The FYI Bulletin: April 13 , 2023

By David Farrell

– Montreal-based Braids has announced a N/A tour with a string ensemble. The opening show is May 27 at LA’s Knitting Factory NoHo. Other stops include Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and NYC. The shows follow the release of Euphoric Recall (Secret City Records) on April 28. Below, from that album…

– Gordon Lightfoot has cancelled his existing N/A tour dates for the year as per his website he is “currently experiencing some health-related issues and is unable to confirm rescheduled dates.” His last concert was on March 23 at Peabody Auditorium in Daytona Beach, Fla. Lightfoot turns 85 on Nov. 17.

– A Sunday, June 4 celebration of the life of Alexander Mair is shaping up to be one of those ‘you had to be there’ events that attract a gathering of the clan from far and wide in Canada’s music industry. Mair’s empathy, nurturing and formidable business skills helped a great many, and his legacy will likely be shared with great affection by those attending. No venue has been named, but one of the locations being mentioned is Roy Thomson Hall.

– Did you know Montrealer Neil Donell, who has worked extensively as a session musician and has been nominated for multiple Junos, is also the (four-octave) lead tenor vocalist for the Chicago since 2018, succeeding Peter Cetera, Jason Scheff and Jeff Coffey in the classic rock band?

Bellow, Donell performs Hard to Say I'm Sorry, You're the Inspiration and Get Away as part of David Foster's induction into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame on Sept. 24, 2022, at Toronto's Massey Hall.

– Maggie, a new musical by playwright Matt Murray helped singer-songwriter Johnny Reid create premieres on April 19 at Theatre Aquarius in Hamilton. The play is based on the experiences of Reid’s grandmother in Scotland. It moves to Charlottetown’s Confederation Centre of the Arts in June.

– On a foggy January afternoon in Louisbourg, Cape Breton Island, a group of old punks recorded a live session from Broken Clock Recording Studio. It's a little indie studio on the small town's waterfront that used to be a gift shop when the town was more robust. Here’s what the lads, calling themselves High Tide, created:

– Vancouver’s ambitious Hotel Mira follows Fever Pitch with Dancing with the Moonlight teasing the upcoming release of a sophomore album and extensive North American tour dates. Light Organ has the release.

– Following Hello Darlins’ 2021 debut album Go By Feel garnered significant global praise, and there’s a new EP, In the Sundust, that coincides with a 30-plus city soft-seater west-to-east tour of Canada with Matt Andersen. It’s also a tease to an upcoming album recorded at L.A.’s United Recording Studios with a killer cast. Here’s a tease from the EP.

Tragically Hip now lays claim to being the only Canadian band to have four albums certified Diamond by industry org Music Canada. Diamond status represents the equivalent of a million-seller. The latest to multi-platinum hit is 2005’s greatest hits collection Yer Favourites. As per a media release, Yer Favourites is the second best-selling compilation album ever in Canada. The Beatles’ 1package for now holds the lead. The Hip album be available on vinyl for the first time ever on June 2.

– Jeff Parry must be feeling a degree of vindication after a successful six-week run of Oh Canada What A Feeling, renamed Rock the Nation. The all-Canadian hits show was co-produced with Andrew Mosker at the NMC.

Notable

Music streaming’s appeal is waning: New MiDIA research reports that millennials (25-34s) are spending the least time streaming music of any segment under 45, and the most on other formats, such as CD, radio, and vinyl. Meantime, Generation Z (zoomers, born 1997-2012) are spending more of their streaming time on TikTok. Both demos say they would prefer less algorithm-driven suggestions. – Hypebot

The decline and fall of the hit instrumental song: … Earlier, I noted that there were two marked declines in instrumental content in popular songs. First, in the 1950s, and then in the 1990s. The previous four trends capture that first decline. The second decline is almost exclusively captured by the rise of hip-hop… – Ted Giogioia, The Honest Broker

“Blurred Lines,” Harbinger of Doom: How Robin Thicke, Pharrell, and T.I.’s cursed megahit predicted everything bad about the past decade in pop culture. – Jayson Greene, Pitchfork