Music Biz Headlines, June 18, 2018

By Kerry Doole

Alessia Cara on fame and ‘a void I didn’t know how to fill’

Alessia Cara insists she doesn’t want to sound ungrateful, but coming to terms with stardom hasn’t been easy –  David Friend, CP

Finn Wolfhard’s Calpurnia wasn’t supposed to be a serious band, but hey, Stranger Things have happened

Calpurnia is not the Finn Wolfhard Show, by any means, so of course the Stranger Things star is doing press with the entire band to hype the release of its debut EP, Scout –   Ben Rayner, Toronto Star 

Country music star Brett Kissel talks fatherhood, Father’s Day

For Kissel, fatherhood comes first. Sure, he sells records, packs concert stadiums — and has been the only Canadian artist to tour with Garth Brooks — but, if you were to ask the 28-year-old Alberta native, he’d say being a dad beats them all  –  Postmedia

Son of a gun that's a long time: Sons of the Pioneers still going

The US country group  (with 43 current and past members, mind you) has been going since 1934. It has a show in town on June 20 –  Cam Fuller, Saskatoon Star-Phoenix

Tower of Power earns first Billboard No. 1 with 'Soul Side of Town' album

The set debuts atop the Jazz Albums & Contemporary Jazz Albums charts. Bandleader Emilio Castillo says “We went from being ‘dinosaurs’ in the ‘80s to being ‘legends’ in the ‘90s and now, after 50 years, we’ve reached the status of an ‘overnight success.’ Ahhh! Showbiz!” –  Keith Caulfield, Billboard

Best Toronto songs of the week: Isla Craig, Tony Price, Harrison

Local artists get psyched in this week's edition of #NOWplaying –  Michael Rancic, NOW

Meet the war-vet, dad and Rotarian who taped Canada's last Beatles concert

The famed recording made by George Drynan was recently acquired by the University of Toronto Libraries  –  Brad Wheeler, Globe and Mail

London drill rap group banned from making music due to threat of violence

Court order for five members of west London group 1011 criticised by anti-censorship activists –   Ian Cobain, The Guardian

Sam Tudor’s Quotidian Dream might have been shaped by sadness, but the results are anything but a downer

Vancouver singer/songwriter Sam Tudor sounds off on the things that enquiring minds want to know –  Mike Usinger, Georgia Straight

Music's unsung LGBTQ heroes

25 of music's most underrated trailblazers across the queer spectrum, from Frankie Knuckles to Rob Halford and Klaus Nomi  –  Rolling Stone

Jazz Festival artists look far afield for covers — including Radiohead’s OK Computer

The Radiohead Jazz Project is just part of the TD Toronto Jazz Festival, of which Grossman is artistic director. The fest, begun in 1987, runs for 10 days beginning June 22 — and this year jazz covers of rock, pop and folks songs are a signature of the event  – Trish Crawford, Toronto Star

Upstream’s cool and composing 

The Halifax-based Upstream Music Association tries some new things and paid tribute to its late leader Paul Cram with a special show –  Josefa Cameron, The Coast

Hit the road for these damn fine summer music fests in B.C. and beyond

If you feel inclined to explore other places and enjoy some damn fine music while doing so, these out-of-town festivals —each within a day’s drive of Vancouver—might inspire you to hit the road  –  John Lucas, Georgia Straight

The Confusionaires front man muses about taking his own advice

“When you’re a realist, you tend to squash your own dreams about what is possible as a musician,” the Confusionaires  leader observes  – Tom Murray, Edmonton Journal