Music News Digest: Tanya Tagaq Headlines Tkaronto Fest, Bachman-Turner Overdrive and Gino Vannelli Return

Awards news

Held at Pier 21, The 2024 Creative Nova Scotia Awards on Sunday, Nov. 3 were hosted by reggae artist Jah'Mila and featured special performances by Anna Quon and Alan Syliboy. The free, ticketed awards show, now in its 19th year and presented by Arts Nova Scotia and the Creative Nova Scotia Leadership Council, saw artists of several disciplines supported and celebrated. The Portia White Prize was awarded to Syliboy, an established Mi’kmaw artist, and his protégé recipient is the Nova Scotia Indigenous Tourism Enterprise Network.

The Black Artist Recognition Award was presented to Tara Taylor, a musical theatre playwright, director and animator, and The Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia received the Creative Community Impact Award. Other winners included Robert Deveaux, Stephanie Joline, Susanne Chu, Tim Crofts, Jack Wong, Kaashif Ghanie and Lux Gow-Habrich. Read more here.

– Canada’s Music Incubator (CMI) and the National Music Centre (NMC) have revealed the 11 artists selected for the 2024 AE West (Artist Entrepreneur West) program, which is being hosted at CKUA Radio in Edmonton this year. The program launched on Nov. 4 and will conclude with the AE West Artist Extravaganza Showcase, a free live concert by all participating artists, taking place at Edmonton’s Yardbird Suite on Dec. 5. Now in its 8th year, AE West is a month-long creative entrepreneurship program designed to empower emerging artists by providing them with the practical skills, knowledge, and resources needed to thrive in the music industry.

The 11 artists are Vancouver hip-hop/R&B duo Ato-Mik; R&B/soul artist Bella Cat from Nelson, BC; country singer-songwriter BERLYN hailing from Eckville, AB; Calgary soul/funk act CELIN; folk singer-songwriter CocoLarosa from Surrey; Saskatoon synth-pop artist and producer Jordan Perry; country singer Martina Dawn from Devon, AB; Edmonton country-pop artist Robyn Ashley; Edmonton neo-soul singer Ru; country-rock singer-songwriter Travis Dolter from Bittern Lake, AB; and Vancouver art-pop act Wallgrin.

– By all accounts, the recent 2024 Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at Massey Hall was a roaring success. Videos of performances and speeches from the momentous and star-studded night have now been released. Check them out here.

Festivals news

– The 2024 Tkaronto Music Festival, celebrating Indigenous musical excellence with three nights of live music, is set for November 7-9, at the TD Music Hall inside Massey Hall in Toronto. The strong lineup features Polaris Prize-winning powerhouse Tanya Tagaq, Haudenosaunee DJ duo The Halluci Nation (formerly A Tribe Called Red) and Juno-winning blues duo Blue Moon Marquee as headliners. Others performing include Sebastian Gaskin, Kristi Lane Sinclair, STUN, Kaeley Jade, MR SAUGA and Evan Redsky. More info here. Tickets here.

Industry news

– The Indigenous Music Office (IMO) has announced a new national program, Cultural Cadence: Mentorship for Indigenous Music Professionals, created to support career advancement for emerging Indigenous administrators, artist managers, agents, publicists and other roles in the music industry. For its first year, the program will offer ten participants from across the country career advancement opportunities and network building activities.

The program will culminate at the 2025 Juno Awards in Vancouver. Partnering with IMO on the program are Music Managers Forum Canada (MMF Canada) and Full Circle: First Nations Performance. The application deadline is Nov. 22. For more information and to apply, click here.

– TheKitchener-Waterloo Symphony(KWS) recently announced that it will continue its almost eighty-year legacy, despite declaring bankruptcy in September 2023. A proposal to creditors received unanimous support and was recently approved by the Superior Court of Ontario, annulling the bankruptcy. As a result, the KWS will present concerts at St. Matthews Lutheran Church in Kitchener throughout the remainder of the 2024-25 season, including two concerts – a classical and a pops – to finish out 2024, with the KWS Holiday Celebration taking place on December 20 and 21. Tickets here.

Artists news

– Canadian country music superstar Shania Twain will return to the Calgary Stampede next year, her first show during the 10-day western festival in more than a decade. The Stampede runs from July 4 to 13, 2025, with Twain’s performance scheduled for July 5. She is currently performing a Las Vegas concert residency that runs until February.

– Famed Canadian classic rock 'n roll band Bachman Turner-Overdrive have just announced they'll be taking care of business via an extensive tour across Canada in April and May, 2025. Entitled Back In Overdrive Tour 2025, it features April Wine and Headpins in support. Of note: The current lineup excludes co-founder Fred Turner but features Randy Bachman's son, Tal Bachman. Reports suggest BTO will also play hits from Bachman's other hit band, The Guess Who. The 22-date tour launches in Victoria on April 1, closing out in Halifax on May 8. Tickets go on sale here Friday, November 8. Info here.

– After a long absence from the limelight, veteran Canadian rock/pop songwriter, producer, and performer Gino Vannelli returns with a new album on Feb. 7. The Life I Got (To My Most Beloved) (out via COA Productions) will be his 22nd album and first new studio album since 2019. It reflects upon the death of his wife from cancer this year, and is described as his most personal work yet. The Montreal native has sold over 20 million albums worldwide over his 50+ year career.

– On Thursday Nov. 7, Juno-winning Toronto singer-songwriter Lenka Lichtenberg will launch her new album, Feel With Blood, at Small World Centre (180 Shaw St., Toronto). Her previous release, Thieves of Dreams, earned a Juno and she received international critical acclaim for her work with Payadora Tango Ensemble and Aviva Chernick for the album Silent Tears, The Last Yiddish Tango). Thieves of Dreams was sung in Czech, while the new album is sung in English and features eight reimagined tracks from Thieves of Dreams alongside nine new compositions from Lichtenberg and two other songs. Concert tickets here.

– Known affectionately as “Canada’s First Lady of Country Music,” veteran vocalist Carroll Baker has announced plans for her final tour in the spring of 2025. Baker has scored over twenty #1 hits, released 14 albums, four compilation albums and 55 singles over her celebrated career. Her farewell tour covers more than 20 cities, beginning in Peterborough on March 24. Tickets are now on sale. Tour info here.

– Juno-winning jazz-pop vocalist-songwriter-pianist and radio host Laila Biali has announced a Canadian tour in the holiday season, beginning in Toronto on Nov. 30 and concluding in London, ON, Dec. 19. Expect material from Biali's just-released album Wintersongs alongside Christmas classics. Of note: On Nov. 25, she performs a sold-out show at prestigious London jazz club, Ronnie Scott's. Itinerary and tickets here.

– Before moving to Nova Scotia, singer-songwriter and poet Sandy Bell was active on the Toronto scene as co-founder of country-roots band The Wanted and for work with Array Space, The Esprit Orchestra, The Jeff Healey Band and more. She is now concentrating on her solo career, and released a strong new album, BREAK OF DAY: Songs for Colin, last week. Dedicated to her late son, the album is produced by award-winning bluegrass musician Andrew Collins, and features such A-list players as Champagne James Robertson, John Showman and Burke Carroll. Streaming link here.