Odds and sods from the Toronto blues community and beyond.
History Lesson: If you haven’t visited the Friar’s Music Museum in Dundas Square (on the 2nd floor of a Shoppers Drug Mart at 283 Yonge Street) you might want to check it out before they turn over the exhibition at the end of September. The current exhibit is “Shaking the Foundations: Women Trailblazers in Toronto Music,” which honors the contributions of women to the city’s music scene.
Blues on the Tube: The Ensemble! TV Show on Cable 14 (Hamilton) will feature the Spencer Mackenzie Band (David Hollingshead, Matt Burns, Justine Fischer) on Sat August 2: 2:30am / 9am and Sunday August 3 at 3am or live stream on cable14now.com. Hosted by Dave Rave and recorded at Clifford Brewing Co.
Mel Brown honoured: The late great Mel Brown will have a Mississippi Blues Trail Marker unveiling in Kitchener during the Kitchener Blues Festival on August 9, 2025.
Talkin’ Blues: Mako Funasaka’s popular podcast is coming up to episode 450 which will be posted on June 21st featuring an interview with Derrick D’Mar Martin, drummer for Rick Estrin and the Nightcats (also solo artist and ex-drummer for Little Richard).
Escarpment Anniversary: As the TBS celebrates our 40th year, we offer a big congratulations to our neighbours, and Canada’s newest Blues Society, the Hamilton-based Escarpment Blues Society, celebrating their first-year anniversary
TBS @ FAI: The TBS put on a showcase at last month’s Folk Alliance conference in Montreal. The artists featured were Suzie Vinnick, Miss Emily, Michael Jerome Browne, Angelique Francis, Charlie A’Court, Graham Lindsey,The Harpoonist, Berk Jodoin and Maya Killtron. Suzie reports, “Cat Bird (TBS grant-writer) and her team transformed the space with a beautiful blue and green motif—perfect for our ‘blues’ night, with plenty of blue accents.There was a nice variety of bluesy performers who drew lots of listeners to the room. I brought along six boxes of Canadian-made maple leaf cookies (wish they were blue!), with extra beer and sodas provided by Cat’s team. It was wonderful to showcase our Canadian blues talent in such a welcoming space. A big thank you to Cat Bird and her team for sharing their space with us!”
TBS Celebrates the 10th Anniversary of the excellent documentary, ‘Healey’s Hideaway’ and we celebrate Jeff’s incredible legacy with a screening of the film at the historic Redwood Theatre on Thursday March 6 at 6:30pm.
Former TBS boarder Julian Taylor shared on his Instagram page that he is this year’s recipient of the Toronto Musician’s Association (Local 149) Community Builder of the Year award which was presented to him by TMA President Les Altt. from TMA. Julian writes, “This means the world to me and I was totally taken by surprise at receiving this prestigious award from Toronto Musicians’ Association – Local 149 AFM. Thank you to all our members for the recognition as Community Builder of the Year. What an honour! “Community = COMMON-UNITY”
Jay Douglas Documentary: Play It Loud! — How Toronto Got Soul is set for Official Premiere on Dec. 4 and 7 at Hot Docs Cinema: Jay Douglas has been a popular figure on the blues scene but he came up in Toronto’s vibrant reggae and Caribbean music scene
©2025 Toronto Blues Society. Design by Janine Stoll Media.
TBS logo and WBR artwork by Barbara Klunder
The Toronto Blues Society acknowledges the annual support of the Ontario Arts Council, the City of Toronto through the Toronto Arts Council and the Department of Canadian Heritage, and project support from FACTOR< and the Government of Canada through the Department of Canadian Heritage (Canada Music Fund) and of Canada’s Private Broadcasters, The Canada Council for the Arts, the SOCAN Foundation, SOCAN, the Ontario Media Development Corporation, and the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport.
