Links: Mike Daley, More Mike Daley Stories, Videos above courtesy of Mike Daley - Topic, More Jazz Day Videos
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Friday, April 30, 2021
Happy International Jazz Day featuring Mike Daley
Links: Mike Daley, More Mike Daley Stories, Videos above courtesy of Mike Daley - Topic, More Jazz Day Videos
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Wednesday, April 28, 2021
Hamilton's Steve Strongman Re-Issues the Magnificent 'tired of talkin' on Stony Plain
tired of talkin', the explosive 2019 album from Hamilton's Steve Strongman is getting an international boost after recently being re-issued by Waterdown's Stony Plain Records. Recorded in Hamilton and Nashville, the release boasts a number of the Steve's best Blues rockers and soulful tunes.
As always, Steve's in full form here as he shows the world that he can go toe to toe with any Blues master. His weapons include funk, soul, rock and seemingly endless guitar licks. This album means business!
Joining him in the battle is a team of talented Canadians and Americans. There's Dave King (drums, backing vocals), Colin Lapsley (bass, backing vocals), Jesse O'Brien (piano), Pat Sansone of Wilco (keyboards, piano, acoustic guitar), Audley Freed (electric guitar), and James Haggerty (bass).
So if you're looking for a world-class Blues album, you can pick it up at the Stony Plain online shop, iTunes and Spotify.
Links: Steve Strongman, More Steve Strongman Stories, Videos above courtesy of Steve Strongman - Topic
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Saturday, April 24, 2021
Breathtaking New Album from Burlington's Judi Rideout
There are many tales to tell in I'm Your Boyfriend, the breathtaking new album from Burlington singer-songwriter, Judi Rideout. Fascinating characters come to life as we experience their passions, sorrows and joys. This is a Roots/Country/Americana masterpiece.
Both Judi's lyrics and vocals carry emotional heft. This, along with the stirring instrumentals entice us into the interesting narratives.
On the album, Judi ably handles the vocals and acoustic guitar. Joining her are the late, great Bob Lanois, (harmonies and harmonica), Mark Foley (electric guitar and bass) and Sonnie Bernardi of Crowbar on drums.
You can listen and/or download this phenomenal album on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon Music and other online sources.
Links: Judi Rideout, More Judi Rideout Stories, Videos above courtesy of Judi Rideout - Topic, More Releases
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Wednesday, April 21, 2021
Tuesday, April 20, 2021
The Multi-Talented Bob Lanois Passes
It is with sadness that we announce the passing of local producer, sound engineer, songwriter and musician Bob Lanois. He passed away on April 19, 2021. Our condolences to his family, friends and fans.
Bob was well known in the music community as he worked with many artists including his brother Daniel Lanois, Raffi, Blackie and Rodeo Kings, Tom Wilson, Simply Saucer and many more. He also co-founded Grant Avenue Studio and was given a thank you credit in U2's classic 1987 album, The Joshua Tree.
Media Links
Social Media Reaction
I was lucky enough to spend a short time in the orbit of Bob Lanois about 15 years ago and his charismatic presence and ferocious belief in truth, as the root and foundation of art and performance left a full body tattoo on my soul! He took me aside and told me what’s what. “Play it straight!” I knew exactly what he meant. Tell the Truth! Love.
Lou Molinaro (Tongue Fu)
My Mother passed away in 2006. Couple of weeks after my Mom's funeral, I ran into Bob at a show at the Corktown Tavern. Bob gave me a big hug and passed on his condolences. He mentioned to me that a child's love for his or her Mother is the most unique love in the world. While sharing this, Bob said to me - "Lou, I will always be a Momma's Boy" Every time I saw Bob, I remembered that moment.
It was always wonderful seeing Bob @ This Ain't Hollywood to see shows. Such a friendly, unique happy soul. Sending my condolences to his family workmates and closest friends. Goodbye Bob.
Dave Gilbey
Bob Lanois and Glen Marshall welcomed me and Tim O'Reilly into their space with open arms. My favourite part of the many shoots we did at the Mule Spinner was the chance to talk with Bob. He gave me encouragement when I needed it and told me I should tell people to screw off if they were unsure of my motives. He gave me advice in a world that was not mine.
William Schwendiman
Throughout my "career" booking live music, I've taken a lot of pride in working with the seminal builders of our Hamilton Music community.
When Bob approached me to host the release party for his solo album, "Snake Road", I was honored he'd ask.
His words, "Brodie you book all the underground stuff. That's where I want my record to live".
Rest in Peace to Bob Lanois. Condolences to all that love him.
Links: Daniel Lanois, More Daniel Lanois Stories, Video above courtesy of bravofact
Links: Lee Harvey Osmond aka Tom Wilson, More Lee Harvey Osmond Stories, Video above courtesy Tom Wilson & Bob Lanois - Topic
Links: Bob Lanois, More Bob Lanois Stories, Video above courtesy of The roman Sokal
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Sunday, April 18, 2021
Happy Harmonica Day! Videos by Jerome Godboo
Videos above courtesy of Jerome Godboo - Topic
Links: Brokenjoe, Video above courtesy of Alec Fraser Jr
Links: Jerome Godboo, More Jerome Godboo Stories, More Harmonica Day Videos
Previous (Country Music Association of Ontario Award Nominees) - - - Next (Bob Lanois Passes)
Links: Jerome Godboo, More Jerome Godboo Stories, More Harmonica Day Videos
Previous (Country Music Association of Ontario Award Nominees) - - - Next (Bob Lanois Passes)
Wednesday, April 14, 2021
GOOD LUCK! Country Music Association of Ontario Award Nominees (including local artists)
Recently, the nominees for the 2021 Country Music Association of Ontario Awards were announced and quite a number of local artists were given the nod. We're hoping a lot of them will win during the ceremony being held at the Ancaster Fairgrounds on May 30, 2021.
From the CMAO newsletter
The Country Music Association of Ontario (CMAOntario) is excited to announce the nominees for the 9th Annual CMAOntario Awards, taking place Sunday, May 30, 2021 as a drive-in style event at the Ancaster Fairgrounds in Hamilton, Ontario. Leading the nominations are 15 time CMAOntario Award winner Meghan Patrick, nine time CMAOntario Award winner Tim Hicks, and viral sensation Robyn Ottolini, with five nominations each.
Hosted by Jason McCoy and Beverley Mahood, the CMAOntario Award Show will close out the CMAOntario Festival & Awards Weekend May 28 – 30, 2021. After presenting the first ever, live, drive-in country music awards show in October 2020, CMAOntario is happy to do it all again this year in Hamilton. The CMAOntario Awards, presented by Slaight Music, will acknowledge the talent and achievements of Ontario’s country music industry across 18 categories.
Below is complete list of nominees. Local acts are bolded.
Single
- “No Truck Song” – Tim Hicks (St. Catharines)
Links: Tim Hicks, More Tim Hicks Stories, Video above courtesy of Tim Hicks - “All I Can Do” – Buck Twenty
- “F-150” – Robyn Ottolini
- “Girls Like Me” – Meghan Patrick
- “Thank Her For That” – Owen Barney
Album
- All Woman – Nicole Rayy (Oakville)
Links: Nicole Rayy, More Nicole Rayy Stories, Video above courtesy of Nicole Rayy - Highway Mile – Aaron Allen
- Jade Eagleson – Jade Eagleson
- Love Wins – Kelly Prescott
- The I’m Not Always Hilarious EP – Robyn Ottolini
Songwriter(s)
- Tim Hicks (St. Catharines): “No Truck Song” (co-written by Bruce Wallace, Jeffrey Coplan)
- Callie McCullough: “After Midnight” (co-written by, Scotty Kipfer)
- Owen Barney: “Thank Her For That” (co-written by Jamie Appleby, Alyssa Reid, Dave Thomson)
- Meghan Patrick: “Girls Like Me" (co-written by Jobe Fortner, Ryan Nelson)
- Robyn Ottolini: “F-150” (co-writen by Mark Schroor, Erik Fintelman)
Female Artist
- Tianna Woods (Burlington)
Links: Tianna Woods, More Tianna Woods Stories, Video above courtesy of TiannaWoods - Elyse Saunders
- Kelsi Mayne
- Meghan Patrick
- Robyn Ottolini
Male Arist
- Tim Hicks (St. Catharines)
- Aaron Allen
- Andrew Hyatt
- Darcy John
- David Boyd Janes
Group or Duo
- The Reklaws (Cambridge)
- The Western Swing Authority (Waterloo)
- Buck Twenty
- Jess and Tay
- The Abrams
Music Video
- “No Truck Song” – Tim Hicks
- “Where I’m From” – The Reklaws
Links: Reklaws, More Reklaws Stories, Video above courtesy of The Reklaws - “Broken Boys” – Nicole Rayy (Oakville)
- “All I Can Do” – Buck Twenty
- “Girls Like Me” – Meghan Patrick
Fan's Choice
- Tebey (Burlington)
- The Reklaws (Cambridge)
- Tim Hicks
- Andrew Hyatt
- Jade Eagleson
- James Barker Band
- Meghan Patrick
- Steven Lee Olsen
Record Producer
- J. Richard Hutt (Kitchener) – Jamie Warren, Sean Hogan, Jessie T (Kitchener), Tianna Woods (Burlington)
- Dustin Olyan – Callie McCullough, Twin Kennedy, Mallory Johnson
- Jeff Dalziel – Aaron Allen, David Boyd Janes, River Town Saints
- Mark Schroor, Erik Fintelman – Robyn Ottolini, Alexa Goldie, Cory James Mitchell
- Shawn Moore – Ben Hudson, Matt Teed, Emily Clair, Evan Farrell, Emily Kate
Roots Artist or Group
- The Redhill Valleys (Hamilton)
Links: Redhill Valleys, More Redhill Valleys Stories, Video above courtesy of The Redhill Valleys - The Western Swing Authority (Waterloo)
- Kelly Prescott
- The Abrams
- The Good Brothers
Radio Station (Large Market)
- CHKX KX 94.7, Hamilton
- CIKZ COUNTRY 106.7, Kitchener
- CKDK COUNTRY 104, Woodstock
- CJKX KX 96, Oshawa
- CKKL PURE COUNTRY 94, Ottawa
Radio Station (Small Market)
- CKYY COUNTRY 89, Welland
- CFDC COUNTRY 105, Shelburne
- CHAW COUNTRY 103, Little Current
- CHVR PURE COUNTRY 96.7, Pembroke
- CICX PURE COUNTRY 106, Orillia
- CJDL COUNTRY 107.3, Tillsonburg
Francophone Artist
- Kristine St-Pierre
- Les Rats D’Swompe
- Melissa Ouimet
- Reney Ray
- Stef Paquette
Rising Star
- Buck Twenty
- Callie McCullough
- Elyse Saunders
- Robyn Ottolini
- Sacha
Music Industry Person
- Amanda Kingsland, Country 92.3/Rogers Communications
- Dave Woods, In The Country
- Randy Owen, Radio Host/Personality
- Steve Coady, Warner Music Canada
- Tommy KW Lam, Reve Music Group Inc.
Radio Station (Medium Market)
- CFCO COUNTRY 92.9, Chatham
- CHCQ-FM COOL 100.1 FM, Belleville
- CJQM COUNTRY 104.3, Sault Ste. Marie
- CKQM PURE COUNTRY 105, Peterborough
- CKXC COUNTRY 93.5, Kingston
Monday, April 12, 2021
CONGRATS! 2021 Canadian Folk Music Award Winners (including local artists)
 |
| Burlington's Chris McKhool with his award |
On April 10-11th, the 2021 Canadian Folk Music Awards were handed out during a wonderful online ceremony. The only area winners were Burlington's Chris McKhool and New Hamburg's John 'Beetle' Bailey who won Producer of the Year for their work on the album, Refuge by the Sultans of String (Chris is the violinist in the band).
Links: Sultans of String, More Sultans of String Stories, Video above courtesy of Sultans of String
See both nights of the awards ceremony below.
Links: CFMA, More CFMA Stories, Videos above courtesy of Canadian Folk Music Awards
Here's a complete list of winners (local acts are bolded)
- Producer(s): Chris McKhool & John 'Beetle' Bailey for Refuge (Sultans of String)
- Contemporary Album: Reliever by William Prince
- Contemporary Singer: Coco Love Alcorn
- Solo Artist: Julian Taylor
- Single: Some Kind of Hell by Burnstick
- Traditional Album: All Hands by Beòlach
- Indigenous Songwriter(s): Leela Gilday
- Instrumental Group: Beòlach
- Children’s Album: Broccoli Farm by Claire Ness
- English Songwriter(s): William Prince
- Ensemble: Pharis and Jason Romero
- French Songwriter(s): Marie-Ève Lapierre-Lemoyne
- Instrumental Solo Artist: Marc Atkinson
- New/Emerging Artist(s): Noah Derksen
- Pushing the Boundaries Award: Aerialists
- Traditional Singer: Pharis Romero
- Vocal Group: Pharis and Jason Romero
- World Album: Kora flamenca by Zal Sissokho
- Young Performer(s): The Gilberts
Previous (Pioneer Profile Series: Harrison Kennedy) - - Next (Country Music Association of Ontario Award Nominees)
Sunday, April 11, 2021
Hamilton Blues Legend Harrison Kennedy on TBS Pioneer Profile Series
On April 1, 2021 the Toronto Blues Society celebrated the incredible career of Hamilton Blues legend Harrison Kennedy. As part of their Pioneer Profile series, musician Julian Taylor interviewed the Juno-winning singer/songwriter. It's now available on YouTube.
Links: Harrison Kennedy, More Harrison Kennedy Stories, Video above courtesy of Toronto Blues Society, More Local Pioneer Profiles
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Monday, April 5, 2021
Big Walter Horton's 100th Birthday
Today (April 6, 2021) would have been American Blues legend Big Walter Horton's (aka Mumbles and Shakey) 100th birthday.
Biography highlights (from Wikipedia)
- Born in Horn Lake, Mississippi (April 6, 1921 but sources differ)
- First recordings were backing up Little Buddy Doyle (1930's)
- Replaced Junior Wells in the Muddy Waters Band for short period (1953)
- Played harmonica on Mean Mistreater for Johnny Winter's self-titled album (April 1969)
- Performed on Fleetwood Mac's Then Play On album (uncredited) (September 1969) In Chicago (December 1969)
- Backed up John Lee Hooker in the Blues Brothers film (1980).
- Died (December 8, 1981)
- Inducted in to the Blues Hall of Fame (1982)
Comments from local musicians
Sam De Rosa aka Sweet Sammy D
I have been stealing his licks since day one. Big Walter was the author of signature licks we all tried to emulate and still are.
Big Walter had monster tone and power. His solo in Jimmy Rogers Walking by Myself is one of the most iconic and skillful in blues history.
Corey Lueck (Smoke Wagon Blues Band)
To this day, Shakey is one of those essential harp players that well; make your head shake! And your feet stomp! It blows my mind how comfortable and big his sound always was in both first or second position. Not hard not to understand why Willie Dixon always said he was the best harp player ever.
Michael Reed aka Shrimp Daddy
Big Walter “Shakey” Horton... he hated that moniker... Big Walter was the proof that gear like Mics and Amps are not what create great tone. When asked how he gets his sound Walter said “I get my tone from my hands. A true master of the Harmonica Big Walter had the biggest tone and was an amazing player .
Big Walter / Shakey, could channel the sound of a full horn section thru his harmonica. First time I heard him I remember I threw my hands in the air and cheered like I scored a goal, he opened my mind to what you can do with this great little instrument. What a gift to us all he was.
Video above courtesy of MyMoppet52
Video above courtesy of Iago Israel
Video above courtesy of Walter Horton - Topic
Links: Big Walter Horton, More 100th Birthdays
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Saturday, April 3, 2021
Thursday, April 1, 2021
Hamilton Blues Lovers Getting Into Comic Book Publishing
The Hamilton Blues Lovers empire is expanding!
HBL has decided to get into the comic book business big time.
Lou, our esteemed blogger and CEO has been a comic book fan for decades and has decided to throw his hat into the funny book arena.
"After a lifetime of reading comics, "Lou's said, "I've now embarked on a new business journey and will publish the best comics around. I spared no expense in hiring the most talented comics book creators in the business: Todd McFarlane, John Byrne, Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Neal Adams, and April Fulcilli."
The first issue to come out of this soon-to-be-legendary venture is Super-Treble Comics, a new monthly series starring our monkey mascot Treble in super-heroic adventure that puts the Avengers to shame.
Click here for a free preview of the first fabulous issue!
Other comic book titles will to come out in the next couple of months, including:
- Crisis on Infinite Monkeys (a 12 issue multi-world epic)
- M.O.N.K.I.E. Agents (super-hero spy team)
- Treble vs the Banana Zombies (horror series)
- Simian Romance
- Astro-Monkey (sci-fi)
- Game of Chimps (fantasy)
- The Banana Peel Gang (humour)
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