Hamilton Indie Bands Live on the Radio

We are pumped to have a bunch of Hamilton Bands join us on the CHCanada.com Indie Radio Show this coming Wednesday. The bands you'll hear performing in the Caledon Radio Studio are as follows:

The Cartakers
Matt Paxton
Barry Mac
and the fabulous Mississppi Kings. If you listen to the show you know we like this act. They have a classic rockin' sound that mixes blues and funk with equal messure. It is an interesting stew of influences. Even the songs they cover are interesting - case in point is this attached video of them performing the old Marvin Gaye classic "What's Goin' On" with all proceeds going to charity. Now that's putting your money where your mouth is!
Be sure to tune into Radio Caledon on Wednesday night from 8 till 10 EST to hear some really unique performances. And if you miss the show, you can upload it from this blog.

Rae Sun - Live on CBC Radio

This past Saturday new up and comer Rae Sun performed live in the studio on CBC Radio One's GO.

Born in Ghana Africa he immigrated to Canada when he was eleven years old. The family made their way to this Country in the coldest month of the year - January.

He performs here with his crack touring band. Check out this clip and let us know what you think.

Most Popular Act of 2009 - Corb Lund

This country act is "the dark horse" of the musical race, to use a gambling term. Here is the lowdown on the Corb Lund You Tube clip attached:
Corb played Toronto for two nights at the venerable Horseshoe Tavern. This is a famous club downtown which has featured all kinds of musical acts - from The Police on one of their first tours, to Stompin' Tom Connors who filmed a movie there.
Anyway, Corb plays The Horsehoe on Friday, into the wee hours of the morning (the encore was played after 2:AM).

Corb gets a few hours shut-eye and then he's up bright and early for his performance on CBC Radio's GO. He had to be there for a 7:30 AM sound check.
In this clip he is performing at about 10:AM on the Saturday morning. He looks and sounds a little bushed. But what a trouper!

The kicker to all of this is that this clip has become the most popular clip on the DirkFimbob Channel. Go figure! Check it out and let me know what you think.

Is Hamilton the new Seattle?

I've had a few days to reflect on my trip down the QEW to Hamilton, for the Hamilton Music Awards. This City has had it's fair share of unemployment and heartache over the last decade, with massive job losses in their manufacturing sector. If you are like most people, your only view of Hamilton is when you are flying along the highway going over the Skyway Bridge on your way to Niagara Falls and the US Border, or on your way to Toronto. It is not a very impressive sight, unless you are in the steel biz. Dirty smokestacks and flames from coke ovens are like a throughback to another era. And maybe they are.

Hamilton is reinventing itself as an arts and music town. With the downtown core neglected and frankly mishandled by local government mis-steps, pricing of real estate is in the basement - a far cry from the high rents and exorbitant costs of Toronto living. So, artists and musicians are flocking to Hamilton - remaking the city. And the whole arts culture is thriving.

Thus the 8th annual Hamilton Music Awards. As host Tom Wilson tells it, many of Canada's musical talent are from Hamilton (including rock royalty such as Daniel Lanois). Lanois has a very nice converted warehouse on Wellington Street in downtown Toronto where he stays when in Ontario, otherwise he owns a house in Hamilton (near Tom’s house) as he always has. Hamilton is Daniel’s hometown. (he also has homes in L.A. and Jamaica). His mother, brother and sister all live in Hamilton. Lanois arrived in Hamilton from Hull at the age of nine with his family, went to school here and established their first studios here, recording with Eno and many others. He still comes to Hamilton a lot to see family and friends. Lanois was the second artist to be given a lifetime achievement award at the HMAs.

Check this clip out of husband and wife team Melissa McCelland and Luke Doucet. This fab couple have come back to Hamilton to live - make the trip down to the Hammer for a show or to see a gallery. You'll be surprised.

Symphony Of Nine - Prog Rock comes to Caledon Radio

Wednesday night we had a great performance by a Toronto Band on the verge of greatness. With their new CD Radio, Symphony of Nine are a band that is unique in sound. All of the members are too young to remember the hay day of progressive '70's rock - in fact some of the members weren't even born in the '70's. But their sound is a throw back to the "Classic Rock" sound. Shades of Styx, Queen, Kansas, and even Wings sneak into their groove.

They came in and played unplugged on the CHCanada.com Indie Radio Show. Check out one of their performances on the attached You Tube Clip. If you like this band check out their entire unplugged set by uploading the podcast of the show. It can be found at the Wednesday November 25, 2009 link. Drop me a line and let me know what you think of this new band...

Best Instrumentation of 2009 - The Hidden Cameras

This band had the most interesting instrumentation of any bands seen in 2009. What pop band can claim to have a harpist (real harp player, not a harmonica), and a cello player and an upright bass player in the band?

Here The Hidden Cameras perform live in the CBC Radio One's GO studio early one Saturday morning.

They are like tonic to sooth your aching mind. Relax and float downsteam listening to this...

Funky Ladies heat up the Radio Studio

Saidah Baba Talibah, the Canadian singer/songwriter has been performing most of her life. Singing back up vocals for a who's who of Canadian artists, she is now putting stuff out on her own.

With some solid support from her sisters, including the incredible guitar playing of Donna Grantis, these ladies have to be heard.

Check em out on My Space, or click on the video link below to see and hear the ladies in action!

Sleepy Cowboy sings the gambling blues

Corb Lund is travelling this great big country from coast to coast singing his brand of new country. He's got a great way with words, and his songs are actually about something. He sings about losers, real cowboys, and gamblers. In fact this song is written about him. Yes he's the one looking for that one game that will make his fortune.

A real trouper he showed up early one Saturday morning with just his guitar. With only a few hours sleep, Corb rose to the challenge and performed two songs on CBC Radio's GO.

Dave Bidini Talks about rock, hockey and Canada

Just in time for the hockey seaon, fellow blog readers may like this interview with Dave Bidini. This is part one of the interview. He talks hockey, Canada and rock.

Off the beaten path a bit, but he is always a lot of fun. Bidini is co-founder of Rheostatics (one of Canada's hidden treasures) and is now in BidiniBand. He is currently touring to promote his new album "The Land is Wild".

Montreal Mystique is a website that explores the intersection of sports, the arts and culture.

http://www.montrealmystique.ca/

CHCanada.com Radio Show now a Pod Cast

There is a new Radio Show dedicated to Canadian Independent Artists - it's the CHCanada.com Radio Show, live from the Caledon Radio studios. This new show is in conjunction with Songs From the Woods, the indie radio show bringing Radio-land new and upcoming recording artists.

Once a month (usually the last Wednesday of the month)the CHCanada.com Radio Show will feature live guests in studio. Show hosts Rick Jones and Tom Beyer will talk about upcoming shows, chat about faves, and generally have a great time uncovering new and obscure Canadian independent recording artists.

What is an indie recording artist? This is an act that doesn't have a record deal with a major record company. This is a musical act that uses it's own financing to put out a CD and then goes out on the road to actively promote the record that they have put their heart and soul (and $$$) into.

We like these people! We think they need exposure to music lovers everywhere. That is what the show is all about - bringing you some wicked new artists who believe in what they are doing, and are not afraid to put their money where their mouth is.

So check the radio show out on Radio Caledon, or listen to the pod casts that are available for downloading on this blog. All of the shows will be stored and can be listened to at your request.

http://www.radiocaledon.com