Juno Awards: Nominees for the 2021 JUNO Awards will be announced at 11 AM on Tuesday March 9. Winners will be revealed on the 50th Annual JUNO Awards Broadcast (CBC) on Sunday, May 16.
Harrison Kennedy is next month’s TBS Pioneer Profile, Thursday April 1 on TBS Facebook page.
The genesis of the New Moon Jelly Roll Freedom Riders recordings was on a Charlie Musselwhite / Mavis Staples tour bus. The North Mississippi All-Stars were the backing band on the tour; and, while on route, Luther Dickinson of The All-Stars and Musselwhite hatched a plan to record together along with a few friends.
This Toronto trio features singer/songwriter/guitarist Matt Allen, ace bassist/backing vocalist Gary Kendall (Downchild), and drummer Adam David. Their new EP comes as a result of winning the Amy Louie Grossman Music Scholarship in 2018, whose funding facilitated this release. Money well spent, as Four Hot Tracks lives up to its title.
This month’s recommended listening by Greg Torrington, programmer of Stingray’s blues channels.
Winter Blues: Toronto roots music fans have enjoyed the annual appearance of Winterfolk and last year, a new February festival appeared on the scene, the “Be Kind” festival. Both were based out of the Tranzac last year but this time they’ll be online, like everybody else. Winterfolk is happening February 19 & 20 and has plenty of blues content: Donne Roberts, Ken Whiteley, Jack de Keyzer, Suzie Vinnick, Diana Braithwaite & Chris Whiteley and Julian Taylor among other blues-friendly roots artists.
Angelique Francis along with Matt Sobb co-host the Ottawa edition of the (virtual) Maple Blues Awards on February 8 on the TBS Facebook & YouTube channel.
Nowhere Left To Go is the latest offering of ten new original songs from Layla Zoe. Now residing in the Netherlands, this album shows a much deeper, more reflective side, of this fiercely independent artist.
At 35, Selwyn Birchwood is hardly the ‘typical’ blues artist. Yet, being pegged a maverick has little to do with his age. His musical epiphany came at age 13 upon first hearing Hendrix and, tracing the artist’s love for the blues, a chance to see Buddy Guy live sealed the deal for this young guitarist. He not only realized what he wanted to do but was also fortunate to study under Sonny Rhodes’ tutelage – on the road of hard knocks.
Voodoo Blues is a showcase for the intense, electrifying vocals of Irish singer and guitar player Gráinne Duffy, who wrote all the songs on this album with her rhythm guitarist, Paul Sherry. Her blues-infused rock packs a potent punch. She was voted best female vocalist in 2014 and best artist in 2015 by Blues Matters, a U.K. publication. Her artistry has been honed with a degree in music, and she has four previous albums under her belt.
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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.
