Music News Digest, June 13, 2018

By FYI Staff

We know you’ve been itchin’ to watch and listen to “Nervous,” Shawn Mendes’ latest, so here it is.

– Montreal music maven Denis Wolf has teamed up with Ludivine Lavenant and Simon Bourdou to create Ray-On, a cluster company offering clients an a la carte menu of options that include the sync agency and online music catalog Harris & Wolff, the recording studio Masterkut, the publishing company Ho-Tune Musique, as well as Maisonnette– a music agency representing original music and sound design composers for film, series and ads.

– Here’s the official video for “Carnival,” the lead track from David Clayton-Thomas’s new album entitled Mobius (SRG/ILS Group).

– Metal Forces Magazinereports that Quebec metal band Voivod plans to release its first album in 5 years. According to the source, Century Media Records will release The Wake in late Sept.

– California disc store Amoeba Music is now selling weed just blocks from the UC Berkeley campus. Billboard has the story that includes co-owner Marc Weinstein’s mildly provocative opinions about the state of selling LPs in the modern age.

– Budweiser’s County Fair returns to Toronto’s Fort York July 20–21 with a corral of hat acts that include The Reklaws, Emily Reid, Buck Twenty, Kris Barclay, Leah Daniels, Boots & Hearts Emerging Artist winner Jade Eagleson and runner-up the Red Hill Valleys.

–  A Grammy Award-winner as Best New Artist, Alessia Cara returns with a new single, “Growing Pains”, coming out Friday via Def Jam Recordings/Universal Music Canada. It's the lead single from Cara's forthcoming sophomore album, and she'll perform it on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on June 18. The singer was the most-streamed new artist of 2017.

–  Slaight Music has donated $25K to the Music Therapy Motorcycle Ride which raises funds and awareness for music therapy in BC. The Ride is a partnership between BC-based charity Music Heals and Bikers for Autism. To be held on Aug. 25, it brings together 300 prominent members of Vancouver’s business community and music industry, music therapists and motorcycle enthusiast, riding along the Sea to Sky Highway. Registration is now open here 

– Halifax entertainment lawyer Nigel Jenkins has signed a distro deal with Select for his newly minted LHM Records and the release of a music video for Winnipeg hip-hop quartet, The Lytics.  

– Calgary hat singer Aaron Pollock won notice as ‘One to Watch’ in the 2017 Nashville Songwriters Association song contest with his self-penned lament, “Nothing Much These Days.” He’s just released a digital copy and here’s the lyric video to match.

– Kim Clarke Champniss shifts from the screen to the stage at Corks Playhouse Theatre in Niagara-on-the-Lake Friday, June 29. The former VJ-turned-trouper performs a 75-minute monologue tracing his teen years in swinging London’s disco scene to buying furs for the Hudson’s Bay Co. in a remote Inuit hamlet. The plot is taken from his recently published memoir, Skinheads, Fur Traders and DJs.

–  Joni Mitchell was honoured by her former hometown of Saskatoon on Sunday with two plaques and, as CBC reports, the naming of a prominent walkway along the South Saskatchewan River as Joni Mitchell Promenade.

"This has been a long time coming," said former premier and emcee Lorne Calvert at the special ceremony. He added that the location of the promenade is perfect because Mitchell wanted it to be a place that's "accessible to everybody." The 74-year-old singer was not present but instead enjoyed a livestream of the event at her Bel Air home.  

– The Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) has announced Calgary as the host city for Country Music Week 2019. Running Sept. 5 - 8, the annual will culminate with the Awards broadcast on Sept. 8. This return will earn Calgary the title of the show’s most frequent host city, at nine. Hamilton is this year's host city, Sept. 6-9.

– Now in its 10th year, the Canadian Music Café during the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on Sept. 10 and 11. CMC aims to bring the best in new Canadian music to the ears of film and television music supervisors and the filmed media community gathering at TIFF. Canadian artists are encouraged to apply for showcase consideration here. An impressive alumni list includes City and Colour, Hannah Georgas, Lowell, Rose Cousins, Charlotte Cardin, Martha Wainwright, Scott Helman and Dear Rouge.

The initiative is a joint venture of the Canadian Music Publishers Association and the Canadian Independent Music Association (CIMA) and is supported by the OMDC and Department of Canadian Heritage.

– SiriusXM Canada has announced the three finalists chosen by public vote for the inaugural SiriusXM Top of the Country competition.  They are Leaving Thomas (Western Canada), Andrew Hyatt (Central) and Jason Benoit (Eastern). A live battle during Country Music Week will determine a winner for the $25K prize. Each finalist also gets a SOCAN songwriting trip to Nashville and a performance slot at a summer festival.

–  KD Lang will accept the Americana Music AssociationAmericana Trailblazer Award on Sept. 12 at Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. The decorated Canadian singer has previously won four Grammys, eight Junos, and in 1996 received the Order of Canada. Source: No Depression

– Toronto-born, New York-based vocalist Amy Cervini launches her new album, No One Ever Tells You, on June 15 at Subculture NYC. The Anzic Records set sports songs by Lyle Lovett,  Percy Mayfield, Rodgers & Hammerstein, plus one original, "I Don't Know."

– Popular Toronto-based world music guitarist Pavlo is celebrating his 20th anniversary of performing in style with a 20-night residency at hometown hub Jazz Bistro that runs June 10-29. The shows feature nightly guests, guitar giveaways and culminate on his birthday.

– The current Toronto production of Grease: The Musical is attracting some star talent. Canadian country A-lister George Canyon was recently featured at the Wintergarden Theatre Centre, and Destiny's Child member Michelle Williams takes a cameo role in the show, June 19-23.