The softer side of pop takes on The Atria - Bryn, Cubs Refrain and Wooly play Apr 11

Will McGuirk April 11, 2019

By Will McGuirk

Well this will be interesting, three female fronted synth-fuelled acts on the Atria stage, a stage more used to the rage of cock rock, hard rock and punk rock. I’m betting the girls tear the place a new one.

That stage has seen it all and so have the regulars who must be among the biggest music fans in the city and the most knowledgeable. But three smooth as smooth pop bands are on this bill on this stage, its unusual, well, there you go, nu-Oshawa, prepare to be amazed etc.

Wooly are a band I’m digging a lot of late. We did a session with them. The four-piece are kats, Amika, Jonah, Alex and Chris, They will smother you in beauty, its their plan of attack; craft songs with a soulful glow, bright guitar, shiffle shuffle beats, slow and low bass and they will gather you in and there you are wrapped in the aural equivalent of embroidered boiler suits, yes even the trappings of the working class, the literal blue collar blues, are clouded up in this snuggly dream-pop. Wooly may just be exactly the soundtrack for these times of ours, filled with Netflix and get laid-off.

BRYN is from Toronto. She has a track , 'Honey” with a teaser video of appropriately dripping visuals but if you linger on the drops lingering on the lips you will see they’re dripping poison maaaaan. Don’t let the girl-next-door looks fool you, you’re living beside a femme-fatal attraction. Lorde help you.

Cubs Refrain, a two-piece, also from the Six, saddles up and saunters between the melancholy of Stars and the 80s Cancon earnestness of Eye Eye (remember Out On a Limb, no - Spotify that mother). The bio says the two met at university, marrying up the love of indie by one with the love of mainstream modern rock by the other or words to that effect. As they say in the 80s, they lay it on the line.

My Father’s Son - plays Springtide Festival in Uxbridge

Slowcity.ca Open Mic with Springtide performer My Father's Son, plus Merin, Old Man Canyon, Dead Soft, Bear's Den, Hayden Thorpe, Clinic, Ronley Teper & the Lipliners,

Will McGuirk April 10, 2019

Welcome, thanks for showing up. Its vital that, showing up, its what makes a scene. Showing up this week from Montreal is My Father’s Son., who will performing at the Springtide Music Festival of Uxbridge, just a couple of weeks away.

Also coming in is the Pavement-like Merin from Thunder Bay and Old Man Canyon from Vancouver and Dead Soft, also of Vancity. And some Brits breaking out, listen to the shimmer of Bear’s Den, the trilling beauty of Hayden Thorpe and the pyschedelia of Clinic. TO Art punk from Ronley Teper & the Lipliners, close out the mic. Dig in, thanks for showing up.

Shows:

My Father’s Son - Saturday/Sunday April 27 & 28 @ Springtide Music Festival, Uxbridge
Ronley Teper & the Lipliners - Friday, May 3 @ the Dakota Tavern, Toronto
Merin - Monday, May 6 @ The Burdock, Toronto
Old Man Canyon - Saturday, May 11 @ the Rivoli, Toronto
Bear’s Den - Friday, May 24 @ the Phoenix Concert Theatre, Toronto

S'up the Dubs!, Fontaines DC at Horseshoe Tavern Sep 13

Will McGuirk April 9, 2019

Fontaines DC, the Dublin band who are equal parts poetry and punk, A Joy Division with Lloyd Cole on the mic, are landing at the Legendary Horseshoe Tavern on Friday, Sept 13 2019. The Fontaines DC will drop their debut, Friday Apr 12, same day as the Shoe show tickets go on sale. Yes their first album, first, after lead stories in the major music mags and mentions by the music magic makers, and yes just their debut, ‘Dogrel’, so lot of hype around these kats but these Dubs are up for it I think. It reminds me of NIrvana, over a quarter century ago now but same buzz and I hope enough disaffected youth find a salvation in this rock ‘n roll as many did in the 90s with Cobain & Co and maybe even what some found 50 years ago in those first sneers of MC5 and Iggy. Yip, the pressure is on but they’re Irish, I think they can take it all on and go BIG!

Slowcity.ca Open Mic - Show and Tell edition with Jitensha, Jadea Kelly, Pup, Haviah Mighty, Operators,

Will McGuirk April 8, 2019

By Will McGuirk

The nice weather brings out the neighbours, gets folks on the street, chatting about winter issues and Spring plans. Those who have been woodshedding projects bring them out and its time now to see what the artists have been making. My child and his pals are among those airing out songs in public. They have a band, Mary & Adelaide. They have a show at the Diezel Room, DT Oshawa on Friday, April 12. They are on a bill with Montrealers, Jitensha, an indie folk duo, also airing out songs and taking them on the road. Jitensha will kick off this open mic and the brilliance of Jadea Kelly will dispel any winter hangovers with her Old Weird America cover of “Amazing Grace”. Pup, Haviah Mighty, and my one of my fave acts Operators also drop by,

Shows

Jitensha - Friday April 12, The Diezel Room, Oshawa
Haviah Mighty - Friday, May 3 @ the Drake Underground, Toronto
Jadea Kelly - Thursday, May 9 @ The Burdock, Toronto
Pup - Sunday, July 7 @ RBC Echo Beach, Toronto

Oshawa Music Awards Best New Artists Rooks McCoy aka Sonny Hendrixx - photo by Will McGuirk

Oshawa Music Awards winners include Rooks McCoy, Jeff Dalziel, Crown Lands and Roberta Michele

Will McGuirk April 8, 2019

The 2019 Oshawa Music Awards were handed out Saturday, Apr 6 at the Robert McLaughlin Gallery. The award show is the culmination of a week of activities created by the Music Business Management program at Durham College. DC president Don Lovisa was on hand as was councillor Derek Giberson. Many of the nominees were also in attendance for this, the second annual award show, including members of Killer Dwarfs, Weapons and Crown Lands.

Rooks McCoy (aka Sonny Hendrixx) won best new artist, Crown Lands won best artist. The Killer Dwarfs were nominated in the Lifetime Achievement category. Other nominees in the Lifetime category include Lori Yates, Kat Burns who performed on the night, Cuff The Duke and the winner, Roberta Michele.

The event was well run and well attended, as was the recent Rural Alberta Advantage show which was also an OMW event. The RAA gig was sold-out. Jen Fox, operations director at NXNE and a grad of the MBM program has been involved in the organization of the week as an advisor.

Having Oshawa in the title lends a certain weight to the awards which are in essence just a class project for the students and little to do with the creative community at large. There are discussions I understand about having the event set up as an independent entity, with students still being involved and Durham College as a potential sponsor. I would encourage such an evolvement.

It was something discussed last year when I was asked to host. It is easy to see how Jen Fox or other alumni could take it on and make it a success. We know the musicians of Oshawa need every bit of support and publicity they can get.

I would suggest two changes however to the voting, which is public and laudable for that reason, but the choice of Industry Leader or Lifetime Achievement awards should not be a fan choice affair.

How do you compare Lifetime achievements between the Dwarfs and Cuff The Duke? How can students who are from other towns know, who, even to nominate before it gets to the public voting on the list? Oshawa residents themselves don’t even know their own musicians, in particular those in the indie scene.

Last year in my discussions I and others had suggested Mike Shulga for the Lifetime Achievement Award, it was past the deadline for submissions so it didn’t happen but I also had to explain who Mike was and what his contributions to the Canadian music scene were, and not just to the students but to faculty too! Ultimately there was a mid-show video tribute to Mike.

There is also a potential bias towards mainstream acts, the program is for teaching the business of music not the craft after all, so once again indie artists can be overlooked as they operate outside the industry channels.

No point pointing out problems if one can’t offer solutions however so I suggest the organisers use the same process they used to choose Melissa Dandero for the inaugural Alumni Achievement Award.

That process can be the template for both the Industry Leader and Lifetime Achievement. Dandero’s award was not on the public list so there is a a different mechanism available.

Add in greater consultation with those who are actively engaged in the Oshawa music scene and these awards can grow into something the city as a whole can get behind.

Here are the Oshawa Music Awards’s winners for 2019:

Best New Artist - Rooks McCoy aka Sonny Hendrixx
Best Artist - Crown Lands
Best Live Venue - The Music Hall
Industry Leader - Jeff Dalziel
Lifetime Achivement - Roberta Michele
Alumni Achievement Award - Melissa Dandeno

(This article was edited Monday Jan 10 2022 to reflect Sonny Hendrixx’s name change)

Whats in the bottom drawer? Chastity releases 'Cuts' first single and video

Will McGuirk April 7, 2019

By Will McGuirk

Chastity will release a four song EP, “Death Lust Cuts”, on April 17 2019. It will be available on Captured Tracks. The songs were recorded during the sessions for the album, ‘Death Lust” but were cut from the final release. Chastity (aka Brandon Williams) has an affinity for those who don’t quite measure up so he is giving the songs a second chance, a chance to shine. The first track, “Trepidation” has been released with a video directed by Brandon.

Stars come out for Mariposa 2019, also Tom Cochrane and Red Rider join line-up

Will McGuirk April 7, 2019

Indie power-folk supergroup Stars are joining the already substantial star powered line-up for the 2019 Mariposa Festival in Orillia, July 5-7. Jason Isbel, First-Aid Kit, Hawksley Workman, Carole Pope and Fred Penner have already been announced along with many others.

And if thats not enough for you, well just steady on and get ready for the Red; Canadian roots-rock, more rock than roots sure, but roots rock nevertheless, icon, Tom Cochrane and Red Rider are also making their way to the shores of the lauded Lake Couchiching.

Festival info is available here ->

Its Major Love at the Greenbank Folk Club Apr 27

Will McGuirk April 6, 2019

The Greenbank Folk Club continues its 2019 season with Major Love and opener Campbell Woods on Saturday Apr 27.

Major Love is the moniker of singer/songwriter Colleen Brown’s collaboration with members of Alberta band, Scenic Route to Alaska along with Elijah Abrams.

As a solo artist Brown has released four albums, the latest ‘Direction’ being co-produced with Joel Plaskett. While on a tour in Britain she shared a stage with the Scenic Route and a Major Love developed between them.

They have released an album, “Tear It Down” which features a further collaboration with Elijah Abrams.

Singer/songwriter Campbell Woods has been road testing his 2017 debut, “Oxford Street” since its release. Influences are as diverse as Al Tuck and Townes Van Zandt.

Tickets for the show are available via the website or at Blue Heron Books in Uxbridge.

The Standstills spread their wings over "The Badlands", play Oshawa Music Hall Apr 5

Will McGuirk April 5, 2019

By Will McGuirk

Live in the moment, sure, but, hard-rock two-piece The Standstills suggest you pick a particular moment to live in.

This riff’n’ rhythm couple have picked their moment; stood still, midday, no shadows, dusty Western Main street, eye glinting, toothpick chewing, hands hovering - hold it. . . hold it. . . hold it. . . then attack with machine gun intensity. The moment for The Standstills is where High Noon becomes Hateful 8.

The Standstills, fresh off a European tour with The Lazys and currently on tour with Monster Truck, which brings them to the Oshawa Music Hall Friday Apr. 5, 2019, have just released their debut album, ‘Badlands’. Its available on eOne.

Renee Couture. Photo by Mirjana Simeunovich

And like the title implies yes these kats are from the Badlands; Oshawa for guitarist, Jonny Fox, and London On. for drummer Renee Couture, but by way of the Joshua Tree Desert and the graveyards of Spaghetti Western composer, Ennio Morricone.

The Western Outlaw movie genre inspires the band. But not just the sonics, it’s also the cinematography, the ability to hold the viewer, to increase the intensity of the experience, and still hold, eye’s locked, no blinking, no submission, until its just raw energy screaming at you.

The duo don’t have all the orchestration, there’s just the two of them after all so they strip it all down to just the ecstasy of the golden moment.

“We are really into the Old Wild West movies, the way the music was done, all that stuff, that’s why we love it, and we bring that into the music, we have a passion for the cinematography. They took their time on certain pans and moments and really make you get deep into the character without any dialogue.” says Fox.

The band had some downtime between shows and were in Oshawa where they live. Slowcity.ca chatted with them over jugs of beer at Riley’s Pub.

“Creatively for us there are no rules, and for them too no rules, just doing what they think what they are passionate about and telling the stories,” says Fox.

“At the end of the European tour we were close to going to the cemetery where they filmed The Good, The Bad and The Ugly,” says Couture.

It was only the capacity of the bus there that derailed the plan she says.

Couture says “The album track, “Red Skies” was written with the cemetery scene from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly in mind but it written for a very good friend dealing with brain cancer. We ended it with the campfire scene because for us that was where we could get deep and real, life and death.”

It was to end the album she says but they close instead with a bonus track, “Liquor Store.” That song begins with the line “I spend my days at the will of no one/ I was a soldier but I hung up my gun,”

It’s as good a song as any to end an album with the the theme of outlaws on the run running through it.

“‘Cold Blooded Killer’ is a Bonnie and Clyde feel, and we ran with it. We are a two-piece, male and female so the Bonnie & Clyde stuck,” says Couture.

For the Standstills’ first single, the previously released “Wild”, the two shot the video in the Joshua Tree Park in California, a place with a rich history for musicians from Gram Parsons to U2.

The desert took hold.

“When you go there and you are a fan of the Wild West, the moment you put your feet in the sand, you are home, its home, I would live there,” says Couture

“We had a day off and the team were going to Santa Monica, but I don’t care for that so we said let’s go to the desert, lets go to Joshua Tree and the studio where Queens of the Stone Age and Eagles of Death Metal work out of. We would have stayed over but the hotel was sold out.

We went to the Pappy and Harriet’s roadhouse we had seen on Anthony Bourdain’s show, where he is getting hammered on tequila with Josh from Stone Age. We go and there is a chalkboard and it says Terry Reid tonight. We are wondering if this is the Terry Reid who was asked to be the singer of Led Zeppelin before Plant, and I asked and the hostess says, I don’t know if it is but they have a famous drummer, some guy called Daniel Lanois!” says Fox.

But we had to leave because no hotel room.” says Couture.

Fox who says he is more a fan of the ocean agrees, he too has an affinity for the desert, but it’s for the space and possibilities. How to provide the soundtrack for that feeling of looking out over the vastness of an ocean or an ocean of sand?

“We marry the two ideas of what it is like being in a band and the visuals we have that helps us. In the lyrics for Shaker Down, ‘In the black, hear the roar, gotta all just wait to want her‘ - it’s like being backstage and hearing the crowd but it’s also like Jesse James Gang waiting in the darkness of the night, the roar is the train, so for us bringing those ideas in and visualizing them, seeing both things and how they work together, we are syncing the lyrics into pictures.” says Fox.

Much of the expansion of the sound falls on the shoulders and the feet of Fox, who has intricate pedal set-up. His inspiration as a player come from those who pushed the guitar way beyond its perceived limits.

“It’s all in the tone, the way he has that grit, the reverb. People look at his pedalboard and try to figure it out,” says Couture, “but it comes down to so many elements that make up this monster he has created. There is so much going on and it’s taken ten years to come up with a combination that is still ever changing. I don’t even go into the guitar store with him anymore I know how long he is going to be and he will come home with ten new pedals, to try and find this particular niche sound.”

“I love searching,” says Fox, “the first guitarist I was into was Jimi Hendrix and the second, Tom Morello. He was way ahead of the curve, before Jack White on the whammy. I thought it was cool and exciting for a guitar player to be creating sounds that don’t sound like they come from the guitar.”

The album was finished in Nashville with Eddie Spear, who has worked with Lady GaGa and Chris Stapleton. Spears is from the UK originally and has been shifting from engineering to mixing and producing. He has also been collecting those pieces of gear as they showed up in auctions or in vintage stores.

“We feel like we caught him just at the right moment,” says Fox, “We went down to Nashville and it was unreal. All the little ghostly things on the album, all the things happening in the back that pop the more you listen to the album, all of that is ear candy.”

Fox says it is all of those extras which make the classic albums so sustainable, the way you can keep going back and hearing new things.

“On “Diablo”, there is a vocal line, and there is a whoo hoooo outer spacey sound, and that was created using a reverb box used on Dark Side of the Moon and Live at Pompeii. You can see in Live At Pompeii Pink Floyd messing around with it at one point. So Spears is playing with it and creating these unique sounds and textures to that song. It can never be recreated, its the delayed and the timing and my vocals and all the candy,” he says.

Couture says Spears calls it going down the rabbit hole.

And that’s the trip through “The Badlands”; propulsive, driven, on the run, popping into sonic rabbit holes with no idea where you will pop up, in the desert, in graveyards, at campfires or right at that moment at high noon when two face off, hands hovering. . .

and Clint Eastwood appears between Lee Van Cleef and Gian Maria Velonté.

Slowcity.ca Open Mic - Brantford Calling Edition with Saffron A, Nature Of, Racket Man, JD McPherson, Language Arts, Eat Your Heart Out, Leanne Hoffman,

Will McGuirk April 3, 2019

By Will McGuirk

We like to keep y’all up to date on the tunes that are dropping and as our Monday Open Mic has been rad but there is a lot of music coming in, we are launching another Open Mic and launching today with Brantford, ON, (Yay we love the Bell City here) singer/songwriter Saffron A. Also signed up are Nature Of , Racket Man, JD McPherson, Language Arts, Eat Your Heart Out and Leanne Hoffman. Soul-crooners, Racket Man are going to do a longer set with a few songs from their release, ‘Recreational Magic.”

Shows
Saffron A - Friday, May 3 at The Burdock, Toronto
Leanne Hoffman - Wednesday, May 22 at The Burdock, Toronto

Interview with Nils Edenloff of Rural Alberta Advantage - the RAA play Oshawa Music Hall Apr 4

Will McGuirk April 3, 2019

By Will McGuirk

It’s been over a decade since the Rural Alberta Advantage played Oshawa. It was at the Velvet Elvis, where, as part of the show, the trio played unplugged outside on King Street.

“If I remember correctly that was in the fall of 2006 for Jonas Bonnetta's CD Release,” says singer Nils Edenloff “and I'm quite certain that was the only time that we've had the privilege of playing Oshawa.”

The RAA are returning Thursday, Apr. 4 2019, to play the Oshawa Music Hall, an event organised by students in the Music Business Management program at Durham College. It is part of the program’s annual Oshawa Music Week activities.

The Toronto-based percussive driven folk band went quickly from impromptu street busking in Oshawa to sold-out tours, a global audience and coverage in the major music papers, Rolling Stone, Pitchfork and the NY Times. They have been nominated for two Junos, long-listed for the Polaris Music Prize and they won the CBC Music Prize for Best Independent Artist in 2014. Four albums have been released, the most recent in 2017.

The RAA, along with Edenloff, are drummer Paul Banwatt and keyboardist Amy Cole. They share a label, Paper Bag Records, with Oshawa alt-country outfit Cuff The Duke and beyond stories from C.T.D., Edenloff says he has no first-hand knowledge of the city.

“That being said having spent my early years between Edmonton and Fort McMurray, and growing up in a solidly industry driven town, I definitely feel for Oshawa especially with the plant closures,” he says.

Mappe Of (aka Tom Meikle, from Whitby) will open the show. Edenloff says he has seen Meikle a couple of times and likes what he hears.

“There is a delicate beauty to the songs that he's created,” says Edenloff, “it's something that we've always struggled to achieve. Over time I think Paul, Amy and I have constantly been moving towards sounding bigger and louder, so I think the OMW show is going to be an interesting juxtaposition, sort of like Fire and Ice. Perfect for an early Spring show.”

Mappe Of returns the compliment, “There’s a palpable energy to their live shows,” he says, “and a charming Canadian identity thats goes beyond their name.”

Songs of seasons, geography, weather, are common across their albums, from their debut, “Hometowns” released in 2010 to their most recent, “The Wild’ issued in 2017. The route, between those titles, is one familiar to Canadian bands. From the Rheostatics to the Sam Roberts Band, they all travel across Canada, driving from big city to small town, leaving their homes driving into the wild blue yonder, writing of the experience. For The RAA, the road too is a muse. The people and places, past and present, they encounter, find their way into the songs. Restlessness, homelessness, search, belonging are also themes but as the band moved from hometowns to the wild they have ironically gotten closer to a place to call their own, musically and physically.

“Well at this point I've been calling Toronto home for a little over 17 years, which is definitely the longest I've ever stayed in any one place without moving on, so I feel like I've put down some roots at this point,” Edenloff says..

“I will say though that we've done a fair amount of touring since you first saw us at the Velvet Elvis and the life of a musician inherently involves embracing a certain amount of placeless-ness. So as long as we're still playing shows I feel like there will always be a healthy mix of restlessness and longing for home.

Edenloff says it’s the wilderness where he perhaps best allays the longing.

“I honestly can't think of a more calming feeling than having some time to yourself out in the middle of nowhere,” he says.

Fellow Albertan Jann Arden once called Oshawa the middle of nowhere so Edenloff should find himself quite at home here.

Slowcity.ca Open Mic: No jokes just great tunes from Jenn Grant, The Strumbellas, Yoke Lore, Justin Wright, Luca Fogale, Tariq, the Middle Kids and more

Will McGuirk April 1, 2019

By Will McGuirk

Nature has been playing enough japes on us so there’s no need for the annual con on this April 1. We have a full line-up of known and new, stars and starters for the open mic. The list has Yoke Lore, Justin Wright, The Strumbellas, Close Talkers, Lydia Persaud, Tim Moxam, Jenn Grant, Radical Face, Luca Fogale, Tariq, Middle Kids on it. We are getting a lot of players as you can see and hear so we may have to add another open mic day, maybe Wednesdays. Dig in.

SHOWS

Middle Kids - Mon. May 27 @ the Phoenix, Toronto
Tim Moxam - Tues. April 9 @ The Burdock, Toronto
Lydia Persaud - Wed. June 19 @ the Drake Underground, Toronto
Jenn Grant - Sat. June 1 @ the Danforth Music Hall, Toronto

Kalle Mattson and Jim Bryson make stop at Uxbridge's Springtide on the Road to Riverfest tour.

Will McGuirk March 31, 2019

By Will McGuirk

Ottawa-based artist Kalle Mattson has been pushing the boundaries of what this whole singer/songwriter moniker is since the get-go. He started out as folk singer, moving into folktronica and now full-on techtronica with this remix from Rainer & Grimm, folks have worked with Drake and The Weeknd. Mattson will be playing the Springtide Fest in Uxbridge Apr 26 2019. Its a stop on a roadtrip to Elora’s Riverfest. Jim Bryson will be onboard.