Sarah shared by Sarah Slean, all very meta-Metaphysics

Sarah Slean has released the single "Sarah" from her upcoming album, "Metaphysics" co-written with Daniel Romano. The track is all pink neon and crashing waves with vocals that fall between Kate Bush, Stevie Nix and Martha Wainwright. The album drops Apr 7 2017 on Cadence Music/ Fontana North.

Blondie bring Fun to any and every party

Blondie reaches for the skies before finding there's no place like home for Fun. The track is the first single of their new album, Pollinator, due May 5 2017 on BMG. The album draws in an eclectic mix of collaborators, from Sia to Johnny Marr, from Canadian blogger Adam Johnston to comedian John Roberts. If Fun is any indication and thats usually the point of a first single then Pollinator is an album in the classic vein of Blondie, sharp, urban danceable pop guaranteed to bring fun fun fun to any party. The band are touring with Garbage and have a date in Toronto at the Sony Centre July 26.

Timber Timbre shares Velvet Gloves and Spit

Sincerely, Future Pollution is available Apr 7 2017 on Arts & Crafts. The video for Velvet Gloves And Spit features artist/poet Christine Brache. 

Taylor Kirk, the founder of Timber Timbre, says "I'd enjoyed the intimacy in the things that Cristine and her partner, Brad Philips, were making, together and respectively. Working outside the parameters of more conventional music video makers, I think the result is something that feels very true and candid. They seemed to understand the essence of the music very well. Though euphemistic the discipline ritual in the video is softly charged and shows a kind of tenderness and romance to the fixations parallel in the song."

The Photogenics take Route 66 to The Garnet, Peterborough Feb 18

Doug Kennedy had all the kicks when he took his family on a trip of lifetime across America's Main Street, the iconic Route 66. Kennedy, who lives in Omemee, is also a member of black grass act, The Photogenics. The band will be playing The Garnet in Peterborough Feb 18 2017. As part of the evening's proceedings Kennedy will be showing his photos from the trip and telling the tales of the fabled road.

Details Here-> 

Link to the The Photogenics' Bandcamp ^

WAYHOME release 2017 line-up; Tanya Tagag, PUP, Constantines, DFA1979 make the grade. Tickets on sale Friday Feb 17

Burl’s Creek Event Grounds, in Oro-Medonte Ontario, will host the third run-out of WayHome from July 28 - 30. This year the line-up is international, eclectic and wide-ranging in sonics with R&B rapper Frank Ocean, French electronica Justice, Australian singer-songwriter Vance Joy and the American rock 'n soul of Charles Bradley and his Extraordinaires plus everything in-between scheduled. Something for everyone is the term I believe and the curation is reflective of how we all listen to music these days. It is less about the tribe and more about the track. A good song wins all.

Ben Rogers releases The Highway of Tears, raises funds for indigenous women support services

Roots country act Ben Rogers has released his track "The Highway of Tears", a tribute and fundraising song for Vancouver's Battered Women's Support Services. Rogers posted his reasons on his website which we have reproduced here in full.

"I am releasing 'The Highway of Tears' single in hopes of raising awareness about the ongoing issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women throughout Turtle Island.  
"My hope is that the song will inspire listeners and fans to take action. Through sales of the song we hope to provide financial support to  Battered Women's Support Services (www.bwss.org) in Vancouver and specifically to Indigenous Women's Programs.   
 "The Indigenous Women’s support workers use traditional healing practices while working with women survivors of trauma and colonization. 
"Indigenous Women’s Program offers direct services through drum groups, counselling, Elder’s and support groups and different ceremonies such as full moon and sweat lodge ceremonies. We are healing from the trauma of colonization, the effects and inter-generational effects of residential school, the loss of our children, and living life in a patriarchal society. By using holistic practices through traditional medicines and ceremonies, we are reclaiming our rightful roles as strong Indigenous women in our community, finding our voices and standing strong in our power." 
"The apartheid, ethnocide, and subjugation perpetrated by the federal government must end. The assault on native life continues and we settlers must not assert ourselves as saviours but as allies to native communities. Administering outside solutions in indigenous communities is only a continuation of colonialism and its destructive power.  
"We must listen to what indigenous communities affected by these crimes need in order to heal from them and prevent them from happening again.  
"I have been fortunate enough to witness the beauty and strength of native culture through my wife's Swampy Cree family. They are survivors, all of them. They are the bravest people I know and I admire their courage greatly.  
"The time for autonomy, sovereignty, acknowledgement of ancestral land claims, treaty rights, human rights, and equality for Indigenous people must be attained. The lives of the women affected by these acts of violence must not be forgotten. Their families and friends must have answers. We must stand with them. I plan to do just that with my life and my music so long as I have breath in me and a song to sing. Or as some have said: "As long as the sun shines, the river flows and the grass grows." 
"The Highway of Tears single will be released online on Valentine's Day 2017, the day of the Annual Downtown Eastside Women’s Memorial March. I hope you will all be there at the march. There is strength in numbers, especially when we are unified as one.  

“Like the grasses showing tender faces to each other, thus we should do, for this was the wish of the Grandfathers of the World.” - Black Elk (from Black Elk Speaks) 

In Solidarity, 
Ben Rogers

Overcoats undertake tour, play Saturday Mar 11 at the Horseshoe

NY youngsters, Overcoats, will release their debut Young Apr 21 2017 on Arts & Crafts. The two, Hana Elion and JJ Mitchell, use their harmonies to create a deep well of enveloping warmth, just like Grandda's old overcoat. And sometimes a voice like a coat can be a tent. Climb inside. The two play the Legendary Horseshoe Saturday Mar 11.

Blue Rodeo get lost together in the Tribute Communities Centre

There was a whole lotta of green at the Blue Rodeo concert at the Tribute Community Centre in downtown Oshawa Saturday Feb 11 2017. The iconic country rockers delivered a well crafted show from across their three decade catalogue with an emphasis on the early albums and their latest, 1000 Arms.

But from where I was, the show was a distant experience, seen through a hazey green of envy. The show was a distant experience and I found myself envious of the throngs upfront on the floors and side seating who seemed to be having a blast. The folk around me merely sat politely, seemingly bored, quietly waiting for the band to pump it up and maybe get a hit or two in before the expected “Lost Together” encore with openers The Sadies.

In all my years going to the TCC I have never felt the space to be so cavernous. Even though Blue Rodeo must have been close to selling out the Centre, they are not an arena band any more. They are most definitely not a Saturday night arena band and most most definitely they are not a Saturday night in Oshawa arena band. They may have filled it with fans but not with voices. The sit-down acoustic sets including the ballad, “One Night Left In Heaven” didn’t help nor did drummer Glenn Milchem’s placement behind a plexiglass blind, but it’s still a necessity I imagine given Greg Keelor’s hearing issues of past.

Having said all that when the show was cranking it was rocking. Who knew Jim Cuddy could shred a guitar and when he sang “After The Rain’ he morphed into Paul McCartney. Keelor for his part spent much of his time off to his side of the stage with an acoustic and it was Cuddy who carried the show, with a couple of solos at the piano and the aforementioned jamming.

Guest Jimmy Bowskill (The Sheepdogs) on mandolin and pedal steel, replacing Bob Egan, just underlined how Blue Rodeo have an ear for talent and Bowskill had several solos of his own, as did keyboardist Mike Boguski who took “Diamond Mine” in to The Doors territory. Colin Cripps’ solos were sublime, adding a whole other layer to those we have come to expect from Keelor.

Blue Rodeo are nothing if not generous with the spotlight and they share it to great effect for their songs and the acts they favour. It is their sharing which has helped build a tight music community right across Canada, one that includes Sarah McLachlan, Ron Sexsmith, Justin Rutledge as well as Oshawa alt-country act, Cuff The Duke. Cuddy referenced this community in his intro to the new album’s title track; those many, many many arms have come in handy given what has been happening to Gord Downie and John Mann and the support they require dealing with their respective illnesses.

The show began with the two leads on “Heart Like Mine” from their debut Outskirts. They also played “Rose Coloured Glasses” and of course “Try” from the same record. Lost Together from 1992 was mined with “Fools Like You”, “Is It Me” and “Western Skies” getting an airing and of course its no Blue Rodeo gig without the title track. Same goes for the big hits from the band's masterpiece Five Days In May. Casino gave up “You’re Everywhere” and “What Am I Doing Here” but for every upbeat strum-along like “Head Over Heels” there were more slower numbers, “Bad Timing”, “Cynthia”, “Disappear’ and “Dust to Gold”. Overall too many slow numbers rolled for the venue involved.

After three decades Blue Rodeo have a deep well of songs to draw from but they tossed in a few songs from other folks. Along with a cover of Dean Martin’s “Little Ol’ Wine Drinker Me.” sung by bassist Basil Donovan, Lee Hazlewood’s “The Railroad” was covered and Keelor said they were going to cover The Sadies “Palace of Gold” but that’s a BR track, The Sadies just made it their own.

The Sadies had their own album to plug. Northern Passages was released the day before and they ran through a few of the tracks. The four-piece have moved from being an instrumental backing band to bona fide songwriters. The songs they played from the new record are among their strongest yet, the Motorhead riff-off, “Another Season Again” just roars.

The lions of Blue Rodeo don’t roar as loudly these days but there’s every reason they will be around for another season and more. And do take the opportunity to see them. Check in on them when they come to your town, regardless of venue. They have given us so much it may be our turn to carry them and give them a break when they show their age occasionally.

1000 Arms carry Blue Rodeo to Oshawa's TCC Feb 11, The Sadies chum along

Funny how the success of Blue Rodeo isn’t measured in terms of how well they do in the States. The multi-Juno winners and Canadian Music Hall of Famers have been performing for three decades and do quite well for themselves in Canada, criss-crossing as they are currently are, with a stop at Oshawa’s TCC on Feb 11 2017 but there isn’t the same sense of ‘if only’ as there is around the Tragically Hip say. Neither band cares I imagine, about Billboard hits, red carpets or Grammys, they just do what they do and fans dig it or not.

Photo by Dustin Rabin

Blue Rodeo, (now founding members Greg Keelor, Jim Cuddy and Basil Donovan, new guy Glenn Milchem on drums (joined in 1990), guitarist Colin Cripps who joined them a few years back and Michael Boguski on piano who came in around ten years ago), just keep digging in the country, drawing inspiration from the roots and harvesting the fruits of melodies stretching back to when the first fiddler fiddled his way into the hearts of well worn settlers.

The Blue Rodeo sound settles in on the back of traditional folk melodies and the immaculate Keelor/Cuddy harmonies but there is a whole lot of pub rock in there too. The duo did come out of Toronto’s Queen St. punk scene after all, ultimately finding their voice in what we now call Americana but we all know is really Canadiana.

While the band hasn’t ventured too far out of their groove they have not been resting on their collective guitars. Sure a concert is always going to have Cuddy testing his uppers on Try and Keelor banging out a metal-on-metal crashing guitar solo on Lost Together but they have consistently released album after album of on-the-spot song writing that always seems to say something honest, real and authentic about their lives and in their personal stories we hear ours. There has never been a sense that the albums have been phoned in regardless of how one rates them in the Blue Rodeo line-up (of course Five Days in July is #1, that’s just a given.)

Even an album such as The Things We Left Behind, from 2009, rates high, not too many bands have been able to churn out such consistently good volume over three decades. It could be due to the band’s disregard for popularity and Grammys and Billboards. They are not chasing fans, they make their own.

Their latest album 1000 Arms is just as strong as anything they have dropped before. The band, with members in their 60s, are still quite capable of churning out a back bar rocker, ‘Superstar’ for instance or ‘Rabbit Foot’, even if the tempo is somewhat slower than their debut hits, 'Heart Like Mine' or 'Jokers Wild', but the grizzled snarl and hockey stare is still there. Don’t mess with these puck handy punks.

Photo by Dustin Rabin

Within Blue Rodeo there is the tension of the hockey dad persona of Cuddy and the hot darkness of Keelor which gets played out over the course of every album. On 1000 Arms Keelor once again airs out his darker views on relationships and his stories around intense melancholic lovers, they make an appearance on the soft slider, ‘Mascara Tears’, “It’s a curse, your sympathy and faith, you never hesitate to forgive."

Cuddy is and has been the advocate, the seeker, searching for and finding solace in the slightest of human gestures. On the title track he sings, “But all the cops, they know about her/ she has so many friends around her/ that when she’s feeling sick and down/ there’s a thousand arms to bring her back around”. 

The album title comes from the band’s faith in their own community, one they grew out of and one they have nurtured over thirty years; acts like the Skydiggers, The Sadies, Cuff The Duke, Ron Sexsmith, Kathleen Edwards, Sarah McLachlan, Cowboy Junkies, Whitehorse, Crash Vegas,The Hip, Sarah Harmer, Ladies of the Canyon, Great Big Sea.

Those thousand arms symbolize the thousands more they rely on, the thousands more who will carry them across the country and while there a few surprises at a Blue Rodeo concert perhaps Cuddy or Keelor will see all those raised arms as an opportunity to crowdsurf like the young punks they once were. Going by the songs on this new album, it seems they still are.  My money's on Cuddy to jump in the pit first. 

Sunday Girl meets Stupid Girl, Blondie and Garbage at the Sony Centre July 26

We at SlowCity.ca will take every opportunity to run a pic of Debbie Harry, but there is actual reason with a show announcement of Blondie pairing up with Garbage for the Rage 'n Rapture Tour across North America including one at the Sony Centre in Toronto July 26 2017.  Its an MRG Concert presentation, All Ages and Deap Valley opens. Make time for this.

Tickets -> 

Crash Vegas announce date at The Danforth in Toronto Apr 13, with Doug Paisley

Crash Vegas was built in the late 1980s around Michelle McAdorey, Jocelyn Lanois, Colin Cripps now with Blue Rodeo and always with Blue Rodeo Greg Keelor. Their jangly folk-rock rose from the TO Queen St. urban roots scene, they garnered radio play, several albums, tours and then split. Too soon. Michelle McAdorey recently released a solo album, a gem of a record, and now has announced a show by Crash Vegas at the Danforth Music Hall in Toronto on Apr 13. Tickets are on sale Friday Feb 10. Doug Paisley opens.

Junos 2017 and Canada's 150 bring the past to the present

Juno nominations are out. The Canadian music industry will hand out the awards in Ottawa Apr 2 2017. Should be a doozy of an affair, it is Canada’s 150 birthday after all.

Shoutouts to The Strumbellas and Protest The Hero on their nominations; PTH are in the heavy metal category while the Strumbos get Fan Choice, Single and Group of the Year noms.

Gord Downie, both solo and with The Hip, gathers six nominations and it will be interesting if Downie continues down the same path he has been on advocating for no celebrations of Canada’s colonial past century and a half but rather a deeper investment by the country in the Truth and Reconciliation process.

With Buffy Saint Marie, A Tribe Called Red and the newly named Indigenous Music Album of the Year award there will be a broader spotlight on First Nations culture I’m sure. William Prince is nominated in the Indigenous Music category as well as in the Contemporary Roots category. Another interesting decision. 

Preoccupations 'Memory', because well, why not?

I got to get around to getting this record on physical, just too good and one of the best of 2016, - dudes are on tour with a few stops in Canada, nothing in our catchment area just yet but go see them wherever you can.