KATHLEEN EDWARDS
The album “Voyageur” celebrates the many pleasures of survival and reinvention, suggesting that an acceptance of life’s changeability is what will allow us to face the hardest of hard times — as well as the exhilarating longing and dislocation of the unknown — head on, with grace.
Website: http://www.kathleenedwards.com
54-40
54-40 is one of the most important popular music groups to emerge from the Canadian cultural landscape. Celebrating their thirty-year anniversary – a remarkable achievement in itself – the band has an unbelievable catalogue of hit songs, including “Baby Ran”, “I Go Blind” and “Ocean Pearl”. Lead by chief songwriter Neil Osborne, 54-40 have carved out a legacy of gold and platinum albums and a outstanding reputation for their live performances that carries through to this day.
Website: http://www.5440.com/
CORB LUND
Goth girls to survivalists, bovines to bibles, antique pistols to vintage motorcycles: Alberta-born honky-tonker Corb Lund’s songcraft covers it all. From a rustic retreat deep in the Rocky Mountain forest, Cabin Fever, Lund’s enthralling new album, evolved from a period of introspection and hard traveling. Just like the prolific Lund’s subjects run the gamut, so do the sonics on the live-sounding long-player, ranging from rockabilly to Western swing, cowboy balladry to country-rock. And, of course, the occasional yodel…
Website: http://corblund.com
HANNAH GEORGAS
“It’s an album of rich, emotionally resonant synth-pop that isn’t afraid to walk a fine line between vintage new wave and contemporary ethereality, easily gliding from tongue-in-cheek come-ons to hauntingly emotional head trips.”
Website: http://www.hannahgeorgas.com
ELLIOTT BROOD
Elliott BROOD have always been time travellers. The Toronto trio writes songs steeped in history that feel very present. They’ve done their share of actual travelling, too, these musical troubadours, acoustic guitars and banjos slung over their sharp suits as they barnstormed across Canada and beyond. For the new album Days Into Years it was century-old stories encountered an ocean away that brought them closest to home.
Website: http://www.elliottbrood.ca
THE SKYDIGGERS
In celebration of 25 years together and in celebration of Canadian talent, Skydiggers' No.1 Northernpays homage to the great Canadian songwriters who have left their mark on this country, and inspired Skydiggers throughout the last quarter century. Taking on the legendary melodies of Ron Sexsmith, Neil Young, and Gordon Lightfoot, Skydiggers continue to push their sound in to new territory.
Website: http://killbeatmusic.com/skydiggers
LINDI ORTEGA
Nashville beckoned, and Lindi Ortega answered the call.
Armed with an inimitable, irresistible singing voice The Independent hails as “a truly magnificent instrument,” and a heart bursting with creative ambition, the Canadian songstress whom American Songwriter calls “the love child of Johnny Cash and Nancy Sinatra” decided to relocate to Music City from her native Toronto to birth her brand new musical offspring, Cigarettes & Truckstops.
Website: http://www.lindiortega.ca
PLANTS AND ANIMALS
If Plants and Animals were a person, Parc Avenue is that person around eight years old-excited, wide-eyed, scatterbrained and innocent. La La Land is that person in adolescence-the body changing in exciting and confusing ways, cocky and insecure, bold and volatile, oily.
Website: http://www.plantsandanimals.ca
THE TREASURES
Toronto roots rockers the Treasures have honed their back-to-basics sound the old-fashioned way: through the boot camp of constant gigging. Specifically, the kinds of bar residencies where you’re expected to play multiple sets a night for an audience who are often there more for the beer than the band. If you can succeed in that kind of challenging setting, you know you can take your act anywhere.
Website: http://www.thetreasuresband.com
DEVIN CUDDY
Devin Cuddy’s music has a style its own, one that shouldn’t work, but somehow does. His unique blend of New Orleans Blues and Country effortlessly marries the two musical ideals with a distinctive element of Canadiana so eloquent, that it leaves one pondering why no one has done this before. In Toronto’s growing pseudo-country scene Devin’s new take on the genre pushes the limits of what people think they want to dance to on a Saturday night.
Website: http://www.devincuddy.com
SAM CASH
As Sam Cash grows, so too does his music and songwriting. Written and recorded when he was just 19 years old, his 2011 debut,Teenage Hunger, showcased a songwriter finding his voice and sound amongst a bustling Canadian music scene where it’s artists were all striving to make themselves known.
Website: http://samcash.bandcamp.com
DANIELLE DUVAL
Delivered by a magnetically gutsy voice; the music is old school, harmony driven pop, mixed with an early rock n’ roll sensibility. An encapsulation of style and grit that harkens back to the likes of Patti Smith and Joan Jett, we hereby present you with a whole new approach that redefines the explosive girl rock era that took the world by storm in the 70s and 80s. Duval rips her Tele axe, sings from the deep depths, and composes melodic songs with artful lyrics that leave her audience with a story told.
Website: http://www.ofthevalley.com/danielleduval/category/news/
JANE'S PARTY
While they’ve drawn comparisons to bands like The Beach Boys, The Kinks and The Strokes, the four multi-instrumental musicians of Jane’s Party put their best foot forward with Hot Noise – delivering a sound and a style all of their own.
Website: http://www.janesparty.com/
FRANCESCO
Canadian born singer/songwriter Francesco is a bright eyed, young talent with a soulful voice beyond his years. With a strong musical background, this seventeen-year-old artist is embarking on a music career in 2013 joined by Atlantic Records and 21 Music. The talented young star has already performed alongside the likes of Nelly Furtado, Ryan Beatty, Hot Chelle Rae and Tyler Medeiros. His debut record can be described as “Bruno Mars meets Taylor Swift with a little bit of Michael Jackson.” Surely all of these influences lend to the genre of music Francesco creates but his soulful melodies and vulnerable lyrics evoke a nostalgic feeling dating back to the Motown era which is the root of Francesco’s sound.
Website: http://www.francescomusic.com
TIM CHAISSON
A humble and soft spoken musician, Chaisson began performing publically during primary school in a family Celtic ensemble before embracing his inner songwriter as a teenager and self-releasing four albums. The latest of those was Broken Hearted Beat, which had a lot of attentive ears turning eastward.
Website: http://timchaisson.com
GENTLEMEN AND HUSBANDS
As regular fixtures on the Southern Ontario touring circuit, Gentlemen Husbands have played their fair share of outdated rock halls and grimy dive bars. But, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Their music, a vintage blast of rugged roots rock, seems to coincide perfectly with a night of chugging beer and making bad decisions. The band’s recent gig at Lee’s Palace proved to be no exception.-
Website: http://www.gentlemenhusbands.com/
THE WALKERVILLES
The Walkervilles are a Motown/rock influenced group from Windsor, Ontario, Canada; right across from Motown itself, Detroit, Michigan. The three piece is a sort of Ontario super group, combining Pat Robitaille’s unforgettable sultry voice with Michou member’s Michael Hargreaves and Stefan Cvetkovic. The duo in support of Robitaille adds thick layers of vocal harmony and rhythm, through groovy dynamic drum performances by Cvetkovic, and poppy lyrical bass performances by Hargreaves.
Website: http://thewalkervilles.com/