Music News Digest, Sept. 13, 2019
Don Brownrigg (pictured) and AQUASOCKS lead the Music Nova Scotia Award noms, KMJF starts today, and Monster Truck heads back to Europe. Also in the news are YYC Music Awards, Neil Crory, Downtown Yonge BIA, Polaris Music Prize, Boi-1da, ECMAs, the Rolling Stones, and farewell Daniel Johnston.
By Kerry Doole
Music Nova Scotia Award nominations have been announced, and AQUASOCKS and Don Brownrigg lead the way with six each, followed by Jenn Grant, with five nominations. The Music Nova Scotia Awards will be presented on Nov. 10 at Nova Scotia Music Week (NSMW) in Truro, NS. All current members of Music Nova Scotia are eligible to vote for this year’s Music and Industry Awards, through the Music Nova Scotia website. Voting closes on Oct. 1. The public can vote for the Entertainer of the Year Award, between Oct. 6 and 27. A full nominees list here.
– Toronto's Kensington Market 'hood is jazzing it up this weekend with the fourth annual Kensington Market Jazz Festival, Sept. 13-15. The brainchild of local heroine Molly Johnson, KMJF features 120 performances at 23 venues, with the cream of the Canadian jazz crop in attendance (the musicians and singers featured have over 100 Juno Awards between them). Maybe the just-announced Jim Cuddy will show off Mel Torme chops when he plays Supermarket tonight (Sept. 13).
– More conventional jazz artists include Brandi Disterheft, Chelsea McBride's Socialist Night School, Manteca, Alison Young, Carol Welsman, Lemon Bucket Orkestra, Lighthouse, Jeremy Ledbetter Trio, John MacLeod Jazz Orchestra, Barbra Lica, Quincy Bullen, Marc Jordan, Broadsway, Colleen Allen, Eric St-Laurent, RomaniJazz, Heavyweights Brass Band, and more. KMJF has continued support from Tom's Place, Yamaha Canada Music Ltd, Slaight Music, Long & McQuade, Yamaha, City of Toronto, and other private donors. Full sked here
– A decade since signing Boi-1da, Sony/ATV Music Publishing has extended its global deal with the Toronto songwriter-producer who has become Drake's right-hand man. The extension agreement covers Boi-1da's entire catalogue and future works. That includes Drake's God's Plan, Eminem's Not Afraid, Rihanna's Work featuring Drake and Cardi B's Be Careful, among many other hits Boi-1da (real name) Matthew Samuels has co-written. Source: Billboard
– Europe has long been the best market for Hamilton hard rock heroes Monster Truck, and the band has toured there relentlessly. A November tour entitled UK/German Bonus Round has now been announced, with the group set to play a number of towns and cities for the first time. The trek begins in Norwich, England, on Nov. 15, closing in Dresden, Germany on Dec. 1. Dates here
– The best of the Calgary music scene will be honoured on stage at the YYC Music Awards at the Palace Theatre on Sept. 22. The annual volunteer-run Awards, in its fourth year, honours local music in 21 categories. Multiple nominees include Drew Gregory, Kate Stevens, Miesha and the Spanks, and T. Buckley. Source: Calgary Herald
– Much-loved CBC Music producer, mentor, and impresario Neil Crory died on Jan. 10 at the age of 68. A stellar lineup of Canadian singers whose careers Crory nurtured will perform at the Neil Crory Tribute Concert on Oct. 11, at Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre, Toronto. That list includes Phillip Addis, John Abberger, Ellen McAteer, Daniel Taylor, Isaiah Bell, Monica Whicher, Nathalie Paulin, Isabel Bayrakdarian, Brett Polegato, and more. They are joined by members of Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, and current and former members of the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, among others.
All proceeds from the concert will be directed to The Neil F. Crory Endowment Fund, administered by the Ontario Arts Foundation to carry on his legacy by supporting young singers enrolled in the Stratford Summer Music Vocal Academy. Tickets and information are available here
– The Downtown Yonge BIA is partnering with Polaris Music Prize to add a third music mural near Yonge and College in Toronto, – one that will change annually. Each year for the next five years, a poster created to celebrate the Polaris Music Prize winner will adorn the side of the TTC building at 21 Granby St. The site is also adjacent to the Carlu where the Polaris gala is held annually. The murals are part of the Downtown Yonge BIA’s Music Strategy, an ambitious, multi-pronged plan to re-establish the area as a ‘Music Mecca.’
– Submissions for Awards and Showcasing at the 2020 East Coast Music Awards: Festival & Conference in St. John’s, NL, April 29 - May 3 are now open, with an Oct. 4 deadline. Info here
– A rolling stone may gather no moss, but the band sure brings in the green when they tour. Billboard reports that the Rolling Stones' two-year, three-leg No Filter Tour that wrapped Aug. 30 at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium grossed US $415.6 million and sold 2,290,871 tickets, joining A Bigger Bang Tour on the list of the top 10 highest grossing tours in Boxscore’s history. The jaunt began in Sept. 2017, with 14 stadium shows in Europe.
RIP
Daniel Johnston, a Texan singer-songwriter and visual artist whose work earned him a cult following, died on Sept. 11, at age 58. No cause of death reported.
He was termed an outsider voice, known for childlike, haunting songs. Admirers included Beck, Kurt Cobain and Tom Waits, and he drew comparisons to William Blake.
Johnston's cartoon drawings — rendered in Magic Marker and frequently inspired by characters like Casper the Friendly Ghost — were included in the Whitney Biennial exhibition in 2006 at the Whitney Museum of American Art.
Johnston faced mental health problems that stunted his career and occasionally hospitalized him. In recent years he had largely been confined to his family’s home; in 2017, he went on a farewell tour backed by members of the bands Fugazi, Wilco and Built to Spill. Source: NY Times
