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Rick White is a Canadian musician and singer-songwriter, originally from Moncton, NB. He was a member of rock ‘n’ roll bands Eric’s Trip, Elevator (previously Elevator to Hell and Elevator Through), Perplexus, and The Unintended. Renowned for his DIY aesthetic, as both a musician and stunning visual artist, he has also recorded, written, and/or produced music for The Sadies, Orange Glass, Joel Plaskett, One Hundred Dollars, Dog Day and his Eric’s Trip bandmate Julie Doiron. White released his first solo self-titled album (under the moniker “RickWhiteAlbum”) in late 2005. He followed it with Memoreaper in 2007. White’s latest album, 137 is a double album and was released in 2009 on Blue Fog records.
One Hundred DollarsDubbed the urban denizens of Canada’s country music scene, One Hundred Dollars lends a window into what country music might have become had the industry not been overtaken by popular music production and trite subject matter. Simone Schmidt (voice), Ian Russell (accoustic guitar) and Stew Crookes (pedal steel) were set to release their first EP Hold It Together, in the summer of 2007, but leukemia got up in Russell’s blood. Holed up in the house for months together during the difficult chemotherapy protocol that followed, Schmidt and Russell took the time to craft more original tunes. Playing whenever the protocol allowed, they got a gig opening for Rick White (Eric’s Trip, Elevator), who invited them to record with him. Russell called on his former band mates from Jon-Rae & the River, David Clarke (the drums), Paul Mortimer, (bass- Kyle Porter took on bass duties in 2009, freeing Mortimer to assume his vocation as lead guitar) and Jonathan Adjemian (piano and organ) to lend some texture to the tunes.
The result was Forest of Tears, their first full length album on Blue Fog Recordings. Recorded in 13 hours at Elder Schoolhouse, Forest of Tears was long-listed for the Polaris Music Prize, and has garnered critical acclaim for its compelling story telling and masterful performances. Toronto Star’s Ben Rayner comments, “Forest of Tears heralds the arrival of Schmidt as a preternaturally gifted singer and lyricist, and of Russell as perhaps the only extant songwriting foil with the talent to make her dense, poetic diction sound effortlessly musical.” Critics have given One Hundred Dollars’ kind of country the prefixes “alt -“, “traditional”, “psych-“, “real,” alike, serving as testament to the band’s ability to draw all audiences- even those who think they hate Country – into the genre. The band has comfortably shared bills with Hardcore punk phenom Fucked Up, country roots songstress, Carolyn Mark, indie rock matriarch Julie Doiron and orchestral pop icon Owen Pallett[/b].
The band is currently working on a new album while releasing a series of singles as part of their “Regional 7 Inch” project. It sees vinyl 45’s released throughout the continent – the songs focus on subject matter that is regionally relevant to the place out of which the label is based. They are touring all over North America.
Richard Laviolette & The Oil SpillsRichard Laviolette writes a hundred songs a year. Songs of clever, heartfelt, rolling lyrics, sung in a strong, full voice. Echo and melody. Laviolette’s voice is a deep well of water. His lyrics are brilliant scraps of paper. Letters written home. He sings about death, anti-colonial struggle and long distance relationships.
All Your Raw Materials is Laviolette’s fourth album, and his first with The Oil Spills. Originally released independently on CD in September, 2009, the album was recorded live-off-the-floor at the legendary House of Miracles in London, ON the previous summer. Earlier this year, You’ve Changed Records was happy to make this album widely available and to offer it for the first time on LP.
The Oil Spills are Geordie Gordon (The Magic, Barmitzvah Brothers, Islands), Meredith Grant, Greg Denton, Mike Brooks (Gregory Pepper and his Problems, Kae Sun), Lisa Bozikovic, Matt Reeves, and Jenny Mitchell (Barmitzvah Brothers, The Burning Hell, Jenny Omnichord). This highly talented cast step up to the plate and deliver a darling country album inspired by a childhood full of waking up on weekends to country, gospel, and bluegrass records blasting from the living room, records such as George Jones, Tammy Wynette, The Judds, Dolly Parton, Roger Miller, Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, Bob Wills, Neil Young’s ‘Old Ways’, and The Nitty Gritty Dirtband’s ‘Will the Circle Be Unbroken’.
Close your eyes and think of an ancient time when your word was only as good as your unwavering instinct to capitalize. The bridge that you must cross to meet your means to continue forward is governed only by the vulnerable sincerity in your desire to touch a soul and lift a spirit. For Mike O’Brien and Carlin Nicholson, a destined musical pairing known as Zeus, their new lofty pop and roll offering plans to do just that. For two kindred music men who feed on studio termites and work out the kinks on late night streetcar rides, there is only one who provides the force and guidance required to spawn such a special contribution. A force of nature that has been a spontaneous and spiritual ascension through the changing seasons of 2007/2008 Mike O’Brien and Carlin Nicholson came together as natural as do the pages of time turn. When they met in 1996, an unavoidable and uncontrollable musical field fire broke out. Over time and several separate musical endeavors, the persevering blaze pushed them to the edge of their own creative limits, presenting them together again, fiery-eyed and ready at the foot of the gate that would behold the kingdom of Zeus. There, they were to willingly or unwillingly occupy this land as a counter melody to the song of the mighty one, eventually assuming their inherent roles now commonly known as the “Zeus Twins”. Soon after creating their first compositions, they were humbly presented to the mighty one, and He was pleased. And so it went, in its carefree and whimsical antic, the days spent here filled them with poignant melodies and shocking musical arrangements. Feeding off of each other’s incredible productivity rate and their want to please, the twins do most everything together. Writing, arranging and recording in their own studio, sealed by a tight and thick brozone layer. This is a natural walk of life for the boys. The first recordings of the Zeus project came about without anticipation, agenda or even structure. Furiously and expeditiously, with the help of a tightly knit and brotherly foundation, the boys forged a bundle of compositions that now await the imminent approval of their higher power, which will then be unleashed unto the world, as Zeus. Mike and Carlin have spread their music to the world in other creative band efforts as well. Trading under the names the 6ixty 8ights, Paso Mino, and merging with friend strengths, the Golden Dogs and Major Grange, Zeus now bears the accumulated fruits of these experiences, but with something magical added. Mike and Carlin have discovered that for their particular brand of pop that rocks in the city (with a mistress in the country), there is only one way. Teamed up in managerial status with roots legend Jason Collett, Zeus plans to spread their words and music to the masses late this year. Giving a new twist to a good ol’ rock n’ roll sound with songs that hit you on impact, Zeus will occupy a presence that has been dormant since the golden age of precious melodies and 45s. Continuing on as naturally as when it began, bred from the love of music and symbiotic intuition, this undeniable body of work will crash down on traditional melody gluttons and hipsters alike, leaving non-believers to stand in the shadowed corners of Zeus’ musical gymnasium to look but not touch. The sky has opened for Zeus, making it a passage, not a limit. The enlightened, who knowingly follow, will be given the key. They will bask in the decorated lands of inspiration, with songs that have the strength to move mountains and the longevity to harvest seasonal desire. The electric bolt of Zeus is now pointed at us all. Time will wield his way.
METZToronto based noise-makers METZ demonstrate dangerously delicious, deliberately dogmatic delicacies of disturbing distortion. Their dour dedication to drastically disparate dissonance is delightfully documented on the dumbfounding discs “Soft Whiteout”/Lump Sums 7” and “Ripped on the Fence”/Dry Up 7” deservedly distributed daily by WE ARE BUSY BODIES. METZ are the best band in Toronto today.
PS I Love YouPS I Love You has been performing in Kingston, Ontario since 2006. The band was originally the solo vehicle for multi-instrumentalist Paul Saulnier. Paul has performed in everything from a country-rock band to improvised noise duo. PS I Love You was intended to be his experimental, sort of weird pop music outlet. He would play shows with guitar looping pedals and keyboards and lots and lots of gadgets and gimmicks. He later recruited Benjamin Nelson on drums to replace the often inconsistent Casio drum machine and was probably the best decision of Paul’s young adult life. All of a sudden PS I Love You’s weird little songs were becoming mini, soaring rock anthems! Soon thereafter, they formed a strong friendship with John O’ Regan (Diamond Rings, The D’urbervilles). The band soon released the split 7″ inch single with Diamond Rings,’ “All Yr Songs” as the a-side and PS I Love You’s “Facelove” as the b-side. The single saw an amazing response, and eventually sold out. The singles success took the young band by surprise. Soon thereafter, folks outside of Kingston began demanding the band travel and perform. This marked a new beginning for PS I Love You. They are are now a fully realized duo, and released their critically acclaimed debut album, Meet Me at the Muster Station earlier this year.
Special Guest:
DJ Charless
Wednesday December 15 & Thursday December 16, 2010
The Ebar 41 Quebec St. Guelph
Doors at 9:30 PM BOTH NIGHTS
All-ages/Licensed BOTH NIGHTS
$10 with non-perishable food item / $12 without
SEPARATE TICKET CHARGES FOR EACH INDIVIDUAL NIGHT
Tickets Available:
The Bookshelf – 41 Quebec St. – Guelph
Orange Monkey – 005 Princess St. – Waterloo
(non-perishable food items will be accepted at ticket outlets)
Proceeds benefit The Canadian Cancer Society towards leukemia research in memory of Sharon Marshall.
All food items collected will benefit the Guelph Food Bank.
musicprogramming [at] gmail [dot] com
UPCOMING KYEO/CSA SHOWS:
