Odds and sods from the Toronto blues community and beyond.
Multi-award winning recording artist and renowned blues diva Angel Forrest takes the stage with her band at The Opera House on Saturday June 10th at 9pm with special guest roots/blues singer/songwriter Rob Lutes who
will be joined by longtime accompanist, acclaimed Quebec guitarist Rob MacDonald.
Paul Reddick is riding high as his album Ride The One won this year’s JUNO for Blues Album of the Year. He’ll be on festival stages all summer with several plays in this area, the Kitchener Blues Festival, Orangeville Blues and Jazz and the Lighthouse Blues Festival. For Oakvillians, he’ll be at the Moonshine Café on May 27 and locally, he’ll be guesting with Big Groove at the Blue Goose on Sunday afternoon, May 14. Photo by Scott Doubt
Paul Nelson, bandmate, producer and protegé of Johnny Winter (and many would say the man who resurrected Johnny Winter’s career) will bring his own band to the newly resurrected Hugh’s Room Live on May 5
New Blues Show in Haliburton: There’s a new blues radio show that airs on Canoe FM 100.9 in Haliburton/Muskoka area. Buckslide Blues Cruise is hosted by Patrick Monaghan. He plays recordings from his own collection.
An Ontario Superior Court of Justice approved an application to place HMV Canada Inc. into receivership on January 27.HMV owes nearly $39 million to HUK 10 Ltd and would require between $2 million and $5 million annually in cash to stay open, according to court filings, and the company was losing $100,000 a day as customers turned towards online media in recent years.
Following a difficult month with the loss of several favourite blues-friendly icons like Mose Alison and Leon Russell, the local blues community has been hit hard with the passing of two beloved bluesmen, John Mays and Brian Cober. Social media has been blowing up with loving tributes to two of the most humble and dedicated musicians and all-around great human beings that ever surfaced on the Toronto blues scene.
Montreal bluesman Bob Walsh, a recipient of the TBS Blues With a Feeling Award in 2014, passed away in Montreal on November 15 following a heart attack. In a month filled with the loss of musical icons, Walsh’s death came as a great shock to the Quebec blues community. Even the Premier of Quebec tweeted that “Quebec blues has lost one of its mythic figures today.”
Harry Manx is currently touring (and recording) in Australia but will be coming our way in the new year for a show at Koerner Hall on Friday, February 3 (tix now on sale). He will be bringing along his Australian touring mate, organ sensation Clayton Doley (who made a big impression in his short time as a Toronto resident). They will be joined by Kevin Breit and Mark Lalama to create another memorable journey into the “Harry zone”
Congratulations to Matt Andersen who received two nominations (Contemporary Artist and Solo Artist) for the 2016 Canadian Folk Music Awards. The Awards will be presented on Saturday, December 3 at the Isabel Bader Theatre in Toronto (and blues fans will be happy to hear that one of the performers at the gala will be Colin Linden)
Man’s Best Friend, Angel Forrest on STOP!TV, Eighth Annual Concert For Peace, Blues on the Rideau Announces their 12th Season, Farewell to another venue and Good Causes
©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.
