The FYI Bulletin: Aug. 31, 2023
– Jully Black, activist actress and producer Tonya Williams, filmmaker Julien Christian Lutz (professionally known as Director X) and Congolese-Canadian singer Lu Kala (born Lusamba Vanessa Kalala)
By David Farrell
– Jully Black, activist actress and producer Tonya Williams, filmmaker Julien Christian Lutz (professionally known as Director X) and Congolese-Canadian singer Lu Kala (born Lusamba Vanessa Kalala) will be the first four award recipients of the 2nd annual Black Academy Legacy Awards. The ceremony is to be held at Toronto’s History on Sept. 24 with a same-date 90-minute Award broadcast on CBC and CBC Gem.
– The Polaris Music Prize gala takes place this year at Massey Hall on Tue. Sept. 19. Nominees announced to perform as follows: This year nominees Aysanabee, Begonia, Debby Friday, Gayance, Dan Mangan, The Sadies and Snotty Nose Rez Kids. Available tickets are limited to upper gallery seating at $51.50.
– Big Wreck has announced a 20-city clubs and theatre Canadian tour, plus nine US shows that include the Troubadour in LA. The opening date is Nov. 9 at Hamilton's FirstOntario Place, with an end date on Dec. 22 at Toronto's 2500-capacity History showroom. The band’s EP Series 7 was released earlier in the year. Paquin is the agency of record. Tickets are scaled between $40 and $150+ depending on location and type of ticket.
– Blue Rodeo’s iconic 5th album, Five Days in July, is the hook for a tour and vinyl reissues built around the rootsy multi-platinum album’s 30th anniversary release on Oct. 26, 1993. An orange two-LP edition with liner notes penned by band members and Sarah McLauchlan (one of several notables who guested on the sessions) is available Oct. 27 for $74.99, and a blue cobalt double-vinyl edition is available same day for $64.98. The tour encompasses 12 cities, west to east starting at Vancouver’s PNE on Sep. 4 and ending at Glace Bay, NS’s Savoy Theatre on Oct. 23. Average ticket prices are scaled between $55 and $85. As per usual, Kay White’s Trick or Treat is the agency of record, and Live Nation is the tour promoter.
In Nov. Blue Rodeo hosts a 7-day Rhine River cruise that offers stops in France, Germany, Netherlands and Switzerland. Sold out, tickets were scaled between $6K and $9.5K. In the 35 years since forming, In the 35 years since forming, Blue Rodeo has released 16 studio albums selling over 4M copies, played over 2,000 shows and won 12 Juno awards.
Stewart Travel Group Presents: Blue Rodeo Christmas Markets on the Rhine from Stewart Travel Group on Vimeo.
– Mullets and deaf metal fans with long memories may recall Saskatchewan's mid-'80s kick-ass Kick Axe bursting on the scene with Vices, signed to CBS Canada by Jeff Burns and produced by Spencer Proffer who rode to fame and a big payday with Quiet Riot’s multi-million selling 1983 album Metal Health. The band has gone through myriad changes in its line-up since then and even disbanded for a time–but duty calls and Kick Axe is back on tour and has a new album. You can catch up on the legacy and the news in a YouTube interview, and below is the new single.
–With back-to-back CCMA Female Artist of the Year, 18 CMA Ontario Awards and five Top 10 hits, Nashville-based Meghan Patrick is back home for shows at Ottawa’s Algonquin Theatre on Oct. 21 and the following night at London’s Music Hall. Live Nation presents. Goosing her appearance is her prominent guest vocal on hat hit maker Michael Ray’s new single, Spirits and Demons. She makes her Grand Ole Opry debut on Nov. 4.
– With 19 Top 20 hits and 16 Top 10s, Tim Hicks has been headlining the hat country chart for a good decade with good-time hell raisin’ songs such as She Don’t Drink Whiskey Anymore, Forever Rebels, Stronger Beer and Hell Raisin’ Good Time. Post-pandemic, he’s segued his acoustic Campfire Songs album with Vol. 2 to serve up another collection of acoustic cheer and a measure of cheeky songs such as I’m Not As Think As You Drunk I Am. Natch, the album is supported by a Campfire Troubadour tour that starts Sept. 2 at the Paris, ON Fairgrounds. Manager Ron Kitchener and Feldman Agency’s Joel Baskin stick handle the dates.
– Walk off the Earth teamed up with YMCA Canada recently to raise awareness of expanded access to the free YMCA youth mental health program, Y Mind program. Here’s the result…
– Following a Diamond certification for the best-selling, greatest hits compilation, Yer Favourites, The Tragically Hip has announced an extensive deluxe boxset to commemorate the 25th Anniversary of Phantom Power, due out Nov. 3. The Anniversary boxset features two double LP sets with five unreleased tracks from the original recording sessions as well as a 2LP live show recorded at The Metropol in Pittsburgh, PA on Oct. 2, 1998, plus an additional seven alternative versions. The package is also available as a three-disc CD set. The boxed edition includes a 24-page Bobcaygeon illustrated video storyboard, a 12 X 12, 64-page coffee table book documenting the history of Phantom Power by producer Steve Berlin, photos, concert posters and track-by-track descriptions from the band.
