Category: Canadian Music

Blood Sweat and Tears = A Canadian Classic

David Clayton-Thomas performing at Gulfstream ...
David Clayton Thomas

Through the vagaries of Canadian content regulations, the band Blood Sweat and Tears became Canadian, although the only member (and not an original member) of the band who is Canadian (born in the UK) was David Clayton Thomas, the singer on most of their hits.  The band was originally led by Al Kooper (not Alice Cooper) and was formed in the 1960’s.  Harry Nilsson sang on their album “Child is Father to the Man“, which contained such classics as “Without Her’ (Nillson) and “I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know”, by Al Kooper.

After this album, the band underwent a radical line up change as Al Kooper left the band.  Original members Bobby Colomby and Steve Katz began a search for a new singer and based on a recommendation by Judy Collins, who had seen him sing, hired David Clayton Thomas.  Thus, Blood  Sweat and Tears began their career as a Canadian icon.  Their first album as the reformed group, “Blood Sweat and Tears” was a major hit, even beating “Abbey Road” out as album of the year at the 1969 Grammys.  The album contained the hits “You Made Me So Very Happy”, “Spinning Wheel”, and “And When I Die”.

The band has undergone many changes in its lifetime and still maintain a heavy touring schedule.  David Clayton Thomas had 3 stints with the band, 1968 to 1972, 1974 to 1981 and 1984 to 2004.   The band spawned a new genre of rock, outside the acid rock and anti-establishment types of the era.  The bands in this grouping included Chicago, Ides of March and Atlanta Rhythm Section to name a few.

The video is a live version of Spinning Wheel, recorded in 1969.

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Listening to Canadians – Michael Kaeshammer

Michael Kaeshammer performing at the 2009 Wate...
Michael Kaeshammer

Michael Kaeshammer, German born, he moved to Canada at age 19.  In Germany, he studied classical piano, and the discovered boogie woogie in his early teens.  He toured extensively on his arrival in Canada in 1996, playing jazz an blues festivals across the country.  My personal experiences with him consist of a discovery on CBC2 and a concert Lori and I went to a few years back.  The concert was in a 400 seat theatre in Calgary and was phenomenal.  Good story.  We heard he was coming and checked out ticket availability.  There were a handful of single seats still available, so we figured it was a lost cause.  Lori tried once more, 2 days before the concert and, unbelievably, the person on the other end of the phone says, yes, of course, we just had 2 seats open up in the FRONT row.  Lori scooped them right then and sure enough, we were in the front row, about 6 feet from the drummer, the same drummer as in the video.

Michael puts on a great concert, very personable guy with a great feel for the audience.  The back and forth with the other band members was excellent.  A thoroughly enjoyable experience.  If you have the chance to see him play, do it.

His current tour dates are:

UPCOMING SHOWS

Date City Venue Country
09/23/11 Cerritos, CA Cerritos Centre for the Performing Arts United States
09/24/11 Pleasanton, CA Firehouse Arts Centre United States
09/26/11 Bakersfield, CA Rabobank Theatre United States
09/28/11 San Diego, CA Anthology United States
09/30/11 Kirkland, WA Kirkland Performance Centre United States
10/01/11 Portland, OR Jimmy Mak’s United States
10/02/11 Redmond, OR Redmond High School Auditorium United States
10/06/11 Madisonville, KY Glema Mahr Centre for the Arts United States
10/07/11 Chattanooga, TN Hunter Museum United States
10/08/11 Franklin, TN Franklin Theatre United States
10/14/11 Sault Ste Marie Algoma Fest Canada
10/20/11 Montreal L’Astral Canada
10/22/11 Ottawa, ON National Arts Centre Canada
11/04/11 Boothbay Harbor, ME Opera House United States
11/05/11 Fryeburg, ME Leura Hill Eastman PAC United States
11/07/11 Minneapolis, MN Dakota Jazz Club United States
11/09/11 Evanston, IL SPACE United States
11/11/11 Ashland, OH Hugo Young Theatre United States
11/12/11 Greenville, OH Henry St Clair Memorial Hall United States

 

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New Canadian Releases – September 20, 2011

elliott brood @ westfest

I am adding a new weekly posting, usually on Tuesday, that will highlight new releases by Canadian artists.

First up is Elliott BROOD and their new album “Days Into Years”, released on September 20, 2011.  This 3 piece band is out of Toronto, Ontario.  Mark Sasso plays harmonica, string instruments an handles the lead vocals.  Casey Laforet handles backup vocals, guitars and bass pedals.  Stephen Pitkin plays drums and does some backup vocals as well.  their music is self described as “death country”.  I would call it more of alt-country with pieces reminiscent of Blue Rodeo.  This release marks their 4th album, their first “Tin Type” was released in 2004.  The cut featured is called “Northern Air”.

Next up, The Midway State released a single this week, a remake of Bryan Adams classic, “Run To You”.  An interesting and very well done version of one of Adams best songs.  Another band out of Toronto, they have released 2 albums and an EP since 2007. The band was nominated for 2 Junos in 2009.

Other notable releases this week are

Rock and Roll Romance by “State of Shock”  Alternative rock.

Unpersons by “The Pack A.D.”  Fusion of garage rock and blues, with tones of Jack White.

Fire/Water and EP released by “Yukon Blonde”.  Great band, just couldn’t find a video.

See you next week.

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Chilliwack = A Canadian Classic

Bill Henderson (lead singer and guitarist for ...
Bill Henderson

Ah yes, Chilliwack.  A Canadian staple on the radio in the 70’s.  “Fly at Night”, “Lonesome Mary”, “Rain-O”, “Crazy Talk”, “Gone, Gone, Gone”, an extensive list of classics.  The group was formed in 1964 as The Classics, later changing their name to The Collectors before settling on Chilliwack.  Being around for so long, there have obviously been many changes in personnel, all rotating around the constant of Bill Henderson.  They were innovators in their use of Native American instruments in their songs, predating Xavier Rudd by many decades.  Over the years the band has released 14 albums and has had 8 Top 40 hits in Canada while charting 23 times and 2 Top 40 hits in the USA, while charting 7 times.  The have not recorded since 1984, although a live album was released in 2003.  An interesting side-note, band member Brian Macleod and the rest of the group, without Bill Henderson, played as the Headpins in the 1980’s with Darby Mills, another Canadian icon of the 1980’s.  The band continues to tour today.

 

The song attached is a live version of “Sundown”, another Chilliwack staple.  This version was done live on the old TV show, Come Together.

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Listening to Canadians – Fearing and White

Andy White (singer-songwriter)
Andy White

Kind of a cheat here.  Stephen Fearing and Andy White (Stephen is Canadian, Andy should be) have successful solo careers, but have teamed up here as Fearing in White to record an album and tour together.    The album, Fearing and White, was released in March of 2011.  They toured Western Canada and recorded the attached video on an iPhone.  Nice job.  I clued in on this band as Andy White and Fearing and White both follow me on Twitter.  When I got the follow, curiosity drew me to YouTube to check them out and was pleased with what I found.  Promotion in any way always helps.  They made me a fan, and maybe you as well.

 

A bit about them now.  Stephen Fearing is out of Vancouver and is a double Juno winner (Canada’s Grammy for the non-Canadians reading this).  He is well-known roots and folk artist.  He has been successful as a solo artists and as a member of Blackie and the Rodeo Kings.

Andy White hails from Northern Ireland and is basically a rambling troubadour.  He tours constantly and has played  with a who’s who of Irish players, including Van Morrison and Sinead O’Connor.

The video is “Under the Silver Sky”.

April Wine = A Canadian Classic

Canadian rock band April Wine in concert at th...
April Wine

A new series of posts based on classic Canadian artists. In the early years of rock and roll, we in Canada had government regulated rules for Canadian content on the airwaves. This created a cottage industry for Canadian bands to create and record as radio stations had to put something on the air, and even though American Woman by the Guess Who is a great song (and fairly long), you couldn’t play it 15 times a day. The upside is that the rules did kick-start an entire stable of artists, which inspired more and more artists until it was no longer necessary to regulate the content. Think current artists such as Arcade Fire, Feist, Celine Dion, Avril Lavigne and even Justin Bieber. There is a possibility that none of these people would have made it without this intervention. We also have a catalogue of great songs that the rest of the world has not heard, which is kind of cool.

The artists that I have chosen to kick off this series with is “April Wine“. A band out of Montreal, formed in 1969 and still touring and still recording. In their heyday they were legendary for their live shows. Frontman Myles Goodwin has been the force behind the band from the beginning and has been the constant since day 1. He handled most of the vocals and played guitars in every incarnation of the band. Other long time members were Jim Clench on bass, Brian Greenway on guitars and vocals and Jerry Mercer on drums. In their career they recorded 16 studio albums (Electric Jewels is my favourite), had 15 compilations and 9 live albums. The most famous live one is Live at the El Mocambo. They opened for a band on that night called the Cockroaches, who in fact were the Rolling Stones.

Despite have 21 top 40 hits in Canada, they had limited success elsewhere. In the USA they had 3 top 40’s and 7 total that charted. In the UK only 2 songs reached the charts with none breaking into the top 40. Truly a Canadian phenomenon. The video is I Like To Rock, which charted in all 3 countries, hitting 86 in the USA, 41 in the UK and only hit 75 in Canada. This is the official video of the song, released in 1980.

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New Canadian Music – Library Voices

Library Voices
Library Voices

Regina band “Library Voices” released their new album on August 23. (Available on iTunes). The album is titled “Summer Lust”, which is what people in Western Canada definitely do for summer. The attached video is their first single released from the album “Generation Handclap”. The band hails from Regina, Saskatchewan and are following up a successful album “Denim on Denim” from 2010. If you like the video, and are interested in hearing more from this band, hit the link*. It will take you to CBC3 and has most of their songs.

Their upcoming tour dates:

date city venue tix
Sep 16 Saskatoon, SK Amigos Cantina
Sep 17 Edmonton, AB Pawn Shop
Sep 19 Jasper, AB Horseshoe Club
Sep 20 Kelowna, BC The Habitat
Sep 22 Vancouver, BC Biltmore Cabaret (Presented by The Peak 100.5FM)
Sep 23 Victoria, BC Rifflandia Festival
Sep 24 Victoria, BC Rifflandia Festival
Sep 25 Robert’s Creek, BC The Gumboot
Sep 27 Penticton, BC The Barking Parrot
Sep 28 Nelson, BC Spirit Bar
Sep 29 Canmore, AB Canmore Hotel
Sep 30 Calgary, AB The Gateway (Presented by X92.9FM)
Oct 01 Regina, SK The Exchange
Oct 04 Chicago, IL Beat Kitchen
Oct 07 Brooklyn, NY Spike Hill
Oct 13 Hamilton, ON Casbah
Oct 14 Kingston, ON Mansion
Oct 15 Wakefield, ON Black Sheep Inn
Oct 18 Charlottetown, PEI Baba’s
Oct 19 Moncton, NB Plan B
Oct 20 Fredericton, NB Capital
Oct 21 Halifax, NS Halifax Pop Explosion – Seahorse Tavern
Oct 25 Quebec City, PQ Le Cercle
Oct 26 Montreal, PQ Casa De Popolo
Oct 27 Peterborough, ON Trash
Oct 28 Toronto, ON Horseshoe Tavern
Oct 29 Guelph, ON E Bar
Oct 30 Windsor, ON Phog Lounge

Listening to Canadians – Ash Koley

Ash Koley at the Rio Theatre
Image by emmerogers via Flickr

Ash Koley is a Canadian talent, born and raised in Winnipeg.  Winnipeg is a major Canadian hotbed of musical talent having spawned the Guess Who, Crash Test Dummies, The Watchmen and  Chantal Kreviazuk just to name  few.  Ash Koley performs a mix of pop, alternative and a dash of new wave in her music.  The song I have chosen to introduce to you, the reader is “Brighter At Night”.  Not a chart topping monolithic anthem, but a light enjoyable summer type of song, heavy on the pop.  Hope you enjoy, even a little bit.

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Listening to Canadians – Royal Wood

Royal Wood
Royal Wood

Royal Wood is a Canadian singer songwriter, born in Peterborough, Ontario.  He has been releasing albums since 2002.  In 2010, he received the  iTunes songwriter of the year award for his album “The Waiting.  His sound is all over the map, from being compared to Randy Newman to Tom Waits and even to the Beach Boys.  Each album is different, but each is musically very sound.  The attached song is of of “The Waiting” and is titled “On Top of Your Love”.

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Listening to Canadians – Jill Barber

Cover of "Chances"
Cover of Chances

A different like (for me anyway).  Jill Barber is a Canadian songstress out of Halifax, Nova Scotia.  A very folk/bluegrass style with country overtones, she released her 4th album, “Chances” in 2008, which the attached video is from.  The song is “Oh My My” and showcases her considerable talent.  She has a new album out “Mischievous Moon”, and I am guilty of not hearing much of it as yet.  I will make a point of checking it out in the next week or two.  In the meantime, enjoy.

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