Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats @ The Phoenix, Wednesday

Watch Nathaniel Rateliff talk about his dreams, play a tiny desk concert and speak a little German below.

Fred Eaglesmith @ Steelworkers Hall, Friday

Here's Fred performing two old faves you probably won't hear at his Traveling Steam Show tonight. 

One For The Thanksgiving Weekend: Thelonious Monk

Here's some "Stuffy Turkey" courtesy of Charlie Rouse, Butch Warren, Ben Riley and Thelonious Monk. 

The Dirty Nil's long overdue debut album Higher Power out February 26

Watch Dave Dunham's video for No Weaknesses. The Dirty Nil play The Casbah in Hamilton December 27. 

B-side Wins Again: Kiki Gyan

Here's Kiki Gyan's 1979 floor filler "24 Hours In A Disco," the B-side of his Keep On Dancing 12" on Boom.

Luther Wright & The Wrongs CD Release @ The Cameron House, Wednesday

Luther Wright's cover of MeatDraw's "Old World" is off the new Hearts and Lonely Hunters CD available here.

Happy Birthday Betty Everett

Remembering Betty Everett with a couple of classics penned by P.F. Sloan and Van McCoy.

Nick Lowe vs. Dewey Balfa

George Jones' Don't Stop The Music makes for an intriguing cajun cover battle in which Dewey has the edge. 

One For The Weekend: KaS Product

Night Owl Festival w/ Tess Parks @ Adelaide Hall, Friday

Toronto's amazing Tess Parks launches the first night of Night Owl at Adelaide Hall starting at 9 pm sharp.

Night Owl at Adelaide Hall on Friday 
12:45AM - Christian Bland and The Revelators (Austin, TX) buzzed psychedelia http://on.fb.me/1Nx3li8 http://levitation-austin.com/artist/christian-bland-the-revelators/
"Daughters of The Sun"- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuj1qHNKWLY

12AM - Heaters (Grand Rapids, MI) holy water pool psych
http://on.fb.me/1Wg9UwX
http://www.thefader.com/2015/09/15/heaters-premiere-holy-water-pool
"Mean Green" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpNsB2p748o

11:15PM - Saffron Sect (Toronto) medieval pop
http://on.fb.me/1jOSvdU
https://weirdcanada.com/2015/02/new-canadiana-saffron-sect-pinch-of-chalk/ https://opticalsounds.bandcamp.com/track/pinch-of-chalk

10:30PM - Tess Parks (Toronto/UK) blood hot psych
http://tessparks.tumblr.com/
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jul/15/tess-parks-anton-newcombe-review-king-tuts-glasgow "Cocaine Cat" (w/ Anton Newcombe) - https://youtu.be/j8BfnbmSwgc

9:45PM - The Auras (Toronto) jangle psych
http://on.fb.me/208L1mu
https://theauras1.bandcamp.com

9PM - Mimico (Toronto) synth pop
http://on.fb.me/1Wga3Rg
https://mimico.bandcamp.com

Seattle's Night Beats will be previewing their new album Who Sold My Generation at the Horseshoe.

Night Owl at The Horseshoe on Saturday
12:45AM - Night Beats (Seattle, WA) soulful garage
http://on.fb.me/1S7UUvh
http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archives/2015/11/night_beats_rel_1.html
"Hex" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9DdlyRL9o4

12AM - L.A. WITCH (Los Angeles, CA) soothing psych
http://on.fb.me/1jOSLcL
http://pantheonmag.com/dark-distorted-witches-l-a-witch
"Get Lost" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgvLyU05asg

11:15PM - Mexican Slang (Toronto) atmospheric psych
http://on.fb.me/1MgHFDB
http://noisey.vice.com/blog/mexican-slang-fever-premiere
"Halcyon" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DU5uhW8TLy4

10:30PM - Hooded Fang (Toronto) garage punk
http://on.fb.me/1O5BqJn
"Ode To Subterrania" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ii9gtNGGzk4

9:45PM - B-17 (Toronto) drone psych
http://on.fb.me/1WgSP0A
http://exclaim.ca/music/article/b-17-raven_hair_video

9PM - Fill Spectre (Toronto) fuzz garage
http://on.fb.me/1k7zToQ
http://fillspectre.bandcamp.com/

Relax, kick back with yet another new Dale Watson album "Call Me Insane"

Some might call Dale crazy for issuing a new studio set just months after his third volume of trucker tunes.  

Courtney Barnett vs. Patti Smith

Check out Courtney Barnett's recent performance of "Redondo Beach" followed by Patti's version from 1976.

Happy Birthday Don Cherry!

Remembering jazz innovator Don Cherry with the haunting "Brown Rice" featuring Charlie Haden & Frank Lowe.

Flamin' Groovies @ The Horseshoe, Wednesday

Here are a couple of clips from the Groovies' recent appearance at Teatro Barcelo in Madrid. 

RIP PF Sloan, 1945-2015

Rock music's secret agent man PF Sloan lost his battle with pancreatic cancer on Sunday. He was 70.

Farewell High Lonesome Wednesdays w/ Crazy Strings @ Silver Dollar, November 18

Celebrate T.O.'s long-running old time roots music night with a High Lonesome hoedown on Wednesday.

Crazy Strings top gun Chris Quinn writes...


High Lonesome Wednesdays at The Silver Dollar is coming to an end on November 18, 2015.
The members of Crazy Strings, current and past, are a who’s who of influential bluegrass and old-time musicians. There are Juno awards, Canadian Bluegrass Awards, and many other backstories. The Foggy Hogtown Boys: Chris Coole, Andrew Collins, Max Heineman, John Showman, Chris Quinn; as well as guitarist Marc Roy have been the most current incarnation of Crazy Strings.

And among its longer tenured alumni are such stellar Canadian bluegrass & alt-country artists as:
- Joey Wright
- Jenny Whiteley
- Dottie Cormier
- Victor Bateman
- Brian Baron
- John McNaughton
- Dan Whiteley (co-founder)
- Stef Fantin (THE founder)

Stef Fantin – who passed away a few years ago – began High Lonesome with a casting call.
He wrote: "Hey people, I have been searching high and low, to find the right group of guys to get THE MUSIC out there... I have been playing pro since I was 17...(I) am at the point in my life where making a fortune and being famous are no longer part of (my) vision...the vision is to create new, creative life changing music, that will shake the foundations of this crazy life. Join me, and let's take this ride to the next level."

Bluegrass and old-time music are alive and well in Canada, Ontario, and Toronto. This may well be in some part to having had High Lonesome Wednesdays as part of our culture for the last 20 or so years. Come out and celebrate with us as we bring this substantial chapter to a close.

Thanks for listening.

Chris / Crazy Strings

Miriam Linna vs. Terry Reid

Miriam's version of The Hand Don't Fit The Glove is off her new album Down Today.

Legendary Jamaican artist Wilfred Limonious gets proper retrospective exhibition in UK

The sleeve art of Wilfred Limonious (left) has inspired numerous knock-offs like this cheeky El Malo homage.

IN FINE STYLE: THE DANCEHALL ART OF WILFRED LIMONIOUS

In Fine Style is the first solo retrospective of Wilfred Limonious (1949–1999), one of Jamaica's most prolific illustrators and designers, and father of what has become known as 'dancehall art'. Limonious is loved within reggae circles for his colourful, outrageous album jackets, and in Jamaica for his comic strips for the national newspapers, but virtually unknown in the wider art world.

Curated by Al Newman and Christopher Bateman, this exhibition explores Limonious' prolific output as an album jacket designer, as well as his cartoons for The Star and illustrations for Jamaica's national literacy programme, JAMAL. In putting together this exhibition and the accompanying book, the curators seek to promote and celebrate an artist and art form that currently lacks representation in mainstream galleries.

Al 'Fingers' Newman is a musician, DJ and cultural historian based in London. His previous books include Greensleeves The First 100 Covers (Stüssy), DPM, an Encyclopaedia of Camouflage (Maharishi) and Clarks in Jamaica (One Love Books). His recent exhibitions include Sound System Culture: Bristol (co-curator) and Art in the Dancehall (co-curator).

In Fine Style is currently on display at the New Art Exchange (39-41 Gregory Blvd, Nottingham, England) until January 3, 2016. For more information, check out the NAE site right here.

Happy Birthday Hampton Hawes!

Remembering pianist/keyboardist Hampton Hawes on his day with a stellar track featuring Carol Kaye. 

One For The Weekend: Dalton

"Alech" is the A side of Dalton's rare self-released single sold at shows in Tunisia.

Happy 70th Birthday Neil Young!

Here's Kevin Courrier's 1984 chat with Neil's dad, sports writer Scott Young on CJRT about his book Neil and Me. 

Daniel Romano @ The Mod Club, Wednesday

Here are a couple of Daniel Romano's recent performances on Netherlands public broadcaster VPRO.  

Catherine MacLellan sings Beneath The Lindens

When Catherine MacLellan returns to T.O., she won't be playing a barbershop – it'll be Hugh's Room December 14.

RIP Allen Toussaint, 1938-2015

Iconic New Orleans songwriter/pianist Allen Toussaint passed away on Monday after playing a concert in Spain.

Fadaul vs. James Brown

Fadaul has his own bag called "Sid Redad" but the James Brown inspiration is clear. 

Whaddya mean you don't know The Savoy's

Here's the Chicago garage gem "Can It Be" by The Savoy's from 1967 later covered by The Cheater Slicks.

Don't miss Wand @ Adelaide Hall, Tuesday

Here's Meghan Tryon's video for "Sleepy Dog" followed by solo acoustic session by Wand frontman Corey Hanson.

Dylan LeBlanc opening for Lera Lynn @ The Horseshoe, November 14

Here's Dylan LeBlanc on KCWI-TV in Des Moines followed by a clip of True Detective's Lera Lynn at HSB15.

B-Side Wins Again: Dave Clark Five

The flipside of the Dave Clark Five's jaunty Try Too Hard single is the unhinged rave-up All Night Long.

Philly's finest Low Cut Connie tear up The Drake Hotel, Saturday

Low Cut Connie's latest Hi Honey was produced by Thomas Brenneck and features Greg Cartwright.

Alex Pangman horses around in a doggone crazy new video for "It's Never Enough"

"It's Never Enough" is off Alex Pangman's swingin' album New (Justin Time) available through her site.

Long overdue debut album from Toronto production ace MoSS due November 13

Outside of his Toronto hometown, MoSS may be a new name to some in the hip hop game, but if you've heard Ghostface Killah's "Kilos" off Fishscale, Raekwon's "Have Mercy" from Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... Pt. II or Obie Trice's Special Reserve album, you'll know his production work.  Jason "MoSS" Connoy has been hard at work making others sound good for awhile now so he's overdue for a recording under his own handle. That album, Marching To The Sound Of My Own Drum, is now set for release on his own Moss Appeal Music label November 13 and features guest spots from Havoc (of Mobb Deep), Sean Price, Ill Bill, ONYX, AZ, Guilty Simpson, Inspectah Deck, Joe Budden & Joell Ortiz (of Slaughterhouse) and DJ Premier. Check out the track Boombastic w/ Slum Village below.



Initially breaking into the hip hop world with Obie Trice back in 2000, MoSS produced Obie's indie singles "Well Known" and "Mr. Trice" which eventually led to Obie's deal with Shady. Since then, MoSS has notably added a prog rock whump to tracks for Bounty Killa, M.O.P., Kool G. Rap, Ras Kass, Papoose, Boot Camp Clik, Big Shug etc.

Apart from the production skills which impressed DJ Premier enough to sign MoSS to his Works of Mart operation, he's also a serious record hound with a taste for esoteric psychedelia from far away lands. With assistance from his Toronto digger/dealer pal Gholam, MoSS reissued an Iranian psych curio from Tehran's The Jokers on the Fading Sunshine label around the same time that Now Again put out MoSS's excellent Southeast Asian 70s psych survey Those Shocking Shaking Days: Indonesian Hard, Psychedelic, Progressive Rock and Funk: 1970-1978.

The success of that massive project led to the formation of his own Strawberry Rain imprint to continue recirculating mind-melting psych oddities by such artists as AKA, Rictus, Blind Owl, Salty Dog, Benny Soebardja, ฅาราวาน, Leong Lau, Mar-Vista, Kelompok Kampungan, Survival, Keith Mlevhu and Abbhama with apparently more on the way. In the OnSMASH interview clips below shot circa 2009, MoSS talks about constantly growing vinyl stockpile and mentions that his debut album is "half finished" which suggests that Marching To The Sound Of My Own Drum has been in the works for at least six years.

Happy Birthday Harold McNair!

Remembering the great jazz flautist Harold McNair on his day with "The Hipster" from 1968.

One For The Weekend: De Frank & The Diggit Ways

Here's "Ayee Menko" off De Frank Kakrah's Dig This Way album on Homzy Records from 1977. 

MC Abdominal & DJ Format reppin' for mature b-boys on "We Say"

Toronto residents will recognize many of the locations used by director Dafydd Palfrey for the We Say clip. 

Catch MC Abs & DJ Format on tour in the UK

Nikki Lane @ The Silver Dollar, Friday

Country firecracker Nikki Lane's Toronto debut at the Silver Dollar on Friday should be a humdinger. 

Watch the new video for Michelle McAdorey's "Into Her Future"

Michelle McAdorey's new album Into Her Future is now available on CD and LP through her site. 

Following the release of Michelle McAdorey’s Into Her Future album last week, the former Crash Vegas singer is unveiling the new video for the title track, “Into Her Future.” Director Yuula Benivolski says the video was “shot in a wooded cabin filled with windows and mirrors and surrounded by milkweed. This film portrays a kid moving through an evocative northern landscape, observing and reflecting on their life passing by with the seriousness of an adult. As the sun sets on the white Ranchero parked out front the young actor does a perfect job channelling the spirit of photographer Francesca Woodman.”

Two and a half years in the making with longtime pal Greg Keelor (Blue Rodeo) behind the board, McAdorey's Into Her Future is the Toronto-based singer/songwriter's long overdue follow-up to 2003's Love Don't Change. She'll be presenting her latest work at Toronto's venerable Monarch Tavern (12 Clinton) on November 18 followed by a Hamilton show at the Casbah on December 3.  Here's Michelle's new video...

Sherlock's Martin Freeman stars in Paul Weller's new video for "Pick It Up"

"Pick It Up" is off Paul Weller's album Saturn's Pattern. Sherlock's The Abominable Bride episode airs January 1. 

Public Animal feat. Danko Jones @ The Bovine Sex Club on Halloween

A well disguised Danko Jones joined Public Animal on stage for a KISS cover Saturday night. 

Happy Birthday Rudy Van Gelder!

Here's a 22-minute documentary on the celebrated recording engineer followed by Thelonious Monk's tribute. 

Happy Birthday Lindy Morrison!

Here's a clip of the Go Betweens performing Cattle & Cane featuring Lindy's powerful drumming.