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Darnell Stewart
Logan Staats
FYI
Festivals News
Music News Digest: Logan Staats Signs To Ishkōdé Records, The Phoenix Concert Theatre Celebrates Staying Open
Also this week, The Black Canadian Music Awards opens submissions, Calgary's Sled Island festival announces its guest curator, a Christmas tour by The Good Lovelies and more.
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Logan Staats, an acclaimed Mohawk songwriter, leader and land defender from Six Nations of the Grand River in Ontario, has signed a record deal with the Indigenous labelIshkōdé Records, home of such artists as Aysanabee, Digging Roots, Amanda Rheaume and Sebastian Gaskin.
Staats states that "Ishkōdé feels like home, a true community and family. This new project will be my best and most profound work yet. I’ve found a label and team that offers the trust and support I’ve always needed and matches the fire, intensity and enthusiasm burning inside me."
Ishkōdé co-founder ShoShona Kish explains that "Alongside the beautiful music, Logan’s commitment to uplifting his community now and for the future is a perfect alignment with the heart of why Ishkōdé exists. This partnership is alchemy."
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Staats won CTV’s The Launch in 2018, and he has since earned a Juno nomination and a SOCAN Indigenous Songwriter of the Year award.
Awards News
The Black Canadian Music Awards, a joint partnership with SiriusXM Canada and SOCAN Foundation, is designed to celebrate extraordinary Black music creators that are Canadian. Up to five awards valued at up to $10,000 each and five special distinctions valued at $1,000 each will be granted to the finalists. All submissions will be reviewed by a jury composed of Black artists/industry leaders in the Canadian music industry. Submissions are open here until Dec. 20.
– Helping fuel anticipation for the 54th Juno Awards in Vancouver next March is the announcement of the lineup for the CBC-curated Road to the Junos. Held at The Pearl on Granville Street, Vancouver, from January 26 to 30, this is a five-night concert series that spotlights B.C.’s music scene. To showcase the diversity of the province’s music scene, each night will celebrate a different theme and genre. Performers include Art d’Ecco and his Demon Band, Sadé Awele, Hayley Wallis and Ayla Tesler-Mabé.
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Tickets for the Road To The Junos series are now on sale here and priced at $15, with all proceeds benefiting Canadian music education charity MusiCounts. The performances will be recorded and made available on CBC Gem, CBC Music's YouTube channel, and CBC Radio in the lead-up to the awards ceremony at Rogers Arena, on Sunday, March 30. See the full schedule of performances here.
Festivals News
– Otoboke Beaver, the acclaimed Japanese punk rock quartet known for their explosive performances and genre-defying sound, have been named as the 2025 Guest Curator for Sled Island Music & Arts Festival, running June 18–22, in Calgary. As well as curating a selection of artists and programming, Otoboke Beaver will headline The Palace Theatre on June 21. Early Bird Passes go on sale here Dec. 13, offering 20% off for a limited time.
Industry News
The Phoenix Concert Theatre in Toronto iscelebrating its reprieve. The famed venue had been slated to close next month, but has received a stay of execution. It has just announced a free concert series as "a heartfelt gesture to thank our patrons for their unwavering support during challenging times."
The four-part concert series will kick off on January 18, with a performance by local legend and Phoenix regular Paul James, celebrating the Early Years of Rock and his 74th birthday. The series will continue on subsequent Saturdays, with tribute band Practically Hip in on Jan. 25, followed by Neon Nostalgic on Feb. 1 and, on Feb. 8, Sandman, the only Metallica-sanctioned tribute band. Q107 will be presenting the series. Free tickets available through Ticketweb.
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– Pop star Katy Perry has been announced as part of the Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025 opening ceremony lineup, alongside fellow performers Noah Kahan, Nelly Furtado and Roxane Bruneau. The event is set for Feb. 8.
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– The Simple Human Kindness benefit concert to supportBirdsong New Music Foundation is set to run at Lula Lounge in Toronto on Dec. 15. It is hosted by comic Mae Martin, who will also perform alongside such local notables as Russell Braun, Robert Priest, Allan Kinney, Ashley Bell, D.M. Lafortune, Carolun Maule, Dustin Harder, Robin Benedict and more. Tickets here.
Artists News
After being largely on hiatus for a full decade, acclaimed roots-rockers
Cuff The Duke have returned to the fray, recently delivering an excellent new album, Breaking Dawn. They're out supporting it with Ontario shows, and were greeted with a full and appreciative house at Mills Hardware in Hamilton on Saturday night. The band responded with a set featuring both musically expansive and lyrically reflective new material and earlier favourites from a discography now spanning seven albums. The emotionally expressive voice of frontman Wayne Petti remains in top shape, as do the instrumental chops of his bandmates. Melissa McClelland (Whitehorse) as there enjoying the set, and reminisced to us about an early East Coast tour she played with Cuff The Duke and Blue Rodeo.
Cuff The Duke were preceded by Guelph indie rock combo Royal Castles, fronted by Cuff drummer AJ Johnston, and they impressed with strong hooks and plenty of vocal variety. Also on the bill were rootsy Hamilton favourites, Matt Paxton & The Pintos, and all three outfits play at Guelph's Sonic Hall on Dec. 14. Tickets here.
– Hamilton musical maverick Chris Houston remains prolific, albeit in a distinctly under the radar fashion. He has an uncanny knack of attracting musical legends to contribute to his projects, and new solo album Paranoid Bubble is another case in point. Notable guests include guitarist Danny Weis (Iron Butterfly, Rhinoceros), featured on the track "Beehive of Disfunction" (below), Randy Bachman, Evan Johns, Mary Margaret O'Hara, Tim Vesely (Rheostatics), Bazil Donovan and Cleave Anderson (Blue Rodeo), Michael Fonfara (Lou Reed), Steve Negus (Saga) and more. Houston tells us the album is getting strong streams in such unlikely markets as the Emirates.
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Another new Houston release is Hamilton Babylon, his collaboration with Forgotten Rebels' Mickey DeSadist, as DeSadist-AuGoGo. Sample a song here.
– Juno-winning folk trio The Good Lovelies have become popular performers over the holiday season, and some dates on their just-commenced North American Christmas tour are already sold out, including the closing show at Ottawa's National Arts Centre on Dec. 21. They play Toronto's Massey Hall on Dec. 11, followed by shows in Guelph, Huntsville, Midland, Port Hope, Peterborough, London, Kingston and Ottawa. Itinerary and tickets here.
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