Music News Digest, Oct. 5, 2018

By Kerry Doole

The title of the new single from The Lovelocks, "Good Way to Go," has extra resonance. The same day the track was released to Canadian Country Radio (Oct. 2), the popular female country duo announced the end of their joint musical career. A statement issued via their label, MDM Recordings, states "Today, we are announcing that we’ve decided to take a final bow together as The Lovelocks and move into the next season of our lives. These things are of course never easy, but we are united and especially grateful for all that we have been able to accomplish together."

In seven years together, The Lovelocks, comprising Ali Raney and Zoë Sparrow, released three studio albums. They won the CCMA Discovery Award in 2014 and won multiple CMAO Awards. Their latest EP, 20 Dollars In My Pocket, was released in July.

– There is still time to apply to join CIMA's first-ever Business and Showcase Mission to AmericanaFest UK in London. Held on Jan. 29-31, 2019, AmericanaFestUK is a two-day conference, awards show and music festival with live Americana music from the US, Austria, Spain, Denmark, the UK and more. The day conference consists of over 200 international promoters, artists and festival owners. A showcase opportunity is currently open to six Canadian artists who are export-ready and fit the Americana genre. Application deadline is Oct. 12.

– Actor/comedian Jonathan Torrens hosts the 2019 East Coast Music Awards show, set for Charlottetown, PEI on May 2. Known for roles in such hit shows as Trailer Park Boys and Mr. D and the popular Taggart & Torrens project, he is originally from Charlottetown.

–  On Oct. 2,  the 29th edition of the SOCAN Montréal Awards Gala saw more than 50 awards presented during an evening celebrating Québec's creative talent. Hosted by Pierre-Yves Lord, this year's Gala was highlighted with an all-female complement of SOCAN Classic* Song creators, including Laurence Jalbert, Francine Raymond, Marjo, Lara Fabian, Marie Carmen, and Hart Rouge, who, alongside their co-writers and publishers, received one or more of the awards.

SOCAN Achievement Awards presented during the Gala included the SOCAN Cultural Impact Award to Michel Rivard for the timeless Beau Dommage classic "La complainte du phoque en Alaska."  Country music star Renée Martel receive the Lifetime Achievement Award for her career, and broadcaster Jim Corcoran received the Special Achievement Award. A full list of winners here.

–  The program for the eighth edition of Mundial Montreal has been announced. Running from Nov. 13 - 16, this year's edition has a theme of Mosaic Music, with female and Indigenous artists prominently represented. 2018 Polaris Music Prize winner Jeremy Dutcher is featured, with other notable names including Riit, Silla and Rise, Blisk, Mélissa Laveaux, Kim So Ra, OKAN, and Gordie Mackeeman and his Rhythm Boys. Over 300 local and international world music industry professionals will attend for a series of panels, workshops, and speakers. More details here

– Popular Montreal music publicist Glenda Rush (Vivo Musique) is justifiably excited about her client  AfrotroniX, (Caleb Rimtobaye). The Montreal-based Chadian-Canadian artist has just earned four nominations for AFRIMA Awards, Africa's highest music honour. You can join the public voting process here. AfrotroniX's most recent album is 2017's  NomadiX, and his Oct. 12 concert at l’Olympia de Montreal will feature Fally Ipupa, the legendary Congolese artist.

 – SOCAN has announced the appointment of Erica Grayson to the newly-created role of Senior A&R Executive, based out of the Los Angeles office. Grayson is a music industry veteran who has worked or consulted with companies like Sony, Interscope, A&M, OVO, Motown, Atlantic, and others in and outside of the US.

 – El Coyote is a new Montreal-based alt-country-folk combo fronted by three fine female singer/songwriters, Angela Desveaux, Michelle Tompkins (Sin and Swoon) and Katie Moore (Socalled). A self-titled debut release is eliciting raves, and a CD launch in Montreal sold out. El Coyote will howl at Burdock in Toronto, Oct. 26. Recommended.

 – Veteran Canadian rockers The Tea Party have just announced two Ontario dates. They play Maverick’s Music Hall in Barrie on Dec. 28 and Danforth Music Hall in Toronto on Dec. 29. Tix for the T.O. show now on sale.

 – Rob Webster's earlier band, the Key Frames, impressed us, and the Toronto power popster then went solo with his 2017 EP, “This Is Station 4”, one produced by Derek Downham (Serena Ryder, Andy Kim). He is now promoting it via a new video series, Station 4: Times Five”. The first instalment was posted to STN4.COM on Sept. 20 and features an intimate Artery showcase at the Beaches’ Fox Theatre. The five-concert videos in the series feature different guest ensembles, with participants including luminaries Shawn William Clarke, Jerry Leger and Kyle Sullivan, and Sarah Boesveld (Conrad Black Sabbath). Look for episode two on Oct. 20.

RIP

Geoff Emerick, the imaginative recording engineer best known as one of the architects of the Beatles' legendary recordings, died Oct. 2 from a massive heart attack. He was 72.

Remembered as an innovator behind the desk, Emerick was just 15 when he began working at Abbey Road Studios. He was assistant engineer on such songs as “Love Me Do”, “I Want To Hold Your Hand,” “She Loves You,” and “A Hard Day’s Night.”

Just before turning 19, he became the Beatles' main engineer and helmed Revolver, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and Abbey Road, and much of Magical Mystery Tour and The Beatles (The White Album), which is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its release this year with an expansive box set.   

Later, he worked on recordings with Elvis Costello, Michael Jackson, The Zombies, Cheap Trick, Split Enz, Jeff Beck, Kate Bush, Big Country, Stevie Wonder and many more.

During his career, Emerick won four Grammy Awards – three for best-engineered album, for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Abbey Road and the Paul McCartney and Wings album Band on the Run and a 2003 technical Grammy for “pushing the boundaries of studio recording techniques of creativity and imagination.” He was the author of a 2006 autobiography Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of the Beatles. 

Read Paul McCartney's tribute here. Sources: Billboard, The Guardian, Celebrity Access, Variety