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OPENING FOR THE BLACK KEYS THIS SUMMER

KICKS OFF HEADLINING FALL TOUR FOLLOWING AUSTIN CITY LIMITS MUSIC FESTIVAL DEBUT IN OCTOBER

NEW DAN AUERBACH-PRODUCED ALBUM STRANGE TIME TO BE ALIVE OUT AUGUST 19 VIA EASY EYE SOUND

LISTEN TO EARLY JAMES CRITIQUE ONLINE DISCOURSE AND SHOWBOATING BILLIONAIRES ON RACING TO A RED LIGHT HERE

TORONTO, ON – July 14, 2022 – Early James will release his Dan Auerbach-produced second album, Strange Time To Be Alive, on August 19 via Easy Eye Sound, and the Alabama native will spend much of the summer and fall on tour in support of the record. Early James will perform a special album release show at the Station Inn in Nashville, TN on August 19, after which he will begin a run of dates opening a leg of The Black Keys’ summer tour. Early James will return to Nashville in September for AmericanaFest, and then make his Austin City Limits Music Festival debut on October 14 before starting his recently announced fall headlining tour two days later.

Early James’s lyrics contain equal parts poetic observation and candid introspection and fantastically warped humour—a dynamic established in the very first lines of the newly released single Racing To A Red Light: “Oh Lord, I think I just might/Be betting on a thrown fight/Between a man and a mannequin/Just lost to a banana skin.” Sparked from a bit of dialogue from True Detective season one, Racing To A Red Light unfolds in languid rhythms and spectral guitar tones as Early James quietly vents a litany of frustrations (e.g., the dearth of original thought in online discourse, the showboating behaviour of billionaire moguls). Listen here.

“At the time I was getting fed up with seeing the same comments copied-and-pasted from the safety of anonymity on the internet, from people who can’t think up their own response to anything happening in the world,” says Early James. “That song’s a subtle dis to all that, and also to the people who think it’s a better idea to race to Mars on a rocket than to try to fix the planet we actually live on.”

Strange Time To Be Alive is the sound of an artist sublimely out of step with the world. With all the charmed eccentricity of a true poet conjuring the ghosts of great southern gothic writers from Eudora Welty to William Faulkner, Early James takes in the endless absurdity he sees around him, then alchemizes his unease into a glorious patchwork of musical idioms: forsaken blues and contemplative folk songs, brooding murder ballads and lovestruck piano tunes. Early James ultimately extracts a certain magic from the madness, imbuing even the most painful truth-telling with a wild-eyed joie de vivre.

The follow-up to 2020’s Singing For My Supper (hailed by MOJO as a “luminous debut”), Strange Time To Be Alive came to life in three whirlwind days at Easy Eye Sound in Nashville, TN. Early James joined forces with such esteemed musicians as guitarist Tom Bukovac (Willie Nelson, Keb’ Mo’), drummer Jay Bellerose (Sharon Van Etten, Allen Toussaint), keyboardist Mike Rojas (Tyler Childers, Yola) as well as Early James’ longtime bandmate Adrian Marmolejo on upright bass.

TOUR DATES:
Aug 19 - Nashville, TN - Station Inn
Aug 24 - West Palm Beach, FL - iThink Amphitheater ***
Aug 25 - Tampa, FL - MidFlorida Credit Union ***
Aug 27 - Atlanta, GA - Ameris Bank Amphitheater ***
Aug 28 - Huntsville, AL - Huntsville Amphitheater ***
Aug 30 - Charleston, SC - Volvo Stadium ***
Sept 1 - Raleigh, NC - Coastal Credit Union ***
Sept 3 - Cincinnati, OH - Riverbend Music Center ***
Sept 6 - Toronto, ON - Budweiser Stage ***
Sept 7 - Detroit, MI - DTE Energy Music Theater ***
Sept 9 - Cleveland, OH - Blossom Music Center ***
Sept 11 - Roswell, GA - Chattahoochee Nature Center
Sept 15-17 - Nashville, TN - AmericanaFest 
Oct 2 - Athens, GA - Wildwood Revival Festival
Oct 14 - Austin, TX - Austin City Limits Music Festival
Oct 16 - Little Rock, AR - The White Water Tavern
Oct 18 - Atlanta, GA - Vinyl
Oct 21 - Washington, DC - Jammin Java
Oct 22 - Philadelphia, PA - World Café (Upstairs)
Oct 23 - Boston, MA - Atwood’s Tavern
Oct 25 - Brooklyn, NY - Union Pool
Oct 27 - Pittsburgh, PA - Club Café
Oct 28 - Columbus, OH - Ace of Cups
Oct 29 - Chicago, IL - Golden Dagger
Oct 30 - Davenport, IA - Racoon Motel
*** supporting The Black Keys 

DOWNLOAD – press photo | DOWNLOAD – album artwork

LATEST RELEASE FROM PENSIVE POP EP
AVAILABLE DIGITALLY ON AUGUST 12 VIA ROUNDER RECORDS

NEW SINGLE & VIDEO FOR NEVER FORGET 
FEATURING CHEF 187, TIO NASON & MWANJÉ

AS ABOVE, SO BELOW OUT SEPTEMBER 9; PRE-ORDER HERE

Toronto, ON – June 28, 2022 – Zambian-born Botswana-raised poet and rapper, Sampa The Great, announces her sophomore full-length album, As Above, So Below, out worldwide on September 9 via Loma Vista Recordings. Accompanying the news, is the release of Sampa’s new single and video, Never Forget, featuring Chef 187, Tio Nason and Mwanjé, available to stream and watch now. 

After returning home to Zambia during the pandemic, Sampa reconnected with a different side of herself, a side that expresses more purely the nourishment & influence she received from her upbringing in Zambia and represents a return to her younger artistry. From collaborations with South African-based creatives, Rochelle Nembhard and Imraan Christian, to time spent recording with a long-established network of close friends and family, Sampa unlocks an age of authenticity, and debuts a newly revitalized Sampa to the world. As Above, So Below unveils the complexity of Sampa’s being, a quality showcased throughout the record through fusions of weighty intensity and softer sensutality. “As Above” translates as Sampa outside’s self, while “So Below” is the Sampa within, together uniting to reveal the highest version of herself, without a mask, or role to play. Anchoring the record, is Eve, Sampa’s blueprint of her ideal self who manifests within As Above, So Below’s lyrics, and visually appears throughout the album’s forthcoming videos.

Today, Sampa’s newest single arrives a brandishing ode to the golden era of Zambia’s socially prolific genre, Zamrock. Throwing recognition to the music coming out of the African diaspora today, to honouring the stories of those who tread previously, Never Forget is the stamp uniting both centre-points in history. A choral harmony from Sampa’s own sister Mwanjé heralds the track’s opening, before a low-slung bassline booms out puncutating hooks from Zambian songwriter, Tio Nason and triumphant verses from Zambian star, Chef 187 and Sampa herself. An array of percussion adds a Zambian richness, from traditional Ngoma drums by band Nomakanjani, to hand claps, to marimba to the signature 808's from Mag 44, one of Zambian's pioneering hip hop producers.

Accompanying Never Forget is an official music video, directed by Imraan Christian along with creative direction and on-set direction from Rharna Nembard and Furmaan Ahmed respectively. Starring Sampa The Great, MC Chef 187, Tio Nason and Mwanjé, the video showcases a darkly lit performance space along with artful choreography and the guilefully costumed personas of Sampa. Interspersed throughout the clip is archival footage of Zambian life in the 70s, including performances from some of the Zamrock acts that have paved the path since. The end result is experienced as a highly cinematic and enthralling vision. The video for Never Forget made its global broadcast premiere across BET Soul, BET Jams, MTV Live, MTVU, and Yo! MTV as well as on the Paramount Times Square billboards.

Sampa says on the single and video: "Never Forget is an ode to Zamrock music, a genre born in the 70’s combining traditional Zambian music and psychedelic rock. In particular, the song focuses on kalindula music. This tribute was inspired by the band WITCH and their lead singer Mr Jagari Chanda, who has become one of my musical mentors. I discovered Zamrock later in my life and was surprised that this music was known globally, yet not fully celebrated and acknowledged in Zambia today. It hit home for me as I felt similarities in my own journey, having had my career take off outside my birth country. I thought it was fitting to pay homage to those who came before me and merge past, present and future through music and imagery; passing the baton from one generation to the next. The archival footage in the clip includes the late great Paul Ngozi, the late president Kenneth Kaunda (Zambia’s first president) and the legendary WITCH."

Director Rharha Nembard says: “Never Forget pays homage to the past, present and future. Acknowledging the ones that have came before, in order for us to be here today. When I first heard the song, the notion of time came up so strongly. African time has always been non linear and cyclical. The vision for this video was to explore that notion of time, merging past, present and future simultaneously in a harmonious symphony that honours and pays respect to those that have passed the baton and paved the way for the the next generation of Zambian artists. Sampa carries the past, present and future of Zambian music. She stands on the shoulders of giants and this our offering to them."

Sampa returned earlier this year, with As Above So Below’s first single, Lane featuring US rapper, Denzel Curry. Ushering in a new era, Lane was the first taste of new music from the Zambian artist since 2019’s ARIA Award and Australian Music Prize winning debut album, The Return. A defiant call out to being shoved in a box, Lane was accompanied by a long-form video that book-ended and balanced a spoken word piece, Origin, wherein fans were introduced to Sampa’s ideal persona, Eve. The new chapter of music from Sampa The Great accompanied live performances from Sampa in an An Afro Future across Sydney and Melbourne throughout May and June. After the postponement of last year’s inaugural and highly anticipated An Afro Future tour, Sampa delivered a spectacular run of rescheduled live performances. The tour marked the first opportunity for fans to see Sampa in live format with her full band from Zambia, performing from her debut award-winning album, The Return, alongside previewing new music to the energetic crowds. 

2019 saw tremendous achievements for Sampa The Great, taking home Best Hip Hop Release for Final Form at the ARIA Awards, alongside multiple other wins at the J Awards, the Music Victoria Music Awards, while breaking industry records by winning the prestigious Australian Music Prize twice in her career. The Return received praise from the likes of The Guardian, NPR, Pitchfork, The FADER, Billboard, OkayAfrica and countless others, and was succeeded by the re-release of album track, Time’s Up with new verses from New York rapper Junglepussy, collaborations with the likes of The Avalanches, Denzel Curry & Tricky, and a feature on Michelle Obama’s esteemed playlist. In 2020 the appraisals continued, taking home three more ARIA Awards for The Return, securing four wins at the Music Victoria Awards, becoming the first solo artist and female musician to win Best Live Act at the National Live Music Awards, and BET Amplified’s first-ever global artist. As a highly applauded live performer, Sampa has entertained audiences across the globe with appearances at festivals like Glastonbury, Splendour in the Grass and Laneway, alongside virtual sets for AFROPUNK, Black August, the Roots Picnic and support slots for artists including Kendrick Lamar and Ms Lauryn Hill. In April this year, Sampa The Great performed for the first time at Coachella 2022, followed by an appearance at Primavera Sound, and a return to Glastonbury Festival this month.

Now as Sampa The Great prepares to introduce her sophomore album, enjoy the creative excellence and deep-running history in Never Forget today, ahead of the highly-awaited As Above, So Below in September. Pre-order the album here.

DOWNLOAD - Press Photos | DOWNLOAD - As Above So Below Artwork

WATCH ECCENTRIC, EXHILARATING SINGLE
AND CAT-FILLED VIDEO FOR SINGLE MAKE A PICTURE
 
OUTSIDE PROBLEMS TOUR KICKS OFF AT LA’S GREEK THEATRE ON JUNE 15 INCLUDING 25+ SHOWS WITH IRON & WINE, SOLD OUT DATES  AT RED ROCKS & PIER 17,
PLUS FRENCH ORCHESTRAL PERFORMANCES AND MORE

“Andrew Bird’s ‘Inside Problems’ tackles the demons that even Headspace can’t deter” – Document Journal

TORONTO, ON – June 3, 2022 – Today, Andrew Bird shares his most lush and rousing album yet, Inside Problems, via Loma Vista Recordings. Inside Problems is a collection of 11 original songs about the complex thoughts, questions and middle-of-the-night obsessions swirling around in each of us. Listen to it here.

Last month, Andrew shared the final preview, Make A Picture. Delivering his signature synthesis of unforgettable melodies, magnetic energy and inventive turns of phrase, Make A Picture extends a lineage of exhilarating hits like Sisyphus, Roma Fade and more, injected with the inner demons and uncanny imagery that uniquely defines the world of Inside Problems. Listen to Make A Picture here and watch the video here.
 
On Make A Picture, Andrew Bird describes scenes of running through streets like feral cats, defying the impossible and rising above cries of a wounded metropolis and pliable populace, as he refers to himself as an irrepressible optimist working with a fatal flaw. Directed by Matthew Daniel Siskin, the music video manifests the track eccentrically, capturing Bird in the midst of a photoshoot with a pack of felines, in between shifts at a lone hospital desk, where he performs a minor surgery to extract frames of film from beneath his skin.
 
Andrew Bird says, "Make A Picture is about digesting images from historic events and constituting a narrative for your memory. ‘Tell us what you think you saw. Make a picture.’  We saw a lot of horror and darkness and a lot of inspiring bravery. So, what’s the story we tell after digesting? What’s the synapses’ synopsis?”
 
Make A Picture is one of the many new singles and striking visuals to emerge from Inside Problems, following album opener, Underlands, the Joan Didion-inspired, Atomized, and an enigmatic short film that took viewers deeper into the abstract mindset and curious quandaries behind the album. As Document Journal says, "Inside Problems tackles the demons that even Headspace can’t deter...in its 11 songs, the album explores the inevitable presence of thresholds, whether they emerge in mundane moments, like standing in a doorway, or more substantial ones, like crossing state lines."
 
Like all of Inside Problems, Make A Picture was produced by Mike Viola and recorded live and straight to tape by Andrew Bird and his four-piece band. With nearly no overdubs, the music "transports listeners to a lush musical world" (NPR Music), and starting on June 15th at Los Angeles' Greek Theatre, Bird will play the songs live on his first tour in nearly three years. Co-headlined with Iron & Wine, the extensive run of Outside Problems shows will stretch from coast to coast, including sold-out stops at Colorado's Red Rocks, NYC's Pier 17 and Chicago's brand new Salt Shed, as well as performances at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium and more, with support from Allison Russell, Meshell Ndegeocello and Neko Case. 

Andrew Bird - 2022 Tour Dates
6/15 - Los Angeles, CA - Greek Theatre*
6/17 - Berkeley, CA - Greek Theatre*
6/18 - Portland, OR - Pioneer Courthouse Square*
6/19 - Seattle, WA - Woodland Park Zoo* - SOLD OUT
6/21 - Salt Lake City, UT - Red Butte Garden Amphitheatre* - SOLD OUT
6/22 - Morrison, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheatre^ - SOLD OUT
6/23 - Aspen, CO - Belly Up Aspen
6/24 - Fort Collins, CO - New Belgium Brewery
7/10 - Paris, FR - Days Off Festival w/ L'Orchestre national d'Île-de-France
7/12 - Lyon, FR - Les Nuits de Fourvières Festival w/ L'Orchestre national de Lyon
7/14 - Munich, DE - Neue Theaterfabrik
7/15 - Berlin, DE - Metropol
7/16 - Utrecht, NL - TivoliVredenburg Grote Zaal
7/17 - Köln, DE - Gloria Theater
7/19 - London, UK - O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire
7/22 - Atlanta, GA - Pullman Yards#
7/23 - Asheville, NC - Rabbit Rabbit#
7/24 - Nashville, TN - Ryman Auditorium#
7/25 - Cary, NC - Koka Booth#
7/27 - Charlottesville, VA - Ting Pavilion#
7/28 - Vienna, VA - Wolf Trap#
7/29 - New York, NY - Pier 17# - SOLD OUT
7/30 - New Haven, CT - Westville Bowl#
7/31 - Bethlehem, PA - Steel Stacks#
8/02 - LaFayette, NY - Beak & Skiff#
8/04 - Cincinnati, OH - PNC Pavilion at Riverbend#
8/05 - Grand Rapids, MI - Frederik Meijer Gardens# - SOLD OUT
8/06 - Indianapolis, IN - TCU Amphitheater#
8/08 - Pittsburgh, PA - Stage AE#
8/09 - Columbus, OH - KEMBA Live!#
8/10 - St Louis, MO - Chesterfield Amphitheater#
8/12 - Chicago, IL - Salt Shed# - SOLD OUT
8/13 - Minneapolis, MN - Surly#
9/7-9/10 - Park City, UT - Park City Song Summit
9/22 - El Cajon, CA - The Magnolia^!
9/23 - Phoenix, AZ - The Van Buren^!
 
*w/ Iron & Wine and Allison Russell
^w/ Iron & Wine and Neko Case
#w/ Iron & Wine and Meshell Ndegeocello
^!w/ Iron & Wine

DOWNLOAD – single artwork | DOWNLOAD – press photo
DOWNLOAD – album artwork

FEATURED ON COVERAMA COMPILATION ALBUM OUT TOMORROW VIA THE CONFIDENCE EMPERORS
PRE-SAVE NOW

COVERAMA ALBUM RELEASE CELEBRATION AT
DRAKE UNDERGROUND IN TORONTO THIS WEEKEND ON SATURDAY, MAY 21 - TICKETS ON SALE NOW!

Toronto, ON – May 19, 2022 –  Today, Toronto's rising Ghost Caravan (the project of singer, songwriter, actress and performer, Shaina Silver-Baird), releases a danceable, exciting and vibrant cover of Elvis Costello's Girls Talk. Bringing up teenage memories, Ghost Caravan felt the track was reminiscent of a group of friends huddling, laughing and chatting. The track evokes the intoxicating force of gossip and the power of women's voices. Listen to Girls Talk and watch the video here.

Working with producer Joe Thompson, Shaina honed in on the lead vocals and lyrics, rather than layering harmonies as she usually would. Shaina was particularly drawn to Elvis Costello’s ability to pen lyrics that have two meanings at once, using word play, metaphor and poetry. "As a writer myself, I love that," she adds. 

Under The Cover - what inspired the track:
“The version of Girls Talk by Ghost Caravan is poppy, 80s nostalgia with a side of empowering cheekiness. Us girls... we've got secrets. And I know you wanna know them," says Ghost Caravan's Shaina Silver-Baird.  "When I hear a male voice singing the song it really feels like he’s on the outside looking in on the female experience. Seeing and hearing the rush and the power of girls talking and gossiping from the outside. But when I hear a woman sing it, like when Linda Ronstadt sings it or I sing it, it feels like the whole story of the song is flipped - it’s now being sung from the inside of the experience. It’s empowered and a little cheeky. I’m saying - “I know you wanna know what I’m saying… and I know what I choose to say has power. Whether it’s to help or hurt… it has power.” 

The song arrives as the final preview to Coverama, the album it is featured on - pre-save it here. Coverama is a compilation filled with creative, fun and innovative renditions of classic pop and indie rock songs. It will be released tomorrow (Friday, May 20) via  Popguru Sound & Vision's boutique label, The Confidence Emperors. Ghost Caravan will perform alongside the project's featured artists and labelmates, John Orpheus, Alex Exists, Sam Casey, TANDM, and Juliana Eye on Saturday, May 21 at Drake Underground in Toronto for a celebration concert. Find all info and tickets here. 

In the series so far, we’ve heard John Orpheus cover Radiohead’s House Of Cards,  Alex Exists’ take on David Essex’s Rock On, Juliana Eye’s stunning rendition of Blondie’s Dreaming, Sam Casey’s powerful interpretation of Etta James' I'd Rather Go Blind, and Canadian icons Martha and the Muffins’ chiming electric 12 string version of The English Beat's Save It For Later, and rising Toronto duo, TANDM, as they covered Counting Crows' Accidentally In Love. The Coverama album also includes tracks by UK-based alt pop singer-songwriter Chloe Kay sharing her take on Prince's When Doves Cry,  Will Whitwham (of The Wilderness of Manitoba) covering The Beach Boys' classic, God Only Knows, and a bonus track from Martha and the Muffins as they deliver their rendition of For What It’s Worth (Buffalo Springfield). See a complete track listing below.

About Ghost Caravan:
Ghost Caravan is a group of collaborators led by singer/actress Shaina Silver-Baird. On her debut album and various singles released since, Silver-Baird has collaborated with members of Martha and the Muffins, Grand Analog and the Weeknd. Silver-Baird says, “My music is about finding the light, the moment when you realize your own strength and ability to move forward. I want to be proud to share our songs with young women. There are so many voices in the world telling women how to think and feel about themselves. I want to be the voice that celebrates women. I want to empower and uplift people.”

The music itself is anthemic pop with a hint of electronica. The Ghost Caravan live show mixes electronic elements with live instruments creating a sound that is cinematic and invigorating. Silver-Baird elaborates, “I want to continue to push in the direction of upbeat lyrics coupled with musically compelling tracks. It’s such an exciting sound – very contemporary and yet derived from something deeper and older. I love how celebratory it is. It’s as if I get to see the world through glasses that make the colours a bit more vibrant and the moments a bit more joyous.” 

Silver-Baird is currently collaborating on songs for her next EP to be released in 2022 with UK producer Joe Thompson and Canadian songwriters Sarah Boulton and Suzy Wilde.

Coverama Tracklisting:
1.John Orpheus – House of Cards (Radiohead)
2.Alex Exists – Rock On (David Essex)
3.Martha and the Muffins – Save It For Later (The English Beat)
4.Juliana Eye – Dreaming (Blondie)
5.Sam Casey – I’d Rather Go Blind (Etta James)
6.Ghost Caravan – Girls Talk (Elvis Costello)
7.Chloe Kay – When Doves Cry (Prince)
8.Martha and the Muffins – For What It’s Worth (Buffalo Springfield)
9.TANDM – Accidentally In Love (Counting Crows/Shrek 2)
10.Will Whitwham – God Only Knows (The Beach Boys)

DOWNLOAD - Girls Talk Single Art
DOWNLOAD - Ghost Caravan Press Photos
DOWNLOAD - Coverama Artwork
DOWNLOAD - Coverama Album Release Celebration Image Assets

About Popguru Sound & Vision:
Founded in 1998 by A&R maverick Graham Stairs, Popguru Sound & Vision is a fully integrated music company that makes a difference. Its core business is artist management, but, as a diversified company, Popguru is involved in music publishing, two record label imprints and providing music for film, television and other media.

Prior to starting his own company, Stairs was a partner in Intrepid management and did A&R for Intrepid Records, Latitude Records and EMI Music Canada. He was involved with such seminal Canadian artists as Martha and the Muffins, the Rheostatics, National Velvet, Chalk Circle, Damhnait Doyle and Sandbox. He was also behind the soundtrack album for the film, Highway 61, and the Bruce Cockburn tribute album that gave the Barenaked Ladies their first national hit with Lovers In A Dangerous Time. To this day, it is still one of the most played songs on Canadian radio. More recently, Stairs did A&R for True North Records where he signed Catherine MacLellan, Hunter Valentine and Australian band, the Audreys. 

The strength of any company is its artists and repertoire. Popguru subscribes to the philosophy of building a community and long-term careers for its artists. The company’s mandate is to develop content for the Canadian and international marketplaces. The business model uses diversification as a strategy to create and monetize content for the existing and next generation uses of music. Since reactivating Popguru in 2009, Stairs has signed Martha and the Muffins, Odario, Grand Analog, the Wilderness of Manitoba, John Orpheus, Ghost Caravan, producer/songwriter, Mike Schlosser, and Sam Casey for management. Stairs’ vision of the interdependencies between record labels, music publishers, management companies and licensing agencies is the reason that Popguru organizes all of them within the same company. This is Popguru’s response to the needs of artists today and into the future.

FEATURED ON COVERAMA COMPILATION ALBUM
OUT MAY 20 VIA THE CONFIDENCE EMPERORS

COVERAMA ALBUM RELEASE CELEBRATION AT 
THE DRAKE UNDERGROUND IN TORONTO ON MAY 21
TICKETS ON SALE NOW

Toronto, ON – May 6, 2022 – Today, iconic Canadian band, Martha and the Muffins, release an inventive cover of The English Beat's eponymous classic, Save It For Later. The song was the catalyst for the album it is featured on. Coverama is a compilation filled with creative, fun and innovative renditions of classic pop and indie rock songs. It will be released via Popguru Sound & Vision's boutique label, The Confidence Emperors, on May 20. Initially created and pitched for Netflix series, Sex Education, the duo brainstormed with Popguru Founder, Graham Stairs, and their version sparked a new endeavour. It arrives with an amazing multimedia stop motion visual self-directed by the group - listen to Save It For Later and watch the video here.

Under The Cover - what inspired the track:
"We originally recorded Save It For Later at the suggestion of a UK music supervisor to pitch for the trailer of a Netflix series. Between Martha’s vocal arrangements and our guitars and keyboards, there are a lot of additional little hooks that didn’t exist in the original that we think makes our version almost like an early Martha and the Muffins song." says Martha and the Muffins. "We hope we've captured and translated the free-wheeling spirit of the Beat’s original song in our version." 

As for the video, the group prefaces, "don’t ask us what it all means!" Martha and the Muffins wanted to avoid a performance video, and instead decided to make it a colourful and interesting collage. So, they collected a lot of little objects from around the house and also grabbed random images from the Internet, working intuitively.

Martha and the Muffins became known for their own signature track, Echo Beach. The song, from their 1980 album, Metro Music,  has been streamed 31,355,707 times on Spotify, and won a JUNO for Single of the Year. Echo Beach was a top ten hit in Canada, the UK, Australia and Germany, making an international cultural impact as well: there is a venue named Echo Beach in Toronto, there was a UK television series called Echo Beach in the UK, there is a German record label called Echo Beach, there are resorts in Australia and Bali named Echo Beach and there is an Irish show horse called Echo Beach. 
 
Martha and the Muffins toured the UK opening for Roxy Music. Daniel Lanois co-produced three albums for Martha and the Muffins. As the songwriter for Echo Beach, Mark Gane received a special SOCAN award in 2015 representing 100,000 plus spins on Canadian radio.  

In the series so far, we’ve heard John Orpheus cover Radiohead’s House Of Cards,  Alex Exists take on David Essex’s Rock On and Juliana Eye just shared her stunning rendition of Blondie’s Dreaming, and Sam Casey delivers a powerful cover of Etta James' I'd Rather Go Blind. The songs on Coverama include interpretations by Toronto artist/producer, UK-based pop singer-songwriter, Chloe Kay; Will Whitwham (leader of The Wilderness of Manitoba), Ghost Caravan, and indie pop duo, TANDM. Stay tuned for more music on the way.

While Coverama will see its release on May 20, celebrations will follow the next day (Saturday, May 21) at The Drake Underground in Toronto. John Orpheus, Alex Exists, Sam Casey, Ghost Caravan, TANDM, and Juliana Eye will take to the stage to share their  eclectic renditions with live energy. Find all info and tickets here. 

About Martha and the Muffins
Described by UK critics as “one of the most innovative of their era” and that “even to this day they sound brave and fresh”, Martha and the Muffins returned in 2010 with Delicate, their first new studio album in eighteen years on their own Muffin Music label. The album was five years in the making and mixed by David Bottrill (Peter Gabriel, David Sylvian, Robert Fripp). The songs range from the horn-inflected, Drive, and the anthemic groove of Mess to the perceptive, Life’s Too Short To Long For Something Else, and Love Began With Eve, a song that Daniel Lanois stated was “one of the most beautiful, original songs I’ve ever heard.”

Martha and the Muffins emerged from the early punk/new wave/art pop scene in 1977 which was centered around various clubs along Toronto's Queen Street West and the Ontario College of Art, where several members of the band were students. The band was the first Canadian band to sign to a UK label and recorded their first album, Metro Music at The Manor Studio near Oxford, England. After Echo Beach became a top ten single around the world in 1980 and earned them a Juno for Single of the Year, Martha and the Muffins toured extensively in Britain, Europe and North America. Since then, the band has released seven studio albums, three of which they co-produced with Daniel Lanois (U2, Bob Dylan, Peter Gabriel). The songs they worked on together included the groundbreaking singles, Women Around The World At Work, Danseparc, Black Stations/White Stations, Come Out And Dance and Cooling The Medium. 
 
Martha Johnson and Mark Gane spent much of the '90's scoring music for various television and film projects. In addition, Universal Music Canada has reissued several Martha and the Muffins albums on CD, including Metro Music, Trance And Dance, This Is The Ice Age and the CD compilation Icon while the band itself has reissued their albums Danseparc, Mystery Walk, The World Is A Ball and Modern Lullaby.
 
More recently, Martha Johnson and Mark Gane, founding members of Martha and the Muffins, have gone into their extensive archives to select 12 rare singles, B-sides and unreleased tracks for Marthology: In And Outtakes. The album was released on November 5, 2021 and spans 35 years of recordings, including the 30th anniversary version of Echo Beach , previously limited releases of Summer Of Song, Big Day and Do you Ever Wonder?, as well as never heard before songs and alternative versions of album cuts. For the band’s global audience as well as the uninitiated, Marthology: In And Outtakes, offers a behind the scenes glimpse of the original and diverse avenues of Martha and Mark’s songwriting which has defined Martha and the Muffins as a groundbreaking band since its formation.

DOWNLOAD - Save It For Later Single Art
DOWNLOAD - Martha and the Muffins Press Photo
DOWNLOAD - Coverama Artwork

DOWNLOAD - Coverama Album Release Celebration Image Assets

About Popguru Sound & Vision:
Founded in 1998 by A&R maverick Graham Stairs, Popguru Sound & Vision is a fully integrated music company that makes a difference. Its core business is artist management, but, as a diversified company, Popguru is involved in music publishing, two record label imprints and providing music for film, television and other media.

Prior to starting his own company, Stairs was a partner in Intrepid management and did A&R for Intrepid Records, Latitude Records and EMI Music Canada. He was involved with such seminal Canadian artists as Martha and the Muffins, the Rheostatics, National Velvet, Chalk Circle, Damhnait Doyle and Sandbox. He was also behind the soundtrack album for the film, Highway 61, and the Bruce Cockburn tribute album that gave the Barenaked Ladies their first national hit with Lovers In A Dangerous Time. To this day, it is still one of the most played songs on Canadian radio. More recently, Stairs did A&R for True North Records where he signed Catherine MacLellan, Hunter Valentine and Australian band, the Audreys. 

The strength of any company is its artists and repertoire. Popguru subscribes to the philosophy of building a community and long-term careers for its artists. The company’s mandate is to develop content for the Canadian and international marketplaces. The business model uses diversification as a strategy to create and monetize content for the existing and next generation uses of music. Since reactivating Popguru in 2009, Stairs has signed Martha and the Muffins, Odario, Grand Analog, the Wilderness of Manitoba, John Orpheus, Ghost Caravan, producer/songwriter, Mike Schlosser, and Sam Casey for management. Stairs’ vision of the interdependencies between record labels, music publishers, management companies and licensing agencies is the reason that Popguru organizes all of them within the same company. This is Popguru’s response to the needs of artists today and into the future.

FIRST PERFORMANCE BY JOHN ORPHEUS

WITH ADDITIONAL PERFORMANCES BY ODARIO, 
SIMEON ROSS, SAM CASEY, TANDM AND ALEX EXISTS
THE WILDERNESS OF MANITOBA AND GHOST CARAVAN

 
Popguru Revue Performance Schedule - stream via Popguru's YouTube Channel
October 16 – John Orpheus (electric set)
October 23 – Simeon Ross
October 30 – Sam Casey
November 6 – The Wilderness of Manitoba
November 13 – John Orpheus (acoustic set)
November 20 – Ghost Caravan
November 27 – Odario 
December 4 – TANDM an Alex Exists 

DOWNLOAD – Popguru Revue Art
DOWNLOAD - Popguru Revue Social Media Assets
DOWNLOAD – Popguru Logos 

Odario:
Odario is a storyteller, a hip-hop junkie and a lover of many musical soundscapes. He is embedded in the beat and submerged in the bass. His solo project expresses all of these qualities; tackling the many sides of "beat poetry." Odario is known for his work in Grand Analog (as songwriter and frontman). His distinctive voice and insightful lyrics have been part of the Grand Analog sound since their debut album, Calligraffiti, in 2007. As a performer and personality, Odario wears many hats and describes himself as a raconteur, an actor and a DJ. He currently hosts CBC Music’s afterdark program. As a founding member of Grand Analog, he has co-written the songs for three albums, three EPs and several singles; and been nominated for Sync Artist of the Year at the Canadian Sync Awards. Odario has also been featured on a number of other artist’s tracks including A Tribe Called Red single Ba Na Na with Haviah Mighty. In 2020, he released his debut solo single, Low Light (In This Space); opened for Bedouin Soundclash on the band’s cross-Canada tour and dropped his solo EP, Good Morning Hunter. He is currently recording tracks for a new single. 

DOWNLOAD – Odario Press Photos

John Orpheus

Born and raised in South-Central Trinidad, John Orpheus is a multi-cultural musical artist and published author. For a year and a half, he had been writing his memoir called SAGA BOY which was published by Penguin Random House Canada on January 19, 2021 and was launched by Milkweed Editions in the US on September 14, 2021. With the book done, John decided to return to music and release a companion album entitled SAGA KING. Both the book and the album are based on similar themes: searching for home, family, love and a fly coat to wear when you get there! SAGA BOY is the journey of the boy. SAGA KING is the celebration of the man. His recently released single FELA AWOKE (I WILL MISS YOU) was the beginning of this new phase and introduced you to his deeply personal story. The next single, IG, was about “celebrating yourself and giving yourself all the love you deserve without asking permission.”

John Orpheus’ musical journey has taken him from the Caribbean bush to festivals across Canada and the US to opening for Liam Gallagher on a UK tour as the frontman for a Happy Mondays offshoot band. He combines hip-hop swagger, Afrobeat energy and dancehall charisma to create a sound built on big catchy hooks. John is known for his rabble-rousing live shows filled with audience participation, chanting and impromptu dance-offs that feel more like Caribana road parties than concerts. In September 2019, he released his debut album WEY YA CALL DAT TING, the culmination of a three year, four mixtape project that he used to develop and hone his unique sound. Produced and co-written by Mike Schlosser, the album and the standalone single ELECTRIC released in 2020 fulfilled his early promise with a noticeably more pop and upbeat vibe. “The world is a soulful, sound-splash, dance party. That's the sound I want to create."

DOWNLOAD – John Orpheus Press Photos

The Wilderness of Manitoba
After a three-year hiatus, The Wilderness of Manitoba have returned with a new line-up and a new album entitled Farewell To Cathedral. Founding member and singer/multi-instrumentalist Will Whitwham is joined by Victoria Carr on vocals and acoustic guitar, Tavo Diez de Bonilla (Jenn Grant) on bass and vocals, and Adam Balsam (The Most Serene Republic) on drums, vocals, guitar and keyboards. The group prefers to characterize itself as an evolving entity. Whitwham says, “I've always been a believer in fresh collaborations because everyone you meet influences your creative process in some way.” From the band’s inception, it has redefined itself with every new release; from Hymns of Love and Spirits through When You Left The Fire, Island of Echoes, Between Colours, Across The Dark and various EPs. The evolution of their sound has run the gamut from four-part harmonies and its initial chamber folk sound to duo lead vocals and an expanded sonic palette ranging from cinematic indie pop to anthemic folk rock.

In its twelve year existence, the Wilderness of Manitoba’s strengths come as a direct result of the wealth of traveling and playing the group has done. They have played the End of the Road Festival and Peter Gabriel’s WOMAD Festival in the UK and toured the UK, US, Netherlands, Canada and Germany with such artists as Aimee Mann, The Low Anthem, Lord Huron and Other Lives among others. Those efforts were recognized when the Wilderness of Manitoba was nominated for a JUNO and two Canadian Folk Music Awards.

DOWNLOAD – The Wilderness of Manitoba Press Photos

Sam Casey
Sam Casey grew up in a musical family, the third of five kids. They have been singing and playing music together for as long as she can remember. The Toronto-based singer/songwriter took guitar and vocal lessons for six years at Beyond The Beat music school whose focus is on artist development and producing original music. Sam began songwriting as journal entries. “I have been writing in journals since I was a child and, when I began learning the guitar, I started to think of some of those entries as lyrics to songs. The songs I am writing today mirror a lot of my past or present experiences whether it’s a break up, isolation, family issues, self-control or pure happiness. The most challenging aspect of songwriting is the vulnerability of the whole thing. I am putting my soul and feelings and heart into these songs and it is scary to put everything on the line.”
 
Sam listened to a lot of Fleetwood Mac as a child so Stevie Nicks’ voice was very enticing to her. She loves to dance and can imagine making music for people to dance to like inspirations Maggie Rogers and Dua Lipa. “I have learned so much from other artists. My most valuable take-away from songwriting is the ability to express my feelings. There is nothing in this world like writing a song that people can relate to and hold close. Hearing the reactions of fans to the honesty in the lyrics is the best gift that I could ever receive in this life.” One of her goals is to be able to connect with and learn from as many people as possible. Sam is passionate about her songwriting. She would love to expand her musical abilities, play for audiences around the world and make connections with different musicians while learning from different cultures. She is currently working on an EP with UK producer Joe Thompson. 

DOWNLOAD – Sam Casey Press Photos

Simeon Ross
Simeon Ross has proven himself to be a talented and tireless pop songwriter having written and released more than 10 albums as a solo artist and with various bands including Red Autumn Fall, Charmer, Infighter, Shoot The Image and Uniter. Shoot The Image’s album was produced by Boz Boorer (Morrissey/Adam Ant) at his studio in the mountains of Portugal. About his music, Simeon says, “You got to put in the time. Do not make excuses for not doing the work. All those hours and days I put into music mattered. You got to practice, write and record.” The songs on his most recent EP, Westmount, have been described as “often hopeful and full of bright choruses." His indie pop sound has enabled him to share stages with artists such as Oasis, Rheostatics, Fast Romantics and 54-40 among others. A graduate of the Toronto Film School, Simeon recently won an award for the innovative video for his song All Of You which he directed, wrote and produced himself. 

DOWNLOAD – Simeon Ross Press Photos

Ghost Caravan
Ghost Caravan is a group of collaborators lead by singer/actress Shaina Silver-Baird. On her debut album and various singles released since, Silver-Baird has collaborated with members of Martha and the Muffins, Grand Analog and the Weeknd. Silver-Baird says, “My music is about finding the light, the moment when you realize your own strength and ability to move forward. I want to be proud to share our songs with young women. There are so many voices in the world telling women how to think and feel about themselves. I want to be the voice that celebrates women. I want to empower and uplift people.”

DOWNLOAD – Ghost Caravan Press Photos

TANDM
TANDM is a Toronto-based Indie Pop band consisting of Thomas Franklin on drums and Maxine Beck-Sinderby on vocals and guitar. Serendipitously, the duo met at a music studio in high school. Maxine's distinctive vocals and catchy reverb-filled guitar riffs are driven forward by the energy of Thomas’s dynamic drum flourishes. Musical talent runs in Maxine’s family as her uncles are Jason Beck known to the world as recording artist Chilly Gonzalez and Christophe Beck, the prolific Hollywood film composer whose work includes Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Frozen, Frozen II and Ant-Man. Thomas honed his craft studying with international jazz drummers Bill Ransom and Anthony Michelli. TANDM’s songs tell complex stories of the bittersweet personal pleasures and conflicts experienced in young adulthood. Their music creates a memorable experience for the audience that echoes long after the first listen. After releasing two EPS in 2019 and a single in 2020, TANDM is currently working on new music for release in 2022. 

DOWNLOAD - TANDM Press Photos

Alex Exists
A founding member of both The Ruby Spirit and The Nursery, Alex Exists started his foray into music at the tender age of eight when he wrote and recorded his first songs (and noisy experiments) using the family’s home karaoke machine. Its two tape decks and record functions were used to overdub and build songs with Alex recording with every instrument he could get his hands on. On the heels of The Ruby Spirit breaking up, Alex started writing and performing his songs with the Nursery. Their debut album, Life After Wartime, was awarded Best Independent Rock/Pop Band in Canada by Indie 88 in 2018. The station described the album as “a complex record that explores numerous themes such as our society’s obsession with technology, fame and nostalgia”. That same year, the band was awarded Best Music Video for Digital Ashes by the Toronto Independent Music Awards.  Alex’s music is inspired by absurdism, hyper surrealism and optimistic nihilism with an acid tongue planted firmly in his cheek. He is fascinated by pop culture and ego. His new project, Alex Exists, launches with a reimagined version of The Nursery song, Everybody’s Famous (Except Me), featuring Aarys. Alex played all of the instruments on the track except drums. The signature of his creative work is the way he makes the intrinsically personal feel normal.  Currently residing in Toronto, Alex owns Audio Ritual, a production studio, where, in addition to recording his music, he is involved in music composition, video production and mixed media.   

DOWNLOAD – Alex Exists Press Photos

NEW TRACK HANGOVER BLUES AVAILABLE NOW

Toronto, ON – May 7, 2021 – Last night, Amythyst Kiah made her late-night TV debut on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, performing her Grammy-nominated song, Black Myself. 

Black Myself is the lead single off her forthcoming album and Rounder Records debut Wary + Strange out June 18. The radically reimagined version of her Grammy-nominated song departs from the mid-tempo acoustic original recorded by Our Native Daughters, the all-women-of-color supergroup she co-founded with Rhiannon Giddens, Leyla McCalla and Allison Russell. The track has been hailed by The New York Times, Rolling Stone, MTV, Billboard, and NPR, who called it a “breakthrough for an artist on the rise.” The accompanying video for Black Myself debuted on MTV, BET and CMT platforms. Watch here.

Today, Amythyst shares the third track from Wary + Strange, Hangover Blues. The track documents a tumultuous period in her late 20’s when she took up drinking in order to ease the social anxiety that had plagued her since childhood. Featuring production by Tony Berg (Phoebe Bridgers, Amos Lee, Andrew Bird), and a brilliantly untethered guitar performance from Blake Mills (Fiona Apple, Alabama Shakes), “Hangover Blues'' perfectly captures the angst of being stuck in a bad habit, its swampy rhythms echoing the sticky unease of morning-after regret. 

Pre-order/pre-save Wary + Strange here.

Listen to Hangover Blues

Advance Praise For Wary + Strange:

“She revisits [“Black Myself”] with a fuller studio production, reinforcing its distorted guitar with more effects, more layers and a bigger beat, adding extra clout” 

- The New York Times

“Breakthrough for an artist on the rise” - NPR

“Amythyst Kiah is done hiding in plain sight...a stunning original” - Ebony

“Raw and strong” - MTV

“Talented Black Musical Artists on the Rise in 2021” - PEOPLE

“Blistering… a must-listen about living in the land of white privilege” - Billboard

“Brutal and beautiful… her voice is admirably resilient” - Consequence of Sound

“‘Black Myself’ shows the beauty of Blackness while still highlighting the injustices––past and present––that Black people are faced with today.” - The Root

"Amythyst Kiah is an original. Holding nothing back. The message and the music punch you right in the gut.” - Bob Lefsetz

"Channels emotion into palpable and impassioned rock energy… bluesy, dramatic, and fervently soulful” - Atwood Magazine

“Powerful” - The Boot

UPCOMING TOUR DATES:

May 21 - Freight Train Blues (virtual)

May 27 - Chesterfield, VA - Chesterfield County Public Library (virtual)

May 28 - Savannah, GA - Savannah Music Festival

May 29 - Orlando, FL - Frontyard Festival*

May 30 - St. Augustine, FL - St. Augustine Amphitheatre*

June 5 - Davenport, IA - Adler Theater

June 12 - The Future is… Queer Country (virtual)

June 13 - Charlestown, WV - Mountain Stage Radio Show @ Cultural Center Theatre

June 15 - Celebrate Pride and Connect through Music (virtual)

June 16 - Charleston, SC - Charleston Music Hall

June 17 - Raleigh, NC - AJ Fletcher Opera House @ Duke Energy Center

June 18 - Abbeville, SC - Juneteenth Celebration @ Abbeville Opera House

June 19 - Galax, VA - Blue Ridge Music Center

June 20 - Gloucester, VA - Flat Iron Crossroads

June 25 - Knoxville, TN - The Mill & Mine

July 4 - Bristol, VA - Border Bash @ Cumberland Square Park

July 17 - Stone Ridge, NY - Stone Ridge Orchard

July 24 - Malvern, PA - People's Light Theater

August 2 - Chautauqua, NY - Chautauqua Amphitheater

August 3 - Cleveland, OH - Cain Park

August 7 - Madison, WI - Sugar Maple Music Festival 

August 27 - Lewisburg, PA - Weis Center for the Performing Arts @ Bucknell University

August 28 - Hudson River Park Blues & BBQ Festival (virtual)

September 10 - Bristol, VA - Bristol Rhythm & Roots Festival
September 24 - North Adams, MA - FreshGrass

September 30 - North Bethesda, MD - Strathmore 

*supporting Indigo Girls

DOWNLOAD – Hi Res Press Photo | DOWNLOAD – Hi Res Album Art

www.amythystkiah.com
 

TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@amythystkiah

LISTEN HERE AND WATCH A PERFORMANCE OF NO GOOD  
IN KANDLE’S GARDEN SESSIONS SERIES 

NEW ALBUM SET THE FIRE OUT MAY 28 

PRE-SAVE/PRE-ORDER

LOCK & LOAD NOMINATED FOR 2021 PRISM PRIZE

Toronto, ON – May 5, 2021 – As JUNO-nominated artist, Kandle Osborne, creates sparks ahead of her new album, Set The Fire, out on May 28, she reflects on the beginning of the process with her single, No Good. Recorded just before the pandemic took hold of the world, Kandle gathered around a mic with her musical cohort “The Wiccs” to create a timeless piece with heartfelt and cheeky lyrics of self-realization through a filter of brass arrangements, 60s flavour, and groove-centric rhythms for a fresh summer jam. In addition, Kandle kicks off her Garden Sessions with the song – an open-air series with Kandle, Debra-Jean Creelman and Kendel Carson performing acoustic renditions of Set The Fire’s standout tunes. Listen to No Good here and watch the video here.

 
Kandle says: “I wanted to give a sassy upbeat delivery as a stark contrast to a song which is otherwise a gloomy autobiographical portrayal of feeling like an unlovable mess. On March 10th of 2020, the day before our social liberties were taken, before going into studio quarantine with only my Producer & Engineers, I had the foresight to grab my fellow musical mystical sisters “The Wiccs” (Louise Burns, Kendel Carson, Debra-Jean Creelman) to sing around one mic as homage to our favorite 60’s girl groups a la the Supremes, the Shangrilas & The Ronettes. This is forever marked as the anthem to the last day of freedom, where we could eat the mic, share a whiskey sour and warm embrace without fear.”

No Good is the album’s fourth single that follows Misty Morning, released last month. From being penned on a napkin while abroad, to a Vancouver studio, Misty Morning is a sonic journey that echoes soulful vulnerability and an honest reflection of realizing true love. Watch/ listen to Misty Morning here. 

For the album visuals, Kandle has been teaming up with longtime collaborator, Director Brandon William Fletcher, who was behind the visual for her single Honey Trap, a sweet-but-fierce tune about breaking free from a sticky power struggle and the awakenings that follow. Featuring actor Keenan Tracey (Bates Motel, The 100), the video for Honey Trap sees Kandle and her new band of besties, The Wiccs (Louise Burns, Kendel Carson and Tess Ananda), and reminds us of the powerful impact of reclaiming your independence on and off the stage.  Watch/listen to Honey Trap here.

Last week, Kandle was nominated for a 2021 Prism Prize for Set The Fire first single, Lock and Load, (her second nomination for the award following Not Up To Me). The song received an earlier nod for a Canadian Independent Video Award in 2020.

Once again, Kandle stands out from the pack and shows us that nobody sounds quite like her. Back with a fresh full-length album, Set The Fire, she seamlessly marries her adoration for 60s girl group soul and the 90s rock she grew up on. The tracks buzz with a retro feel but the dark, no holds barred songwriting is what we've come to love from Kandle. Tales of toxicity, manipulation and heartbreak are delivered with stark, striking honesty over a captivating array of sonic influences. Sparkling piano, distorted guitars, dynamic horns and doo-wop backups make you (almost) forget you're deep diving into her darkest secrets.

Kandle’s mastery of music comes as no surprise, having collaborated with some of Canada’s finest songwriters, including Sam Roberts, Coeur de pirate, Peter Dremanis (July Talk) and Devon Portielje (Half Moon Run), in her impressive career to date — which also includes a Video of the Year JUNO nomination. Kandle also starred in Jack White’s 2018 video for Corporation, and her music was recently featured in Netflix's, Tiny Pretty Things. Growing up in the music industry as the daughter of Canadian rock royalty Neil Osborne of 54-40 has provided Kandle’s artistry with a unique insight. She brings a seasoned performance to every line and every word, channeling over a decade of touring the globe into music that’s familiar yet undeniably her own. 

With strong influences from the fierce female greats of a bygone era (Nancy Sinatra, Billie Holiday and Shirley Bassey, to name a few), Kandle writes and sings exclusively with her heart; something so often void in the modern era of overproduced perfection. She sings honest and raw, vulnerable yet empowered, never afraid to pen even life’s heaviest moments. This is an artist at her most empowered and authentic - an artist who by sharing her own story of healing, can help us all do the same.
 

Listen to No Good | Watch No Good

Pre-save/ Pre-order Set The Fire
 

DOWNLOAD – Set The Fire Album Art | DOWNLOAD – Kandle Press Photo

kandle-music.com

NEW ALBUM FT. MEGAN THEE STALLION, LIL BABY, A$AP ROCKY, LOGIC, TY DOLLA $IGN, YOUNG DOLPH, RICO NASTY, JAY ROCK, 2 CHAINZ, CONWAY AND MORE SET FOR NOVEMBER 27, 2020 RELEASE

Toronto, ON – October 9, 2020 – Legendary rapper, producer, entrepreneur, Juicy J, releases, LOAD IT UP  ft. NLE Choppa today, the second track and visual from his forthcoming albu. The Juicy J & Internet Money-produced single is a dark & grimy piano laced track, with braggadocious bars from the Memphis legend himself & the city's current rising star. 

His new album, The Hustle Continues,will be available November 27 via eOne. The album, which was produced / executive produced by Juicy J features many of the biggest names in the culture including Lil Baby, Megan Thee Stallion, NLE Choppa, Young Dolph, Key Glock, Logic, A$AP Rocky, 2 Chainz, Conway, Ty Dolla $ign, Rico Nasty, Jay Rock, Lord Infamous and Project Pat. 

LOAD IT UP follows Juicy’s first track GAH DAMN HIGH feat. Wiz Khalifa.  Watch that video here.

In addition to producing his own work (Three Point Stance ft. Megan Thee Stallion and City Girls; GAH DAMN HIGH ft. Wiz Khalifa), Juicy has also been keeping busy producing hit singles by Megan Thee Stallion (Hot Girl Summer, Simon Says, Dance,  and Pimpin), French Montana (Twisted, 50’s and 100’s), Ty Dolla $ign (Hottest in the City) and many more.  

As one of the founding members of the legendary platinum-selling Memphis rap group Three 6 Mafia, Juicy J is credited as one of the founders of Southern rap. His contributions to the sound of the culture over the last three decades have made his influence omnipresent. Just last year he produced Megan Thee Stallion’s Platinum break out “Hot Girl Summer” which went #1 on the Billboard Rhythmic charts and became the first female rap collab in history to reach #1 on Apple Music. 

All streaming for LOAD IT UP ft. NLE CHOPPA: lnk.to/LOADITUP

The Hustle Continues Tracklisting
1.Best Group
2.Gah Damn High ft. Wiz Khalifa
3.Spend It ft. Lil Baby and 2 Chainz
4.Killa ft. Conway Shopping Spree ft. Young Dolph
5.Po Up ft. A$ap Rocky
6.1995 ft. Logic
7.What I Need
8.The Way It Goes ft. Key Glock
9.Shawty Bad ft. Logic
10.Load It Up ft. NLE Choppa
11.She Gon Pop It ft. Megan the Stallion and Ty Dolla $ign
12.Take It ft. Rico Nasty and Lord Infamous (Three 6 Mafia)
13.Memphis to LA ft. Jay Rock and Project Pat
14. In a Minute

BUY/STREAM HERE

TUNE IN TO RX MUSIC VIA INSTAGRAM AT 3 P.M. ET TODAY FOR A LIVE INTERVIEW

Praise for Jyoti/Georgia Anne Muldrow and Mama, You Can Bet!:

"On the third Jyoti album, Mama, You Can Bet!, the Grammy-nominated Muldrow is a one-woman band, playing percussion, piano, guitar and more. Throughout the release, she delivers subdued but stunning vocals over politically charged music that speaks to the pressing times we’re living in." - Paste

“Mama, You Can Bet leans into Muldrow’s jazziest tendencies, incorporating two remixes of works by Charles Mingus, whose influence is palpable. But Muldrow is her own creation, and her love of electronic funk, ambient, and hip-hop colors and shades the album.” - Aquarium Drunkard

"A timeless artist" - Essence

"The Grammy-nominated singer, producer and multi-instrumentalist has released music that defies genre, questions constructs and uplifts communities whose voices have been suppressed. " - Downbeat

“This is music for our troubled moment, restless but determined.” - WBGO

Toronto, ON – August 28, 2020 – Today marks the release of Mama, You Can Bet!, the acclaimed third album from Grammy-nominated singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist, Georgia Anne Muldrow’s solo-jazz project, Jyoti. Mama, You Can Bet! is out now via eOne and SomeOthaShip Connect here.

In celebration of the album’s release, Georgia has appeared on new Podcast episodes from Aquarium Drunkard and Bandcamp Weekly, having recently done a video interview and performance for Vice News Tonight, chatted in-depth withAfropunk live, spoken with JazzTimes about her love of Eddie Harris for their Artist’s Choice feature, and “discussed the perks of playing synthesizer, musical alchemy and the age-old question: What’s in a name?” with DownBeat.

Mama, You Can Bet! was announced in May, accompanied by the release of lead single This Walk, which featured her singing voice, marking a notable shift from Muldrow’s previous output as Jyoti, along with wistful piano and harp. As Muldrow put it, the song acknowledges how “violence can both ignite and snuff out a voice.” Essence called This Walk“A timely song from a timeless artist," and added, "'This Walk' is a ballad that speaks to feelings of people across the country” while Okayplayer called the song “a yearning and politically-charged ballad,” and WBGO said, “This is music for our troubled moment, restless but determined.” The single’s b-side, The Cowrie Waltz, pits a loungey jazz sound with shredding guitar, echoing in the background to form a groovy and bombastic juxtaposition. The next single, Orgone,followed in June and was praised by Cool Hunting, who called it “a minimal but stirring tune, with meandering piano and free-flowing vocals that trace the topic of displacement,” while Brooklyn Vegan proclaimed the song to be “a soaring dose of jazz-soul.” The album’s title track was released in July, a song dedicated to Georgia’s mother, Rickie Byars, who has a long musical history in jazz and spiritual music (Pharoah Sanders Ensemble, Sir Roland Hanna's New York Jazz Quartet, and founder of the Agape International Choir). The Mama, You Can Bet! single is a moving testament to Georgia’s respect and admiration for her mother beyond her role as a maternal figure, as Georgia shared: “I wanted my mother to know that she deserves passionate love, that I see her as a beautiful woman.”

Mama, You Can Bet! comes after two previous Jyoti records, Denderah and Ocotea, the latter taking home the Gilles Peterson's Worldwide Award for Best Jazz Album. Unlike these earlier Jyoti records, Mama, You Can Bet! contains tracks with vocals from Muldrow, including the singles, Mama, You Can Bet!, This Walk and Orgone. The album’s only guest musician is Georgia’s long-time friend and acclaimed saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin (on Ra’s Noise). The album also features two Charlie Mingus compositions that Georgia remixed for the album, Bemoanable Lady Geemix, and Fabus Foo Geemix, both commissioned by Jason Moran and The Kennedy Center in 2017, a project that manifested into a live performance entitled Muldrow Meets Mingus that was held at both The Kennedy Center and Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 2017, which recently reaired on NPR, who also recently featured Muldrow on Play It Forward, a new special segment series on All Things Considered, listen here.

About Jyoti/Georgia Anne Muldrow
Georgia Anne Muldrow not only creates jazz music - she’s lived it since birth. Her father, Ronald Muldrow, played alongside Eddie Harris while her mother, Rickie Byars, performed as lead singer of Roland Hanna’s New York Jazz Quartet and Pharoah Sanders Ensemble. Following in her parents’ footsteps, she has collaborated with famed musicians including Robert Glasper, Adrian Younge, Ambrose Akinmursire, Justin Brown's Nyeusi, and Keyon Harrold. Jyoti is a name bestowed upon her by the late great Alice Coltrane.

The newest Jyoti music arrives after many monumental years for Muldrow. Her most recent solo album Overload - released on Flying Lotus’ label Brainfeeder - earned her a 2020 Grammy nomination and landed on year-end lists for Pitchfork, Bandcamp, and The A.V. Club. 2019 saw Georgia perform at numerous Jazz Festivals around the globe: Nublu Jazz Festival (Brazil), Portland Jazz Festival (Portland, US), Bric Festival (Brooklyn, US), Blue Note Tokyo (Japan), New York Winter Jazz Festival and the DC Jazz Festival to name a few. 

Buy and stream Mama, You Can Bet! here
 

DOWNLOAD – Press Photo | DOWNLOAD – Album Artwork

About SomeOthaShip Connect

SomeOthaShip is a record label & production company owned & operated by Dudley Perkins & Georgia Anne Muldrow based in Las Vegas, Nevada.  The company has operated since 2009 and specializes in rap, r&b, jazz, funk, electronic and instrumental music.

About eOne
Entertainment One Ltd. (eOne) is a talent-driven independent studio that specializes in the development, acquisition, production, financing, distribution and sales of entertainment content. As part of global play and entertainment company Hasbro (NASDAQ: HAS), eOne's expertise spans across film, television and music production and sales; family programming, merchandising and licensing; digital content; and live entertainment. Through its extensive reach and scale, and a deep commitment to high-quality entertainment, eOne unlocks the power and value of creativity.

eOne brings to market both original and existing content, sourcing IP from Hasbro’s portfolio of 1500+ brands, and through a diversified network of creative partners and eOne companies including: international feature film distribution company Sierra/Affinity; Amblin Partners with DreamWorks Studios, Participant Media, and Reliance Entertainment; Makeready with Brad Weston; unscripted television production companies Renegade 83, Daisybeck, Blackfin and Whizz Kid Entertainment; live entertainment leaders Round Room Live; world-class music companies Audio Network, Dualtone Music Group and Last Gang; and award-winning emerging content and technology studio Secret Location.

LISTEN TO FOALS REIMAGINE DARK DAYS HERE

Toronto, ON – July 16, 2020 – Today, Local Natives have shared Foals’ remix of Dark Days (ft Sylvan Esso), which showcases an incredible crossover of the iconic, endlessly danceable alt-rock bands. The new, springing version of the track replaces Local Natives’ warm bass with bouncing electronics. Local Natives and Foals were due to be on tour co-headlining together this summer before shelter-in-place came down. The remix will be accompanied by the launch of a 7” out August 28 that can be pre-ordered here via Loma Vista Recordings. 

Earlier this year, Local Natives revamped their classic Dark Days single from their beloved 2016 album, Sunlit Youth, by adding Sylvan Esso’s Amelia Meath to the track. In early March 2020, the band performed the song accompanied by Amelia on Jimmy Kimmel Live!’s outdoor stage – one of the last outdoor performances before the shelter-in-place order. 

Last year, Local Natives released their critically acclaimed fourth album, Violet Street via Loma Vista Recordings. The blissful and introspective new album features singles including “lush and searching” (Stereogum) When Am I Gonna Lose You, whose cinematic video starred Kate Mara and was performed by the band on Ellen; Café Amarillo, which FADER hailed for “illustrating a sort of emotional purgatory;” and Tap Dancer, that Brooklyn Vegan praised for its “elegiac ache.” The band wrapped their nearly sold out cross-country North American tour with Austin American Statesman praising their “unadulterated energy” at one show. When Am I Gonna Lose You – their Violet Street single that hit #3 on AAA and #6 for Alternative. 

Praise for Violet Street:
“Emotional” – Rolling Stone

"The follow-up to 2016’s fashionably yearning Sunlit Youth sounds both more personal and more timeless" –Pitchfork 

“Shimmering” – Stereogum

“Illustrates a sort of emotional purgatory” –FADER

“Elegiac ache” – Brooklyn Vegan

“Writing some of the finest songs, brimming with emotion" – Line of Best Fit

“Artistic” –Billboard

“Gleaming, stadium-friendly tunes” – Relix 

“Lush...expansive” -–Consequence of Sound

"Signature vocal harmonies and heartfelt songwriting" – The Ringer

“Amazing” – Under the Radar

"Some of Local Natives’ most memorable earworms yet" –Austin American Statesman

"A driving beat and features Local Natives’ gorgeous harmonies" – AXS 

“Buoyant ...their breezy and open sound is more energetic than ever” – Exclaim.CA

"Few bands do romance, and the yearning for it, better than Local Natives" – Buzzbands.LA       

“A tumultuously buoyant collection" –EARMILK 

"Refine their evolution with Violet Street" – RIFF

DOWNLOAD – Hi Res Artwork – Dark Days (feat. Sylvan Esso) FOALS Remix | DOWNLOAD – Hi Res Press Photos

Webstore: found.ee/LN_DDMerch

www.thelocalnatives.com

COVER SERIES ALSO PAYS TRIBUTE TO COURTNEY BARNETT, BRANDI CARILE AND INDIGO GIRLS

PRUITT RECEIVES NOMINATION FOR EMERGING ACT OF THE YEAR FROM THE AMERICANA MUSIC ASSOCIATION

Toronto, ON – June 18, 2020 – Though Pride festivals around the world have been cancelled this year, it was keenly important to Nashville based singer, songwriter, and musician, Katie Pruitt, to celebrate Pride Month by paying tribute to women artists who inspire her. “To me, Pride Month is all about celebrating self-love,” she explains. “This year, we might not have the parties or parades, but it’s never really been about that. ‘Pride’ is a feeling that we find within ourselves. It’s a sigh of relief that we don’t have to hide anymore or alter our personality or preferences in order to make a Cisgender society more comfortable. So, when straight people ask, ‘Why don’t we have straight pride?’ I always respond with, ‘because society never told you to be ashamed.’”

Pruitt is commemorating this year’s Pride Month with a series of recordings of songs by artists she has long admired, which will be released weekly starting today through Thursday, July 9. “I picked a collection of songs by gay women in particular who have inspired me to be transparent in my music.” She reflects, “I think representation is huge. Having my experience represented in certain bands’/artists’ music has helped me to better understand myself. If it weren’t for people like Indigo Girls, Brandi Carlile, Courtney Barnett, and Tegan and Sara, I don’t think I would have been brave enough to be as honest as I was on Expectations.”

Today, Pruitt is sharing a special performance of Georgia that features accompaniment by Laura Epling (Violin 1) Maggie Chaffee (Cello), and Jake Tudor (Violin 2). The song, which appears on Pruitt’s acclaimed debut album Expectations, touches on the struggle to come to terms with one’s sexuality, though it’s likely to resonate deeply with anyone reckoning with issues of self-doubt and identity. Watch Georgia here.

Oh, 'cause I told the world
And they still saw me as the same girl
They listen to my songs
And they made me feel like I belong
Yeah, they make me feel like I belong
Oh, Georgia...
You were wrong

Pruitt’s debut album Expectations has received widespread critical praise. Rolling Stone proclaimed it a “majestic LP that blends country and folk with indie rock,” while New Now Next called her “country music’s next queer star.” NPR Music called the album “stunning…her voice in particular…radiates so much empathy and love and understanding,” and as NPR’s flagship program Morning Edition noted, “She was bent on telling the story of how she confronted the social and religious codes that once made her feel condemned. Pruitt's done that with such clarity of expression and disarming intimacy – Expectations is aesthetically warmhearted even in its tensest moments of confrontation – that she's given her own family a greater understanding of her experience.”

This week, the Americana Music Association announced its nominees for the annual Honors and Awards, and Pruitt received a nod in the Emerging Act of the Year category.

Check out Katie Pruitt's A Very Gay Playlist on Spotify. 

Katie Pruitt Out of the Closet Cover Series:
June 18 Walking With a Ghost (Tegan and Sara)
June 25 Closer to Fine (Indigo Girls)
July 2 Depreston (Courtney Barnett)
July 9 Turpentine (Brandi Carlile

www.katiepruitt.com

We're hiring an Artist Management Assistant & Social Media Coordinator! Check out the full job positing on Indeed.

If you think this position is the right fit for you please send a resume and cover letter to aven@indoorrecess.com or apply through Indeed. All applications are due by 6pm EST on Friday, September 15th, 2017. 

The long weekend is upon us and so we thought we'd share some of our Canadian favourites with you! Learn some new things about the Indoor Recess pack with the Canadian edition of our Fun Facts, and check out our Long Weekend Spotify playlist for tunes from our clients' June/July releases, and some of our fav Canadian songs! 

Favourite song of all time by a Canadian artist:
Joanne Setterington: First Day of Spring - The Gandharvas

Amanda McCauley: ​Mansion On The Hill – Neil Young
Aven Hoffarth: At The Hundredth Meridian – The Tragically Hip
Ola Mazzuca: Tie between Limelight - Rush (Moving Pictures) and Informer - Snow
Ally Bottero: Leather Jacket - Arkells

Favourite Canadian Food:
AH: Poutine – with bacon! 

JS: Balderson Old Cheddar 
AM: Peameal bacon – there is honestly nothing worse in this world than ordering eggs benny in the US and getting their blasphemous “Canadian Bacon”
OM: Chômeur - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pouding_chômeur
AB: Poutine or Ketchup chips

Favourite Canadian city to visit:
OM: Montreal, Quebec or St. John’s, Newfoundland 

JS: Halifax, Nova Scotia 
AM: Minden, ON – cottage country + Kawartha Dairy is life
AH: St. John’s, Newfoundland 
AB: Montreal, Quebec

Favourite concert venue in Canada:
AM: Massey Hall, Toronto

JS: The Commodore, Vancouver 
AH: The Cameron House, Toronto
OM: Massey Hall, Toronto
AB: Zaphod's, Ottawa (RIP)

Favourite Canadian music festival:
AB: Ottawa Bluesfest

JS: Squamish Valley Music Festival 
AM: Ottawa Bluesfest
AH: Hillside in Guelph, Ontario 
OM: Osheaga

Favourite Canadian saying/phrase/term:
JS: Tron Funkin' Blow 

AM: Sorry
AH: Give’er .. Ex. We were losing the hockey game, so we had to just give ‘er in the third period.
OM: Give’r (FUBAR…)
AB: Eh?!

The most Canadian thing I've ever done:
JS: Hung out with the man that is now Prime Minister in a strip club in St. John's 
AM: Patio beer-ing in Calgary in the middle of February – thanks Chinook winds!
AH: Boiled maple syrup on my parent’s farm wearing a fully plaid and denim outfit and drinking Crown Royal
OM: Getting “Screeched In” during George Street Festival in St. John’s, Newfoundland. This requires kissing a frozen cod fish and taking a shot of Newfoundland Screech rum.
AB: Celebrating Canada Day in Ottawa on Parliament Hill

Have a listen to our Long Weekend playlist that includes some of our favourite Canadian songs, tracks from our artists performing at our favourite Canadian festivals, and tunes from our clients with new releases in June/July!



THIS MONTH'S RELEASES:
June 2 - Flogging Molly - Life Is Good
June 9 - Chuck Berry - Chuck
June 9 - Gov't Mule - Revolution Come...Revolution Go
June 10 - Ivory Hours - Dreamworld
June 16 - CKY - The Phoenix
June 22 - AMAARA - Black Moon EP

JULY RELEASES:
July 14 - Dayseeker - Dreaming Is Sinking /// Waking Is Rising
July 28 - Manchester Orchestra - A Black Mile To The Surface 

And don't miss these great performances over the long weekend!
July 1:
Johnson Crook - Dauphin, MB - Dauphin Countryfest
Little Coyote - Toronto, ON - The Horseshoe
PUP, Tanya Tagaq, Daniel Caesar, Safia Nolin (Polaris Music Prize) - London, UK - Canada Day in Trafalgar Square

July 2:
Pokey LaFarge - Toronto, ON - The Horseshoe
The Strumbellas - Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON - Butler's Barracks Historic Site
Union Duke - Castlegar, BC - Kootenay Country Music Festival

Holy crow, it's the last few days of April! This month has seriously flown by - CMW was a whirlwind with AMAZING sets from a bunch of our artists. We're wrapping up the month with some awesome new tracks, videos, and albums - check out what's going on!

TODAY
Hard rock juggernaut, All That Remains, put out their highly-anticipated eighth studio album, Madness (check out the video for the title track below!)

Indie super-group, BNQT (members of Midlake, Band of Horses, Franz Ferdinand, Grandaddy, and Travis) released their debut album, Volume 1

Acclaimed duo Sylvan Esso shared their long-awaited new album, What Now

THIS WEEK
All That Remains shared a video for the title track off their new album, Madness (which is out today!):

The late, great, Chuck Berry has a new single out called Wonderful Woman:

Calgary's Hello Moth released a brand new single to celebrate his upcoming performances at The Great Escape Festival in the UK - check out Take This Away:

Little Dragon shared the video for their track, Celebrate, off their recently released new record, Season High: 

And Pokey LaFarge released another track off his upcoming new album, Have a listen to Better Man Than Me:

Brighton, UK's As It Is are playing at Hard Luck Bar on Sunday (April 30)

NEXT WEEK
We have in town...
Harrison @ The Baby G on May 4th
Little Dragon @ The Danforth Music Hall on May 4th
VIKINGS @ The Drake Underground on May 5th

And Cat Clyde and Streetlight Social have new albums out on the 5th. 

Keep your eyes and ears out and see you next month!

Well, it’s been a few weeks that we’ve been live, but here is our official welcome to the brand-spanking-new Indoor Recess website (and blog)! With the new year and some exciting new changes, we thought it was a perfect time for a little makeover. On top of some info and fun facts about our company, we’ll also be keeping you updated, here, on the goings-on of the amazing artists we work with!

We’ve kicked off 2017 with some pretty big bangs already. Indoor Recess Artist Management has two new welcomed additions to the family: BC-based alternative band //AMISTAD// and Toronto indie-alt-rockers Long Range Hustle – joining the ranks with The Strumbellas, Simon Ward, and Cone McCaslin.

On the PR side of things, we were thrilled to see 5 of our artists racking up 11 JUNO nominations – with A Tribe Called Red taking home Producer of the Year, The Strumbellas winning Single of the Year, and Grimes nabbing Video of the Year.

Now, CMW is right around the corner and we have some awesome acts performing at the festival. Check out the schedule below and come say ‘hi’ to us at any of these shows!  

Check out our April Spotify playlist to hear some tracks from our JUNO winners and nominees (as well as some of our own personal favs from this year’s nominees), and songs from our artists performing at CMW this year.

THIS WEEK
The Record Company release a brand new music video for their track, Baby, I’m Broken: http://bit.ly/2ow2BFA
Wyclef Jean premieres the video for The Ring: http://bit.ly/2orMneR
Sylvan Esso shares a video for their single, Radio: http://bit.ly/2ob1gAj
Flogging Molly release a lyric video for their song, Reptiles (We Woke Up): http://bit.ly/2pe3jWc
Streetlight Social have a new lyric video for their single, Daybreaks: http://bit.ly/2oDPGBP
All That Remains launch the pre-order for their new album, Madness, and share the lyric video for new single Halo: http://bit.ly/2oc2VWk

TODAY
BNQT share Real Love – the next track off their upcoming release, Volume I: http://bit.ly/2ovGQFJ
Gov’t Mule announce their new studio album and share the lead singles Stone Cold Rage: http://rol.st/2oULmz4 and Sarah, Surrender: http://bit.ly/2oDXJyC

TOMORROW
Little Dragon release their new album, Season High

COMING UP
April 28: All The Remains – Madnes / BNQT – Volume / Sylvan Esso – What Now
May 5: Cat Clyde – Ivory Castanets / Streetlight Social – Blood From Stone
May 12: Seether – Poison The Parish
May 19: Magic Giant – In The Wind / Pokey LaFarge – Manic Revelations
June 2: Flogging Molly – Life Is Good
June 9: Gov’t Mule – Revolution Come…Revolution Go
June 16: Chuck Berry – Chuck

INDOOR RECESS CMW SCHEDULE
Wednesday, April 19
10:30pm – Ivory Hours – Adelaide Hall
11:30pm – The Balconies – Adelaide Hall
12:00am – Danko Jones – Velvet Underground

Thursday, April 20
8:00pm – Little Coyote – Silver Dollar
9:00pm – Cat Clyde – Dakota Tavern

Friday, April 21
6:30pm – The Strumbellas – Rebel (iHeartRadio Fest)
8:00pm – Astrocolor – The Mod Club
9:00pm – Alexandria Maillot – The Paddock
12:00am - Long Range Hustle - Grace O'Malley's

Sunday, April 23
8:00pm – Token – Phoenix Concert Theatre

SHENANDOAH VALLEY TROUBADOUR

TO RELEASE ROUNDER DEBUT THIS SUMMER

Toronto, ON – March 19, 2021 – Rounder Records is pleased to announce the signing of John R. Miller, whose first single for the label, Lookin' Over My Shoulder, is released today. Miller, who initially attracted notice for his spare, elegant, vividly imagined songs as the leader of indie band, The Engine Lights, is working on his full-length label debut, set for release later this year. Listen to Lookin' Over My Shoulder here.

Lookin' Over My Shoulder wryly captures the trepidation of revisiting the site of a failed romance.

"This song appears from the perspective of somebody who returns to a small hometown after some time away, attempting to avoid contact with an old flame while revisiting places they used to haunt together," Miller explains. "Ostensibly it was through the narrator's own actions that the relationship soured, and he remembers it bittersweetly, if regretfully. Out of sight, out of mind, but it only works for so long, as sometimes we are inevitably drawn back to places that contain painful memories for us."

Intimacy and honesty are two hallmarks of the West Virginia native's writing, which inspired the writer Silas House to observe, "Miller is somehow able to transport us to a shadowy honky-tonk and get existential all at the same time with his tightly written compositions." Tyler Childers is a longtime friend and fan who calls Miller "a well-traveled wordsmith mapping out the world he's seen, three chords at a time."

More news about Miller's forthcoming album and tour plans will be announced in the coming weeks.

DOWNLOAD – single artwork

LISTEN HERE
 
NEW ALBUM THE WEAKNESS OUT APRIL 7
ON ROUNDER RECORDS
 
TORONTO TOUR DATE ON SEPTEMBER 17

TORONTO, ON – March 16, 2023 – Ruston Kelly has shared a third song off his forthcoming release – album highlight, Michael Keaton. The wildly anthemic track spins a real-life incident into the new album’s most fantastically offbeat moment (from the chorus: It’s 3:35 in the morning / And I thought CBD would not get me high / But here I am thinking / What if Michael Keaton killed himself in Multiplicity? / Would that be genocide?). Kelly explains, “That really did happen, but the song’s mostly about experimenting with what it means to be me. At the time I was trying to date again and eventually realized that I needed to step back from that, and just let myself live in that space of thinking weird stony thoughts at 3 a.m.”  Listen to Michael Keaton here.
 
Kelly’s new album, The Weakness, will be released on April 7 by Rounder Records. The new album is a blisteringly honest but profoundly hopeful body of work that ultimately reveals our vast potential to create strength and beauty from the most painful of experiences. Pre-order for The Weakness is available here.
 
Michael Keaton follows the release of previous album tracks, Mending Song – a song that leans into Kelly’s lyrical talent, with Consequence saying it, "details his troubles over a lighthearted riff” – and title track, The Weakness. Writing in Rolling Stone, Jon Freeman proclaimed it a “massive rock anthem,” while WFUV’s Kara Manning praised the “shimmering, slow burn of a song,” with its “ghostly, lushly-conceived rock arrangements.”
 
The Weakness Tour begins April 12 at Louisville’s Mercury Ballroom and will find Kelly playing NYC’s Webster Hall (April 21), Chicago’s House of Blues (April 29) and Los Angeles’s The Fonda Theater (May 14), and ending with a hometown show at Nashville’s Ascend Amphitheater (June 2) with Jenny Lewis opening. Information about tickets and VIP packages, which include an intimate soundcheck performance and Q&A, can be found at https://www.rustonkelly.com. Kelly will then hit the road with Noah Kahan, with a Toronto stop on September 17.
 
Before Kelly began work on his third album, he moved out of his Nashville home and into an old Victorian bungalow in the small Tennessee town of Portland. There, he spent months on end in deliberate solitude, in an attempt to process a number of life-altering changes he’d endured over the past year, including a very public divorce as well as major upheaval in his immediate family.
 
“I felt a real need to understand myself a little better, and to rediscover the true foundation of who I am,” says Kelly, who candidly detailed his struggle with drug addiction on his 2018 full-length debut Dying Star. Kelly soon immersed himself in the making of The Weakness, pushing forward with the intensely self-aware truth-telling he’s always brought to his music.
 
The Weakness finds Kelly collaborating for the first time with producer/songwriter/multi-
instrumentalist Nate Mercereau (Sharon Van Etten, Leon Bridges, Maggie Rogers), who welcomed the artist into his Los Angeles-based Studio Tujunga. “The way I’d always worked in the past is that the song comes first, and the production helps to lift its meaning and intent,” Kelly explains. “But this time there was a much greater focus on creating a sonic atmosphere that speaks just as loudly and feels just as emotional as the lyrics and voice.”

THE WEAKNESS TOUR DATES:
April 12 - Louisville, KY - Mercury Ballroom ~
April 13 - Birmingham, AL - Iron City ~
April 15 - Raleigh, NC - Lincoln Theater ~
April 16 - Charlotte, NC - Underground ~
April 17 - Washington, DC - 930 Club *
April 19 - Richmond, VA - The Broadberry *
April 20 - Asbury Park, NJ - Stone Pony *
April 21 - New York, NY - Webster Hall *
April 22 - Philadelphia, PA - TLA *
April 25 - Cleveland, OH - Beachland Ballroom
April 27 - Pittsburgh, PA - Thunderbird #
April 28 - Grand Rapids, MI - The Stache #
April 29 - Chicago, IL - House of Blues #
April 30 - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue #
May 2 - Englewood, CO - Gothic Theatre #
May 3 - Salt Lake City, UT - The Depot #
May 5 - Boise, ID - Knitting Factory ^
May 6 - Seattle, WA - Showbox ^
May 7 - Portland, OR - Revolution Hall ^
May 9 - Eugene, OR - WOW Hall ^
May 11 - San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore ^
May 12 - Solana Beach, CA - Belly Up ^
May 13 - Los Angeles, CA - The Fonda Theater ^
May 14 - Phoenix, AZ - Crescent Ballroom ^
May 16 - Santa Fe, NM - Meow Wolf ^
May 18 - Dallas, TX - The Echo Lounge and Music Hall #
May 19 - Houston, TX - House of Blues #
May 20 - Austin, TX - Stubb’s #
May 22 - Kansas City, MO - Knuckleheads #
June 2 - Nashville, TN - Ascend Amphitheater $

Support:
~ Annie DiRusso
* Purr
# Briscoe
^ Richy Mitch and the Coal Miners
$ Jenny Lewis
 
RUSTON KELLY ON TOUR WITH NOAH KAHAN:
June 17 – Cadence Bank Amphitheatre at Chastain Park, Atlanta, GA – SOLD OUT
June 18 – Firefly Distillery, Charleston, SC – SOLD OUT
August 31 – Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY – SOLD OUT
September 1 - St. Joseph’s Health Amphitheater at Lakeview, Syracuse, NY
September 2 - Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Saratoga Springs, NY
September 5 -  Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater, Bridgeport, CT
September 7 - Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion, Gilford, NH
September 9 - Xfinity Center, Mansfield, MA
September 12 – KEMBA Live!, Columbus, OH - SOLD OUT
September 13 – St. Louis Music Park – Maryland Heights, MO – SOLD OUT
Sept 15 – TCU Amphitheater at White River State Park, Indianapolis, IN – SOLD OUT
Sept 16 – Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill, Sterling Heights, MI – SOLD OUT
September 17^th – Budweiser Stage, Toronto, ON

DOWNLOAD – press photo | DOWNLOAD – album cover artwork

RADIO PROMOTION & STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT COMPANY
ANNOUNCES ITS LAUNCH

TORONTO, ON – July 14, 2023 – Today, music industry veteran, Gareth Jones, announces the launch of You Are Hear – a radio promotion, strategic management company based in Toronto, that will cater to domestic and international artists and labels.
 
Jones has been a staple in the Canadian music scene, as a leader in propelling emerging artists to national radio success as well as supporting established artists from here and abroad. He brings his 25 years of a proven track record to You Are Hear, a service company that will reflect his passion for illuminating great music.
 
“There is no greater thrill and passion for me than working alongside the greatest and most ground-breaking artists, creators, teams and radio programmers, doing everything I can to bring the world’s most exciting music to radio and beyond,” comments Jones of the announcement. “To now put my own vision into You Are Hear, is an absolute dream come true and I’m pinching myself that this new chapter is unfolding today. Truly blessed, and beyond excited to pour my heart into this new company of mine, and to continue to constantly learn from and be in awe of our amazing partners at radio, in the industry and the artists."
 
You Are Hear's focus is the integral role of Canadian radio action in an artist’s career trajectory. Recognizing the complex path to success, You Are Hear engages with the full artist / project team right off the jump. The strategic management component they offer allows them to work with the team to define the longtail vision for a song or artist; A&R the music to define the singles and map out the precise timing for the rollout, not only to radio, but also DSPs. They then ignite, firing on all cylinders to deliver a full service regional and national radio campaign as part of the client’s global strategy. You Are Hear also offers DSP delivery and support, ensuring the very best environment for success. Joining Jones on his new venture, will be marketing and PR pro, Matthew Attfield, who will focus on cultivating radio, and targeted publicity services when requested.

Jones began his career at Toronto radio promotion company, DMD, starting indie electronic label, Upper Class Recordings, at the same time. He was brought on board with the BMG imprint Jive/Zomba’s team, working the label’s juggernaut clients to Western Canadian radio, before moving on to Sanctuary Records as their national radio rep. He stepped away from radio promotion to run Upper Class Recordings as an imprint on EMI full-time, signing several artists to international license deals. For the past decade, Jones has micro-focused on radio promotion, returning to DMD where he played a significant role in the success of countless international and Canadian artists, labels and management partners. 

DOWNLOAD – headshot + logo

www.youarehear.ca | @you__are__hear
E – gareth@youarehear.ca
Ph – (416) 722-3654

BRAND NEW CHILDREN'S ALBUM PRIMARY OUT NOW 
LISTEN HERE 

SPECIAL INSTAGRAM LIVE PERFORMANCE TAKING PLACE TOMORROW AT 7PM ET FOR EARTH DAY - TUNE IN HERE!

"[Primary] allows London’s bright, singsong voice and whimsical approach to songwriting to flourish in a most natural way." - Toronto Star

TORONTO, ON – April 21, 2023 – Hot on the heels of the release of her debut full-lenth kids' album, Primary, Toronto singer-songwriter, Darrelle London, happily shares the bright and sunny animated music video for album track, Bugs. Aptly released just in time for Earth Day, the video perfectly depicts the song's themes of admiring and respecting all of Earth's creatures - no matter how small! Have a look here, and tune in to London's Instagram Live tomorrow (Saturday, April 22 @ 7:00 p.m. ET) as she gives a special Earth Day performance of the songs found on Primary - including Bugs!

"I wrote this song to explain to my kids why we shouldn’t 'bug' the bugs that we encounter outside," reflects London. "Small doesn’t equal insignificant, and everyone has an important role on this planet."
 
With a back-catalogue of albums that have been described as “quirky” and “whimsical” – though not necessarily aimed towards kids – it was a natural progression for London to take her musical style and turn it into her first full-length children’s album. Primary perfectly treads the line between music for kids and music for grown-ups, with enchanting lyrical storytelling set to infectious indie-pop instrumentation. Produced by Dean Drouillard, and featuring some of Canada’s best session players bringing London’s imaginative tunes to life with jubilant horns and lush strings, the album carries listeners on a journey through a colourful world of curiosity, creativity, and laughter.
 
A mother of two young’uns herself, Primary marks the first time that London made an album since her children were babies. While playing the role of teacher (among many other things!) during the initial COVID lockdowns, London’s children would ask questions and she felt compelled to answer them in the form of songs. The songs on Primary explore the small wonders of life, such a seeing the moon out during the day (Day Moon); simple pleasures, like going for ice cream with a friend on a hot summer day (Ice Cream); they joy found in creating art just for the sake of it (Primary and Let’s Make Something New); and even important lessons like why we should respect even the tiniest of creatures (Bugs). Listen to Primary here. 

DOWNLOAD – press photo | DOWNLOAD – album cover artwork

MORE ABOUT DARRELLE LONDON:
Darrelle London is no stranger to following her heart to unexpected places. After turning down law school to pursue a music career, she has spent the last decade making her mark on the college and festival circuit across North America. Some highlights include performing at iconic venues such as Hollywood’s Troubadour Club and Nashville’s Bluebird Café, collaborating with her favourite artists such as Chantal Kreviazuk, being chosen by Sarah McLachlan to perform at Lilith Fair, and placing her music on TV shows and ad campaigns in the US and South Korea.­­