Toronto's primo blues rockers Catl. feel the spirit on Catl's Country Gospel Hour

Catl. kicks off a series of digital singles with updates of heavenly gems from The Louvin Brothers and Carter Family. 

In advance of Catl's upcoming European tour, Toronto's favourite blues bashers are sharing a digital single of their Catl-ized versions of two country gospel tunes "Satan's Jeweled Crown" by the Louvin Brothers and "No Telephone In Heaven" popularized by the Carter Family. Have a listen to Catl's update of "Satan's Jeweled Crown" right here and "No Telephone In Heaven" right here. 

 

Before any nasty rumours start spreading, it should be made clear that Catl's dynamic duo of Jamie & Sarah didn't "get religion" during the pandemic. Although their time away from the stage did present the opportunity to listen to more vintage country and blues recordings which they found inspiring. And just as many of their favourite purveyors of "the devil's music" – namely Charley Patton, Son House, Mississippi Fred McDowell, and Washington Phillips – also dabbled in the spiritual realm, Catl like to keep all the bases covered. In fact, they've previously recorded a version of Phillips' "Keys to The Kingdom" for their 2018 album Bide My Time Until I Die (available here) and they also did "He'll Make A Way" by Robert Johnson (the other one, documented by George Mitchell) for 2012's Soon This Will All Be Gone (get it here). 

Explains Jamie: "During the Covid lockdown, Sarah and I were buying and listening to a lot of country music. I've always loved gospel music and how it's structured to 'uplift' people out of their troubles and embrace the 'spirit' (which can be interpreted differently from person to person). Also, how it balances with blues music.

"Since we haven't had a practice space in years,  playing drums loudly was not an option. Sarah switched back to her original instrument, the organ, and we started working on a gospel/country set. A handful of songs were recorded over a three-day session during June of 2023 in the French countryside near Rennes, where our label Beast Records resides. More tracks were cut with Franck Thareault at his home studio called Fly House Records. 

"Initially our plan was to make this a series of singles, with future releases would share the same theme. Not sure if we would ever play these songs live, but it's been a nice side distraction learning songs from the old country catalogue.  

"If we get an album's worth of material covered we're gonna consider a physical release, but for now we're sharing the first two songs, "Satan's Jeweled Crown" by the Louvin Brothers and "No Telephone in Heaven" by The Carter Family."

Check out Catl's versions of "Satan's Jeweled Crown" and "No Telephone in Heaven" right now on your streaming platform of choice.

You can catch Catl. at Castro's Lounge (2116 Queen St. East) on Saturday (May 18) before they ship out overseas for their European barnstorming tour of Finland, France Germany and Belgium this June (see dates below). Those interested can check out the Louvin Brothers' 1958 recording of "Satan's Jeweled Crown" and the Carter Family's 1929 recording of "No Telephone In Heaven"

Andy Maize shares "You Knock Me Out" from his Goldslinger EP

Cheers to Andy Maize of the Skydiggers on his 65th birthday! Check out two songs from his new Goldslinger EP out now! 

You can get Andy Maize's new Goldslinger EP via your streaming service of choice right here: https://eek.lnk.to/AMGold. 

One For The Weekend: Beachwood Sparks

Check out "Falling Forever" off the new Beachwood Sparks album, Across The River of Stars out July 19.   Photo: Kathleen Nicholson

Here's the scoop...

Beachwood Sparks recently announced their return after a 12-year hiatus with a new album, 'Across The River Of Stars,' (out July 19th via Curation Records – pre-order it right here) and they've just shared a new single,"Falling Forever," catapulting listeners into a sonic odyssey, echoing the cosmic fervour of The Byrds' legendary sound. Conjuring a kaleidoscope of melodies, weaving intricate harmonies reminiscent of the timeless magic of "Notorious Byrd Brothers," their eagerly anticipated album was produced by Chris Robinson (of The Black Crowes), a stalwart champion of the band, and the track is a testament to timeless psychedelia, jangle and gratitude in a 3-minute pop song.

 

Across The River Of Stars

 

Forming in the summer swelter of 1997 — built on the bones of Further and Strictly Ballroom — Beachwood Sparks stood among the charmed few who picked up the yoke left loose as Alt-Country’s early ‘90s wave crested and cooled. 

While the whole world was wrapped in pop, nu-metal, and indie rock, Beachwood Sparks were aloft on winds with The Byrds, weaving harmonies like Starry Eyed and Laughing, and lost in the heat-ripple haze with the Flying Burritos. 

To the uninitiated they’d seemed out of step, but to those who’d already been scanning the Cosmic channels, waiting for kindred hearts to answer the call, they were far ahead of their time. The Cosmic American tide has finally caught up to their curl in the last few years, and it seems like it’s finally just the time and place for Beachwood Sparks to assume their rightful place at the forefront of the new wave of psychedelic country.  

 

Some heads were always clued in. Sharp ears at Sub Pop picked the band up after their debut single on Bomp! and set sail the journey of Cali’s most consistent sunbeam surfers. The group stuck out like a wild hair on the Sub Pop roster, but as the label eased into their reputation as indie rock’s rudder in the early aughts, the band laid down a celebrated string of albums — S/T (2000), Once We Were Trees (2001) and the EP Make The Cowboy Robots Cry (2002) — before slipping into the ether in favor of new projects like All Night Radio, Mystic Chords of Memory, and GospelbeacH. They’d return to form, and their home at Sub Pop, after a decade away for The Tarnished Gold (2012) and revisit some early material on Desert Skies for Alive (2013). Now the band’s three founders — Brent Rademaker, Chris Gunst, and Farmer Dave Scher —  return to the fold once more for a new album that’s just in time to sweeten the Summer air. 

 

The band hunkered down at John Dwyer’s Discount Mirrors Studios in Los Angeles. Producer Chris Robinson (The Black Crowes, The Chris Robinson Brotherhood) along with renowned house engineer Eric Bauer (Ty Segall, Osees) helped the band give their sound a fresh salt scrub, tacking the sails into those requisite warm winds once more. A few more familiar names entered the studio as well, with Benjamin Knight (The Tyde) adding guitar, Andres Renteria (John Dwyer’s Bent Arcana) laying down the drums, Jen Cohen Gunst (Mystic Chords of Memory, The Aislers Set) on keys, and Clay Finch (Mapache) peppering in background vocals. The mix of friends and family (and friends who feel like family) helps add to the warmth and ease of the album. The band has long captured a kind of California ideal, and as we slip into Across The River of Stars, it still feels like a place where the days never end, the sun never burns, and the crash of waves lulls the listener into a place of peace. 

 

From the backstage stomp and dance floor romp of “My Love My Love” the band sets the scene, flings open the shutters, and lets the amp-fried goodness roll out into the streets. The album captures classic shades of Beachwood bliss — lovelorn yearning, now underpinned with Jen’s keys (“Torn In Two,” “Faded Glory”), last call crooners that slip over the horizon with the final rays of sun (“High Noon”) and a classic stacked-harmony hummer that reaches back to the haze and humidity of the Once We Were Trees era. While feeling at ease on the shelf alongside your copies of Rose City Band, Silver Synthetic, Color Green, The Hanging Stars, or any of the newer guard on Rademaker’s Curation Records, the band keeps one foot in classic territory and another just past the modern mirage. Far from following any trend, the band are keepers of the flame. Beachwood Sparks long ago entered the pantheon of country-psych’s headiest hitters, but with Across The River of Stars, they prove that they’re luminaries and leaders of a sound that still soaks the soul in the sublime.  - Andy French, 2024 

 

GBV previews new Strut of Kings album with "Cavemen Running Naked"

Guided By Voices' "Strut of Kings" album is out June 28th which you can pre-order here. Check out "Cavemen Running Naked" 

Guitar Wolf rocks Lee's Palace, Saturday

Guitar Wolf's long overdue return to Toronto on Saturday night promises to be a typically unhinged jet-rock 'n' roll blowout.  

T.O. guitar slinger Nichol Robertson releases Mimico Moonlight LP @ The Cameron, Friday

Nichol Robertson is joined by The Sadies' Mike Belitsky & Sean Dean on "Mimico Moonlight" – check the title tune.  Photo: Laura Proctor

Here's the scoop...

Nichol Robertson is a Canadian roots music guitarist, born and raised in Toronto, Ontario.  Equally at home melting faces with his high octane guitar onslaught as he is gently picking Hawaiian tunes for background ambience at the local bar, Nichol Robertson is a sonic painter with an ear for Bob Ross-esque aural landscapes. From twangy melodies echoing The Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet to B-bender shredding reminiscent of the late Clarence White, his six-string technique is very impressive. 

Robertson's first solo album was the critically acclaimed “Stranger Things” released back in 2011, long before that show. His latest opus “Mimico Moonlight” – recorded with his Honkytonk Boogaloo band cohorts, drummer Mike Belitsky  & bassist Sean Dean of The Sadies – is out Friday (May 17th). While 13 years between releases might seem a bit long, Robertson has spent that time working on countless projects including but not limited to The Layrite Boys, The Hulagoons, Thelonious Hank, Nic & the Narcs, Robertson & Kerr and Snowbird when he isn't accompanying rising country stars or recording viral videos with his family band, The Robinson'sons. 

Get a copy of Nichol Robertson's Mimico Moonlight album on vinyl right here. 

Nichol is launching the vinyl version of his Mimico Moonight album in the back room of The Cameron House on Friday (May 17) at 7:30 pm surrounded by the oil paintings of the multi-talented Sean Dean. Check out the title track from "Mimico Moonlight" below or stream it here. 

 

Happy Birthday Ray Condo!

Remembering the late great Ray Condo with a raucous performance at The Horseshoe and a 2000 spot on The CBS Early Show. 

Whaddya mean you don't know The Treasures

Fargo's Paul Hubbard, Jerry Jacobson, Don Formanek and Neil Olsen cut the surf instro "Minor Chaos" as The Treasures in 1964.

UK dark-folk ace Simon Finn and Mexico's Los Dug Dugs to play Million Tongues Fest

Psych fans will be descending on Chicago for the 20th Anniversary edition of the Million Tongues Fest on August 15 & 16.

Here's the scoop from Steven Krakow...

Ok Folks, This is a BIG ONE!! After MUCH planning, I can finally announce....

The 20th Anniversary Celebration of Million Tongues Festival at Empty Bottle!

Yes, for you younger heads, my very first Million Tongues fest was wayyyy back in 2004, and featured a VERY rare appearance by 70s UK dark-folk legend, Simon Finn (of Pass the Distance fame)--as well as astral folk vagabond Josephine Foster, avant goddesses Spires That in the Sunset Rise, and when legendary Deviants frontman Mick Farren canceled last second, my band instead ended up backing local legends like Christopher Connelly (of Ministry/Sons of the Silent Age/Rev Co), for a rousing "Proto/spacepunk cover set"

ALL THIS IS HAPPENING AGAIN AND THEN SOME!! 

The fest has always had a tradition of hosting international "cult/underground legacy" artists like Terry Reid, Keiji Haino, Bert Jansch, Acid Mothers, Mark Fry, LSD March, and Michael Chapman, and this fest is no exception—with the second-ever Chicago appearance of exalted Mexican 70s psych-rockers Los Dug Dug's! Thrilled to also have the long-awaited return of Windy City hallucinogenic hellions, The Great Society Mind Destroyers, who played MT eons back with literal cult-rockers Ya Ho Wha 13 of the Source Family. Folk/drone has a rich history with the Tongues, with past fests featuring Tony Conrad, Peter Walker, Cave, Mark Fosson, Ruthann Friedman, Jack Rose, Espers, Fursaxa, Charalambides, 6 Organs, and now the acclaimed Eli Winter. If that wasn't enough, the genius sike-tunesmiths The Joy Poppers with Tom Szidon and Jason Batchko are back for a rare side set, as well as the esteemed William Vermette, who has been crafting synth soundscapes since the 70s. There'll be psychoactive/rare record dealers too, and mind-expanding visuals courtesy of Interstellar Space Records. There's discounted 2 day passes too, so miss this hoo hah at your own peril (your spiritual growth might be stunted forever). Major thanks to sponsors Daze Off and there just MIGHT be more fest-related haps being announced soon, so stay tuned in and turned on...

Get tickets for the 20th Anniversary Million Tongues Festival's opening night Thursday (August 15) at Chicago's Empty Bottle (1135 N. Western) headlined by Simon Finn right here and for the Friday (August 16) show headlined by Los Dug Dugs over here. Those wishing to attend both nights can also get a special rate two-night pass right here. Check out Simon Finn and Los Dug Dugs in action below.  

Colombian Codiscos gems uncovered for Cumbia Cumbia Cumbia!!!, Vol. 2

Another batch of rare Colombian cumbia cookers have been unearthed for the second volume of Cumbia Cumbia Cumbia!!! 

Here's the scoop...

The second volume of VampiSoul's brilliant Colombian archival series "Cumbia Cumbia Cumbia!!!" series presents a mind-melting selection of 28 vintage dancefloor-ready cumbia bangers from deep in vaults of Codiscos and associated labels Costeño, Zeida and Famoso, all of them originally released between 1962 and 1983. "Cumbia Cumbia Cumbia!!!" combines well-known classics and rarities that are difficult to find in their original formats. An invitation to enjoy and be amazed, above and beyond ethnographic and academic concerns. 

Get a copy of the 2 LP version of Cumbia Cumbia Cumbia!!! Vol. 2 and listen to a few snippets via Bandcamp right here. Check the impressive track listing below followed by a couple of classics from Hermanos Martello and Antonio Leon y su Conjunto.  

Cumbia Cumbia Cumbia!!! Vol. 2 

Side A 1. LOS HERMANOS MARTELO - CUMBIA CIENAGUERA 2. LOS TROTAMUNDOS - CUMBIA PORTEÑA 3. ANTONIO LEON Y SU CONJUNTO - CUMBIA TRISTE 4. ANTOLIN Y SU COMBO ORENSE - EL PAJARO MILANO 5. FRANCISCO ZAPATA - UNA CUMBIA PARA MARIA6. CRESCENCIO SALCEDO - TIPICISMO 7. SONIDOS DE GAMERO - LA CUMBIA DEL NEGRO 

Side B 1. LOS TEEN AGERS - CUMBIA SOBRE EL MAR 2. MIGUEL VILLALBA Y SU CONJUNTO - CUMBIA MANGUELITERA 3. CALIXTO OCHOA - EL INDIO MAPUCHI 4. ALFREDO GUTIÉRREZ Y LOS CAPORALES DEL MAGDALENA - RASPACANILLA 5. EL MICHI Y SU COMBO BRAVO - ANTONIA 6. LOS GRADUADOS - ALUMBRA LUNA 7. GABRIEL MESA - LA LUNA Y EL PESCADOR

Side C 1. ADOLFO PACHECO Y SU CONJUNTO - PAJARO MACUA 2. EL CONJUNTO MIRAMAR - CUMBIA DEL SOL 3. EL COMBO CIENAGUERO - FIESTA DE CUEROS 4. LA SONORA UNIVERSITARIA - MARGOT 5. ORQUESTA DE MARCIAL MARCHENA - LINA 6. RITA FERNANDEZ - LLORA SU PENA 7. JAIME LLANO GONZALEZ - CUMBIA EN DOMINANTE

Side D 1. LOS ARKO - CUMBIA BOGOTANA 2. ANICETO MOLINA Y SU CONJUNTO - CUMBIA CANDELA 3. LOS BOBBY SOXERS - CUMBIA SABROSONA 4. CATALINO Y SU COMBO NEGRO - CUMBIA MONTAÑERA 5. LA CUMBIA MODERNA DE SOLEDAD - CUMBIA SOLEDEÑA 6. ALEJANDRO BERNAL - AL COMPAS DE LAS POLLERAS 7. GRUPO LA DROGA - LA CHICHARRA

Happy Birthday Pete Wiggs!

Celebrating the birthday of Saint Etienne's Pete Wiggs with an interview and "We've Got The Moves" 

Saxphonist Joe McPhee shares his poetry on Musings of a Bahamian Son

Joe McPhee is joined by fellow saxophonist Ken Vandermark to duet during nine interludes between his poems. 

Here's the scoop...

Joe McPhee is one of the great multi-instrumentalists of contemporary improvised music. His instrumental battery has included saxophones, clarinets, valve trombone, pocket trumpet, sound-on-sound tape recorder, and space organ, but another arrow in his quiver is text. McPhee has been writing poems since the 1970s. He occasionally introduces one into performance, as an introduction or afterword to music, and in recent years he's been known to do full-on readings, text only, featuring his inimitable sense of dramatic timing intoned in his rich voice. The poems range from the observational to the political to the surreal. They're composed in rhyme or according to an internal rhythm, sometimes utterly prosaic, sometimes fantastic and flamboyant. A few of them capture the immediacy of improvised music more acutely than any critical writing on the subject, his half-century immersion in the craft of free music having given him a bottomless cup to draw on and his sensitivity to the nuances of language providing a host of palpable metaphors and metonyms, similes and strophes. 

The poems are marvels on the page, but they really take flight in McPhee's mouth. In 2021, during a flurry of pandemic-inspired poetic activity, he traveled to Chicago expressly to record a program of his poems. For the studio date, he invited saxophonist and clarinetist Ken Vandermark to play duets as interludes between groupings of the poems. Then Vandermark, engineer Alex Inglizian, and the CvsD team sat breathless in the Experimental Sound Studio control room as McPhee proceeded to perform his poetry nonstop and without repetition for nearly two hours. The result is Musings of a Bahamian Son, the first full-length release dedicated to McPhee's writing, with 27 poems interspersed with nine musical interludes and a postlude. 

This CD release anticipates the forthcoming McPhee memoir, Straight Up, Without Wings: The Musical Flight of Joe McPhee, written with Mike Faloon, a book that will be published in the fall by CvsD. 

Get a digital copy of Joe McPhee's Musings of a Bahamian Son via Bandcamp where you can listen to a few excerpts right here.

CD available at found.ee/Musings from May 12th. 

Listen to Joe McPhee Po Music perform "The Lonely Woman" from 2012 below.  

B-Side Wins Again: Rubye Shelton with Sister Orr

Rubye Shelton was a street corner-style gospel evangelist working in the Detroit area connected with the COGIC. 

Listen to "The Hypocrite" by Rubye Shelton with musical accompaniment provided by Sister Orr right here. 

William Parker Organ Quartet's album Uncle Joe's Spirit House gets vinyl release

A long overdue vinyl pressing of  Uncle Joe's Spirit House was made for William Parker's Baltimore show on May 19th. 

Here's the scoop...

A simply gorgeous soul-jazz organ quartet album that hearkens back to early-mid 60s sessions of similar form; fully revitalized by bassist William Parker's indelible compositions and the generous musical gifts of tenor saxophonist Darryl Foster, organist Cooper-Moore and drummer Gerald Cleaver. A straight-up joy.

This very special project was produced by William Parker for his own Centering Records imprint, and dedicated to his Aunt Carrie Lee & Uncle Joe (pictured on album cover). It was created to celebrate the occasion of their 65th wedding anniversary on August 6th, 2010. William really wanted to get this album finished in time to gift to them for that auspicious date, and he did! He wrote seven of the songs in Dec 2009 toward the Jan 2010 recording session; "Ennio's Tag" and "Oasis" were previously written and they fit in perfectly.

The 9-song CD was officially released on Centering Records in October 2010.  Two pressings were made, and have long sold out. The special one-time only 6-song LP pressing (with digital download coupon for all nine tracks) was made in time for the family celebration / Organ Quartet performance on May 19, 2024 at An Die Musik in Baltimore. Get a vinyl copy of Uncle Joe's Spirit House from Aum Fidelity right here. Have a listen below. 

"A family thing. And a lot more than that: one of the great bassist’s most joyful, sunshine-filled records. An album of very accessible creative jazz with irresistible grooves. A federating record. A gem."

–Monsieur Délire blog, François Couture

"Though mysticism and spirituality play a hand in his expansive aesthetic, so do earthly concerns like social justice and family. Uncle Joe's Spirit House is a deeply personal offering from a musician whose role as a scene leader and social activist is as significant as his instrumental prowess." –All About Jazz, Troy Collins

"The music flows like a deep and powerful river."

–Music and More, Tim Niland

"For a guy who’s rightly regarded as a load-bearing column holding up much of the New York avant-jazz scene, bassist William Parker records some remarkably mainstream-friendly albums. Don’t let this disc pass you by. It’s emotional, hard-grooving, occasionally abstract but often raw and bluesy music that shakes hands with the past before striding confidently into the future."

–Burning Ambulance, Phil Freeman 

William Parker Organ Quartet – Uncle Joe's Spirit House

1. Uncle Joe's Spirit House - 09:01

2. Jacques' Groove - 02:13

3. Ennio's Tag - 05:41

4. Document for LJ - 10:44

5. Let's Go Down to the River - 07:19

6. Buddha's Joy - 08:47

7. The Struggle - 08:46

8. Theme for the Tasters - 07:47

9. Oasis - 04:12

LP edition

Side A:  Ennio's Tag / Let's Go Down to the River / Buddha's Joy

Side B: Uncle Joe's Spirit House / Jacques' Groove / The Struggle

* and includes download card for all 9 tracks as originally released on CD

Happy Birthday Richard Brooks of The Impressions, Brooks Brothers, Bits N'Pieces

Richard Brooks (front left) can be heard on The Impressions' 1961 hit "Gypsy Woman" and left to form the Brooks Brothers. 

Noelle & The Deserters preview debut LP with "Watching Billboards Change"

Noelle & The Deserters put the "western" back in C&W on High Desert Daydream out May 31 via Speakeasy Studios SF.

Here's the scoop...

"High Desert Daydream" is Noelle & The Deserters debut album, out May 31, 2024 on Speakeasy Studios SF. The songs on the album, written by singer-songwriter Noelle Fiore, touch on life in the west, growing up in Taos, living in California, songs of love, memory, marriage, work, good times, and bad times. Like all classic country music, the songs are infused with a sense of real-life struggles and living life in the everyday. Noelle’s voice and stories carry the album, and her songs are at once moving, powerful, tender, humorous, and intimately relatable. 

The Deserters include seasoned players Graham Norwood (Bryan Scary, Graham Norwood) on lead guitar and backup vocals, Alicia Vanden Heuvel (The Aislers Set) on bass, David Cuetter (Tarnation) on pedal steel, and Jerry Fiore (Sonic Love Affair) on drums, all based in the Bay Area and Sacramento. With guest appearances by Anna Hillburg on Trumpet, Joel Robinow on organ, piano and accordian, Jacob Aranda on mandolin and violin, and Russell Tillitt on organ. Plus dogs Levi and Delta on Barks. 

Produced by Noelle Fiore and Alicia Vanden Heuvel (The Aislers Set), “High Desert Daydream” feels country, yet of the west, of California and New Mexico, of experimental fronts in country music, and is truly a work of beauty. The album was engineered and mixed by Peter Craft at Boxer Lodge in Angwin, California in late 2023, during a five day recording session.

Pre-order a copy of Noelle & The Deserters' "High Desert Daydream" via Bandcamp right here. Check out the videos for "Watching Billboards Change" and "Born In The Morning" along with a performance of "Canyon" shot at the El Cortez Theatre following the track listing below. 

Noelle & The Deserters – High Desert Daydream

1. Born In The Morning

2. Church Of Dog

3. Our Love's Got A Cold

4. Taos

5. A Way Back

6. Some Men

7. Watching Billboards Change

8. Canyon

9. Now I've Got You

10. Wonder Why I Wander

Happy Mother's Day from Grey DeLisle

Watch the video for "Don't Let Go Of My Hand" off Grey DeLisle's forthcoming self-titled double album. 

Writes Grey...

"I wrote a song for the woman who raised me called “Don’t Let Go Of My Hand”. It’s the new single from my upcoming double album “Grey DeLisle” and a limited number of downloads are available exclusively through https://goodtunesstore.com/grey"

R.I.P. "King of Cult Films" Roger Corman, 1926-2024

Sadly, filmmaker Roger Corman – who launched the career of numerous directors and actors – has passed away at the age of 98. 

Watch Joe Ely on Boston's Five All Night Live in 1981

Check out Joe Ely's interview and performance on Boston's late night TV show Five All Night Live back in 1981.  

Celebrating 100 years of trumpeter Oscar Valdambrini

Remembering Italian jazz trumpeter Oscar Valdambrini – chillin' Billie Holiday in Milan (above) – with a few stellar performances

Portland's Jenny Don't & The Spurs share "Pain In My Heart" and play Toronto in June!

Jenny Don't & The Spurs' new album Broken Hearted Blue is out June 14th. They hit The Bovine on June 10th! 

Writes Jenny...

Yeehaw! Our new video for "Pain in My Heart" is out now, featuring footage from our sold-out show earlier this month! Thanks for being there everyone!

This track is a highlight from our upcoming album,  and we're thrilled to finally be able to share it with you! Special shoutout to Rusty Blake, who's featured on the recording playing pedal steel, and Colin Hegna for producing/recording.  It was a blast working together!

A huge thank you to @xmattmayhemx for capturing the magic of the night and bringing this song to life on screen. ⭐️

Head over to our website (https://www.jennydontandthespurs.com) to pre-save our album,  Broken Hearted Blue - coming out June 14th on Fluff & Gravy Records. 

Check out "Pain In My Heart" and "You're What I Need" followed by a list of upcoming tour dates which includes a Toronto show at The Bovine with Gregory Childs & Heart Lung and Sleepy Jean on June 10th! 

You can also get Jenny Don't & The Spurs' Broken Hearted Blue LP from Fluff & Gravy right here. 

 

Jenny Don't and the Spurs on tour

5/16  WILD BUFFALO - BELLINGHAM, WA  w/ @wearelipstitch

5/17  GREEN AUTO - VANCOUVER, BC - w/ @viciouscyclesmc @thegunghos

5/18  FISHERMAN'S VILLAGE FEST - EVERETT, WA  w/ @drivebytruckers

5/19  OPEN SPACE - VASHON ISLAND, WA w/ @kimmibitter @millercampbellmusic

5/23  CRAVIN' GRAVY SOCIAL CLUB - PORTLAND, OR

5/24  NYNE - SPOKANE, WA w/ @silvertreason

5/25  PUB STATION - BILLINGS, MT

5/26  MATTHEWS OPERA HOUSE - SPEARFISH, ND  

5/28  UPTOWN VFW - MINNEAPOLIS, MN  w/ @colediamondmusic

5/29  RACOON MOTEL - DAVENPORT, IA w/ @iris.marlow

5/30  FITZGERALD'S SIDEBAR - BERWYN, IL 

5/31  LAMPLIGHT SESSIONS - MOSINEE, WI  

6/1  ROCK N' ROLL LAND - GREEN BAY WI

6/3  HIGH NOON SALOON - MADISON, WI

6/4  LAW OFFICE PUB -YORKVILLE, IL

6/5  PYRAMID SCHEME - GRAND RAPIDS, MI w/ @thebootstrapboys

6/6  LAGER HOUSE - DETROIT, MI

6/7  FRANKIE'S - TOLEDO, OH

6/8  BEACHLAND BALLROOM - CLEVELAND, OH

6/9  BUG JAR - ROCHESTER, NY

6/10  THE BOVINE - TORONTO, ON w/ Gregory Childs & Heart Lung, Sleepy Jean

6/11  CABARET FOUF - MONTREAL, QC w/ @bloodshotbill

6/12  JIMMY'S JAZZ & BLUES CLUB - PORTSMOUTH, NH

6/13  HAWKS AND REED - GREENFIELD, MA

6/14  FUZE BOX 12 - ALBANY, NY

6/15  GALACTIC THEATRE - WARREN, RI w/ @kingsickabilly 

6/16  CAFE NINE - NEW HAVEN, CT

6/17  THE MERCURY LOUNGE - NEW YORK, NY

6/19  COBRA CABANA - RICHMOND, VA

6/20  CLUB CAFE - PITTSBURG, PA w/ @odaveshepherd

6/21  RUMBA CAFE - COLUMBUS, OH

6/23  MOTOBLOT - CHICAGO, IL w/ @reverendhortonheat @ichi_bons @messer_chups

6/24  REVERB LOUNGE - OMAHA, NE  

6/25  HI-DIVE - DENVER, CO w/ @missjackiestraw

6/26 ACES HIGH SALOON - SALT LAKE CITY, UT

6/27  NEUROLUX - BOISE, ID

6/28  GENERAL STORE - SPRAY, OR

🦋 EUROPE 🦋

7/5 HUERCASA FESTIVAL - RAIZA, ESP w/ @kaitlinbutts @thewarandtreaty

7/6 SJOCK FESTIVAL - GIERLE, BE w/ @cosmicpsychos @tysegall @thechatslovebeer

7/7 KUSEL, DE  

7/8 KULT 41 -BONN, DE  

7/9 MERLEYN- NIJMEGEN, NL

7/10 VERA - GRONINGEN, NL  

7/11 EDP - KOLN, DE  

7/12 STATIC ROOTS FESTIVAL - OBERHAUSEN, DE  

7/13 ROOTS RIBS AND BREWS FESTIVAL - EMMEN, NL  

7/14 ROCKSTAR HQ - AACHEN, DE

The Last Poets' Abiodun Oyewole remembers The East Wind in Harlem

The untold story of The East Wind 

by Abiodun Oyewole 

Back in 1968, there was an L-shaped loft at 9 East 125th street between Fifth and Madison avenues in Harlem New York. This loft became the home base for The Last Poets. The Last Poets were formed on May 19th in 1968 and within a month's time found a spot they would rent to be an accessible working part of the social conscious Harlem community. It was Gylan Kain’s idea after David Nelson came up with a name for three poets on stage together reciting poetry in a dramatic way. They called themselves The Last Poets. Their name was derived from a rebellious poem written by a South African poet named Keopeste Kgostile called Towards A Walk in The Sun. Gylan Kain was not only a very good poet, but he was also the most artistic of the three. He was set on finding a place of operation. Before the loft was discovered, a new Harlem clothing enterprise had space that The Poets could use as a workshop and for rehearsals. The name of this franchise was New Breed. 

Gylan kain felt if The Last Poets had their own spot, they could conduct workshops have shows, sponsor other artist and perform whenever they wanted to. The place was found at 9 East 125th Street an L-shaped loft that Kain named The East Wind. He explained that since we’re located on the East side of Harlem and the philosophy everyone mostly agreed with was coming from The East as opposed to the West. The name East Wind was befitting. It had an immediate impact on the social conscious Harlem community. Workshops in poetry, politics and theater were held there. Almost every weekend The Last Poets would perform. Many times, they would feature a guest poet or speaker. Filipe Luciano who took David Nelson’s place after having started the group ran political workshops that were overcrowded until late into the night. Gylan Kain was considered the artistic director of what took place at The East Wind.

He befriended and rented out time and space to Sister Barbara Ann Teer to conduct her National Black Theater workshop. Karate classes and lectures took place. Many artists mostly jazz artist would perform at the East Wind. To name a few Don and Albert Ayler , Pharoah Sanders and Leon Thomas Lonnie Liston Smith, Ishange drummers and dancers, Eric Gayle , Leroi Jone’s Spirit House Movers and Players, Sunra’s Archestra  and a wide range of poets from Askia Muhammed Toure and Marvin X to Jackie Early and Sonia Sanchez and singers like Terry Callier  and Gaye Todd of Sapphire and comedians like  Jimmie "JJ" Walker and poets like Ted Jones. The East Wind provided an array of talent for the Harlem community. It served as a showcase for numerous artists to test their skills. The East Wind became an empowerment zone where we could see the magic and appreciate the gifts of each other right before our eyes. The East Wind is no longer there. The entire block has been reconstructed. Next door to where the East Wind stood was another very significant Loft. It was Olatunji’s African Drum and Dance Studio. Olatunji was the first West African to bring the drum to America and teach the now famous chant Funga Alafia Ashe.’ Which means we welcome you in peace to our village. He put out a classic album entitled Drums of Passion. 

Both lofts played a major role in the liberation of Black people’s minds and souls. Today an elementary school stands on the site where these lofts were housed. The school is name Jeffery Canada school The Harlem Children’s Zone.  The Promise Academy. I went by there once a while ago and ventured inside to ask if I could speak with the principal. I was given permission and had a meeting with Mr. Kaldun who was the principal. I told Mr. Kaldun that his school was built on Holy ground. He asked me to explain. I told him the story of the two lofts that once stood here and what they provided for the people. He was so intrigued and asked Mr. Canada to join us so I could tell him the story also. They suggested that I write it up and submit it to the school so they could inform their students about s this piece of Harlem history. I promised I would do that; I have not fulfilled my promise up until now. I guess it’s better late than never. By the way Barbara Ann Teer’s National Black Theater is now the owner of an eight million dollar building on 5th ave. around the corner from where The East Wind used to be. She started out by paying The Last Poets $75 a month to housing the largest owned Black Theater in Harlem. 

The Legacy of The East Wind is just as important and maybe more important than the legacy of The Last Poets.

Watch The Last Poets perform "Hey Now" back in 1971...

Canuck graphic novelists Chester Brown, Seth and others celebrated with new stamps

Canada Post is launching their new graphic novelist stamp series at the Toronto Reference Library tonight (Friday) at 6:45 pm. 

Here's the scoop from Canada Post....

Graphic novelists tell rich stories by deftly interweaving words and images. Since emerging nearly a half-century ago, this narrative form – which can include anthologies, memoirs and other non-fiction works – has steadily grown in popularity and captivated readers around the globe. Canada Post is pleased to celebrate some of the most talented and influential authors of the genre in a set of stamps that includes Chester Brown, Michel Rabagliati, Seth and cousins Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki. Individually, these five graphic novelists have inspired readers at home and abroad and elevated the graphic novel form. Collectively, they have helped establish Canada’s reputation in the comic arts world.

While Canada Post has issued stamps featuring comic book superheroes, it has never before showcased the unique work created by Canadian graphic novelists. When designing these stamps, each artist collaborated with Canada Post to create original drawings, exclusively for this stamp issue, of their main characters from their most beloved books engrossed in their own stories. 

Read more about the new series of stamps right here. Watch an interview with Chester Brown below. 

Photo: Craig Daniels

Graphic Novelists Stamp Celebration Event 

Friday, May 10, 2024 at 6:45 pm

Toronto Reference Library (789 Yonge St) – Bram and Bluma Appel Salon (2nd floor).

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Happy Birthday Wayne Cochran!

Raising a glass to Wayne Cochran with a 1966 appearance on Swingin' Time and 1982 on Late Night with David Letterman. 

One For The Weekend: John Cale

John Cale's new album POPtical Illusion is out June 14th. Check out Abigail Portner's nutty video for "Shark-Shark" below.

Here's the scoop...

John Cale just released a new single/video for “Shark-Shark” off his new album, POPtical Illusion, out June 14th via Domino. Following lead single “How We See The Light,” “Shark-Shark” is a slightly menacing, yet wholly delightful, heavy dance jam. Various versions of Cale’s voice cut under and across a throbbing industrial beat made rich with punchy drum machines, before ending with a scabrous guitar solo as mean as something Cale might have made in the inchoate days of punk. The video sees Cale collaborating once again with director Abigail Portner.

“Sometimes you write a song purely for a mood,” Cale explains. “‘Shark-Shark’ has two versions - both a nod to finding humour in music. When you’re feeling too much of the real world, the best diversion is something that puts a grin on your face. I don’t know how Abby & team kept this shoot together - being ‘unserious’ was a lot of fun!”

On the video, Portner states “When I first heard this song the first thing that struck me was this vibe of gentle chaos, a chaos that's not dangerous but a playfulness that happens at a sleepover party or in an 80s comedy. I was in Oslo last summer with John and I had taken a bunch of pictures of the band in the National Museum standing in the hall of busts, looking very stark and cold. This idea popped into my head of what if the chaos in this song was sculptures coming to life and breaking all the rules! The concept of taking something like the National Museum or Swan Lake and having the art itself turn it upside down seemed fitting for this song.” Watch The Video For John Cale’s “Shark-Shark” below. 

 

 Despite the playful title, POPtical Illusion, Cale’s second album in just over a year still contains the same feelings of fierce and inquisitive rage that were present in last year’s much-lauded MERCY. He remains angry, still incensed by the willful destruction that unchecked capitalists and unrepentant con-men have hoisted upon the wonders of this world and the goodness of its people. In a period of a little over a year, Cale wrote more than 80 songs collectively surveying the range of human experience, and in the process—humor bled into frustration, regret gave way to forgiveness, sadness tangled with surrealism. POPtical Illusion synthesizes those emotions and enthusiasms into a dozen electronic playgrounds, Cale’s magisterial voice webbing across it all with puns and insights, grievances and quips, and some version of truth.

As throughout his career of more than six decades, Cale has never been much for repetition. His vanguard-shaping enthusiasms have shifted among ecstatic classicism and unbound rock, classic songcraft and electronic reimagination with proud restlessness. And so, on POPtical Illusion, he foregoes the illustrious cast to burrow mostly alone into mazes of synthesizers and samples, organs and pianos, with words that, as far as Cale goes, constitute a sort of swirling hope, a sage insistence that change is yet possible. Produced by Cale and longtime artistic partner Nita Scott in his Los Angeles studio, POPtical Illusion is the work of someone trying to turn toward the future – exactly as Cale always has.

POPtical Illusion will be available on 2xLP, CD, and digitally. The Domino Mart pink & mint vinyl 2xLP edition pressing of 1000 includes a 7" featuring 2 exclusive tracks, and a POPitem – a limited edition illusionary twirling paper Objet. You can pre-order the double LP right here. Check out the "Shark-Shark" video below.