The Mighty Duck Blues Band's Explosive Debut is a Blues Smorgasbord

The power and fury of St. Catharines's Mighty Duck Blues Band has finally been captured on disc! Duck Soup, their explosive debut distills the group's over a decade of experience into an amazing, versatile exploration of the Blues. Here, you'll find hard driving rockin' tunes, sultry 'n' smooth numbers, funky beats, kickin' instrumentals and even a fabulous bluesy version of Queen's We Will Rock You.  It's a veritable Blues smorgasbord.

For those of you who haven't experienced the wonders of the MDBB: they play a smokin' matinee every Saturday at the Bar Upstairs in St. Catharines and are joined by wonderful guests every week. The band itself is made up of seasoned veterans:

• Dave Curry (guitars/vocals)
• “Canada” Dave Torosian (organ)
• Gary Kendall (also of the Downchild Blues Band) on bass /vocals)
• Jim Casson (percussion/vocals/producer/arranger).

Like their matinees, this CD is packed with unbelievable guest stars:

• John Dickie (Crowbar) – Vocal on Hammered and Nailed
• Cheryl Lescom – Vocal on Don’t Send Me No Valentine, Backing Vocals
• John Finley – Vocal on Yes Indeed
• Chuck Jackson (Downchild) – Vocal on 3 AM Blues and Cha-Ching
• Paul Reddick – Vocal on Hurricane, Harmonica on We Will Rock You
• Lance Anderson – Piano and Fender Rhodes
• Jim Gay – Tenor and Baritone Saxophone
• Bill Melymuka - Trumpet
• Max Casson - Backing Vocals

You can pick up a copy of this unforgettable CD at their electrifying live shows, through their website or via iTunes

Blast from the Past: Videos of the MDBB with Michael Pickett & Mike Branton

Links: The Mighty Duck Blues Band, More MDBB Stories, Video above courtesy of jimcasson

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News Roundup (Tom Petty, Purple Helmet, Shjaane Glover, Colin Cripps)

Tom Petty Passes

Local social media reaction:

Dave Rave: RIP. Always an inspiration to me. This is truly sad news

Lou Molinaro: Thinking about some of the TOM PETTY shows that I saw and one of the more memorable ones was the early September show 1989 at the Kingswood Theatre in Canada's Wonderland. THE REPLACEMENTS opened up.

Tyler Schwende: Beyond sad news about rock icon Tom Petty. I will always remember his famous saying 'Don't bore us - get to the chorus!' Thank you Tom for all the amazing songs and of course fabulous hooks that inspired me as an artist and thousands of others. Your music will not be forgotten.

Links: Tom Petty, More Tom Petty Stories,  Video above courtesy of TomPettyVEVO

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News

Local

• Barber Shop Podcasts:
  
  Purple Helmet
  
  
  
  Links: More Barber Shop Podcasts, Video above courtesy of Barber Shop Podcast
  
  Shjaane Glover
  
  
  
  Links: Shjaane Glover, More Barber Shop Podcasts, Video above courtesy of Barber Shop Podcast
  
  
• Episode of Guitars in Hand w Hamilton's Colin Cripps (ex-Junkhouse, Blue Rodeo)
  
  
  
  Links: Colin Cripps, More Colin Cripps Stories, Video above courtesy of CBC MusicLab
  
  
• CHCH Videos: Dave Rave and Hailee Rose
• New Low Country Hill Album
• Debut Recording from The Tradition

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Music in Honour of Gary De Podesta

Local music superfan Gary DePodesta passed away recently and there was a wonderful  musical celebration of his life at the Pearl Company in Hamilton on Friday, October 6, 2017. All monies raised will paid for the rental of the venue as well as to Gracenotes (which helps fund local music projects in Hamilton).

There are some amazing musical acts, including:

• The Barr Band
• Sonny Del Rio 
  
  
  
  Links: Sonny Del Rio, More Sonny Del Rio Stories, Video above courtesy of Barb Pitre
  
  
• Graceworks 
• Jude Johnson
  
  
  
  Links: Jude Johnson, More Jude Johnson Stories, , Video above courtesy of Hamilton Blues Lovers
  
  
• The Kings of Marigold (Christopher Clause, Michael Scott, Peter Taplay, Scott Taplay)
  
  
  
  Links: Christopher Clause, More Christopher Clause Stories, More Beatles Covers/Stories, Video above courtesy of Shotgun Jilly
  
  
• Fred Magie
  
  
  
  Links: red Magie, More Fred Magie Stories, More Beatles Covers/Stories, Video above courtesy of Fred Magie
  
  
• Melissa Marchese
  
  
  
  Video above courtesy of Andrea Cassis
  
  
• Lena Montecalvo
  
  
  
  Links: Lena Montecalvo, More Lena Montecalvo Stories, More Beatles Covers/Stories, Video above courtesy of trebilco65
  
  
• Trickbag
  
  
  
  Links: Trickbag, More Trickbag Stories, Video above courtesy of Trickbag Canada

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Hamilton's Low Country Hill Releases Very Well-Crafted EP

Hamilton's own Low Country Hill (aka Paul Hogeterp) has followed up his incredible debut album with an amazing EP, Guesthouse.  It's a wonderful mix of Alt-Folk and Americana.

The lyrics are also superb here.  Paul really know how to craft a good song. He's also good at picking musicians to back him up.  He's works wit Dave King (drums, percussion), Paul Linklater (guitar, bass) and Peter Zantingh of Whisky River (backing vocals).

You can pick up a copy at his can't miss live shows or purchase it through his online shop, Bandcamp page or iTunes.

Blast from the Past: LCH's Debut

Links: Low Country Hill, More Low Country Hill Stories, More Releases

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Debut Recording from Georgetown's The Tradition is Haunting and Beautiful

You won't easily forget The Shepherd's Crook Sessions, the debut recording from Georgetown folk duo The Tradition.  It's five, live off the floor cover songs will haunt you with emotional vocals and an beautiful, organic sound. With Douglas Richard Sinclair on vocals, guitar and banjo plus Rhiannon Carter on vocals and violin, the two create an old-fashioned folk sound that's crisp and welcoming.

This recording is currently only available as a Bandcamp download but the good news is that you can name your price (for now)! Here's hoping there'll be more amazing work from this duo!



Links:  The Tradition. Video above courtesy of The Tradition

Stream the album below

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Buddy Rich's 100th Birthday

Today (September 30, 2017) would have been jazz legend Buddy Rich's 100th birthday.

To celebrate, here's a cover from an amazing local band.



Links: Jazz Connection Big Band, Video above courtesy of Kathryn Scobie

Plus, here are a few videos from the man of the hour:



Video above courtesy of Raphael Moura



Video above courtesy of DrummaAddict



Video above courtesy of ManDude's Videos and More

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News Roundup (Johnny Burke, Jay Pollmann, Charles Bradley, Trebleclef)

Canadian Country Singer Johnny Burke Passes

Links: Johnny Burke,  Video above courtesy of FrancineBourque

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News

Local

• Blues Tribe Video w Jay Pollmann
  
  
  
  Links: Jay Pollmann, More Jay Pollman Stories, More Blues Tribe Videos, Video above courtesy of the Blues Tribe
  
  
• Terra Lightfoot on CBC Albums You Need to Hear (Fall 2017) List
• Hamilton Community News Opinion Piece on the Importance of Music
• Local Toronto Independent Music Award Nominees
• Niagara Music Award Winners
• Local Reps for the 2018 International Blues Challenge
• Local Canadian Folk Music Award Nominees

World

• Passings: Johnny Sandlin (Allman Brothers Producer),  Charles Bradley
  
  
  
  Links: Charles Bradley, Video above courtesy of Radial by the Orchard
  

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The Adventures of Trebleclef the Music Loving Monkey

Trebleclef's been a busy monkey!

First, he attended the 10th Annual Brantford International Jazz Festival

Click here for more pictures from the event

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He also helped out with tickets and merch at the Trickbag/Smoke Wagon Blues Band show at the Corktown

Click here for more pictures from the event

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Finally, he went to the Grand River Blues Society's Road to Memphis Competition at Bobby O'Brien's in Kitchener and got to see who'll represent them at the International Blues Challenge.

Gary Cain's group (from Kitchener) won the band competition

Hamilton's Tim Gibbons won in the solo category

Click here for our story on the event

Click here for more photos from the event

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GOOD LUCK! Local Toronto Independent Music Award Nominees!

Nominations for the 2017 Toronto Independent Music Awards were recently revealed and, as always, a number of local artists are in the running! These include Brad Cheeseman (Hamilton)

Tianna Woods (Burlington), Polarity (Oakville), Monty Greig (Acton), Girl Pow-R (Thorold), 

The Natrolites (Niagara Falls), Benjamin Dakota Rogers (Brantford), Wes Mason (Rockwood), 

Mikalyn Hay (Guelph) Jace Martin (Osweken) and Juneyt (Waterloo).

We're keeping our fingers crossed that many of them will be winning at the ceremony on Friday, October 13, 2017 at Revival in Toronto.

Here's a complete list of nominees. Local artists are bolded.

Folk or Roots

• Benjamin Dakota Rogers
• Amai Kuda and Y Josephine
• Carl Lorusso Jr.
• Abigail Lapell
• Sweet Roger
• Frank Deresti and the Lake Effect

Singer Songwriter

• Wes Mason
• Annie Bonsignore
• Dahlia
• Mark Martyre
• Mimi O’Bonsawin

Jazz Vocal

• Monty Greig
  
  
  
  Links: Monty Greig, More Monty Greig Stories, Video above courtesy of Monty Greig
  
  
• Twin Fin
• Ori Dagan
• Mike Field
• Gorilla Tophat

Jazz Instrumental

• Brad Cheeseman
• Chelsea McBride
• Snaggle
• Brownman Electryc Trio

Young Songwriter

• Mikalyn Hay
• Girl Pow-R
• Lyric Dubee
• Xtro
• Moscow Apartment

Country

• Tianna Woods
• Dani Strong
• Sohayla Smith Band
• The Argues
• Alessia Cohle
• Cheryl Casselman
• Campbell Woods

Instrumental or Classical

• Juneyt
  
  
  
  Links: Juneyt, More Juneyt Stories, Video above courtesy of Andy Borges
  
  
• Hogtown Brass Quintet
• The Roger Chong Quartet
• NUA
• Lukus Benoit

Adult Contemporary

• Jace Martin
  
  
  
  Links: Jace Martin, More Jace Martin Stories, Video above courtesy of Vee Tee
• Dennis Sy
• Late Night Conversations
• Angela Saini
• Sarah Smith
• Emily Mac

Indie

• The Natrolites
• MONOWHALES
• FXRRVST
• Dress Black
• Lemon Cash
• Mermaids Exist

World

• Lady Freyja
• Johannes Linstead
• Meg Moonbeam
• The Achromatics

Rock

• Polarity 
• Floating Floors
• Eden Warsaw
• Holy Smokes
• Mully Jacksons
• Rose Cora Perry
• The Dreamboats

Music Video

• Lauren Haze: Flatline
• Abigail Lapell: Night Bird and Morning Bird
• Mimi O’Bonaswin: Beautiful Place
• Mermaids Exist: Call Me A Liar
• KAIS: Ain't Goin Nowhere

Pop

• Stephanie Braganza
• Roveena
• Porsha
• Sam Louis
• Azeem Haq

Urban

• ColinResponse
• Mickey Blue
• Temi
• Jae Cabrera
• DRAE

Electronic

• Honey Beard
• Romeo Taylor
• Silver Lining
• Miss Tara
• Computronic

Out of Province

• The Wolfe
• Familiar Wild
• Kiérah
• KAIS
• Alex Maher
• Delhi 2 Dublin

USA

• Amy Guess
• Brown Kid
• Almond and Olive
• Teresa Eggertsen Cooke
• Patrick Joseph
• The Fallen Stars

International

• Johanna EstHer
• Carito Plaza
• Simon Meola TLE
• Napkin Play
• Dino Miranda

Blast from the Past: Last Year's Winners

Links: Toronto Independent Music Awards, More TIMA Stories

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CONGRATS! 2017 Niagara Music Award Winners!

The 10th Annual Niagara Music Awards took place on Sunday, September 24, 2017 at the Greg Frewin Theatre. For about a decade, this event has been celebrating the amazing music from the Hamilton regions.  This year's ceremony was no different.

Dual winner included singer/songwriter Cory Cruise, country artist, and rockers the Natrolites.

Click here for the Niagara Review story.

Here's a complete list of winners

• Adult Contemporary Artist: Cory Cruise
• Male Vocalist: Cory Cruise
  
  
  
  Links: Cory Cruise, More Cory Cruise Stories, Video above courtesy of Cory Cruise
  
  
• Country Artist: Brad Battle
• Songwriter: Brad Battle
  
  
  
  Links: Brad Battle, More Brad Battle Stories,  Video above courtesy of Brad Battle
  
  
• Album: Natrolites
• Music Video: Natrolites: Shame On Me
  
  
  
  Links: Natrolites, Video above courtesy of The Natrolites
  
  
• Bar Band: The Associates
• Blues Artist: Spencer Mackenzie
• Female Vocalist: Katey Gatta
• Folk Artist : Spencer Burton
• Heavy Metal Artist: Dorian Gray
• Hip Hop Artist: BooCocky
• Instrumental Artist: Paul Layton
• Jazz Artist: Randy Stirtzinger
• New Artist: Mark James Vaiana
• New Group: I Got the Girl
• Original Group: Donny Yonder
• Original Song: Theatre Crisp: Head Heavy
• People's Choice: Jessica Wilson
• Punk Band: Welland Wasted
• Rock Band: Amber Reigns
• World Artist: Sarah Jerrom
• Producer: Damian Birdsey and Robbie Teng
• Promoter: Erik Dickson
• Venue: Black Sheep Lounge

CONGRATS EVERYONE!

Blast from the Past: Last Year's Winners

Links: Niagara Music Awards, More NMA Stories

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GOOD LUCK! Local Reps for 2018 International Blues Challenge in Memphis

For the first time, the Hamilton Blues Lovers (along with their mascot, Trebleclef  were on hand to see the Grand River Blues Society pick their representatives for the 2018 International Blues Challenge in Memphis.  Hopefully they will win during the January 2018 event.

The GRBS judges chose their winner at a wonderful music event on Sunday, September 24, 2017 at Bobby O'Brien's in Kitchener.

Hamilton music legend, Tim Gibbons beat out Ajax's Ragwax to go to the prestigious contest to compete in the solo/duo category.



Links: Tim Gibbons, More Tim Gibbons Stories,  Video above courtesy of Pauline DeRosa

There were 5 amazing groups vying for a trip to go to the competition: Gary Cain Band, Craig Dougan Band, Lonestar Cafe, Big D and The Topside Band, The Vaudevillian and the Outsider Band. In the end, Kitchener's Gary Cain Band won it.



Links: Gary Cain, More Gary Cain Stories, Video above courtesy of Gary Cain

HBL and Trebleclef had an fabulous time at the local show and we have a lot of picture from the event. Please click here to see them.

In other local news, former Hamiltonian Paul Langille and his music partner Tom Lockwood have been chosen to represent the Great Lakes Blues Society in the IBC (for the second year in a row).



Links: Paul Langille, More Paul Langille Stories, Tom Lockwood, More Tom Lockwood Stories, Video above courtesy of Spur of the Moment Media

UPDATE: We recently learned that Hamilton's Alfie Smith and Nicole Christian will also be heading to the Challenge under the Western New York Blues Society banner.



Links: Alfie Smith and Nicole Christian, More Alfie Smith Stories, More Nicole Christian Stories,  Video above courtesy of Paul Bottos

CONGRATS AND GOOD LUCK GUYS!

Blast from the Past: Last Year's Winners

Links: International Blues Challenge , More IBC Stories

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