Music News Digest, July 21, 2022

By Kerry Doole

Awards news

The Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame (CSHF) has announced that singer/songwriter Daniel Lavoie and hit producer/songwriter David Foster (winner of 16 Grammys) will be inducted into the Hall of Fame at the 2022 Gala, hosted by singer/songwriter Marie-Mai at Toronto’s Massey Hall on Sept. 24. The pair join this year’s cohort that includes Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance, and Alanis Morissette. Lavoie will be inducted by his friend Jim Corcoran, while friends of Foster, including R&B icon Deborah Cox and Chicago’s Neil Donell, will perform some of his hit songs at the Gala. 

Gala performers will include Nickelback’s Chad Kroeger and Ryan Peake, Corey Hart, Jessie Reyez, Charlotte Cardin, Serena Ryder, Ruby Waters, Maurice Moore, and Marie-Mai. Tickets are available through Massey Hall. More info here.

Calgary's YYC Music Awards has announced its 2022 nominees in 25 categories. The winners will be named at the Awards' 7th Annual Gala on Sept. 18, at the Grey Eagle Casino Event Centre. Multiple nominees include The Royal Foundry, ANNIKA, Nice Horse, Terez, ZENON,Miesha and The Spanks, and Kyle McKearney. See a full list of nominees here. Tix for the 2022 YYCMA Awards Gala will be available on July 22 here.

Festival news

– The inaugural LASSO In The City country music festival in Montreal has named an A-list lineup set to perform on Aug. 12 and 13 at Parc Jean-Drapeau. Preceded by an Aug. 11 Jade Eagleson show at MTelus, Lasso features US stars Luke Bryan, Dierks Bentley, Old Dominion, and Kelsea Ballerini, plus Canadian chart-topper Tenille Townes. Check the daily sked here

– The Markham Jazz Festival turns 25 this year, and the lineup includes the return of some of the event's favourite artists. The fest is held on three stages located on Main Street Unionville between Highway 7 and Carleton Road. All shows are free, except for a special Opening Night Concert by fusion pioneers Manteca at the Markham Museum on Aug. 17. Those performing Aug. 19-21 include Molly Johnson, ES:MO, Alex Pangman, Shakura S'Aida, Amanda Tosoff ft Emilie-Claire Barlow, Caity Gyorgy, CR Avery, Emily Steinwall, Josh Grossman’s Toronto Jazz Orchestra., Eric St-Laurent, Richard Whiteman, Irene Torres, Gigi Marentette, Queen Pepper, and Sammy Jackson. More info here.

– The Hagersville Rocks Music Festival returns to Heaslip Ford Amphitheater at Grant Kett Memorial Park in Hagersville, ON, on July 23, from 2:30 - 11.30 pm. Headlined by Aaron Pritchett, the country-accented lineup includes Dan Davidson, Emily Reid, Fiddlestix, Kalsey Kulyk and Nicole Rayy. An emerging artist stage will feature several local country artists. Tix and info here 

– Ontario's South Coast Jazz fest has announced a five-year worldwide first-of-its-kind deal with Stingray DJazz Music TV and Video-On-Demand. This fall, the platform will air a special edition of the festival featuring performances from Gene DiNovi, Dave Young,John Finley, the Lou Pomanti Trio, Queen Pepper, Heather Bambrick, and more. It will be co-hosted by Dini Petty alongside SCJ founding director, Juliann Kuchocki. Heralded by the Wall Street Journal as one of the best festivals to watch online, South Coast Jazz was originally founded as a live event in 2014 — pivoting swiftly to streaming amidst the global pandemic. More info here.

Industry news

– The MVP Project has just announced it has surpassed $1 million in support of emerging Canadian recording artists and filmmakers by funding music videos. This milestone was reached with the eighth round of the project, which will fund music videos from notable emerging talents like Ejay Smith, Zoon, and D.W. Waterson. You can find the full list of recipients here and can learn more about the individual recipients through their biographies in this folder.

– Honey Jam – the impactful national youth artist development programme founded by Ebonnie Rowe – has announced the line-up for its 2022 Artist Development program. The 15 artists chosen will be provided with mentoring opportunities, networking assistance, the opportunity to attend workshops featuring industry professionals, vocal/performance coaching, and performance opportunities, including the annual Honey Jam Showcase which is set for Aug. 18 at Toronto’s  El Mocambo. More info here. The 2022 Honey Jam showcase will also feature a special tribute performance in honour of Deborah Cox, celebrating her historic induction at the 2022 Junos.

– While preparing to move into its new location, Toronto roots music non-profit Hugh's Room Live continues to present shows in other city venues. An impressive slate of upcoming bookings includes Angelique Francis, Jack de Keyzer, Jadea Kelly, David Buchbinder NOLA Dreams, Quartette, Lily Frost, Alfie Zappacosta, and more. Check the sked and buy tix here. 

– Canadian Aengus Finnan served his last day as Executive Director of Folk Alliance International on July 15. In a press release, he stated that "It has been the personal and professional joy of my life to serve the extended folk community in this role and to have led our organization into a new era. I am immensely proud of the transformational work we have done since that date, best reflected in the catalog of Annual Reports, and most personally for me, as reflected in the scope of creative work in the Artist In Residence program." FAI hopes to have a new ED in place by early fall. In other Folk Alliance news, the deadline for 2023 Official Showcase applications has been extended to July 26. Apply here.

– Applications for Creative Manitoba's Professional Mentorship Program are now open to residents of Winnipeg age 19-29. This program allows the mentee to choose a professional mentor from their artistic discipline to pair with for 7 months (Oct. 2022- May 2023). Apply here by Aug. 19.

– Early bird delegate passes for the Nova Scotia Music Week 2022 conference are on sale now until Aug. 2.

Artists news

– Drake recently announced he is planning a Road to OVO Fest Tour, one he aims to take around the world for the 10th anniversary of OVO Fest. It is preceded by October World Weekend in his T.dot hometown. The first night, July 28, will be at History, featuring All Canadian North Stars The following night presents Chris Brown and Lil Baby at Budweiser Stage, and on the Aug. 1 show there is a Young Money reunion with Lil Wayne and Nicki Minaj. Tickets for OWW are now on sale, and the high prices are raising eyebrows.

–  The Weeknd's Toronto stadium show that was postponed by the Rogers network outage has been rescheduled to Sept. 22 at the Rogers Centre. Promoter Live Nation says tickets for the original July 8 date will be honoured for this performance.

– Variety is reporting that Justin Bieber will resume his Justice world tour on July 31 after contracting a virus that left his face partially paralyzed. According to his website, the Biebs will return to the stage at a music festival in Lucca, Italy, before travelling to Denmark, Sweden, Norway and other locations in Europe, South America, Asia, Africa and Australia. No North American tour dates are currently listed on the itinerary. Last month, Bieber postponed his remaining North American tour dates after developing Ramsay Hunt syndrome, a shingles outbreak that occurs in people who have had chickenpox and affects the nerve near one ear, causing one-sided paralysis and hearing loss.

– Acclaimed folk troubadour/storyteller Corin Raymond has a new production, Bookmarks, set to run at the Hamilton Fringe Festival, July 21-31, at The Staircase Studio Theatre. A follow-up to his 2011 monologue Bookworm, it is described as "a poignant memoir, a feast of word-fun, and yet another evangel of book-magic -- of books encountered, lost, and found, and the secret paths they travel in the world."  Highly recommended. Tix here. 

– Rocker C.Ross (aka Chad Ross) made a splash in the bands Deadly Snakes, Quest for Fire and Comet Control, and he has just released a solo album, Skull Creator (out on Atlanta’s Echodelick Records and Australia’s Ramble Records). Described as Americana-tinged, psych-folk, the record features musicians from Destroyer, The Black Crowes, Earthless and Black Mountain.

– Last weekend, I caught two fine sets from eloquent Toronto roots songsmith John Borra at Hamilton bar/resto The Capitol, a great haunt that just turned five. Borra played many tunes from his superb 2020 album Blue Wine and previewed some from a planned new album, comprising covers of songs written by Canadian pals, all of whom are great songwriters. Names to be revealed later.

– Folk-rocker Gunner & Smith (aka Geoff Smith) has released Something More To Give, a new single from his upcoming album Hear You In My Head, due out on Sept. 16 via Devilduck Records. Gunner & Smith plays a handful of Alberta and Saskatchewan shows this fall,  joined by co-headliners The North Sound. More info here. Stream the new track here.

–  Former Hey Rosetta! mainman Tim Baker has just announced an extensive late fall/early winter North American tour beginning Nov. 10 in LA, running through to Dec. 11. Dates in London, Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal are Dec. 8-11. Itinerary and tix here. The public onsale begins July 22. Baker's summer dates include the Calgary Folk Fest this weekend, the Makin' Waves fest in Sydney, NS, and Hamilton's Supercrawl (Sept. 9-11). He releases a new song, Year Of The Dog, today (July 21). Stream here.