Ancaster resident Laura Cole's debut CD, Dirty Cheat (released through Porcelain Records) is a jazzy, sensual, soulful, energetic musical explosion! She sounds like a lounge singer who's finally been allowed to rock out. This ain't dull smooth Jazz - It's high powered, funky, guitar and piano driven boogie.
Poppy at times, it isn't over-produced and has a ton of live energy. It was mainly recorded in one day so the raw spirit is there.
As part of their 10th year celebration, the Toronto Independant Music Awards chose three of our amazing local musicians to win their song competitions! The names was announced on September 25, 2014.
Dundas's Maggie Szabo took home Best Pop as Jane Baker from Grimsby won for Best Young Songwriter. The only multiple winner of the night was Waterloo's JoJo Worthington who received both the Best Folk and Best Song Awards. CONGRATULATIONS!
Musicians throughout our area were honoured with nominations from the 2014 Canadian Folk Music Awards. Gathering, the latest CD from Hamilton's Poor Angus is up for Traditional Album of the Year. Former Hamiltonian Matthew Barber is in the running for both Solo Artist and Contemporary Singer. Another former resident of Hammertown, Luke Doucet received a Producer nod for his work with his duo, Whitehorse.
The Hamilton Spectator is once again offering the public a chance to vote in their Reader's Choice Awards. Of course, the main category our readers will be interested in is Local Musician.
Other categories of interest are: Music Instructor, Music School, Radio Station, Recording Studio, Festival, Live Entertainment Facility, Live Jazz Club, Live Music Bar/Lounge, Music Instrument Store, and Record Store (New and Used).
Justin Dunlop's haunting, soulful voice is the first thing you'll notice on the Hamilton singer/songwriter's first full-length album, Black Bay Nocturnes. His voice is beautiful and full of expression.
A subtle funkiness permeates the recording as it grooves and slides through soul, folk, and rock. All the while, the high quality of the lyrics is wonderfully maintained.
Justin is backed up by some talented musicians such as his brother Matt Dunlop, Maarten De Boer, Nick Doneff (from Fort Erie), Jill Harris, Alan Zemaitis, Andrew Kesler, Andrew Mullin, and Mike Ardagh. They add to the fantastic feel of the album.
Hamilton's Blue River Man has been working on his amazing music for years but he's now unveiled 3 separate albums for us to download and enjoy. In just a few weeks, he's released some wonderful, diverse, mostly instrumental collections.
The first album, Constant Change mixes rock, soul, blues, electronic beats and more with a progressive twist. Each song has its own incredible spirit.
Last but not least, Another Summer Day has many elements of the other albums but contains a lot more acoustic and soulful sounds. There are even some incredible alternate version of songs from the previous albums.
If you're looking for music that has a lot to offer, you can't go wrong with any of these great offerings! They can be downloaded through his Bandcamp page.
Country fans have spoken and they voted St. Catharines musical sensation Tim Hicks as Best Tour and Best Tweeter. TopCountry.ca asked their readers to choose their favourites and Tim reached the top! Congratulations!
A few Canadian Country Music Awardswill be headed our way thanks to our talented local musicians. The winners were announced on September 6, 2014 during an amazing televised ceremony in Alberta.
St. Catharines' own Tim Hicks added more to his award shelf by winning for Best Rising Star.
Brantford multi-instrumentalist, singer/songwriter Evan Champagne recently unveiled a self-titled EP packed with amazing music. The first thing you'll notice is the high-octane power behind many of the songs.
Most every tune will have you banging your head and dancing along to astonishing heavy beats and catchy riffs. There's also a delightful, slower track, Love You All My Life for wonderful contrast. This isn't just loud noise - it's a powerful musical statement with heart and amazing songwriting to boot.
This phenominal EP can be downloaded through iTunes or eMusic.
The amazing Guelph singer/singwriter Sarah J Felker recently took home the $25,000 RBC Emerging Artist Music Mentorship Prize. After receiveing over 200 submissions, Sarah was chosen as the grand prize winner. Along with the money she also gets studio time and other industry help. CONGRATULATIONS!
Kaizen (now re-named Kaizen.xyz) have released their incredible sophomore recording, Closer-to-Earth. Once again, they've crafted a collection of pure instrumental bliss (one song does have some vocals though).
Wayne Janus, Shane Lannigan and David Carillo continue their wonderful flow of funk, blues, jazz, rock and more. This time, the boys have added a little more ambience with some middle eastern sounds as well.
The trio are ably joined by Alex Bovkis's Sanskrit Chanting on Shivaya. Producer Christopher T. Wilson (of Perennials) adds a little synthesizer too.
Download this amazing recording through cdbaby - you won't regret it!
