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News Podcast

Ep. #121: Dave Ullrich of Zunior & The Inbreds

Dave Ullrich is the founder of Zunior.com, one of the world’s first digital distribution services for independent music, which celebrates its tenth anniversary with various enterprises, including a new tribute album by Tony Dekker and a big festival at Sandbanks Provincial Park on Sept. 13. He was also a founding member of the excellent indie-rock band the Inbreds. Here, Dave and I discuss Allen’s Pub on the Danforth in Toronto, Gord Downie of the Tragically Hip and the Inbreds, growing up in Oshawa but making the Inbreds in Kingston, hiding your Oshawa, k-os rapping upside down, Cuff the Duke owning Oshawa, my pilgrimage to Mike O’Neill’s childhood home and memories of that episode, playing cover songs at an O’Neill Collegiate Vocational Institute battle of the bands in an outfit called the Fresh Steaming Turds, the forgettable U2, I know the R.E.M. discography pretty well apparently, loving Zeppelin and Bonzo, why the complexity and fury of punk is often equated with simplicity and rudimentary playing, sincerity in music, Proboscis Funkstone Records, the rise of cassettes, the riff-y, fingerpicking early days, luck + preparedness = success, these are the breaks, I challenge you to dislike the Inbreds, Lewis Melville, Rheostatics, Guelph, when the Inbreds turned down a Foo Fighters tour opening slot to break up, sneaking low-profile records to Dave Bookman who got them to superstars, angering the Tea Party while Foo Fighters munched on KD, a circuitous route to scooping the White Stripes, starting the prescient Zunior.com digital music delivery service 10 years ago, vinyl sales and holding a piece of wood, leveraging the spirit of indie-rock computing, Zunior platinum, the top 10 moments in the history of Zunior, suprising Rheostatics, the Zune, solar power, Egger plays live, Peanuts, Boxing Day, patron saint Stuart McLean, making commercials with Scott Cudmore and Martin Tielli, the joy of the label and Wax Mannequin, getting into e-books and working with rock writer Martin Popoff, predicting the future for music consumption, flirting with Rdio and musical curation and discovery, vinyl might have a cost ceiling, major labels are like cockroaches, the new Tony Dekker Sings 10 Years of Zunior album and how it came to be, the Zunior 10th anniversary show in Sandbanks Provincial Park in Prince Edward County on Sept. 13, the song “At the Airport” by Old Man Luedecke, and then it’s the right time to say goodbye.

Related links: zunior.com inbreds.com vishkhanna.com

inbreds

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Categories
News

KYEO/CSA Present: Old Man Luedecke – Jessy Bell Smith – Pat LePoidevin – April 15, 2010

Thursday April 15, 2010
KYEO & The CSA Present:

OLD MAN LUEDECKE
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JESSY BELL SMITH
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PAT LEPOIDEVIN


Old Man Luedecke

One man alone on stage with his banjo. A driving rhythm punctuated by the stomping of his boots on a wooden floor. Old Man Luedecke’s name and choice of instrument may suggest a world gone by, but the lyrics and melodies that he creates are contemporary. His last album,  Proof of Love won the Juno award for the best roots album of 2009, and hot on the tail of that release comes the March 30 release of My Hands are on Fire and other Love Songs.
With Steve Dawson once again assuming production duties, the results sing for themselves, and the chemistry of the musicians soars and crackles on every tune. Over the course of three days, the pair – aided and abetted by Keith Lowe (Fiona Apple, Bill Frisell) on bass, John Raham (Be Good Tanyas, Po’ Girl) on drums, and Grammy award-winning bluegrass legend, Tim O’Brien (Hot Rize, Steve Earle) on fiddle mandolin and vocals laid down the tracks for the eleven new songs that make up My Hands are on Fire and other Love Songs.
Intense, committed and blessed with a purity that can’t be faked, Old Man Luedecke is the real thing. Honouring, but not trapped by tradition, My Hands are on Fire and other Love Songs is music for the ages. Keep your ears open for when this old man comes rolling into your town. 


Jessy Bell Smith

Surely one of Canada’s greatest unheralded musical treasures, Jessy Bell Smith is a young woman with enormous soul and generous spirit that fills grateful spaces whenever she sets her dynamic voice around her charming, compelling songs. Raised in Guelph, Ontario, Bell-Smith has been playing music publicly for nearly 10 years, starting with open stages at 19 years old and then joining acclaimed, hometown band, Beautiful Senseless, as a core member. With a vocal style informed by the likes of Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, and Etta James and songwriting touched by John Prine, Tom Waits, and Bruce Springsteen, Bell-Smith is a bright musical force. She’s appeared on recordings by Tannis Slimmon, Lewis Melville, Richard Laviolette, Nathan Coles, and Evan and Geordie Gordon to name a few and, as an open, enthusiastic collaborator, she often joins such aforementioned friends on stage, where she’s a seasoned performer. As evident on her own rare releases, Kitchen Music (2002), Tiny Lights (2004), and more recent recordings overseen by gigantic fan Andy Maize, when Bell-Smith sings, something lovely and vital is added to the air—an urgent, timeless sound, which reassures and reminds listeners of our collective heart. It’s sweet but subtle, just like every performance by a real original like Jessy Bell-Smith.
 


Pat LePoidevin

Pat LePoidevin began his interest in music at the age of 10 when he started playing the bagpipes while living in Scotland for a year. Although his interest in the pipes has continued, he has branched out into other forms of music in recent years.
Lately, Pat’s music speaks of childhood experiences and animals that are frequently seen in forested areas. Using a looper pedal, Pat now enjoys mixing vocals, ukulele, guitar, fiddle, a Chinese wind instrument, and whistles of sorts to create a fresh and satisfying sound.
His latest work Moonwolves is now available.

Special Guest:

DJ Charless

Thursday April 15, 2010
The Ebar 41 Quebec St. Guelph
Doors at 9:30 PM
All-ages/Licensed

$8 with non-perishable food item
$10 without

Tickets Available: 
The Bookshelf – 41 Quebec St. – Guelph
Orange Monkey – 005 Princess St. – Waterloo
CSA Office – University of Guelph – UC Room 274
(non-perishable food items will be accepted at ticket outlets)

All proceeds benefit Out on the Shelf
All food items collected will benefit the Guelph Food Bank.

musicprogramming [at] gmail [dot] com

 
UPCOMING KYEO SHOWS:
 
THURSDAY JUNE 24: JIM GUTHRIE & HIS LITTER – NATHAN LAWR & THE MINOTAURS @ Ebar – 10:00 PM – $8 w/food donation /$10 – AA/LIC benefit for: www.outontheshelf.ca