Billboard Canada FYI Bulletin: Preserving the Music History of Toronto's Little Jamaica

Raised on a 20K-acre farm in Saskatchewan, The Hunter Brothers – real-life brothers, Luke, J.J., Ty, Brock and Dusty– have become country radio staples since releasing their debut single “El Dorado” in 2016. Since then, they’ve earned two gold singles with “Born and Raised” and “Those Were the Nights, and platinum status with “Those Were the Nights” and racked up a cumulative 87M streams and 34M YouTube views.

The group’s signature harmonies, melodies and storybook songs have helped fuel their popularity as a live attraction as well. They have just wrapped a 10-night residency (July 5-14) at the Calgary Stampede, averaging 20K attendance nightly.

All in, the five bros have become big business for Open Road Records which has worked with them since day one.

Below, is the Hunter Brothers' most recent single.

– Canadian songwriter Dan Mangan’s newsletters are always an excellent read and his latest offers a reward to paid subscribers. As he explains:

“My old high school band Basement Suite used to rehearse in my buddy Simon’s basement (hence the name… brilliant). His parents asked me to come grab some crap that’s been down there for 20+ years.

“Included in the remnants were boxes of my very first EP All At Once (2003) and the original pressing of my first album Postcards & Daydreaming (2005) — there are probably only a few hundred copies of each out there in the world. I cannot guarantee that the music is very good but these are extremely rare items so that’s fun.

“…It occurred to me that my basement is full of old bits of memorabilia and I should probably give most of it away…

So, I’ve decided that, as a thank you to the generous patrons out there, every month I’m going to randomly select a paid subscriber from this newsletter and mail them a package of rare goodies from my basement.”

– Before Toronto became one of the most multicultural and multiracial cities in the world, there were maybe a dozen neighbourhoods known for their cultural markets and one was the Little Jamaica strip that held sway on Eglinton West. With its colourful food markets brimming with exotic fruits and spicy pastries, there were also a large number of store-front recording studios and record shops selling hits from the islands (Bahamas, Trinidad, Barbados and Jamaica).

This epoch is now being celebrated by the Canada Black Music Archives (CBMA) with walking tours of the area. Details here and below is the tour trailer. Little Jamaica also hosted its own festival this past weekend.

– After a seven-year hiatus from the pressures of being famous, Cold Specks (aka Al Spx) has released a haunting and introspective new track entitled “How It Feels,” co-written with Chantal Kreviazuk.

Spx explains, “‘How It Feels’ was written in 2019 at a time when I was struggling with money. I was struggling with my mind as well, and I was reflecting on my experiences. It was written one magical night in the dead of winter in a studio around midnight. It came together quite easily (with Chantal).”

“How It Feels” was produced and performed by Spx, recorded by Holy Fuck’s Graham Walsh and features piano by Johnny Spence, strings by composer Owen Pallett and brass by long-time collaborator Terry Edwards.

Below is the official lyric video.

– The historic East Longview Hall in the foothills outside Calgary has officially become the site for a permanent memorial in Ian Tyson’s honour. The 10K square-foot complex was a favourite performance place for the singing cowboy who died on his own Longview-area ranch on Dec. 29, 2022, at age 89. Below, is a track he recorded at his ranch and released in 2002.