By Kerry Doole
Awards news
The SOCAN Montréal Gala returns on May 7, at La TOHU, awarding over 100 trophies in 28 categories to Québec's creators and publishers. Following two online editions and a one-year hiatus, the 33rd edition will celebrate the past two years of accomplishments by music creators and publishers, with those from the past, the present and the future all equally celebrated. Just announced as recipients of Achievement Awards are Ginette Reno, Jean-Pierre Ferland and Plume Latraverse, while SOCAN Classic Awards will be presented to Les Cowboys Fringants, Corneille, Daniel Boucher, Ariane Moffatt, Jean Leloup, Daniel Bélanger, Les Respectables, and Noir Silence. Winners as Songwriters of the Year are Roxane Bruneau & Mathieu Brisset, and Banx & Ranx.
The Publisher of the Year Award goes to Éditions Bloc Notes Musique, while the International Award will go to the Montréal-based production duo, Demy & Clipz. This year's SOCAN Partner in Music Award will be jointly presented this year to Télé-Québec and Sphère Média for their ongoing commitment through the hit TV show Belle et Bum which celebrated its 20th season this year. The full list of the 2023 SOCAN Gala winners will be released on the evening of May 7. More info here.
– On June 8, at The Westin Harbour Castle in Toronto ( 5:30– 8:30 pm), The Guild of Music Supervisors, Canada (GMSC) and Canadian Music Week (CMW) partner to present the 2023 Canadian Sync Awards, celebrating music supervisor excellence and the sync. community across Canada. Submissions are now open here until April 24.
Festivals
– CIMA will return to Brighton, UK, for 3 full days of showcases from artists across the country at the Green Door Store at The Great Escape Festival, May 11-13. The fest is termed the UK’s premier new music and industry gathering. CIMA is partnering with Alberta Music, Manitoba Music, Music BC, Music Nova Scotia, MusicOntario, SaskMusic, and SODEC to present 18 artists over those three days: Bibi Club // Boslen // Cassidy Mann // Ellen Froese // Ellevator // Fernie // Georgia Harmer // Haley Blais // Katie Tupper // Mouraine // Odreii // OMBIIGIZI // Pillow Fite // Rebecca Lappa // Slow Leaves // STORRY // Vanille // Yohvn Blvck.
– The 2023 edition of Generations Strong: International Indigenous Music Summit is set for May 31-June 4, at TD Music Hall, Toronto, with performers including Elisapie, Fawn Wood, OMBIIGIZI, Beatrice Deer Band, Miesha and The Spanks, Wolf Castle, Quique Escamilla and more. This year, the Summit presents its first full in-person standalone event, with daytime programming including elder talks, keynotes, master classes and community roundtables. 2023’s theme, “Generations Strong,” speaks to the importance of acknowledging the innovations, brilliance and creativity of the 7 generations before, and the promise of the 7 generations yet to come. Info and registration here.
Industry news
– CIMA has announced the return of Canada House at the Americana Music Festival and Conference, Sept. 19-23, 2023 in Nashville. The showcase event and business mission is now accepting applications from Canadian artists. Register here by May 26. Partnering with Alberta Music, Manitoba Music, MusicOntario and SaskMusic.
– IQ magazine in the UK is accepting nominations for the third edition of the LGBTIQ+ List which will be published in IQ's annual Pride edition in July. The increasingly popular list celebrates lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex and queer professionals making an impact in the international live entertainment business. Anyone who works in the global live music industry can put themselves forward, or be nominated by friends or colleagues. If you are putting someone else forward for the list, please check with them first. Submissions can be sent to Lisa Henderson - lisa@iq-mag.net - with a May 9 deadline.
– The April edition of the AM to FM Live showcase series takes place tonight (April 20) at Art Bay, 600 Bay St., Toronto, 6 pm onwards. The event features complimentary cocktails and sets by Emily Kate and Australian country artist Andy Penkow, currently in Canada recording an album and co-writing with Canadian artists.
Artists news
– Celine Dion released a new single on April 13, Love Again, the title track from an upcoming film in which she plays a supporting role, her acting debut. It is one of five new songs to appear in the romantic comedy. The film's soundtrack also features six of Dion's past hits and arrives on May 12. Dion announced in Dec. that she has “stiff person syndrome,” a condition characterized by sudden severe muscle spasms. The diagnosis forced her to postpone a number of European concert dates in early 2023. So far she has not given an update on her touring plans. Source: CP
– Canadian country superstar Johnny Reid has branched out into the musical theatre world by creating a brand new musical, Maggie, in tandem with Come From Away producer Michael Rubinoff. The production has its world premiere run at Theatre Aquarius in Hamilton, with opening night being April 19. The play is a tribute by Reid to his dear grandmother, and Hamilton Spectator scribe Jeff Mahoney writes that "Johnny Reid has imagined her back into being, from her youth on, in song, narrative and character." Read more on the production here. Maggie runs to May 6, with tix available here.
– Acclaimed Montreal DJ Kid Koala is renowned for his imaginative use of different media. That continues with his just-released new album, Creatures of the Late Afternoon, one that doubles as a board game. The double-vinyl version of the album contains a two- to four-player game, one whose point "is to put together a band and make as many songs in as many styles as you can, which is kind of what the album is," Kid Koala told The Montreal Gazette.He launched the album on April 15 with a series of 10 listening parties and mini-performances with LA singer-songwriter Lealani, who appears on the album, every 90 minutes from 10:30 a.m. to midnight at Cabaret Vol de Nuit.
– Canadian folk veteran Stephen Fearing (Blackie and the Rodeo Kings) recently released a new album, Vejpoesi (Danish for 'Road Poems'), one featuring contributions from Danish roots combo The Sentimentals. He lured that group's guitarist and drummer over to back him on his current Canadian tour, with BARK's bassist Johnny Dymond stepping in with customary skill. At the group's show at Hamilton's Bridgeworks on Sat., guitarist M.C. Hansen really impressed with his tasteful licks. The band's work was a fine complement to Fearing's authoritative vocals and signature songcraft, while his skill as a raconteur was also evident. Highlights from the new album included the moving tale of Sunny and the road story The Big East West. Given the peer respect Fearing enjoys, it was no surprise to see three of Hamilton's best songsmiths, Tom Wilson, Corin Raymond, and Terra Lightfoot, in the appreciative audience.
– Toronto's Tim North made a splash as a songwriter working with Post Malone’s songwriting team to pivoting as an artist and focusing on his own releases during the pandemic. That paid off, leading to North signing an international joint venture record deal with independent label FFMM and Polydor x Island Records. His new debut single Need The Drugs, with Atlanta rapper 24hrs, was released last week. Check it out here.
– Legendary Canadian singer/songwriter Bruce Cockburn has just announced a 44-date North American and UK tour in support of his upcoming album, O Sun O Moon (out on May 12 via True North Records). The trek begins on June 1 in Plymouth, NH, and includes Oct. shows in Hamilton, Montreal, Quebec City, and five East Coast cities. See the full itinerary here.
– The Brown/Hawkins/Stanley trio can justifiably be termed a Canadian indie rock supergroup, given that it comprises Chris Brown of Bourbon Tabernacle Choir, and Ron Hawkins and Steve Stanley, of The Lowest Of The Low fame. These three comrades have been delighting fans by touring together, and a new trek of Ontario and New York state shows kicks off on Wolfe Island on May 5. That is followed by London's Palasad (May 11), Hamilton's The Mule Spinner (May 12), and shows in Buffalo, NYC, and Brooklyn, and more Ontario gigs, with the tour concluding at Toronto's Longboat Hall on May 27. Full tour schedule here.
– Hamilton indie singer/songwriter Wax Mannequin released a new album, The Red Brain, a month ago, on Coax Records. The record includes a cover of Love Is A Hunter, a song by that label's founder Rae Spoon. Wax Mannequin has just announced a series of dates, starting tomorrow (April 21) at Camp Cataract, Niagara Falls,followed by a May 13 show at the Corktown in Hamilton, then a mix of club and festival dates. Check his itinerary here.
– Good news from the camp of majorly under-rated BC singer/songwriter Reid Jamieson is that he has placed two tunes in a new TV series, Clean Sweep, an Irish/Canadian co-production shot in Ireland (where they discovered his music). The songs are Jamieson's cover of Don’t Go Down (written by Glen Hansard/Fergus O’Farrell) and Perfect Storm, an original written by Jamieson and partner Carolyn V. Mill. Fittingly, both numbers are on Me Daza, the album the pair recorded in Ireland.
– 10 years after her first release, jazz-inflected singer/songwriter Nicky Schrire has completed a new album, Nowhere Girl, set to be released on Anzic Records on June 9. The quartet album features the members of ace Toronto jazz trio Myriad3 (Dan Fortin, Ernesto Cervini, and Chris Donnelly), plus notable guests Tara Davidson, Laila Biali, and Julio Sigauque. The album is produced by Grammy-nominated producer Oded Lev-Ari (Anat Cohen Tentet), and we await it eagerly.
– Lulo Music Group, a newly formed Halifax record label, has just released Coffee and Sunshine, a single and video from its first signed band, Good Dear Good. Both the band and label formed out of the Nova Scotia Community College music community. A local release show is set for the Seahorse Tavern on April 21 at 6.30 pm.
