Tom Dunphy returns to the Cameron House on Saturday, Artful Dodger on Sunday

The Rizdales' Tom Dunphy ihits the Cameron with Steve Briggs on Saturday, then joins Steve for Summer Sundays at the Artful Dodger at 4 pm.

Writes Tom Dunphy...

"I'm thrilled to be returning to Toronto's legendary Cameron House on Saturday, July 11, from 8:00–10:00 PM! I'll be joined by an incredible band: Burke Carroll on steel, Steve Briggs on guitar, and Russ Boswell on upright bass. Come early if you can—our friends Big Tobacco and the Pickers kick things off at 6:00 PM and will set the perfect country tone for the evening. It promises to be a fine evening at one of Toronto's great listening rooms."

After the Cameron show, Tom joins Steve Briggs for his Summer Sunday matinee at the Artful Dodger at 4 pm. 

Maggie's Wake @ The Cameron House, Saturday

Celtic roots crew Maggie's Wake – feat. The Rizdales' Tara Dunphy & Lindsay Schindler – hit the Cameron tonight at 8 pm. 

Happy Birthday Tara Dunphy!

Cheers to the fabulous Tara Dunphy of The Rizdales on her birthday! We're celebrating with a few clips you may have missed. 

Tom Dunphy vs. T Bone Burnett

Tom Dunphy cut a fine version of T Bone Burnett's "Song To A Dead Man" on his new solo album, Everything Was New. 

The Rizdales' Tom Dunphy releasing solo album Everything Was New

Tom Dunphy is releasing a long overdue solo album "Everything Was New" cut with pals Steve Briggs & Burke Carroll.

Here's the scoop...

The announcement of a solo album by a band's founding member is often the telltale sign of an imminent split due to "creative differences." However, Tom Dunphy's new solo recording project isn't a matter of trouble at home with The Rizdales but more of a busman's holiday. 

When Tom's longtime partner Tara Dunphy took a brief hiatus from London's premiere honky tonk country combo to sing and play fiddle with her friend Lindsay Schindler in contemporary celtic band Maggie's Wake, it was the perfect opportunity for Tom to record an album of his own – something he'd been putting off for at least 22 years. 

Naturally his first calls were to his trusted Toronto pals, guitarist Steve Briggs and pedal steel ace Burke Carroll, who've performed with The Rizdales over the years in various situations and both were delighted to sign on. 

With a stockpile of song ideas that weren't quite right for The Rizdales, Tom convened with Steve and Burke at Adam Plante's Beats Working studio in London, Ontario in 2024 to hammer out the tunes that quickly took shape as "Everything Was New." If the look of the album's cover design by Steve Good brings to mind the artwork of Elvis Costello's 1981 album "Almost Blue," it's not a coincidence. Costello's classic country covers detour was a huge influence on the young Tom Dunphy who got his start playing punk rock covers with high school pals in The Crooked Beat, named after the song by The Clash off the Sandinista! album. 

But hearing Costello's take on old school country gave Dunphy a fresh perspective on the corny stuff his parents played at home. Along with it came a whole new appreciation for the songcraft at the heart of a song with lasting relevance. Those lessons learned from Almost Blue were first applied to Dunphy's honky tonk country band the Juke Joint Johnnys who released one album in 2001, the aptly named Gone For Good. Within the next year, Tom married Tara which gave rise to The Rizdales and now, seven albums later, Tom is finally paying homage to the recording which started him on the path to the soul of country music. 

Thankfully, what Dunphy and crew came up with on Everything Was New is much closer in spirit to the unvarnished honky tonk sound of Ray Price, Wynn Stewart, Webb Pierce and Lefty Frizzell than anything by Elvis Costello or currently coming out of Nashville. You can get a digital copy of the album's first single "You Make Me Shake" via Bandcamp right here, stream it via Apple Music right here or simply have a listen below.  

Tom Dunphy is launching "Everything Was New" in Toronto at The Cameron House (408 Queen St. West) on Saturday, April 12 from 8pm to 10pm and in London, Ontario at The Richmond Tavern (370 Richmond St., London, Ontario) on Sunday, April 13 from 3pm to 6pm. Both events are PWYC. 

The Rizdales return to The Cameron House, Saturday

Don't miss the way overdue Toronto return of The Rizdales' Tom & Tara for a Cameron show on Saturday. There may be dancing.

Celebrate 20 years of The Rizdales @ London's Richmond Tavern, Saturday

Toast 20 swingin' years of The Rizdales this Saturday at London's Richmond Tavern with special guest Frank Ridsdale 3pm-6pm.

The Rizdales @ The Wheatsheaf Tavern, April 10

Toronto's oldest bar reopens with the city's newest live music venue featuring The Rizdales! Watch their video for "Honky Tonk Honeymoon" below. 

The Rizdales album release @ Cadillac Lounge, Saturday

Listen to "Halfway To Heaven" and the title track off the The Rizdales' Lucky Enough album you can get right here.

My Darling Clementine release Still Testifying June 2

My Darling Clementine preview Still Testifying with The Rizdales at London's Aeolian Hall April 19. Listen to Eugene below. 

The Rizdales @ Cadillac Lounge, Saturday

Count on hearing a couple of Ray Price classics at The Rizdales' honky tonk matinee over at The Cadillac Lounge. 

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.

Hey Loretta's Spring Fling @ Cadillac Lounge, Saturday

Swing into Spring with The Rizdales' Tara & Tom Dunphy playing honky tonk from 4 to 7pm.

The Rizdales toast Ray Price @ Hugh's Room tonight

The Rizdales will be performing everyone's Ray Price faves from their great new tribute disc Blue Ain't The Word.

LINKS
site http://www.rizdales.com/
London Free Press: Price is right for Rizdales

How many music execs does it take to hear a hit?

My Darling Clementine's Michael Weston King and Lou Dagleish

While those in charge of struggling record labels like to blame their financial woes on illegal downloading, the real reason many are facing difficult times has more to do with a fundamental lack of vision and what people in the music business call "ears."

It's difficult for well-compensated executives to admit this but the majority of those who have signing authority simply wouldn't know a great recording if they heard it. And even if someone still working for the label did, they're now too scared to pull the trigger for fear of their capital investment wouldn't be instantaneously profitable.

Take for example the illuminating case of My Darling Clementine, the inspired male/female country duet project of UK singer/songwriter Michael Weston King and his wife Lou Dagleish. Their impressive debut disc How Do You Plead? (Drumfire) has received rave reviews across the board from venerable print publications and music blogs alike and continues to get the sort of BBC support that's very unusual for something with a twang. Yet so far, King still hasn't been able to curry any label interest in a North American deal. Everyone he's corresponded with has apparently shrugged off the offer of a finished album that's already been critically acclaimed on both sides of the Atlantic. "Thanks, but no thanks."

That might be understandable if Americana mainstays like say Bloodshot, New West, Lost Highway, Sugar Hill or Rounder already had their own top-selling male/female duet acts that could write, record and perform their own material but the fact is, they don't. Moreover, even if you put aside that radical duets concept, the sophisticated level of compositions, arrangements and musicianship on How Do You Plead? puts My Darling Clementine's debut ahead of 90% of those labels output over the past decade.

It makes you wonder what other great Americana talents U.S. major indies have foolishly slept on – well, apart from The Walkabouts, Dylan LeBlanc, The Rizdales, Caitlin Rose, The Pining, Alela Diane, Scotty Campbell, etc.

The Rizdales' fave country duets

Writing about Tom and Tara Dunphy's classic-sounding male/female country duets on The Rizdales' fantastic new How The Marriage Ended! album left me wondering what their favourite recordings in the genre might be. So I asked Tom put together a top 10 list which you'll find below in no particular order...

"Here's our list. It's not necessarily a definitive top 10, but they're all songs we get a lot of enjoyment from. We've included some obvious classics – hey, they're classics for a reason – along with few recent duets that get us every time. And yes, I realize that they're not strictly male/female duets."                                                                                                           

Tom Dunphy, The Rizdales

                             

"When that list was being put together, Tom left out one of my favourites – Steve Earle and Iris DeMent's recording of I'm Still In Love With You from the album The Mountain. It's a classic!"

Tara O'Connor Dunphy, The Rizdales                                                                                                                

Holding On To Nothing - Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton






Loose Talk - Buck Owens and Rose Maddox


No One is Gonna Love You Better - Merle Haggard and Heather Myles



Pickin' Wild Mountain Berries - Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty



Sweet Thang - Loretta Lynn and Ernest Tubb


Say it's Not You - George Jones and Keith Richards


In Spite of Ourselves - John Prine and Iris DeMent


My Elusive Dreams - David Houston and Tammy Wynette




Take Me - George Jones and Tammy Wynette


We'll Sweep out the Ashes in the Morning - Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris

Rizdales record release party @ the Dakota tonight

photo by Jack Martin

When you think of great country male/female duets and images of Tim McGraw & Faith Hill, Brad Paisley & Carrie Underwood, Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood or Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow come to mind, you're reading the wrong blog.
However, if instead you immediately thought of George & Tammy, Johnny & June, Porter & Dolly, Loretta & Conway or maybe even Merle & Bonnie and you haven't yet seen The Rizdales' talented husband and wife tandem of Tom and Tara Dunphy in action, then it's your lucky day.
London, Ontario's finest roots country combo are hosting a swingin' release party for their hot new recording How The Marriage Ended! tonight (Saturday, August 21) over at the Dakota Tavern with friends Luther Wright, Emily Fennell and Brian Connelly's rockin' instrumental rippers Ancient Chinese Secret ensuring a ruckus will be raised.

Even if the Music City brain trust believes the days of dual-gender duets are done, recent headlines suggest that people of every tax bracket are still prone to relationship problems so there may be interest in hearing sweetly harmonizing spouses musically navigating through their own marital minefields like they once did when hair was higher and suits were custom tailored in the colours of tropical fruits.
Unlike the vast majority of your favourite country stars past and present, the self-contained Rizdales unit compose, perform and record their own songs. So rather than simply remake the genre standards as others have done, they decided to try adding a few new pages to the break-up songbook. I'm pleased to report that  they've come up with some corkers for How The Marriage Ended! like The Last Time You Put Me Down and the cleverly cutting It's Not Me, It's You (not the Lily Allen number) which have the feel of jukebox faves which Capitol's Ken Nelson might've cut in Studio B in between sessions by Buck Owens, Faron Young, Wanda Jackson, Tommy Collins and Ferlin Husky.
That's not to say that the Rizdales tunes sound dated, not at all, more like timeless classics that will be sung and spun for years to come. In fact, the video-ready My New Wife's Kids off the new album could be Brad Paisley's next chart smash while Who Knows You is a Lady Antebellum radio staple waiting to happen if only their Nashville A&R reps had ears.
If you decide to head down to the Dakota to see the Rizdales tonight, be sure to bring along a little extra scratch for a copy of their self-released How The Marriage Ended! disc and you might want to grab a copy of their equally exceptional previous album Radio Country while it's still available.

LINKS
The Rizdales site http://www.rizdales.com/
myspace http://www.myspace.com/rizdales