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.

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More information on The Mountains and the Trees:
http://www.rockandroots.com

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.

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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

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More information on Hawksley Workman:
http://www.hawksleyworkman.com/

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.

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More information on Ruby Jean and the Thoughtful Bees:
http://www.myspace.com/rubyjeanandthethoughtfulbees

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

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More information on Amy Millan:
http://www.myspace.com/amymillan
http://www.arts-crafts.ca/amymillan

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.

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More information on USS:
http://www.myspace.com/ubiquitoussynergyseeker