Rick Rubin said you never need more than what you have in front of you and California folk rockers dipsea flower took that personally.
Indigenous Country Star Jason Benoit Leaves Fans Smiling With “1000 Mile Grin”
When musicians leave their hometown for bigger musical hubs like Austin or Nashville, it can be a double-edged sword. One obvious drawback is sacrificing being with family and friends for a chance at stardom. Some leave jaded and hurt, often with a 1000-yard stare from the experience. But for Indigenous Newfoundland musician Jason Benoit, the return to ‘The Rock’ had him heading home beaming. The result is “1000 Mile Grin,” the title of his steady, confident toe-tapping single out now from his latest EP The Deadwood.
Benoit, 2024 East Coast Music Association winner for Country Recording of the Year for Time Traveller-The Album, said he felt his time trying to make inroads along Nashville’s Music Row ran its course. “The single ‘1000 Mile Grin’ is an upbeat song about a time when I was spinning my wheels in Nashville, chasing fame, and going seemingly nowhere,” he says. “Then one day, I woke up and decided the ‘Canadian Dream’ is what I should be chasing. I packed up and headed back to my wife and kids. This song is about having a 1000-mile grin all the way there.”
It’s been a busy and productive 18 months for Benoit and that productivity is heard throughout “1000 Mile Grin.” The music seems to mirror the drive Benoit probably took back from Nashville to Newfoundland: direct, straightforward, rollicking and refreshed. The almost ideal mix of Americana and folk can be heard in Benoit’s vibrant delivery alongside some nifty banjo and mandolin work from Donovan Conran.
Benoit says after 2023’s Time Traveller- The Album, his “‘classic country spring ran dry” and “needed to find a new musical canvas to paint on for a while.” Thanks to his mother’s wide musical tastes and her Columbia House subscription, the musician took an array of early influences running from country to East Coast folk and Canadiana into “1000 Mile Grin.”
Such influences included East Coast folk artists such as Stan Rogers, Great Big Sea and The Rankin Family as well as country influences like Alan Jackson, the late Joe Diffie and Dwight Yoakam. “Also, Newfoundland has its own ecosystem of great music that we heard all our lives, but you wouldn’t probably hear about much outside of Newfoundland,” Benoit adds. It’s that trio of styles that makes the single so warm and inviting.
A two-time winner of the MusicNL’s Indigenous Artist of the Year (2021, 2023) and the 2023 MusicNL Fans Choice Entertainer of the Year, Benoit has amassed a stream of critical success including a Top 10 single (‘Gone Long Gone’), four Top 30 hits and over 13 million streams globally. He’s also supported artists such as Tenille Townes, Old Dominion, Tim Hicks and The Washboard Union. And he’s also spending some time on the other side of the microphone, hosting a weekly radio program entitled “That’s Country” which comes from Corner Brook, Newfoundland.
To steal a line from “1000 Mile Grin,” Jason Benoit knows where he’s going thanks to this great story-driven new single. You’ll be left smiling if you’re within a 1000-mile radius of hearing it.
Jason Benoit Tour Dates
June 22, 2024 — BayFest — Humber Arm South, NL
July 20, 2024 — FundyFest — Sussex, NB
August 2, 2024 — Boothill Jamboree — Bothwell, ON
August 4, 2024 — Nashwaak Music Fest — Saint Mary’s Parish, NB
August 31, 2024 — Pembroke Music Fest — Stewiacke, NS
February 8-22, 2025 — Caribbean Goes Country — Grand Aston Varadero, Cuba
Country Without Borders: Kitchener’s Rick Marshall Bridges North And South On “Viva México”
Rick Marshall may have grown up in Kelligrews, Newfoundland, and based in Kitchener, ON, but he has salsa coursing through his blood. That’s evident after a single listen to “Viva México,” one of four musical calling cards the singer-songwriter is dropping to introduce himself to the world as an original country artist—and, not incidentally, as a happy convert to the way life gets lived south of the border.
“I came for the sun, I came for the sand/ But what you gave me, México, you can’t understand,” he sings, in homage to his wife and the exotic yet calming locale that’s captured his heart. “The ocean’s right there, and the waves say ‘Come and play.’”
The swoony chorus returns that invitation with a heartfelt vow:
“Oh, oh, México
She’s got my heart and you got my soul
No place I’d rather go
Than my México”
Mariachi-approved horn blasts and marimba tinkles mesh perfectly with the loping country backing track, making us believe this is one transcontinental love affair that’s going to last forever. And for Marshall, that isn’t just a good idea for a song: It’s a story he’s actually lived.
“I came down here many times in my life, to drink a few beers and try to unwind and part of me always said I’d like to stay”
A citizen of the Americas who resided everywhere from Kelligrews, Newfoundland to Kitchener, Ontario to Libertyville, Illinois, he at one point found himself hanging his hat in California—wherever he was kicking the dust off his boots, he could not resist the allure of Mexico.
And after decades of traveling down South and always longing to stay, the “fate” he speaks of, is the meeting of his future wife in an Irish Pub in Toronto, Canada.
As if Mexico itself, to whom he was inexplicably intertwined, was aligning the planets for him to meet this Mexican beauty, resulting in his inevitable return down South to the land of his dreams.
“I never was somebody to believe in fate, but something surely sent her my way, we’re married now and we live in México”
Life, as they say, is what happens when you’re busy getting acquainted with over a few bottles of tequila or was it Jameson’s (That is what they say, right?)
Pondering the effect of Mariachi horns on a North American country boy might make you think of “Ring of Fire”—which would be entirely appropriate, given that it was an audience with the great Johnny Cash that sealed Marshall’s professional fate as surely as those trips to Mexico determined his personal one. Being in the audience for Cash’s 1994 gig at The Bismarck Hotel in Chicago was a positively life-changing experience, he says:
“The songs, the stories, the persona, the whole vibe hit me. ‘This is what I want to do.’ Johnny Cash was a hero of mine. I was lucky enough to meet him and shake his hand at that show.”
For years thereafter, Marshall fronted the band Covered in Cash, performing the repertoire of the Man in Black in front of cheering audiences at sold-out venues. All the while, though, he was amassing a storehouse of his own original songs. So when he finally received a phone call from producer Dean Miller (son of the legendary Roger Miller) beckoning him to come to Nashville to record … well, let’s just say he wasn’t strapped for material.
“Viva México” is merely the first hint of the country magic they whipped up at Sound Emporium Studios, supported ably by an all-star cast of session players who are known for backing up some of the giants of the genre. Marshall’s own “Classic Country (Rocks My World)” namechecks 33 such titans, from Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson to Kris Kristofferson, George Jones and Tammy Wynette. Chuckling a bit at his own contribution to mythology, Marshall says the song was written behind the wheel of his truck. Seriously, how much more country can a guy get?
“Legend of the West” represents a real meeting of cultures, built on stories passed down by Marshall’s Californian grandfather and honed as a song while sitting under a starlit Mexican night with his brother-in-law. “I had my guitar, and we were sipping on some tequila,” he recalls. (See?) The lyric is a first-person farewell from an aging outlaw who’s reaching the end of a life that’s been spent “living by the gun” and “trading bullets for gold.”
Meanwhile, the melancholy and reflective “Grass Is Always Greener” is the proverbial One That Got Away song, in which our narrator laments a true love he sacrificed in pursuit of a fake one. “When you don’t know what you got,” he sums up gravely, “you let it go.”
In clumsier hands, it could all come off as studied and academic, but a sign Marshall saw on the wall of the studio when he arrived for the first session kept the proceedings properly upbeat and light. The sign contained a quotation from The Sound Emporium’s founder, Cowboy Jack Clement, which read as follows:
Remember, we are in the fun business.
If we are not having fun, we are not doing our job.
Suffice it to say this crew understood the assignment. The four songs are a blast to listen to, and sound like they were just as much of a ball to record for everybody involved. In the core band are keyboardist Billy Nobel and drummer Shawn Fichter (both of whom do double duty with Tim McGraw and Faith Hill), plus bassist Sam Hunter (Willie Nelson, George Strait, Ronnie Milsap, Glen Campbell, Elton John, Amy Grant, Luke Bryan, Jason Aldean, et al) and electric guitarist Troy Lancaster, a past nominee for The Academy of Country Music’s Guitarist of the Year award).
Also appearing on two tracks each are Tim Galloway (the ACM’s 2023 Acoustic Guitar Player of the Year), steel guitarist Steve Hinson (who’s performed and/or recorded with the likes of Trace Adkins, Dolly Parton and Randy Travis) and acoustic guitarist Pat McGrath (a 25-year veteran of the Nashville scene with over 100 releases to his credit across the categories of bluegrass, folk, country and rock). Backing vocals come from Tania Hancheroff, who’s been heard on records by everyone from McGraw and Hill to Sheryl Crow, Carrie Underwood, Brad Paisley, Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood and Alan Jackson.
“It was almost surreal,” Marshall says. “The opportunity to meet all of these famed studio musicians, who were all so very kind and talented— as well as having a chance to chat and trade stories with them—made the dream come alive.”
As for Miller’s contributions from behind the desk, Marshall can’t sing the man’s praises highly enough.
“Watching him in action was like taking a master class in production,” he says. “My songs are my life story, and Dean got it so it shows in these tracks. I am thrilled and honored to be able to release them to share with my friends and future fans.”
Sounds like they’ve all earned themselves a nice siesta. Tequila, anyone?
Singer-Songwriter Jeffery Straker Releases Hopeful New Single “Carry on with Grace” From Great Big Sky Album
Sometimes a moment of epiphany arrives for a musician when they are on tour, in the studio or simply near a piano or guitar. In the case of Saskatchewan singer-songwriter Jeffery Straker, it was after slipping and falling while hitting an icy patch running in Regina. That fall was the seed for “Carry on with Grace,” the latest single out now from Straker’s new full-length album Great Big Sky.
“I got up quickly, felt a bit embarrassed, brushed off the snow and kept going — kind of hoping that not too many people saw me fall,” Straker says of the fall which caused no injury except bruising his dignity to some onlookers. “Part of the chorus started to write itself in my head right away, I remember thinking, ‘Isn’t this the stuff of life — we all fall down and make blunders in front of our friends and our community. But all we can do is dust ourselves off, keep going and try not to be too down on ourselves.'”
“Carry on with Grace” is a polished, pristine pedestrian-paced gem Straker nails with an equal amount of gentleness and power. Fleshed out with album producer Steve Dawson on banjo, acoustic guitar and dobro, the arrangement is highlighted by Straker’s lyrics which encourage the listener to never give up.
Some of them miles are gonna feel like you’re tryna climb uphill
But that’s just your chance to show you got what it takes
When you fall you don’t fail that’s just part of finding your way
Dust yourself off show ‘em you can carry on, carry on with grace
Another aspect which fuels the song is Straker’s piano work played on “Moira Rose,” the name given to his 1910 Heintzman upright piano he used in recording “Carry on with Grace.” “We mic’d her up in my Regina home and her lively, bright and jangly tone really fit the vibe we were aiming for,” Straker says.
The single sounds as if it fell (no pun intended) into Straker’s lap, sounding like it gelled in the studio as quickly as it did in the musician’s mind. Straker (who finished the song the same day of his fall) is especially proud of the lyric: “Life’s a two-step on a tightrope.”
“It’s really visual,” Straker says of the specific line in the first verse. “I can’t help but see it. I was trying to describe in just a few words how tricky it can be to try to get it right, to navigate everything in life while not screwing up. I felt like this captured that sentiment well.”
It’s one of the many sentiments Straker captures extremely well on Great Big Sky. The 10-track album is a gorgeous roots-folk voyage through growing up on the Canadian prairies, getting older and recalling the good (and not so good) times that life can throw your way.
“Great Big Sky is about being lost and then being found again, it’s a whisper painted on a giant canvas, and it’s gratitude for not knowing all the answers but being able to ask all the questions,” Straker says. “I’m singing about the prairie sky that I find endlessly inspiring, the rolling Touchwood Hills where I was raised, prairie grain elevators and settling bets as a kid with games of rock, paper scissors. Memories of coming out as gay play into the songwriting too. All of these things shaped me.”
Inspired by singer-songwriters such as Murray McLauchlan, Billy Joel and Joni Mitchell and falling in a vein similar to fellow Canadian songsmiths like Danny Michel and Royal Wood (who both produced Straker on previous recordings), Straker’s words at times paint pictures of days gone by. Whether it’s the tearing down of farm buildings and community hubs described in songs like the poignant “More Than Two By Fours and Timber” or revisiting childhood memories in the piano-led, waltz-tinged “Take Me to the Touchwoods,” Straker’s vignettes tug at the heartstrings.
Great Big Sky is dedicated to Glen Straker, Jeffery’s father who passed away in 2023. The silver lining in such a passing is that the musician got to play several of these songs around his father’s hospital bed in the final hours before he passed. “The last thing we did together was share music with dad,” Straker says. “We spent so many years playing music together in our house. It was wonderful and, of course, sad to say goodbye accompanied by these songs. Whenever I play them now I’m back at that moment.”
Straker wrote eight of the ten songs while co-writing the other two: “Sing Your Song” with Lynn Miles and “The Time You’ve Got” with Beverley Mahood and Mac Shepherd. The singer also had some capable musicians while recording at Dawson’s The Henhouse Studio in Nashville including Dawson, drummer Jamie Dick (Allison Russell) and multi-instrumentalist Fats Kaplin (Nanci Griffith). When looking for the perfect producer and studio to hone and execute his folk/roots approach to Great Big Sky, Straker zeroed in on Dawson and “recorded the tracks live off the floor.”
The end result is an album that appeals to fans old and new while enticing any folk/roots music lover who loves beautifully spun heartfelt narratives. It’s also an effort epitomizing the fact that time should be cherished. “Through the passing of both of my parents I’ve become so cognizant of time: how precious it is and the importance of using it wisely,” Straker says. “I feel lucky to have been raised by a loving mom and dad in a beautiful place. A place that reminds, inspires, lifts and grounds me.”
With his new studio album, a new single and a batch of tour dates (including a Prairie Skyscraper Concert Series around and in various Saskatchewan grain elevators), Jeffery Straker’s future looks sure-footed and steady. Expect the Regina-based musician to do it all with grace.
Great Big Sky Track List
1. Some Say It’s Just A Sky
2. Take Me to the Touchwoods
3. Carry on with Grace
4. More Than Two By Fours and Timber
5. Better Than What We Found
6. Rock Paper Scissors
7. Brand New Light
8. The Time You’ve Got
9. Sing Your Song
10. Dandelions
Jeffery Straker Tour Dates
July 4, 2024 — Concert At The Elevator — Riverhurst, SK (Prairie Skyscraper Concert Series)
July 5, 2024 — Horizon Elevator (with train travel) — Horizon, SK (Prairie Skyscraper Concert Series)
July 6, 2024 — Concert At The Elevator — Gravelbourg, SK (Prairie Skyscraper Concert Series)
July 7, 2024 — Sukanen Ship Pioneer Village — Moose Jaw, SK (Prairie Skyscraper Concert Series)
July 11, 2024 — Sasktel Saskatchewan Jazz Festival-Main Stage — Saskatoon, SK
July 13, 2024 — Craven Country Thunder-Songwriter Stage — Craven, SK
August 16, 2024 — House Concert — Markham, ON
August 17, 2024 — Concert — Kagawong, ON
September 5, 2024 — Southminister Steinhauer United Church — Edmonton, AB
September 7, 2024 — Hood Fest — Calgary, AB
September 14, 2024 — Darke Hall — Regina, SK
September 15, 2024 — Strasbourg, SK
September 21, 2024 — Little Red Wagon Winery — Shawville, QC
September 24, 2024 — Hugh’s Room — Toronto, ON
Canadian Session Aces The 501 East Make The Right “Short Turn” On Debut Album
There’s a saying in Costa Rica that goes “The shortest distance between two points is as the crow flies; the longest distance is the short cut.” It’s an apt description of the making of Short Turn, the debut album by North American session supergroup The 501 East. The members of the quartet — who have backed up everyone from Corey Hart to Anne Murray to Kevin Breit — had been friends and colleagues for over 40 years before deciding to form a unit of their own seven years ago. They jelled so perfectly that making an album together seemed the natural way to go. And with a mutual decision to record it live “off the floor,” a quick and easy process seemed inevitable when they started work in earnest in 2019.
Flash forward to now, and the album is finally seeing release. There was the little matter of a global pandemic getting in the way, see, which necessitated a whole new approach to recording once the bed tracks had been completed. All the remaining parts were sent in remotely, meaning that once the last performance had been captured, the project had come to embody a second credo: “Necessity is the mother of invention.”
The finished product sure doesn’t sound remote. Short Turn revels in an obvious and infectious love of blues- and jazz-influenced Americana, with 1960s go-go grooves for fuel. The first single, a rendition of Lee Morgan’s “The Sidewinder,” is a perfect example of that iconic sound, the group locking into a jumpy, jaunty rhythm overlaid with scatted vocal syllables. And so it goes for 10 tracks, full of bounce and vigor and boasting some painstakingly picked acoustic guitar. Three cracking originals share space with inventive arrangements of standards by the likes of Sonny Rollins, Bill Frisell and Lennon/McCartney (okay, that’s not technically Americana, but what do you say we give it to them anyway?)
Taking their name from a streetcar line in the band’s native Toronto, The 501 East represents a once-in-a-lifetime assembly of talent. Carlos Lopes (guitars, keyboards, background vocals) has played with artists like Shirley Eikhard, Cécille Frenette and Sunny Paxton, and jazz icons Maury Kaye, Phil Nimmons, Claude Ranger and Terry Clark. He’s led his own bands with Earl Seymour and Kevin Breit, playing prestigious gigs that have included The Montréal Jazz Festival, Québec Festival D’Eté and Festi-Jazz de Rimouski. He’s also a composer and producer who has generated hundreds of projects (both domestic and international) for film, television, and record.
South African-born Aidan Mason (guitars, violin, mandolin, lead vocals) spent 32 years as guitarist and backup singer for Anne Murray, touring five continents, writing four of her songs and playing on several of her biggest hits, including the triple-platinum “You Needed Me.” Other artists he’s played with include David Clayton-Thomas, The 5th Dimension and Petula Clark. He also wrote and recorded Azania, an album of South African-themed instrumentals.
Russ Boswell (electric and acoustic bass, background vocals) has supplied the bottom end for some of Canada’s top acts, including David Wilcox, The Parachute Club, Holly Cole and many more. His recording credits include projects by Serena Ryder, Charlie Major, The Rankin Family and Colm Wilkinson. And Gary Craig (drums and percussion) has thwacked the skins for acts ranging from Bruce Cockburn to Tom Cochrane to Anne Murray to Jann Arden and Blackie & the Rodeo Kings as well as being in Colin Linden’s band and albums since 1984, as well touring and recording with the stars of the ABC TV series Nashville. He has been nominated four times for the Maple Blues Awards in the category of Drummer of the Year, winning it in 2020.
No mere ad hoc studio undertaking, The 501 East gig regularly on their own, and tour dates are forthcoming. In the meantime, check out the new record. Get there by whatever conveyance you have to; just make sure you take the shortest route.
Colin James Adds Heavy Hitters To The Line-Up On Forthcoming New Studio Album ‘Chasing The Sun’ Out August 23
To a recording artist, having a bunch of big-name guests on your album can be a double-edged sword: It’ll get you some attention, sure, but there’s always the danger you’ll find yourself pushed out of the limelight — a supporting player in your own production.
Fortunately, no one elbows Colin James into the wings. With nearly four decades in the business—and an armload of sales records and peer accolades to show for it—the Vancouver blues-rocker has thrown open the door to welcome a house party’s worth of friends and mentors on his 21st and latest, Chasing the Sun. Appearances by the legendary likes of Charlie Musselwhite, Lucinda Williams, Darryl Jones and Charley Drayton energize an album that cooks with the intensity of a thousand spotless reputations. But the formula remains 100-proof James throughout—a distillation of the singular and passionate vision that’s enshrined him in the hearts of millions of record buyers worldwide as a musician’s musician.
Take spotlight track “Devilment,” a title-appropriate blast of fire-and-brimstone blues that revels in some red-hot harmonica from the iconic Musselwhite. You can hear every breath of the authenticity Musselwhite has lived and exhaled for more than half a century as both a Grammy-nominated harpist in his own right and a revered sideman to heavyweights like Bonnie Raitt and the Blind Boys of Alabama. Yet his own contribution never overpowers James’ stinging guitar and barroom-approved vocal as the latter sings the praises of a woman who’s not only “lovely” and fine” but has “the devilment on her mind.”
Pumping the ardor even further into the stratosphere are bassist Jones and drummer Drayton, whose miles-long pedigree – both together and apart – includes work with everyone from the Rolling Stones, Miles Davis and Neil Young to Sting, Paul Simon and Johnny Cash. And that isn’t even factoring in the extra instrumental assist by co-producer Colin Linden, who played guitars, bass and dobro on the album—and just happens to have co-written “Devilment” in the first place. Previous versions of the song appeared on separate 2009 albums by Linden and its co-author, Toronto bluesman Paul Reddick.
To Linden, who’s produced six albums with James since they started collaborating back in 1997, the new album is definitely a case of sweetening, not diluting, his pal’s boundless talents. “Colin is still so engaged with his own artistic development,” he marvels. “And it just got better every time we dug in deeper, which is not always the way it is. There are some places on the record where I can’t tell if it’s me or him playing guitar, even though we play differently. There is this blending of styles indicative of the vibe of serving the music.”
That means serving it wherever it chooses to go. For the spiritual flip side of “Devilment,” cop a listen to album opener “Protection,” a sinuously driving cover of Williams’ 2014 plea for salvation from life’s dark forces. James’ rendition soars on the perfect sync between his own singing and an unmistakable vocal assist from the Americana icon herself.
“Lucinda is such a revered songwriter, such a legend,” James raves. “But she’s so nice. And hearing our voices together on tape was such a pleasure.” And with gospel greats Ann and Regina McCrary chiming in too, who up in heaven could deny their tenderest mercies?
Captured for posterity at Nashville’s Pinhead Recorders—a 1,000-square-foot, “purpose-built,” standalone home studio in Linden’s backyard—Chasing the Sun is a cannily assembled set of songs pulled in from all over the place. Scorching originals like “Star Studded Sky” and “This Song Kills Hate” represent career-best collaborations between James and a host of Canadian compadres, including Tom Wilson of Junkhouse and Blackie and the Rodeo Kings and Colin and John-Angus MacDonald of rock maulers The Trews. Adding flavor are four meticulously chosen covers from the songbooks of giants like John Hammond and Paul Butterfield. The track list runs to 11 numbers in total—nine on the album proper, and another two offered as downloads, including “Come to Find Out,” another team-up with Musselwhite.
Chasing the Sun is the latest landmark in a career that’s been hitting high after high since 1988, when James’ self-titled debut became the fastest-selling album in Canadian history and won him his first JUNO Award. (It helps when one of your earliest champions enjoys a profile like Stevie Ray Vaughan’s.) Since then, James has collected multiple gold and platinum awards, scored a #3 radio hit in the United States (“Just Came Back”) and shared musical airspace with a who’s who of greats, including Keith Richards, Albert Collins, Albert King, ZZ Top, the Chieftains, Carlos Santana, and Buddy Guy. In the process, he’s received eight JUNOs and 31 Maple Blues Awards and been inducted into the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame.
Last year, he scored his first nod from the Memphis-based Blues Foundation, which nominated him in the Best Blues Rock Album category for his 2021 collection, Open Road.
So don’t pigeonhole him as an early bloomer: To James, the road has only gotten easier and more rewarding over time. “Maybe people don’t buy into a blues guy in his early ‘20s,” he laughs. “When you’re knocking at the door at age 60, people are like ‘Oh yeah, come on in.’”
Yes, please do. And bring your friends with you.
Chasing The Sun Track List:
1 Protection (Featuring Lucinda Williams) 4:53
2 I’m Still Alive 5:18
3 Devilment (Featuring Charlie Musselwhite) 3:16
4 Crystal Ball 3:37
5 How It Feels To Be Loved 6:06
6 Star Studded Sky 4:13
7 Too Far Gone 3:51
8 In My Own Dream 4:53
9 This Song Kills Hate 4:24
10 Come To Find Out (Featuring Charlie Musselwhite) 5:02
11 Open Your Mind 4:43
Shadows of the Heart: Some Days Are Darker Unveil Enigmatic Anthem “Dead Romance”
In the twilight realm of goth-rock, where melancholy reigns supreme, a flicker of transformation emerges. Windsor, ON-bred and Phoenix, AZ-based post-punk enigma Some Days Are Darker.
Their very name whispers of duality, suggesting that even in the deepest shadows, light may linger. Their latest single, “Dead Romance,” weaves this delicate balance into a tapestry of haunting beauty and introspective empowerment.
From its inception, “Dead Romance” was a vessel for catharsis, evolving over years as frontman Lear Mason navigated the emotional battlefield of love lost. The track’s moody aura captures the essence of moving through and on.
“‘Dead Romance’ began as a ballad,” Mason reveals. “I struggled with the lyrics, rewriting verses, adding lines, eliminating others. I think I was writing an apology I wasn’t ready to give, so it languished for years… a ghost in the shadows.”
The breakthrough came with the intervention of producer and SDAD drummer Robbie Williamson, who helped Mason reshape the song’s somber tone into something more driving and resonant with his current state of mind.
“Relationships are chaotic, and blame is shared. We endure, we learn, we grow. And so, the song found its voice in being more of a celebration of perseverance than an apology.”
What emerged is a track steeped in the dramatic flair of goth-rock icons like Placebo and Depeche Mode yet pulsating with a fresh new voice. Bassist Chris Martin’s groove summons the forlorn to the dance floor, blending sorrow and strength in an irresistible call to embrace their darkness.
Join them as they transform tales of misery and woe into a dance of acceptance and resilience.
Son of James Capture The Soulful Sounds of Chinatown on Driving, Rolling, Careening “Come On”
Son of James’ new single “Come On” is oh so careening and funky that you’d have a hard time believing what’s making that gritty, swaggering sound is a delicate Chinese instrument. Especially with bandleader Shon Wong’s whiskey-soaked commands to “Come on!” harkening back to James Brown’s “Get on up!”
But when you listen again, you hear it – a Guzheng (Chinese harp) in the intro, and the sound transcends its genre to become something entirely magnetic and magical.
“The Chinese have such beautiful instruments that pierce your heart, rip through your soul and give you goosebumps,” Wong explains. “These instruments are the key ingredients to a Chinese Canadian sound that I am creating. A blend of funk, rock and soul – a sound I call ‘Chynatruckerfunk.’ Only with music of our own can we truly celebrate our identity.”
A third generation Chinese Canadian born in Vancouver, BC, Wong was always searching for a way to express both his heritage and his personal identity. Though there were plenty of successful Chinese Canadian doctors, lawyers, CEOs and financiers around him while growing up, Wong is an artist, a musician, and a writer, and that made it more of a challenge: “The closest I could ever find to a Chinese role model was Bruce Lee, and he’s been dead since 1973.”
And so the Chynatruckerfunk album is Wong’s personal journey into defining his own Chinese Canadian identity. “But it’s hard to celebrate when you have no sound. That’s always been an issue for me. Nobody knows what a Chinese Canadian sounds like,” he muses. “Many races across North America have music that defines them and galvanizes their community, such as African Americans with hip hop, rap, R&B, jazz, and blues.”
Therefore, Wong fused his favorite influences – there’s even a shout-out to Guns N’ Roses’ “Paradise City” in “Come On” – with Chinese instrumentation. “Come On” speaks from the perspective of Chinatown’s past pioneers speaking to the current state of Chinatown,” Wong says. “When you hear the Guzheng intro, we are calling upon all the spirits that have inhabited Vancouver’s Chinatown to speak on the current condition of Chinatown.”
Meanwhile, Wong sings with the world-weary grit and soul of someone who’s seen more than enough in his lifetime:
A diamond in the rough won’t be what you want
If you ain’t got the heat
The bad and the good are always understood
These are the rules of the street
Come on, get it on
Dance with the devil gonna break your fall
Son of James, a born-and-bred Vancouver Chinatown Rock band, blends the soulful sounds of rock and funk with the mystical sounds of Chinese instrumentation. Like a big rig rolling down a dusty highway carrying a cargo full of silk, Son of James calls their sound “Chynatruckerfunk”.
Shon Wong, the performer known as Son of James, was born and raised in Vancouver, BC. Growing up with a family of Chinese Opera actors and performers, music and art has always been a big part of his life. Shon would listen to classical Chinese music at home in his downtown family apartment. Down the halls, neighbours would blast rock music heard easily through the walls, including music by Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, Guns N’ Roses, and Van Halen. Wong would find himself flipping back and forth between the musical environments, eager to catch the songs of the day from both home and hallways.
Son of James includes Michelle Kwan on Guzheng, Adam Richards on guitar/bass, Jonathan Reichert on guitar, Johnny Walsh on bass, Mark Hoeppner on keys, Dave Say on sax, Eric Tsang on Sax, Jason Overy on drums, Ed Whelan on drums, and Erica Ullyot on vocals.
Their new single “Come On” is available now.
Calgary Rockers Sea of Lettuce Capture Breezy Vacation Vibes on “I Gotta Know” From Any Day Now Album
On their new single “I Gotta Know” – available now – Calgary-based indie rockers Sea of Lettuce practically roll out your towel and hand you a piña colada. Such is the beachy-ness of their vibe, which conjures ocean breezes, warm sun, and total paradise.
Spending seven days in heaven
Just about every week
This really got me thinking
Maybe you’re meant for me
I never thought that it could be like this ’til now
Full of easy beats and heavenly harmonies, “I Gotta Know” is part of a larger theme of relaxation in spite of struggles on Sea of Lettuce’s upcoming new album Any Day Now, which began to develop during a vacation band member Daniel L’Amarca took to Hawaii.
“While on this trip away from my day job, many of these thoughts and feelings about the future crossed my mind,” L’Amarca recalls. “The thought of returning home and diving deeper into a monotonous career while slowly fading away from my true passion of making music started to surface.”
Thus Any Day Now is infused with a beachy sound throughout, from the surf-inspired, pulsing opening track “Future Endeavours” to the tropical guitar line on “I Gotta Know.”
“The pressure that comes in your 20s to start figuring out your long-term plans played a central role in the development of this project,” L’Amarca said. “Conflicting emotions about thinking of the future while trying to stay grounded in the present can be found throughout the album.”
The title Any Day Now was the final piece that brought these concepts together, representing the overall sense that it’s only a matter of time until the uncertainty in our future gets resolved – and, therefore, relaxation really is possible.
Coming from a cold basement in Calgary, Alberta, Sea of Lettuce is an alternative group with a fresh spin on the genre’s typical sound. Having formed in late 2016, this group of longtime friends have released three full-length albums and two EPs. The band consists of Daniel L’Amarca (producer/bassist/keyboards), Wojtek Musial (vocals, rhythm guitar), Dylan Hameluck (lead guitar), and Caolán Ayres (drums).
Ryan Shane Owen Invites You On A Vibrant Mediterranean Journey With Electro-Classical-Folk ‘Summersong’ Album
Following his acclaimed 2023 release ‘Wintersong’, independent Canadian musician Ryan Shane Owen has unveiled ‘Summersong’. This new album is a rich tapestry of musical genres, from classical opera to traditional folk, evoking the sun-soaked ambiance of Mediterranean countries. Produced, arranged, and performed entirely by Ryan himself, the album showcases his versatile vocals in 10 languages.
Ryan Shane Owen has been immersed in music since childhood, mastering piano, guitar, and vocals over his 25-year career. After exploring dance-pop with albums like ‘Rhapsody for the Disco’, ‘Symphony for the Stereo’, and ‘Concerto for the Underground’ between 2021 and 2022, he returned to his classical and folk roots. However, he reimagined these timeless pieces with a contemporary twist, infusing them with electronic elements for a fresh, modern sound.
‘Summersong’ kicks off with ‘La Paloma’, a Spanish classic dating back to the 1800s, celebrated for its numerous renditions throughout history. The album continues with ‘Santa Lucia’, a beloved Neapolitan song praising the beauty of Naples, and ‘O Sole Mio’, another iconic Neapolitan piece famously adapted into Elvis Presley’s hit ‘It’s Now Or Never’.
Ryan’s innovative approach extends to ‘La Golondrina’, commemorating Mexican exiles with a disco-infused reinterpretation, and ‘Habanera’ from Bizet’s ‘Carmen’, traditionally sung by women but transformed by Ryan’s unique vocal style and modern beats.
In ‘Duo Des Fleurs’ from Delibes’ opera ‘Lakmé’, Ryan brings a dreamy, surreal touch reminiscent of artists like David Lynch and Lana Del Rey. He also tackles Handel’s operatic gem ‘Ombra Mai Fù’, blending its majestic melody with contemporary flair.
The album features the Hebrew song ‘Hineh Ma Tov’, offering a reggae-inspired twist on its melancholic lyrics, and explores Greek influences with ‘To Gelakaki’ and the lively folk dance ‘Palamakia’. Ryan’s rendition of ‘Misirlou’, known for Dick Dale’s surf-guitar version and featured in ‘Pulp Fiction’, showcases his eclectic musical palette.
From Verdi’s opera ‘La Traviata’, Ryan presents the joyous drinking song ‘Libiamo Ne’ Lieti Calici’, and ‘Va Pensiero (Sull’ali Dorate)’ from ‘Nabucco’, a poignant chorus reflecting on the Babylonian exile.
The album concludes with ‘Ti Ipermaho’, an ancient Greek Orthodox hymn dating back to the 5th century AD, providing a majestic finale to Ryan Shane Owen’s musical odyssey on ‘Summersong’.
Experience the timeless melodies and innovative spirit of ‘Summersong’ as Ryan Shane Owen invites you to immerse yourself in the cultural richness of the Mediterranean through his electrifying new album.
