Sunday, May 10, 2015

CONGRATS! Caribou and City and Colour Make Us Proud at the 2015 Indies


The end of Canadian Music Week always brings with it one of the country's most distinguished ceremonies: the Indies.  Two area artists brought home awards on May 9th, 2015 from the popular Toronto event.

You+Me, the alt-folk project by featuring St. Catharines' Dallas Smith (aka City and Colour) and P!nk, won in the Songwriter category.

Hamilton musician Caribou added the Electronic Act of the Year award to his already impressive Juno win.



Links: Caribou, More Caribou Stories, Video above courtesy of Caribou

Hopefully they will be taking home some hardware on Saturday May 9th, 2015 when the awards are handed out at the Sheraton Centre in Toronto.  GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!

Here's a complete list of winners:

Blast from the Past: 2014 Winners

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Saturday, May 9, 2015

New Album from St. Catharines Superstar Ron Sexsmith Filled With Infectious Joy


Carousel One, the new album from Ron Sexsmith (his first with Compass Records) shows the St. Catharines musical superstar in a happy light.  The album is infectious and filled with wonderful positivity.

While a few tracks contain Ron's trademark beautiful heartbreak and melancholia, there is a ton of joy and bounce as well.  The songs are just as well-crafted and lyrical as before - there's no fluff here.  His voice has never sounded better too!

You'll find this CD in many online and physical shops.  It can also be purchased through his website or downloaded with iTunes.





Videos above courtesy of Ron Sexsmith
EXTRA MINI-REVIEW!

Ron's previous album, 2013's Forever Endeavour won a much-deserved Juno.  His incredible songwriting skills and expressive voice are in full force here too.  A slightly lower-key project - there's still a lot of amazing pop, soul and musical hooks to keep things interesting.

This album is also on sale at many shops and can be downloaded via iTunes.



Video above courtesy of Ron Sexsmith
Blast from the Past: Ron Sexsmith Wins 2014 Juno

 Links: Ron Sexsmith, More Ron Sexsmith Stories, More Releases
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Thursday, May 7, 2015

News Roundup (Burnin' Ethyl, Amber Jane, IN2U, Ben E King)


News

Local
World
The Adventures of Trebleclef, the Hamilton Blues Lovers Monkey

Trebleclef checked out Trickbag live at Buddy's!


Click here for more pictures

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He also saw some amazing music at the Nepal Fundraiser @ The Casbah. Please click here to donate to Doctor's Without Borders and help out the victims.

 

 

Click here for more pictures.

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Trebleclef was also at Big B Comics in Hamilton to snag some free stuff for Free Comic Book Day

 

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Wednesday, May 6, 2015

GOOD LUCK! 2015 Hamilton Arts Award Nominees


The arts in Hamilton are stronger than ever and the city is recognizing this through the Hamilton Arts Awards.  This year's nominee list has been released and, as always, music plays a big role.  Many talented musicians (divided into Established and Emerging categories) are up for these prestigious prizes.  Winners will be announced at a FREE ceremony at Theatre Aquarius on June 4, 2015.

Here are the music nominees:

Established
Emerging
Click here for a full listing of the nominees. 

Click here for the results

GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE!

Blast from the Past: Last Year's Winners

Links: Hamilton Arts Awards, More Hamilton Arts Awards Stories
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Sunday, May 3, 2015

CONGRATS! Hamilton's Troy Harmer Wins Randy Bachman 'Heavy Blues' Guitar Solo Contest


Many musicians entered a guitar solo competition where they added their spin to music legend Randy Bachman's brand new tune, Heavy Blues.  The Guess Who/BTO guitarist himself picked Hamilton's own amazing guitar slinger Troy Harmer! Congratulations!

The grand prize was a set of Randy Bachman signature guitar strings, the new Randy Bachman CD (also titled Heavy Blues) and an Epiphone Les Paul guitar.  Troy will also get to perform live with Randy at the 2015 Kitchener Blues Festival!

"I am so honored for this opportunity to jam with Randy Bachman in Kitchener," Troy said on his YouTube page, "The guitar I won is beautiful. Thanks to everyone for all the support and encouragement. Special thanks to Randy for choosing my video. I am humbled to find out that Randy has heard me play and I am completely blown away that I will get to meet and perform with him on stage."

BREAK A LEG!



Here are a few other videos from Troy





 Blast from the Past: Troy Harmer on the Barber Shop Podcast and More

Links: Troy Harmer, More Troy Harmer Stories, Videos above courtesy of Troy Harmer
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Saturday, May 2, 2015

Mark McNeil Brings Hamilton History to Musical Life on < Flashbacks >


History lessons don't have to be boring and dull, especially with Hamilton's colourful past.  The Hammer's Mark McNeil and his band of musical historians have taken the city's most interesting tales and brought them to vivid life on Flashbacks,

The CD is an extension of James Street, the incredible musical written by Mark. This Hamilton Music Award nominated album will tell you true tales about infamous alleged killer Evelyn Dick, a crazy monkey called Jacko, Einstein's brain, and Hamilton's military past.  History was never this fun!

Mark has enlisted some amazing Steeltown talent to add amazing music to these wonderful stories: Michael Hickey (bass), Paul Panchezak of Trickbag (drums/percussion), Jeff Griffiths (drums), Steve Parisien (guitar), Jay Burr (tuba/trombone), Charly Chiarelli (harmonica), Steve Fuller (fiddle), Cyndi Devereux (fiddle), Geoff Somers (fiddle), Allison Lupton (flute), Gayle Bridger (bodhran/cajon), Major Michael Rehill and the RHLI Military Band, Orange McFarland (bass). Background vocals by Mike Trebilcock, Paula Grove, Jon Gordon Odegaard, Kris Rochard and Scott Cameron Smith.

Copies of his historical CD can be picked up at  The Hamilton Store and the front Desk of the Hamilton Spectator building or ordered online vie The Spec Store,   Downloads are available through Bandcamp.







Blast from the Past: Videos from the Musical James Street

Links: Mark McNeil, More Mark McNeil stories, Videos above courtesy of Hamilton Blues Lovers, More Releases
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Thursday, April 30, 2015

News Roundup (Alfie Smith, Hamilton Gets Special Juno, Hairy Mulligan, Brad Soucie)


Hamilton Receives Special Juno for Hosting the Event

News

Trebleclef checked out Duane Rutter and Friends at the Cat N Fiddle in Hamilton.
 

 

Click here for more pictures

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Our little Monkey was also at the 1st Annual Hammer Blues Awards

 

 

Click here for more pictures.
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Links: Brad Soucie (singer), More Brad Soucie Stories, Video above courtesy of Dyl Smith, More Tragically Hip Covers/Stories
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Wednesday, April 29, 2015

GOOD LUCK! Area Artists are CBC Searchlight Finalists


After many votes (for over 3000, champions have been crowned for the regional portion of the CBC Searchlight contest.  23 winners (including two from our area) will move on to the nationals to compete for the Best New Artist award.  You can help by voting until May 4, 2015.  The winner will be announced on q on CBC Radio on Friday, May 15. The grand prize is $20,000 worth of band gear from Yamaha Canada Music and a gig at the CBC Music Festival in Toronto.

The Hamilton regional champ is Burlington country duo Skinner for their song 2nd and Broadway. Click here for the CBC Story.



For the Kitchener-Waterloo Region, Listowel folkster Kyle Boyne took top honors for his tune Misguided Soul. Click here for the SouthwesternOntario.ca Story



GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!
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Tuesday, April 28, 2015

CONGRATS! Kitchener's Charity Brown Earns 2015 Mel Brown Award


2015's recipient of the Mel Brown Award is Kitchener music veteran, Charity Brown.  The honour (named after the late, legendary Blues musician Mel Brown) is bestowed upon  those who make an important contribution to the Blues.  Charity has been performing music for over 50 years.

The former Juno nominee remembers Mel fondly.  She told the Kitchener Record: "When I first heard him play, I said to myself, 'I want to sing with this guy'. I sang with him a lot."

She joins a very illustrious list of winners:

2003 Mel Brown
2004 Glenn Smith (Ethyl's Lounge)
2005 Jackie Washington
2006 Cheryl Lescom
2007 Shawn Kellerman
2008 Andrew Galloway (Electro-Fi Records)
2009 Steve Strongman
2010 Bruce Iglauer (Alligator Records)
2011 Jimmie Vaughan
2012 John McKinley
2013 Bobby Blue Bland
2014 Buddy Guy
2015 Charity Brown

CONGRATULATIONS!

 Click here for the Kitchener Record story.


Video above courtesy of N Gamble



Video above courtesy of Nancy Alaimo



Links: Miss Angel, Video above courtesy of Dave Sloane

Blast from the Past: Buddy Guy Wins 2014 Mel Brown Award

Links: Charity Brown, More Mel Brown Award Stories
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Monday, April 27, 2015

Hamilton's Steel City Rovers Capture Your Attention With 'The Second Thrumming' EP


Steel City Rovers, one of the Hammer's premiere Celtic Rock bands, recently garnered a Hamilton Music Award nomination for their outstanding EP, The Second Thrumming.  In only four short tunes, they capture will your attention.

Featuring a vocal studio track, an instrumental and two live tracks, the collection is a strong representation of them as a band.  You can feel their incredible live spirit, wonderful song building skills and great sense of fun.

Check it out for yourself by downloading it from the Steel City Rovers Website!



Video above courtesy of Ryan McKenna



Video above courtesy of Dave Neigh

Blast from the Past: Videos from the Steel City Rovers and More

Links: Steel City Rovers, More Steel City Rovers Stories, More Releases
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