordings contain a variety of instruments, such as guitar, banjo, mandolin, harmonica, bells, and drums. Live, Janes backs himself up with the help of some looping-pedals, some deft footwork, and a little luck.
The Mountains & The Trees have released two recordings thus far – Paper Or Plastic EP [2006] and Document [2007]. The former is a 5-song disc recorded on a shoestring budget and delivered in creative packaging (will that be paper or plastic casing?). It features Janes in a variety of roles, instrumentally and vocally, as well as guest appearances by Rick Lambe and Louis MacDonald. The latter is a full-length 15-song acoustic effort, recorded over three night-sessions at Park St. United Church in Corner Brook. Featuring Janes on vocals, guitar, and mouth harp, this disc is an effort to capture a moment in musical form. It comes in a hand-printed case with a photo-postcard and a package of dirt and seeds (please plant them). All this is contained in a vinyl case, hand-sewn with help (and love) by grandma. Document is also a limited-edition release of 90 discs. Both discs have received airplay on CBC and College Radio.
As well, to coincide with the 2009 ECMAs in Corner Brook, Newfoundland, the “Hop, Skip, & A Jump Promo EP” was released. It includes 4 songs featuring Janes accompanied by the Valleys & Seas Orchestra and is available free at shows (while quantities last) or by e-mailing info@themountainsandthetrees.com. “Hop, Skip, & A Jump” will be released as an official album this fall accompanied by new artwork and a hand-designed case.
With work on a new full-length album starting this summer and appearances at the East Coast Music Awards, Trails, Tales, & Tunes Festival, North By Northeast, NL Folk Festival, and the Toronto International Film Festival, 2009 is shaping-up to be a mighty fine season for The Mountains & The Trees.
DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES PHOTO (right-click “save link/target as”)
More information on The Mountains and the Trees:
http://www.rockandroots.com
Hawksley Workman is a critically acclaimed singer-songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist who paves his own path. Brilliantly original and always spontaneous, his creative talent is boundless, often switching from the role of songwriter, to studio musician, to producer. His songwriting style is as varied as his resume, creating pop tunes, country jangles, anthemic rockers, hip-hop dance beats and gut-wrenching ballads, such as “Safe and Sound”, which was recently featured in a US Volvo TV spot that spawned a collection of youtube covers from fans all over the world.
Hawksley has toured with the The Cure and David Bowie, collaborated with Marion Cotillard, written for Cartier and produced tracks for Serena Ryder, Tegan & Sara, and Hey Rosetta!. In 2008, he released not one but two albums and toured them extensively throughout Canada and Europe. The first of the two albums, Between the Beautifuls, garnered Hawksley a 2009 JUNO Award for Adult Alternative Album of the Year, while Los Manlicious, sprouted a half a dozen music videos from director Sean Turrell while touring Europe.
Hawksley is currently at work in studios from NYC to Stockholm to Northern Ontario recording enough material to release three new albums. At least one of the records will be released in 2010.
—————————————-
PRESS QUOTES
“…sly, seductive and slightly dangerous” – Daily Disc, National Post
“A worked-up Workman gets down to bedroom business with crunchy, stuttering guitar rock” – Essential Tracks, Globe & Mail
“when his fighter side comes out he’s simply smokin’” – Vue
DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES PHOTO (right-click “save link/target as”)
More information on Hawksley Workman:
http://www.hawksleyworkman.com/
There’s no escaping it: Ruby Jean and the Thoughtful Bees shows are ground-poundingly ecstatic.
Rebekah Higgs, the band’s lead singer and respected solo artist in her own right, throws herself both literally and figuratively into each performance, becoming ringmaster for the seething, sweating, dancing crowd before her. She doesn’t feel the bruises she incurs while crowd surfing over the moshing masses until she wakes up in her own bed the next morning in a post-party haze. Memories of her alter-ego return when the YouTube clips appear, her pouring a bottle of champagne from stage into some shirtless dude’s mouth, somewhere in the midst of seven costume changes.
Ruby Jean’s soul might belong to Higgs, but the heart and beats that go with it belong to producer Colin Crowell, the mad scientist responsible for much of the Bees sound. Crowell lurks amongst the shadows, keeping the machine running fast and tight with turntables, vocoder, mini Korg keyboard, and laptop producing insane blips and bass. Rapturous adulation during a chaotic set is the hard won pay-off for the hours hunched over electronics in his home studio, giving birth to the ingredients for what has been hailed by industry insiders as the best new live act in Canada.
Higgs and Crowell aren’t lonely killer Bees. Heralded East Coast muso Jason Vautour provides the flaming guitar licks, regularly clad in gold spandex and red sequins, nearly stealing the fashion spotlight from his dolled-up female lead singer. Alternate tunings and ear-bending pedal work turn his axe into multi-purpose weapon, churning out hooks that lodge into your brain and force your ass to shake.
The devilishly handsome and massively talented drummer Mike Belyea holds it all together with a sly grin. Forget the computer-based drum tracks less worthy indie-dance acts pander. Belyea fills the room with rib-cage rattling live percussion, his time-keeping directing the
electro-inspired magnetism that is a Thoughtful Bees gig.
Together, their audacious on-stage presence earned the Bees impressive headlining and festival shows before they released a single note of recorded audio. The four-piece shared the stage with Thunderheist, Dragonette and Kid Koala, and recently invaded the UK, scoring an
invitation to the Great Escape in Brighton after a scorching set at Canada Music Week that won the group the coveted award for Band Most Likely To Succeed.
Ruby Jean and the Thoughtful Bees backed up a exponentially growing live reputation with its self-titled debut full-length (out on Youth Club Records), hailed by critics everywhere, from Billboard, Exclaim!, Metro, The Hour (Montréal), and FFWD (Calgary) as one of the best albums of 2009. Music fans cast their vote and Ruby Jean and the Thoughtful Bees shot to the top of the Earshot! dance chart. Even the packaging screamed “Hell yeah,” the first 1,000 discs coming in limited edition, handmade, silk-screened cases designed by renowned artists Chris Foster and Laura Dawe.
DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES PHOTO (right-click “save link/target as”)
More information on Ruby Jean and the Thoughtful Bees:
http://www.myspace.com/rubyjeanandthethoughtfulbees
All the touring with my various bands was coming to a stop, and I had to find a bed. An old friend gave me her Montreal room where I could smoke too much and burn her copper pots. The rest of the songs took shape from the quiet back porch of that temporary refuge.
I have always loved to sing other people’s songs, which is why this record is painted with them. Hearing my favorite singers sing other people’s songs has always been an inspiration as well. A favorite: Johnny Cash owning Tom Petty’s “Won’t Back Down”, or Jeff Buckley’s incomparable cover of “Hallelujah”. I gathered a few songs that I wish I had written and tried to bring something different then the original. I had the good luck of hearing Death Cab For Cutie’s Ben Gibbard sing “I Will Follow You Into The Dark” every night when Stars went out on tour with them. I would always make sure I was side stage for that one. When I first brought it to my band Tumbleweed, it naturally took a different course, one I hope fans of the song will embrace and find as a compliment. Sarah Harmer was playing in Weeping Tile when I was first introduced to her music. You could roast a marshmallow with her beautiful voice and I always felt “Old Perfume” was a little gem hidden inside a more ruckus mine. “Run For Me” was a song that carried me through a difficult period and articulated something I couldn’t. Richard Hawley’s production of that song is so incredibly beautiful and rich; the only thing I could do was to bring it to a barely there. I think Christine Bougie plays guitar with such amazing intuition on our version. If you have heard her own records, or listened to Honey From The Tombs, then you will already be acquainted with the strong song writing skills of my great friend Jenny Whiteley. “Baby I” was the only cover song I did on my last record, but I had to go back to her for more. “Day To Day” is from her second record, Hope Town, and a love song that sounds like the wind wrote it. The melody, like a hymn, feels as though it’s from another time, and another place – the middle of the sea perhaps, in 1863.
The songs I penned myself came from a time of flux… trying to get to the bottom of what ‘home’ really means. The same questions kept coming up for me; where do we stash the collection of betrayals and disappointments we carry through our lives? If you find yourself miles away from a person with whom your communication has become crooked and bent, can you ever find your way back? Do we ever actually ‘get over’ anything?
Together, my own songs along with my choice of covers creates a bed where the lonely can rest for a little bit, where little hopes, little deaths, and big loves are flammable but fallow.
Every idea needs a backdrop and that’s where Mr. Martin Davis Kinack comes in. I knew he would be the one to bring Masters Of The Burial to light when I listened on my headphones, to the Apostle of Hustle records he produced. The many colours that seemed to come up from behind and whisper in my ear brought such a smile I couldn’t wait to ask if he would be my guy. He showed me to a barn by the escarpment cliffs, we put on our pajamas and got buried in snow.
I was able to bring so many of my comrades to this hidden forest, the ones who had toured with me on my last record: Dan Whiteley, Christine Bougie, Darcy Yates and Doug Tielli. Other guests slid in like a sleeping bag, such as the fast fingered Marc Roy (guitar), Dean Stone of Apostle of Hustle (drums), Kevin Fox (cello), and Genevieve Walker (violin). Singing such beautiful back ups, my very close friends, Leslie Feist, Ariel Engle and Jenny Whiteley, came to support not just the songs, but me! Hot Butterscotch, aka Stars’ Evan Cranley and Chris Seligman along with The Stills’ Liam O’Neil, killed the smooth on the horns. Jesse Zubot was my most futuristic musician, sending his amazing violin parts on “Bound” over the internet, as I couldn’t persuade him to leave his busy Vancouver home. I think it sounds like he’s standing right beside me.
Evan Cranley actually played a big role on this record. He would duck in when his ears knew he was needed. He played the backbone beat on “Day to Day”, keyboards throughout the album and also wrote the string arrangements on “Old Perfume” and “Finish Line”. I’m a pretty lucky lady to be shacked up with such a talent.
So, as you can see “solo work” is a bit of a fib. Without this community, the record would be a lonely, less interesting listen.
This record is the dark of the night. It’s the sound of someone climbing into bed. The soundtrack of the time in between when the candle burns out and your dreams begin. The time of night when all we have tried to bury comes back to us masked in midnight mind stories. Light the fire, pour up one more, draw the curtains and tuck in.
- Amy Millan, July 2009
DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES PHOTO (right-click “save link/target as”)
More information on Amy Millan:
http://www.myspace.com/amymillan
http://www.arts-crafts.ca/amymillan
Who are they?
Ashley Boo-Schultz and Human Kebab
Where are they from?
Parkdale, Toronto, Canada
How have they been described?
Progressive Dance Folk/Campfire After Party
What do they want?
They want everyone to have a crush on life.
Without going into too much explanation… Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker, lovingly known by those daunted by big words as USS, are musical chameleons. Perhaps chameleon is not the correct term, but rather, the closest in proximity. USS appeal to the masses. If this were a John Hughes film we would be cueing up the snapshots of the brain, the athlete, the basket case, the beauty and the criminal all being equally galvanized by the soothing, yet particularly positive and impactful use of imagery such as ‘beats drop like cod fish stocks’, while pondering with wonderment the concept of ‘the birds singing Fur Elise to me’. Each of them would firmly believe that USS is speaking to them. They would notice people, not of their kind, surrounding them but they would feel that USS is the transmitter and they are the receiver.
The USS show harkens back to an old school, yet neo-vaudevillian atmosphere. Think Nirvana unplugged at a Science Centre Rave. Chuck D and Flavor Flav at a motivational seminar. Bob Marley in a Lab Coat: anything is possible. Their message is delivered melodically with contagious optimism by Ashley Boo-Schultz, creator of all things musical, while the hypeman / turntablist, Human Kebab, elicits dance floor pandemonium and wide scale audience singalongs. Whether dealing with rainy day rec room reverie, psycho-pharmaceutical protocol or the physics of emotional responsibility, Ash’s perceptions of existence are painted with randomness and divergence. Only Human Kebab’s Ferris Bueller esque disposition could bring such a left field visionary back to a place of accessibility. Here in lies the dualistic beauty of their partnership. Human makes it almost seem normal when the blender comes out on stage and Ash mixes himself up a smoothie mid song, so that he is fit, both mentally and physically, to guide everyone present into their mad scientist laboratory of self transcendence.
This brings us to Hollowpoint Sniper Hyperbole. While making some cash to repay his student loan on an oil pipeline in northern Alberta, Hypeman Human got a call from a friend. The friend, rather excitedly delivered the news that 102.1The Edge in Toronto, Ontario was playing a song (the aforementioned Hollowpoint Sniper Hyperbole) off of their self released EP, Welding the C:/. Human called Ash who was attending a college basketball game in Texas on an emotional pilgrimage. Now what? Neither of them had anticipated this momentous opportunity after their glorious night of bliss (a self financed EP release party at the Gladstone in the heart of Toronto’s Parkdale in July of ’07) and had gone their separate ways. Hmmm… interesting. Human asks his foreman for a couple of days off, Ash turns the caravan around and heads home. They shoot a video and drop by the station for an interview with ear to the ground dj, Barry Taylor (responsible for getting the song into rotation). Human returns to the tundra, Ash continues his pilgrimage and quickly they realize the runway has been paved and they have taken flight! Hollowpoint enters heavy rotation, out spinning the likes of Coldplay and Radiohead. The band headlines 102.1 The Edge’s Next Big Thing concert on May 30th to a record-setting frenzied crowd of over 2000 people and then kicks off the main stage on the station’s much coveted festival, Edgefest.
Labels clamor after them; radio across the country jumps on board the single. More and more people subscribe to their theory to “Expect the unexpected”. That’s the story of how science meets spirit. Bob Marley in a lab coat? Welcome to USS and the soundtrack of possibility.
DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES PHOTO (right-click “save link/target as”)
More information on USS:
http://www.myspace.com/ubiquitoussynergyseeker
