Backstage Pass

Douglas McLean | Canoe FM
Backstage Pass

Music and Musician Interviews

  1. 2月11日

    SANDY BELL - BREAK OF DAY: SONGS FOR COLIN

    Sandy Bell’s album,Break of Day: Songs for Colin, was born out of heart-wrenching grief, after losing her only son Colin Bell in a tragic train accident. He died at age 20 while walking home one night, listening to music on his headphones, in Brantford, Ontario. Says Bell: "Colin sparked joy wherever he went. He was caring, kind, wise, and fun. Everyone loved Colin – especially the girls, old people, and children, but none more so than his parents. His heart was wide open –- he’d always say “peace out” when leaving –- and he had a calm demeanor that put everyone at ease, a quick wit, and an enduring sense of justice that we should all do the right thing by ourselves and others. He's an inspiration to us all." Sandy Bell is best known for her fight to protect her natural garden in The Beaches, Toronto, and her precedent-setting court victory under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, that equated freedom of expression with religious freedom for the first time. She worked for several decades in Toronto’s music industry (for Arraymusic, The Esprit Orchestra, and the Jeff Healey Band), promoting and producing other artists’ concerts, and developing the groundbreaking Array Space in 2013. Bell co-founded the country-roots Toronto band The Wanted, and was co-lead singer of the group for 10 years. They enjoyed a residency at The Cameron House, and appeared regularly at The Gladstone Hotel, Moonshine Café, country fairs, corporate events, and performed at Hugh’s Room. The Wanted recorded and released five of Bell’s songs in 2020, on their self-titled album The Wanted. But it was only when she retired and moved to Nova Scotia that Bell was finally able to release her own solo album. As a girl, she studied voice and sang in choirs, later played in different bands, and worked with various writing partners over the years, but she’s always been a “naïve songwriter” who ekes out notes on a guitar, creates melodies in her head, and sings into a recorder to add lyrics.

    40 分鐘
  2. 1月15日

    Howard Gladstone

    Contemporary roots-folk singer-songwriter Howard Gladstone officially released his eighth album Crazy Talk (Sonic Peach Music) on September 20,2024. The twelve new songs cover genres from folk to jazz to folk/rock to world music. Howard Gladstone, Toronto-born singer/songwriter, is releasing his eighth album of original music in September 2024. He is also publishing a book of his collected lyrics titled "Timepieces." Veteran Canadian songwriter James Gordon has called the work a "remarkably compelling collection." Gladstone is continuing with his monthly residency at Toronto's Tranzac Club, where he is accompanied by regular band members (Tony Quarrington, Laura Fernandez, Bob Cohen, Ambrose Pottie). Previously Gladstone co-founded and produced the not-for-profit Toronto City Roots Festival from 2004 to 2010. He recovered from a life-changing spinal cord injury in 2014 and released the album Hourglass inspired by his healing journey, in 2017. While in recovery, he found new strength, resolve and solace in music, and understood more deeply its healing power. His follow-up album The Promise was recorded and released during the pandemic lockdown, with musicians working remotely. Gladstone continues to write, record, perform, and occasionally guest host "Corby's Orbit" radio show. Back in his university days, he was a journalist, and his interview with Robbie Robertson was re-published in Rolling Stone magazine. He and Laura Fernandez formed the boutique record label Sonic Peach Music.

    46 分鐘
  3. 2024/12/18

    ALFIE SMITH-Every Rome Needs A Nero

    ALFIE SMITH Every Rome Needs A Nero  Alfie Smith released his eighth album, Every Rome Needs A Nero, in October 2024. The Hamilton-based troubadour is a popular and crowd-pleasing fixture on the Ontario’s blues/folk/roots festivals and club circuit, but it has been a full decade since his last release, Come On In My Kitchen, a duo record with his wife, Nicole Christian. In a relaxed conversation, Alfie Smith shared some of his songwriting inspirations and discussed various tunes on the album, as well as some of his thoughts on guitars, tunings and songwriting in general. Every Rome Needs A Nero, is a timely and provocative album filled with some intimate lyrics and deeply felt performances. An album to treasure for years to come. “His return to the recording arena with Every Rome Needs A Nero finds Alfie at the height of his creative powers. He is a triple threat: a guitar virtuoso fluent on slide and vintage National and resonator instruments, an eloquent songwriter in the classic blues tradition, and a powerful singer with a voice to match his formidable physical presence. That deep voice sounds like it has been dredged from the depths of the muddy Mississippi River. It is rich and earthy, and capable of expressing tenderness, melancholy, joy, and, in the case of the new album’s title track, righteous anger. Alfie fully flexes his songwriting muscle on Every Rome Needs A Nero, and the gap between albums meant he had a large selection of material upon which to draw. The title tune and opening cut sets the stage sweetly, via a cool trumpet solo, crisp acoustic guitar and a laid back vibe. Smith’s voice locks into a mellow groove, while lyrics featuring historic references remain relevant today.

    50 分鐘
  4. 2024/11/06

    Terry Donaghue “Looking For Redemption”

    Toronto based singer-songwriter Terry Donaghue is releasing his 4th solo album “Looking For Redemption” September 6th. The album was recorded at Toronto’s legendary Kensington Sound. Looking For Redemption is a roots/americana/alt-folk genre is a concept album of 9 tracks telling the story in film noir style of a man on the run from his past and a woman he meets along the way also on the run from her past. Born and raised in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, now based in Toronto I’ve been involved in music since my early teens. I remember vividly the music I heard on the radio in the ’50s and ’60s – the local stations with their mix of country and pop and faraway places like Chicago, Detroit and Wheeling West Virginia that my brother and I could pull in on an old tube radio at night when the weather was right. It was my older brother who really got me playing an instrument. He was playing electric guitar and big on Dwayne Eddy, the Ventures and ’50s/early sixties rock & roll. Somewhere he heard Gordon Lightfoot’s self-titled first album, went out and bought it, a Guild 12 string guitar (which I still have) and became a folkie. I began playing folk and bluegrass on the banjo, later picking up the guitar and more recently the mandolin. This all led to the folk groups we were in together in Sault Ste Marie. As The Natural Men together with some friends we were one of the top folk groups in the Sault during my high school years. All that music has stuck with me and forms part of my musical DNA. Over the past few years, I’ve channelled my songwriting output into a series of original solo albums. “Songs of Love and Longing” was released in May 2020. “Northern Reflections” was released in January 2022. In 2023, I celebrated the release of “Shades Of Blue.” All three albums were recorded and produced by Vezi Tayyeb at his legendary studio, Kensington Sound, he founded for more than 50 years ago recording over the years with an incredible range of artists and styles.

    40 分鐘
  5. 2024/10/25

    JESSE WALDMAN - THE SHIMMERING DIVIDE

    Jesse’s debut album, Mansion Full of Ghosts, heralded by Vancouver Sun, Penguin Eggs, and The Georgia Straight, was an exploration of a city’s duality, with all of its beauty and shadows, expressed through varying moments of lush, orchestral arrangements to hushed duets over expert fingerpicking. The result was a beautifully crafted album that celebrated the pursuit of hope, and gently reflected on an oftentimes weighty effort to “keep a light on in the dark”. Canadian Beats praised, “infused with a hopeful tinge, Mansion Full of Ghosts is a wholesome, masterfully written debut that will appeal to fans both old and new.” https://jessewaldmanmusic.com/home Jesse’s sophomore album, The Shimmering Divide, set for release September 20th, 2024, sees him collaborating with long-time musical partner Marc L’Esperance. The storytelling on Divide is deeply personal, delivered with the acuity of Jesse’s poeticism and Marc’s glittering harmonization and multi-instrument contributions. The songs are watercolours of people and places Jesse has encountered and truly cared about, presented humbly and gorgeously as an acoustic-based collection of alt-folk ruminations. The album holds a fresh wisdom gained since Mansion but maintains the virtuosity of playing and delicate ear for arrangements, serene and richly lulling like that of a train, which some of the songs just happened to have stirred from, jotted down in journals from the West Coast to Ontario. Reflecting on the album title, Jesse shares, “For me the title ‘The Shimmering Divide’ represents the age-old battle between good and evil, which path to take to do the right thing in your life. Those points are charged with possibilities that can change you forever.”

    59 分鐘
  6. 2024/09/18

    Carmine Appice

    Coming off two acclaimed studio albums (Black Dawn, Tightrope), and an energized historic live album, Birth of Cactus, founding member and world-renowned drummer Carmine Appice returns with the ultimate tribute to his legendary rock band, CACTUS. Temple of Blues- Influences & Friends, merges the members of Cactus with a super ensemble of guest artists, all of whom have called the group among their biggest influences. Once heralded by critics as America’s answer to Led Zeppelin, Cactus recorded four hard rockin’ albums for Atco Records before Appice and bassist Tim Bogert left to form their own supergroup: Beck, Bogert & Appice. “The music of Cactus has always been steeped in blues tradition,” says Appice, who wanted the group to re-visit its best songs within a modern rock approach to traditional blues. “We kept hearing from so many of our music celebrity friends how much Cactus influenced them and how they would love to be a guest on a Cactus album. Even our label President, Brian Perera from Cleopatra Records, suggested to us that this album happens. So, Temple Of Blues was the logical next step.” In addition to Appice on drums and vocals on all tracks, original Cactus guitarist Jim McCarty also appears on Temple of Blues. Current band members vocalist/ guitarist and harmonica player Jim Stapley and bassist Jim Caputo also appear on many of the tracks. Appice announced today a new member to the band’s line-up: guitarist Artie Dillon will handle guitar duties for live tours and plays on one track for the new album. Founding member Jim McCarty currently contributes as a writing and recording member of Cactus on occasion but no longer does live tours. The current line-up of Cactus came together in 2021. Lead vocalist Jim Stapley comes from England and had worked with ex-Faces/ Who drummer Kenny Jones in the Jones Gang and Humble Pie. “Nearly five decades after I formed this band, the time had come to re-invent Cactus once again,”

    47 分鐘

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    Music and Musician Interviews

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