Arkells CD Jackson Square now available on CHCanada.com

These lads from the Hammer have a lot to be happy about. There is a real buzz about this band and it's easy to see why. Rock n Roll is not dead - just watch this clip and you'll see what I mean.

Their newest release, for which they won at the Hamilton Music Awards is Jackson Square...pick it up by going to this link:
http://www.chcanada.com/product/7972/Canadian_Sounds

Old school licks with a power and energy seldom found nowadays. Check em out here - caught at the Hamilton Music Awards a few months back.

Ben Somer and Matt Paxton Live on the radio

The Hockey Song - what can be more Canadian than hockey and Paul Coffey. Ben Somer brings his A game to the CHCanada.com Indie Radio Show and busts out this jem. It is an oldie that he has been playing recently at his latest gigs. Ben's latest release can be purchased by going to:
http://www.chcanada.com/category/Indie_Music?r=dfyt

Matt Paxton is a singer songwriter who is also touring with Ben at the moment. They have a similar sound - the new folk sound for the 21st century. These guys are good friends - just don't ask them to play together - they won't. But it was a lot of fun having them in the studio. Like old friends they joked and kidded each other about a variety of subjects. Oh to be able to broadcast what is said while the mics are off!

Take a listen and look at Matt - he also debuted a new song on the Indie Radio Show.
Check these guys out when they come to your town - you won't be disappointed.

Ben Somer and Matt Paxton live on the CHCanada.com Indie Radio Show

Indie music fans you are in for a treat next Wednesday when two of Canada's new minstrels come to play.

Ben Somer and Matt Paxton are the new faces of Canadian singer songwriters. In the tradition of Leonard Cohen, or even Neil Young, these two performers have both released new music in the past year. They have been touring across Canada together and Ben just finished a great appearance at Canadian Music Week.

We are honoured to have them on the best indie music show on the planet (I am slightly biased). Rick Jones and Tom Beyer ask the questions and will provide the mics, for both performers to play live in studio.

Be sure to tune in Wednesday March 31st as these new Bob Dylanesque performers talk about life on the road, their inspirations, and where to get a good pad thai while on the road!

Lee Harvey Osmond Unplugged on the CHCanada.com Indie Radio Show

The King of Indie Music Tom Wilson will be performing live on the CHCanada.com Indie Radio Show, and chatting about his various musical projects.

Wilson is a prolific singer songerwriter who is in a couple of big bands at the moment - Lee Harvey Osmond and Blackie and the Rodeo Kings.
Listen in as Tom talks about life, love, loss, painting, the road and a bunch of other stuff.

If that's not enough, we also have up and comer Ben Somers performing live in studio. He'll also chat with Tom Beyer and Rick Jones about life on the road, and the inspiration behind some of his songs.

Both of these fine artists are from Hamilton Ontario. Their CDs can be purchased and shipped to you super fast by ordering at:
http://www.chcanada.com/product/5489/Music_New_Releases

The CHCanada.com Radio Show, can be heard by going to the Radio Caledon website at:
http://www.radiocaledon.com/

The pod cast of the show will be available for uploading after the show on this very same blog.

Here are clips of Ben Somers and Tom Wilson performing cuts off their new records.

Barry Mac the new Ian Tyson?

The very idea of a "romantic cowboy" conjures up images of lonely cowboys on the range missing their woman folk left back at the ranch. There is a long history of romantic cowboys, including the interesting genre of "cowboy poetry." Singer songwriter Ian Tyson has a body of work that merges country music with the poetry of the cowboy.
Barry Mac carries on that tradition. With his songs of love found, and love lost, this urban cowboy sings with his heart on his sleeve.

When he's not in Grant Avenue Studios recording his love songs, you can find him out in his Jeep finding mud holes to get winched out of. Or flying out of Mount Hope airport in a Piper Warrior buzzing the farm fields south of Hamilton.
Mac (as he's known to his friends and fans) lives each day like it was his last. And his music reflects that reality.

If you are in Hamilton on Thursday February 4th be sure to check out Barry Mac and his band has they perform at his record release party. The album release party is being held at at This Ain't Hollywood in Hamilton's north end.

Check you this You Tube clip recorded on the CHCanada.com Indie Radio Show. It features Barry with Caretakers front woman Lena Montecalvo.

Mississippi Kings get crowned on the Radio

Alright alright, sure the title of this blog is a bit obvious but come on - check out the attached clip and see if you don't agree. We Canadians can sometimes not see the forest for the trees...the mountain right in front of us. These guys are HUGE in Europe - headlining shows in Italy and selling out wherever they go. Here in their home country - not so much.

This act has it all - killer players and some wonderful vocals and arrangements to their songs.

A new EP is being release by the band soon. In the meantime check out the clips of the MK's unplugged. A couple of rare clips are up on You Tube. More to follow.
The entire performance will be uploaded to this blog page shortly. You will be able to upload it as a podcast - for your entertainment pleasure!

In the meantime if you want to pick up their wicked first CD, please go go:
http://www.chcanada.com/product/6195/Canadian_Sounds

Huron - Critic band pick for 2010

Now magazine and National Post music critic Tim Perlich was right on the money when, in his "bands to watch for in 2010" column he gives new band Huron the nod.

These guys have seemingly come out of nowhere to rock the planet. Where to start on influences heard in their music. Sometimes sounding like The Beatles in their white album faze - think Helter Skelter, mixed with the darkness and light of Wilco. They've got the boogie rock sound of the Allman Brothers Band, but also they have an almost Kraftwerk quality to their music - they do a song that sounds remarkably like that classic europop song Autobahn, but with guitars instead of synths.

So, in a nutshell these guys are a disciplined rock combo, that your Dad would like. A throwback to the '70's jam band sound, that includes some really wild improvisational forays.

This is especially true of their Wednesday night residency at the Dakota Tavern in Toronto. Each Wednesday night since November they have been rocking the house with a couple of sets. Then, indie rock legend Ian Blurton joins them on stage for a set of his music, and finally a sprawling jam session to cap off the night.

Bring your earplugs – put them firmly in place and be prepared to be shaken. They play loud, inventive original rock n roll. The best place to see them is at the Dakota Tavern – a small intimate club that is one of the best rooms for live music in Toronto, if not all of southern Ontario.

Check out these clips – I’m sure you’ll agree!

btw: we have invited Huron to join us for an unplugged radio performance on the CHCanada.com Indie Radio Show, heard on the last Wednesday of every month.

Go go http://www.chcanada.com for all of your indie band musical needs.

Tiny Bill Cody - Humourist of the Year - 2009

Tiny Bill Cody, is of course not so tiny. He's well over 6 feet tall, and is hard to miss in a crowd. But as a musical talent he is heads and shoulders above his compatriots. The other thing Bill has going for him is his absolutely knock down funny die laughing lyrics. In this You Tube Clip from earlier this year, Tiny Bill and a few other folks were asked to write a new national anthem. They were given a half an hour and then were asked to perform the song on National radio.
Bill came on and did an interesting and pretty funny first effort (also found on the DirkFimbob You Tube Channel). Once he heard the other versions he begged to do another one - to hilarious results. Once you hear this song you'll never think of Canada's geography in quite the same way again.

Check these clips out and you'll see what I mean. He's got a quirky, subversive streak to his writing. He's also the guy who did a send up of former deputy Prime Minister Sheila Copps - in the song he talks about Copps loosing her virginity in an auto body shop! Only Cody could get away with that.

2009 - Creator of the Year - Tom Wilson

The driving force behind the new collective Lee Harvey Osmond is Tom Wilson. He has become the grand sage of the Hamilton Music Scene. This guy is really hard to pin down. Anyone who follows his exploits on Facebook or Twitter knows he's one busy musician.

In the past year, he has fronted his new the Lee Harvey Osmond project, participated in the recording of a new record for his other band Blackie and the Rodeo Kings, and performed with the remaining members of Teenage Head (as the "Sons of the Hammer"). He has found time to also co-host this years' Hamilton Music Awards. He's also a painter and a big booster of the Canadian Music Scene.

All of this action from a guy who is over 50! He puts guys half his age to shame.
He has keen musical insights, and has got a great sense of what makes a song work.
This is clearly evident when listening to his band Lee Harvey Osmond - their Acid Folk tinged "A Quiet Evil" is one of the great new releases of 2009.

So, for all that he has given us this year, and for also being one helluva nice guy, Tom Wilson has won the Creator of the Year!

Two of Tom's CDs can be purchased by going to:
http://www.chcanada.com/product/5489/Canadian_Sounds

Hamilton Music Awards a big success

What are they putting in the water down there in The Hammer? So many great musicans, this City with the "Mountain" really know how to put on a party. A who's who of Canadian talent performed on the show, including husband and wife team Luke Doucet and Melissa Mclennan who now make Hamilton their home.

Up and comers were in attendence. I had the privlege of sharing a muddy jeep ride up the Mountain to the show with new Country artist Barry Mac and members of the Caretakers, who both have new CDs coming out very soon.

Big props go out to Jane Allison of the Hamilton Spectator and Jeff Martin of Quorum Communications for supplying tickets to the show.

Here is Tom Wilson and his band Lee Harvey Osmond perfoming as part of the awards celebrations...

Sing Merry Christmas with the Caretakers

Download a free MP3 of the new Christmas song, "Sing Merry Christmas"
and support the Stephen Lewis Foundation and Hamilton AIDS Network.

December 2nd is World AIDS Day. The Caretakers and Vibewrangler Studio family want to thank the hundreds of people who have made donations to these organizations over the past year.
"Sing Merry Christmas" is brought to you by new Hamilton band The Caretakers.

All round cool dude and Hamilton music scene shaker Jeff Martin is the man behind this worthwile charity song.

Check out the link to this Christmas song and let's give Jeff big props for putting it out there.

Watch for The Caretakers first release, due to drop soon. They will also be in attendance at Sunday's Hamilton Music Awards, taking place at Mohawk College.


Sing Merry Christmas

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