Music News Digest, Aug. 8, 2018

By Kerry Doole

Taylor Swift fans at her Saturday show at Rogers Centre in Toronto were treated to a surprise cameo from Bryan Adams. After declaring that Adams' hit “Summer of ’69' “is one of my favourite songs ever written,” Swift delivered the first verse solo, before Adams appeared on the stage. The pair then dueted and traded improvised vocals on the song. Back in 2011, Swift occasionally played an acoustic version of it on her Speak Now tour.

 – No Avoiding Clichés, a documentary about Juno-winning Canadian pop/rock singer/songwriter Alfie Zappacosta, will air Sunday, Aug. 12 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on the documentary Channel. His new album, Alfie Zappacosta, Strings Attached, is released on the same date. Produced by Braden Rooke and directed by Stephanie Volk, No Avoiding Clichés is the journey of Zappacosta’s career, from the early days of his band Surrender, in the late 1970s, through his solo career in the mid-1980s to the present day. It also tells the story behind his song "Overload," featured on one of the biggest selling-soundtrack albums ever, Dirty Dancing.

– MusicNL announces the nominees for its annual awards at a press conference at Fred's Records in St. John's, NL, at 11 am on Friday (Aug. 10). The event is open to the public. There will be nine industry awards, and 18 music awards presented at the awards show during MusicNL Week 2018 Oct. 10-14 in Twillingate.

–  CIMA’s Road Gold certification program remains very active. It acknowledges the dedication to performance Canadian artists must have to achieve success and grow a fan base. Artists who have sold 25k or more tickets in Canada over any 12 month period on the road are eligible. Submit here. Road warriors to have gone gold include Big Sugar, Big Wreck, Colin James, Dean Brody, Johnny Reid, Matt Andersen, Natalie McMaster & Donnell Leahy, Terra Lightfoot, The Dead South, The Sheepdogs, and The Trews.

 – Toronto rapper Jazz Cartier has been tipped as the next breakout hip-hop star from The Six. That is being vindicated by the 20M plus streams his major label debut Fleurever registered in just its first week of release. Cartier will soon perform a three-part concert series, with intimate (100 tickets only per show) performances in LA (Aug. 9), Toronto (Aug. 16), and NYC (Aug. 18).

– Submissions for the Musicworks 2018 Electronic Music Composition contest are now open, with an Oct. 26 deadline. The juried contest has a $500 cash first prize.

– Edmonton hard rock band Royal Tusk has signed a worldwide deal with Entertainment One (eOne), with plans to release a new album, Tusk 11, on Oct. 26. The band has released a track off that LP, " Aftermath."  Royal Tusk's full-length debut, DealBreaker, came out in 2016. 

– Last week, Pink cancelled a concert in Sydney, Australia, citing a respiratory infection. Shortly after, a photo of the singer and her young daughter on the beach was posted, sparking viral online criticism. Pink fought back via Instagram, stating that "what these parasite paparazzi don’t show you, is two doctor visits on two consecutive days, antibiotics, steroids, Vick’s, nose spray, throat spray, more steroids, NyQuil, a screaming baby in the middle of the night, every night, while mama gives him warm baths and tells her daughter everything is fine.”

On Monday, she cancelled a second show, after brief hospital visits for treatment for dehydration and a gastric virus. Oz gambling site Sportsbet is taking bets on how many Pink shows will be cancelled on this Australian tour. Sources: Noise11.com, Celebrity Access

– Termed "Canada's largest country music festival," Boots & Hearts is getting ready to roll in Oro-Medonte, ON, from Aug. 9-12. This year's high-octane lineup features Alan Jackson, Florida Georgia Line, Thomas Rhett, Billy Currington, and Brett Young, with Dallas Smith leading a domestic posse that includes The Washboard Union, Meghan Patrick, Jason Blaine, James Barker Band, and Kira Isabella.

 – Calgary rockers The Avulsions have released a live video for the track “The End” off their debut album Expanding Program, released via Flemish Eye Records earlier this year. The group opens for Wolf Parade on a few Western dates this fall. 

– The inaugural Forge Fest in Tillsonburg, ON, was held in multiple venues on July 28. Artists performing included Cursed Arrows, Eamon McGrath, Single Mothers, and John Wozniak (of Marcy Playground), and the event raised $2357 for CMHA Oxford.

– Ray Bonneville is a Quebec-born and raised singer/songwriter who has lived in New Orleans and now Austin. Highly-regarded in roots music circles, he releases a new album, At King Electric, on Sept. 7 via Stonefly Records. A Juno nominee, Bonneville won the solo/duet category in the Blues Foundation’s International Blues Challenge in Memphis in 2012. His songs have been covered by Ronnie Hawkins, Slaid Cleaves, and, most recently, Jennifer Warnes.

– Music and Film in Motion (MFM) has opened submissions for the 2019 Northern Ontario Music and Film Awards (NOMFA). Deadline is Jan, 11, 2019. The winners will be announced at the ceremony at the Science North Vale Cavern in Sudbury on May 25. 

– Cape Breton-born pop singer/songwriter Goldilox is currently based in Paris, working in both music and fashion. A debut album, Very Best, came out on July 31, and her current single is "I Love You."

RIP

Lawrencine May "Lorrie" Collins, an American rockabilly singer and actress, died on Aug. 4, at age 76. Beginning in the mid-1950s, the Oklahoma-born Collins and her brother, Larry Collins, performed as the Collins Kids.

Their parents relocated them to Southern California to further develop their music. In the late 1950s, Collins was the girlfriend of television star and teen idol Ricky Nelson, on both the Nelson family's top-rated show The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet and in private life. 

After working with Nelson, she continued to perform in a duo with her brother, appearing as regulars in the 1963 Canadian music series Star Route and later appearing on The Jackie Gleason Show and The Hollywood Palace as late as 1967. The duo reunited for festival appearances in the early '90s. With her brother, Collins is a member of the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. Source: Wikipedia

Brad Daymond, a member of dance-pop trio Love Inc., died on Aug. 3, of congestive heart failure, at age 46.

Born in Barrie, ON, he formed Love Inc. with Chris Sheppard and Simone Denny. The group's self-titled 1998 debut album sold platinum in Canada, and Daymond co-wrote the hits "Broken Bones" (a Juno and MMVA Award winner) and "You’re a Superstar” (also a major UK hit). 

Daymond left Love Inc. in 1999 and co-founded Riprock 'n' Alex G Entertainment with fellow Canadian Alex Greggs. Daymond's songwriting and production credits include writing and producing four tracks on NSYNC's diamond-selling 2000 album No Strings Attached.  His other credits include Michael Jackson, Britney Spears, Duran Duran, Fergie, Ricky Martin, Ace of Base, Republica, Steps, and MIA.

Daymond was the original Simon Cowell as a judge on Popstars 2. He had songs placed in Clint Eastwood’s Space Cowboy, Princess Diaries, The Office, and more. Source: iHeartRadio