This Monday we decided to get festive and let Calgary band The Jingles tickle your Christmas Spirit. I really love how much fun they have! Really makes it hard to bah humbug.
This Saturday they have a FREE ALL AGES SHOW at The House Coffee Sanctuary in Kensington. They are definitely worth checking out. Maybe you’ll even catch the Christmas bug. For a preview of what to expect check out this video. They also have tons of live video on their YouTube page.
We had a fantastic sendoff at The New Black Centre in our hometown of Calgary. Our wonderful family, friends and fans came out in full force to help us launch the Spidersaurusrex Tour. Hitting the stage with us was the lovely Kieran Strange and Calgary band Ten Cent Pistols.
If you have been wanting to get our music on your iPhone, wait no more! You can now purchase the new Spades EP for $4 or download individual tracks for FREE!
Visit our bandcamp site to download the tracks in high quality loss-less format or 320kpbs MP3, perfect for your iPod or MP3 player.
Indie Music Monday – The Great Canadian Song Search
Our congratulations go out to Curtis Beaudry for winning the Calgary finals of the Great Canadian Song Search. He has a great voice, beautiful songs and we are excited for his impending album release. The national finals will be held in Toronto this July. We’ll be rooting for our hometown boy.
Judges for the finals included Matt Berry Music Director/Announcer X92.9Fm, Chris Lynch/ Announcer X92.9Fm and Concert Promoter/Festival Producer Lindsay Sheddon. They were fantastic at giving positive and constructive feedback to each competitor.
Big thank you to our fellow competitors. It was great meeting these fantastic local artist and we can’t wait to collaborate with them down the road.
This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending Amelia Curran‘s sold-out performance at the Nickelodeon Music Club in Calgary. If you haven’t heard of Amelia before, she is a Juno Award winning Canadian Singer-songwriter from St. John’s, Newfoundland.
Amelia’s music can be described as indie-folk, or alternative-country. She incorporates story telling over finger-picked acoustic guitar. Accompanying her on the accordion and providing vocal harmonies was Catherine Allen, another St. John’s native.
The Nickelodeon Music Club is based out of the Crescent Heights Community hall. It seats 193 people, most of which are season ticket holders. It is run by volunteers and has a true community feel to it. The audience was a welcoming and polite group of true music fans. The stage, albeit small, and room made for an intimate experience. The venue was well organized and the acoustics and sound were excellent.
Scott Cook
Edmonton based Scott Cook opened the night with a 40 minute acoustic set. His pleasing baritone voice is well suited to his country-folk crooning. He told stories of camping with his buddies in the prairies, and sang of playing in bars to much less receptive crowds than the Nickelodeon. He will be having his CD release in Calgary at the Ironwood on May 9th.
After a brief intermission, Amelia Curran took to the stage with her acoustic guitar. Her awkward, yet endearing stage presence quickly became charming as the night went on. Between each song, Amelia would tell personal stories to the audience. Her stories were about how her songs were written, her roots as a Newfoundlander, why she doesn’t have an accent, her family, and the battle for a Guinness World Record. Her banter with Catherine Allen, who sang back up vocals, was reminiscent of David Letterman and Paul Shaffer. A couple geeky references to Dr. Who and Monty Python fell short on the audience, but I definitely appreciated them.
The night wrapped up quickly at the end of the set. Amelia had to catch a midnight flight back east so she could present an award.
As a newcomer to the Calgary Music scene, I feel that Calgary folk clubs are a bit of a hidden treasure. If you are a fan of Folk Music, check out http://calfolk.ca/groups/clubs.htm to see if there are any shows in your area. You won’t regret it!
For a taste of Amelia Currans live performace, you can watch her perform the song “The Mistress” on CBC’s QTV.
Listen to her track “Years” from her album Spectators.
You can also check out this live acoustic video of Scott Cook’s “High and Lonesome again“.
We recently discovered a new female fronted indie rock band from Calgary named The Implicate Order. After a quick listen to their 7 track album ‘Hollow Process’ on bandcamp, we were all hooked. Their music is reminiscent of early No Doubt alt rock feel, mixed with Paramore style vocals.
They sound great on the record, and even better live. The guys and I were able to make it out to their recent gig at Lord Nelson’s Pub on 8th ave. The show was high energy, and filled with intricate playing and headbanging breakdowns. It’s impossible not to groove on the dance floor while they rock out.
The band consists of mega hot vocalist and rhythm guitarist Christina Lacowicz, guitarist Gene Lachica, bass player Tyler Allard and drummer Josh Nadeau.
I cannot wait to share the stage with them at our EP release party, at Dickens Pub on February 28th. Dancing pants required.
With her debut album in the works and sweet country vibes we’re expecting great things from this talented PEI native. We wish her all the best and can’t wait to see her career take off! Check out her impressive vocals on this cover of ‘I Won’t Give Up’ by Jason Mraz
