Ken Whiteley and the Mighty Duck Blues Band@The Golden Pheasant (April 14, 2012) Part 2

Blast from the Past: Mighty Duck Blues Band (solo)@Goldent Pheasant (2011)

Links: The Mighty Duck Blues Band, More MDBB Stories, Ken Whiteley, More Ken Whiteley Stories

Ken Whiteley and the Mighty Duck Blues Band@The Golden Pheasant (April 14, 2012) Part 1

Blast from the Past: Ken and the MDBB@Goldent Pheasant (2011)

Links: The Mighty Duck Blues Band, More MDBB Stories, Ken Whiteley, More Ken Whiteley Stories

New Fred Eaglesmith CD: 6 Volts

Local singer/songwriter Fred Eaglesmith recently released 6 Volts, his 19th (!!!!) album.

This time Fred has decided to scale back the sound from his previous discs and made it an old-fashioned, stripped down, lo-fi affair.

Thanks to the bare basics sonic landscape, the songwriting really shines in this collection. One of the singer's biggest strengths is weaving amazing stories and every tune has a wonderful tale to tell.

That's not to say that the instrumentals are neglected here. On the contrary - everything serves the story and the rhythms and melodies are there to draw you in.

This CD is avilable with a limited edition package (and regular verison) through Fred's site. It can also be downloaded through eMusic and iTunes.

Below are a few videos from the CD.



Video courtesy of Pasalaqcua



Video courtesy of SoddyFlash


Video courtesy of JayHawk011

Blast from the Past: Fred Eaglesmith@The Brantford Gunners Club

Links: Fred Eaglesmith, More Fred Eaglesmith Stories

News Roundup (Martin Verall, Jeff Healey, Jim Marshall)

Local

• Hamilton Musician's Guild Website
• Cool local Music Biz Bits blog
• Review of Guitar Mikey's CD Release show

Canada

• Neil Young May Be Building a better MP3
• April Edition of Maple Blues Magazine

World

• Freddie King & Don Kirchner to be Inducted into Rock Hall of Fame
• Nothing But the Blues Podcast #186
• Jim Marshall Passes
• Dylan's Blood on the Tracks album to become movie

Weird/Funny Stuff

• Rodeo Kings of Oz

Blasts from the Past

• 2009: Jerry Johnson: Performer of the Week
• 2010: Jesse O'Brien & Friends@Corktown
• 2011: Danny & Jimmy of the Overplayers@Artword Artbar

Featured Videos

Links: Jeff Healey, More Jeff Healy Stories, Video courtesy of Gitar Carl



Links: Martin Verall, More Martin Verall Stories, Video courtesy of Steinberg321

J.P. Riemens and Friends@Cat N Fiddle (April 5, 2012)

JP Riemens (vocals, guitar), Brian Griffith (guitar), Carrie Ashworth (bass)













Blast from the Past: JP with Dan Walsh@This Ain't Hollywood

Links: JP Riemens, More JP Riemens Stories

New Tomi Swick CD

Local singer/songwriter Tomi Swick has released his long-awaited second album and it's definitely worth the wait.

This self-titled CD (available through Warner Music Canada) continues his magnificent melodic rock sound. There's a lot of power here mixed in with quieter moments. Every song is infused with Tomi's well-crafted lyrics.

Highlights include the energetic Ready, the sweet Mine All Mine and a wonderful collaboration with Julian Lennon, December Sky.

The CD is available at his shows, in stores, online and can be downloaded through iTunes.

Below are a few videos from the album, courtesy of Tomi Swick's YouTube page





Blast from the Past: Tomi Swick at the Festival of Friends

Links: Tomi Swick, More Tomi Swick Stories

News Roundup (Earl Scruggs, Max Wray, Ariana Gillis)

Local

• Spider Costello (VooDoo Chicken singer and drummer for a few local bands) will be moving to the US this month. Hamilton will miss him!
• Daniel Lanois videos from the Great Hall
• View Magazine article on Robin Benedict

World

• New Blues releases for April
• Jerry "Boogie" McCain passes
• Podcast: Nothing but the Blues #185
• Earl Scruggs Passes

Weird/Funny Stuff

• Saddest and happiest songs according to science
• Man makes guitar amps out of rotary phone, Ouija boards, and Chess Boards
• Hilarious pics: Guitar restroom, A Yummy Drum, The Last Supper
• Music related Bizarro cartoon
• Go the Blues cartoon

Blasts from the Past

• 2009: Hamilton Place Ranked as #1 Venue in Canada
• 2010: Ginger St. James@Augusta House
• 2011: Mark Vanderheyden@Pheasant Plucker

Featured Videos


Links: Max Wray, More Max Wray Stories, Video courtesy of B-TV



Links: Ariana Gillis, More Ariana Gillis Stories , Video courtesy of Ariana Gillis

Trickbag@Fool and Flagon (March 24, 2012)

More Willie Dixon covers/stories







Blast From the Past: Trickbag's 20th Anniversary Performance

Links: Trickbag, More Trickbag Stories

Arkells and David Braid Win at the Junos

Hamilton rockers the Arkells (Group of the Year) and local jazz musician David Braid (Traditional Jazz) walked away with Juno Awards this past weekend, making Hamilton proud. Also, St. Catharines born Dallas Green (City and Colour) won as Songwriter of the Year.

Other awards of note include:

Dan Managan - New Artist of the Year & Alternative Album

Bruce Cockburn - Roots Solo

The Wailin' Jennys - Roots Group

MonkeyJunk - Blues

Click here for the full list of Winners

Click here for the Spectator story

Blasts From the Pasts: This year's nominations, 2009 Juno Award Winners, Jack DeKeyzer Wins 2010 Juno, Daniel Lanois Wins 2011 Juno, All of our Juno Stories

Vote for the Canadian Music Party

HBL (Hamilton Blues Lovers) Inc doesn’t usually get involved in politics but we’ve decided to help spread the good word about the newly formed Canadian Music Party. A few local musicians were tired of the current political climate and decided to take matters into their own hands.

Our very own blogger, Lou, was put in charge of propaganda. “We think it’s about time musicians had a say in how this country is run,” he explained.

“At our last meeting, we chose singer/songwriter/artist Tom Wilson as our leader and hopefully, the next Prime Minister,” Lou added, “There were many worthy candidates. In the end, it was hard to ignore Mr. Wilson’s passion and commitment (not to mention his height) when the final tally was counted.”

Mr. Wilson and the party have already outlined the main points of their future election campaign:

• Immediate decriminalization of marijuana
• All government business will only start after 2 pm.
• Groupies can now be listed as dependents on income tax
• Instruments can now be listed as dependents on income tax
• Requesting “Mustang Sally” or “Freebird” is punishable by life in prison
• Stealing musical instruments will be punishable by death
• Musicians to get LCBO tax discounts
• Hamilton will become the Canadian capital
• "Oh Canada" to be replaced by "Oh What a Feeling" as the national anthem
• The Queen will be replaced by King Biscuit Boy on all money
• Frankie Venom will be put on the $50 bill.
• Jackie Washington will now be on the $100 bill

Even though the next election is still far away, the party have already started hiring for various positions:

• Head of security: Shawn Brush, the Krooked Cowboy
• Head of the Children's Taskforce: Paul Langille
• Minister of the Environment: Dan Medakovic
• Minister of Transportation: Mark Vanderheyden

With this many musicians in one place, Lou says they were going to advertise a groupie wrangler position but luckily, local music fan and videographer Jill Johnson graciously accepted the job as an unpaid volunteer. “We’d like to thank Jill for her selfless act and for saving us some money. I’m sure she’ll take real good care of those groupies!”

So please remember to vote for your local CMP candidate when the next election rolls around. We need to put some more groove into Canadian parliament.

If you’d like to volunteer, please contact our volunteer coordinator, Ms. Luigi at 905-555-5555. For all other information, please call our secretary April Fulcilli at the same number.