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Saturday, February 15, 2020

Happy 5th Birthday Trebleclef


Today (Feb 15, 2020) our little monkey turns 5 years old! Our little guy has reached the half decade point! They grown up so fast :)

Click here for more of Trebleclef's adventures.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUDDY!



Links: Big Maybelle, Video above courtesy of Sliptrail

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Thursday, February 13, 2020

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Saturday, February 8, 2020

New Episode of Ensemble! with Rae Billing and Andy Griffiths ft Justine Fischer



The second remarkable episode of the current season of Ensemble! will be starting up soon. The incredible Cable 14 Hamilton TV show will feature two wonderful area singer/songwriters: Rae Billing and Andy Griffths (both backed up by the fabulous Justine Fischer on bass). Big Rude Jake continues as the host. The episode was filmed at Hamilton's Birchway Sound.

Please note that anyone can now live stream Cable 14 for free at https://cable14now.com/. On demand is only available for Shaw, Rogers and Cogeco customers. Click here for the episode.

Here are some videos from the amazing featured performers.





Links: Rae BillingMore Rae Billing Stories, Videos above courtesy of Stellablu477





Links: Andy GriffithsMore Andy Griffiths Stories, Videos above courtesy of Colin Cherry

The schedule for this episode (more will be added as we find out):
  • TBA
More Ensemble Stories


Previous (Canadian Winners at the International Blues Challenge) - - - Next (Get Out Your Guitar Day ft Ken Dunn)

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

CONGRATS! Canadians Win at the International Blues Challenge!



A few local artists went to this year's International Blues Challenge in Memphis but though the the FOG Blues and Brass Band from Kitchener reached the semi-finals, none of them took home awards. Canada didn't come home empty handed though. Two Ottawa-based bands made their country proud. JW-Jones earned the Gibson Guitarist Award and Horojo Trio won 1st Place in the band contest.



Links: JW JonesMore JW Jones StoriesVideo above courtesy of JW Jones



Links: Horojo Trio, Video above courtesy of  HOROJO Trio

Click here for the Ottawa Citizen story.

CONGRATS GUYS!

Here's a complete list of winners. Canadian winners are bolded.
Blast from the Past: Last Year's Winners

Links: International Blues ChallengeMore IBC Stories

Previous (Maple Blues Award Winners) - - - Next (Ensemble Episode ft Rae Billing & Andy Griffiths)

Tuesday, February 4, 2020

CONGRATS! Downchild Blues Band and Tom Bona Bring Home Maple Blues Awards


AMAZING! Two local artists brought home Maple Blues Awards this year. On February 3, 2020 at Koerner Hall in Toronto, the legendary Downchild Blues Band (whose lineup includes members from Brantford and Niagara) won Entertainer of the Year. 



Links: Downchild Blues BandMore Downchild StoriesVideo above courtesy of Downchild Blues Band - Topic

Also Tom Bona (from Waterloo band Soulstack) earned Drummer of the Year honours for his work with Sue Foley.



Links: Tom Bona, More Tom Bona StoriesSue Foley, More Sue Foley StoriesVideo above courtesy of Smoky

Here's a complete list of winners. Local musicians are bolded.
From the official new release:

Toronto, ON -- A dedicated and excited crowd of blues music fans filled Koerner Hall in Toronto to celebrate the nominees and winners of the 23rd annual Maple Blues Awards. The gala evening celebrated artists from coast-to-coast and featured rousing performances from nominees. Three artists took home two awards – Kingston’s Miss Emily won awards for Female Vocalist of the Year and New Artist of the Year, New Brunswick’s Matt Andersen took home trophies for Male Vocalist of the Year and Acoustic Act of the Year while Montreal’s Dawn Tyler Watson was awarded Recording/Producer of the Year and Songwriter of the Year.

For only the second time in Maple Blues Awards history, there were tied winners in two categories - Harpdog Brown and Steve Marriner both won Harmonica Player of the Year and Chris Whiteley
and Mat “Moose” Mousseau each won the award for Horn Player of the Year.

The Blues with a Feeling Award (Lifetime Achievement Award) was awarded to Montreal-based Michael Jerome Browne, whose long and illustrious career has seen him tour around the world, recording seven albums and guesting on countless others, and recently was nominated for Blues Album of the Year at the upcoming JUNO Awards.  Also honoured for a long career dedicated to the preservation and promotion of blues music was Toronto Blues Society’s own Brian Blain, who received the Blues Booster of the Year Award.

A new addition to the Maple Blues Awards program is the inaugural Sapphire Video Award. Sapphire has one single category and both live performance and staged production/interpretive videos were accepted. The winner of the Sapphire Video Award was Miss Emily for her video for “Hold Back The River” with the runners up announced as Terra Hazelton for her video for “Anybody’s Baby” and Lucas Haneman Express for their video for the song “Ms. McGrim”. The winning artist received a cash prize of $1,500 while the two runners up each received $250.

A collaboration between The Toronto Blues Society and Paul Reddick, the sixth annual COBALT Prize for Contemporary Blues Composition Award is to promote blues music through exploration of its form. The winning composition was judged on its ability to creatively utilize blues traditions within the broad contemporary musical landscape. The winner of the Cobalt Prize for Contemporary Blues Composition was Rich Junco for his song "Cope", while the first runner up was Bad Luck Woman and Her Misfortunes for their song "Cruel Thing" and a tied win for the second runner up was Joe Nolan for "Paranoia Day 36 Blues” and Loryn Taggart for "In My Company". A cash prize of $1000 was presented to the winner and the runners up each received $250.

The 23rd annual Maple Blues Awards not only featured heart-warming moments and great speeches from the winners, but the audience was treated to exciting performances from Big Dave McLean, Matchedash Parish, Miss Emily, Dawn Tyler Watson, Michael Jerome Browne, and the evening’s hostess Raha Javanfar (Bad Luck Woman) with special guests, students from The Regent Park School of Music, all backed by the awards house band The Maple Blues Band.

Blast from the Past: Last Years's Winners

Saturday, February 1, 2020

GOOD LUCK! 2020 YWCA Hamilton Women of Distinction Award Nominees (Music-Related)


On March 5, 2020 at The Hamilton Convention Centre, the YWCA will hold the Hamilton Women of Distinction Awards gala. The event will celebrate the achievements of many remarkable ladies. Recently, the nominee list was unveiled and a few members of the Hammer's musical community were nominated

Local musical star Terra Lightfoot and Diana Weir, former Executive Director of the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra are up for an award in the Arts/Culture/Design division. Also nominated in the same category are writer/performer Robin Zee, dance teacher Sheila Nagy, and burlesque artist Cadence Machry.



Links: Terra LightfootMore Terra Lightfoot StoriesVideo above courtesy of Terra Lightfoot



Links: Robin Zee, Video above courtesy of robin zee

Also of musical note is karaoke bar and live venue, Tracie's Place, which is in the running for Outstanding Small Business.



Links: Tracie's Place, Video above courtesy of Tracie's Place Restaurant and Karaoke

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE.

Click here for the Hamilton Spectator article, including a full list of nominees.

Blast from the Past: Last Years Nominees

Links: Women of Distinction Awards, More WOD Awards Stories

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