By Will McGuirk
The night symphony in full voice in the garden which earlier played host to monarchs idling their way south, holding on to another hour dancing in the sun, like me holding on to another hour outside, reluctant to leave this still night and the companionship of the Harvest moon.
By Will McGuirk
Slowcity.ca pals Walrus have a new album coming which is good news in itself but there is more good news, the Haligonian psyche-rockers are coming to Oshawa, hooking up with Wintersleep at the Music Hall Oct 3, 2019. The album ‘Cool To Who’ will release Oct 19 2019. The new single has a video created by the multi-talented Chad VanGaalen. Tour dates for Walrus below.
TOUR DATES
Sept 17: Quebec City, QC - L’anti
Sept 18: Kingston, ON - Mansion
Sept 19: Toronto, ON - Horseshoe Tavern
Sept 20: Watsons Corner, ON - Hollowfest
Sept 21: Barrie, ON - Fox Lounge / Troubadour Festival
Sept 25: Fredericton, NB - The Fredericton Playhouse **
Sept 26: Moncton, NB - Tide & Boar **
Oct 3: Oshawa, ON - Oshawa Music Hall #
Oct 4: Midland, ON - Midland Cultural Centre #
Oct 26: Halifax, NS - Marquee / Halifax Pop Explosion $
Nov 1: Sackville, NS - Thunder & Lightning
Nov 2: Saint John, NB - Pepper’s Pub
Nov 8: Truro, NS - Engine Room Pub
Nov 9: Charlottetown, PEI - Baba’s
** w/ Thrush Hermit
# w/ Wintersleep
$ w/ Diet Cig
By Will McGuirk
By the good grace of a friend I was at the first Secret Path show at the Roy Thompson Hall in Toronto. A moving affair given the storyline and the chap involved. After the trial of a final Hip tour one expected that would be it for Gord Downie as a public figure. But he launched another project; the album, shows, video, book to tell the story of Chanie Wenjack and the curse of residential schools for indigenous youth across Canada. The schools, rank with abuses, ran for decades, even as many young people ran from them, some to perish trying to make it back to their home. Chanie was one of those many children. Secret Path was Downie’s telling of the boy’s tale.
Downie made that real in so beautiful a manner at the end of the RTH show I attended I wept, the whole room wept. And I made a vow based on how lucky I was to be there that I would continue in whatever fashion available to me to continue to share the stories of First Nations and Canada’s absolute need to reconcile these historic wrongs.
Buffy Sainte-Marie
On October 19, 2019, ‘Secret Path Live’ returns to the RTH stage. Buffy Sainte-Marie, Sam Roberts, Tanya Tagaq, July Talk, William Prince, Whitehorse, and Tom Wilson and the Secret Path band ( Kevin Hearn (Barenaked Ladies), Kevin Drew (Broken Social Scene), Josh Finlayson (Skydiggers), Dave Hamelin (The Stills), and Charles Spearin (Do Make Say Think) will perform the album once again.
The show will take place during Secret Path Week, Oct 17 (the anniversary of Downie’s death) to Oct 22 ( the day twelve year old Chanie died in 1966). The Week is a national movement calling on all Canadians to answer Downie’s call to “Do Something” to forward reconciliation.
Mike Downie, co-founder and DWF board member says in a press release, “The Secret Path project was incredibly important to Gord. His passion and tenacity to help tell Chanie’s story never wavered and our hope is that it will continue to inspire Canadians to get involved and support this country on the path towards reconciliation for years to come. This night is one small example of what my brother Gord dreamed of for this country - Indigenous and non-Indigenous coming together to create a more complete, inclusive and equitable country.”
Answer the call, do something. Eleven million people watched Downie and the Hip perform that last show in Kingston. Eleven million people can do a lot of somethings.
Tom Wilson
Photo by Rima Sater
By Will McGuirk
There are two very chunky thrash pandas scaling the neighbour’s fence. They are slow and hang on the wood like saggy bags filled with liquid. They take one backward glance, their eyes flash in the streetlight, before disappearing down the other side. I can hear their nails clawing at the splintering planks. It is garbage night. I wonder where the predators are.
Photo by Rachel Pick
By Will McGuirk
We will let this one do its own talking; superb video, powerful track.
Tour dates close to us here in Shwarockcity are:
Nov 2 - Toronto, ON - The Cameron House
Nov 3 - Kingston, ON - Musikki Cafe
Nov 5 - Elora, ON - The Porch Light
Nov 6 - Hamilton, ON - Mills Hardware
By Will McGuirk
Happy to hear new tunes from one of our fave singer/songwriters Jerry Leger. And we are thrilled Jerry will launch the album at Kops Oshawa on its release date, Nov. 8 2019. The new album, ‘Time Out for Tomorrow’ is the Torontonian’s third time working with Michael Timmins (Cowboy Junkies) and is available on Latent Recordings. Check out the song here with its evocative vibe carried on a gypsy tailwind and a nod to The Replacements.
Photo by Pooneh Ghana
Its a Goldilocks affair - you want small, big, medium, something in-between the in-between - whatev’ your preference the alt-folkies of The Strumbellas have you covered in the Six TwentyTwenty. The tour jumps off in Victoria Jan 9 2020. Dates in Toronto are Jan 21 at the Cameron; Jan 22 at the Dakota; Jan 23 at the Legendary Horseshoe Tavern, Jan 25 at the Phoenix; Jan 26 at the Danforth Music Hall. So choose your style, the Cameron tickets will be part of a contest with details to follow. Five chances. They will also be playing Peterborough, London ON and Kitchener. No ShwarockCity gig. Tickets on sale Sep 13 2019.
UPCOMING TOUR DATES:
January 9, 2020 – Victoria, BC – Royal Theatre *
January 10, 2020 – Vancouver, BC – Commodore*
January 14, 2020 – Calgary, AB – Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium*
January 15, 2020 – Edmonton, AB – Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium*
January 16, 2020 – Saskatoon, SK – Coors Event Centre *
January 17, 2020 – Winnipeg, MB – Burton Cummings Theatre*
January 21, 2020 – Toronto, ON – Cameron House ^
January 22, 2020 – Toronto, ON – The Dakota Tavern
January 23, 2020 – Toronto, ON – Horseshoe Tavern
January 25, 2020 – Toronto, ON – Phoenix
January 26, 2020 – Toronto, ON – Danforth Music Hall
January 30, 2020 – Kitchener, ON – Centre in The Square *
January 31, 2020 – London, ON – London Music Hall *
February 7, 2020 – Peterborough, ON – Peterborough Memorial Centre*
February 14, 2020 – Quebec City, QC – Imperial Bell*
February 15, 2020 – Sherbrooke, QC – Theatre Granada*
* w/ special guests Neon Dreams
^ win to get in (details to come)
Catherine MacLellan, photo by Millefiore Clarkes
By Will McGuirk Catherine-MacLellan-credit-Millefiore-Clarkes.jpg
Wake me up when September ends, what!?! Wake me up when September starts, new music coming, who can keep up, we can because we dig, we dig it because we care and so do the good folks making all of this, and thats the lesson for this new semester, the future is unwritten, this is not your father’s future, its yours and the future has never been so unknown so make of it what you will, the old ways are crumbling, the world itself may be crumbling, and if we are going to rebuild we are going to need all the creative voices we can muster.
One day or day one, you decide- Azalyne
Emerging modern jazz singer/songwriter, Azalyne, will host her inaugural all ages open mic event at Kops Records in Oshawa. The in-store will talk place Sunday Sep 8, 1-5 p.m.
Slowcity.ca asked Azalyne the whys, wheres and whats of her decision to introduce this stage to Oshawa.
“I wanted to start a platform for Durham artists because it’s something we definitely need. It feels like I always have to go out to Toronto but I know some of us can’t exactly do that 4 times a week. Every artists needs to perform in front of an audience. I’ve got 5 feature artists to fill time since it’s the first open mic and I don’t know how big of a turnout we’ll get. but I hope to grow this event into something that could maybe even do a festival,” she says.
I've been singing for a long time, through vocal and piano lessons, and doing musical theatre. I found that it really sparked something in me. So I decided to pursue it and really go 'into the music industry' from the age of 9. I started out in a girl group, we would play at gigs all across Ontario and play our own instruments as well as tracks, it made me really realize that I could do this as a career. After a year I decided to leave the group as I wasn't really allowed to control how I was being presented as an artist. At that point, I was already writing and composing songs, and I had taught myself to play the guitar. I started going to open mics and from that, I was getting booked for real gigs. From there, I started hearing where musicians and creatives were hanging out. Even at 10, I was going into different workshops and rooms, even if people didn't think I should've been in them, I was listening and learning. I started getting more booked gigs and becoming more confident, developing a personality on stage, and writing even more originals. This is where I realized that artists need to be in front of a live audience in order to grow. In 2018 I released my first single 'You Are Mighty' on all major streaming platforms, which currently has 35,000 streams on Spotify. I've recently started performing live with a band, Vaughan Singh is my drummer, Caleb Klager is my bassist, and Mario Posella is my guitarist, and I sing and play the piano. I much prefer playing with them than by myself with tracks or just with my piano.
Back to my statement on artists needing to have a live audience to perform at. I found myself going to Toronto for almost everything related to my music career, music lessons, most gigs, band practice, studios, etc. It feels normal at this point but I know that it can be a challenge to go out to Toronto, not everyone has that luxury. And It's not that the Durham music scene doesn't have a lot of artists. There is definitely a lot of musicians around here, but there are no platforms, I hope to not only let the artist showcase their artistry but also let themselves develop in front of a crowd, I've partnered with System Music Warehouse that will provide amps, monitors, and mics. I have provided a piano and drum kit for artists or bands that want to use those. Doing The Music is coming to act as a DJ and also to run the sound system. I want to create a comfortable place for artists to perform and learn from each other. It's open to all artists, from spoken word to visual artists, any musical artist, regardless of genre or style, and any other kind of art that could be showcased.”
The Honest Heart Collective are pondering, “fine” - Fine? is it fine, is all fine really, when you say fine, are you, are you really, really? The band are playing the Oshawa Music Hall, Wednesday, Sept 11. Ask them if they are fine too.
Tami Neilson, photo by Sabin Holloway
By Will McGuirk
Who says there’s no great music anymore? So much great stuff cos there’s little money in it anymore so its all passion , and this is all passion, Red Arms from London ON, wow, loving it, that will get me out of bed - churning Doughboys riffage. That’s passion. Tami, Tourist Company, with passion; JayWood, Tamino, with passion. New Pornographers and Overcoats! Yah bring it on, please, bring it all on. Pop ate itself, now there’s only art left on the table. Get yr bib on!
Black Belt Eagle Scout
By Will McGuirk
Back to life, back to reality, melancholic memories of summer, and expectations for Fall, - but storms south of us here remind us of the work we have all to do. We have had time to gather, to discuss, to air, and to reassess, we have had close talkings, talking closer, we have work to do, a lot of work and it starts now. Talk closer, the change it brings
By Will McGuirk
The Laj and the Looks have been delivering one power pop gem after another for years, occasionally in Oshawa, mostly elsewhere. They have a new album out, coming on Yeah Right/Transistor 66, (great combo), it will be out Sep 13. They have a new single ‘Annie” and as befits a band with roots in both Ontario and Montreal it is available in both official languages. Either version, it powers and it pops. AND. . . the album cover was created by Archies Dan Parent. . . AND . . . the Archies theme song, '“Sugar, Sugar” came out 50 years ago and singer Andy Kim is new again and he also powers and pops. AND . . . Kim is from Montreal and well here’s “Annie.”