Gordon Lightfoot Book, Music and More!

The 2009 Polaris Music Prize finalists include some outstanding new talent.This year’s Short List nominees are: Elliott Brood – Mountain Meadows (Toronto, ON)Fucked Up – The Chemistry Of Common Life (Toronto, ON)Great Lake Swimmers – Lost Channels (Toronto, ON)Hey Rosetta! – Into Your Lungs (and around in your heart and on through your blood) (St. John’s, NF)K’naan – Troubadour (Toronto, ON)Malajube – Labyrinthes (Montréal, QC)Metric – Fantasies (Toronto, ON)Joel Plaskett – Three (Halifax, NS)Chad VanGaalen – Soft Airplane (Calgary, AB)Patrick Watson – Wooden Arms (Montréal, QC) I’m proud to be a Grand Jury member this year, along with these colleagues: Bryan Acker (Herohill)Stuart Derdeyn (...

Heritage Toronto press release: On June 18 2009, Heritage Toronto was joined by some of Canada's most notable musicians to commemorate famed Yorkville coffeehouse, the Riverboat.  Located in the narrow basement of a house at 134 Yorkville Ave, the Riverboat was opened in 1964 by Bernie Fiedler and became the best-known coffeehouse in Canada. Over its history, the Riverboat stage was graced by Canada's music elite, including Joni Mitchell, Neil Young and Gordon Lightfoot. The Riverboat remained open until 1977, by which time it was the sole remaining coffeehouse in the area. A number of musicians who graced The Riverboat's stage during its illustrious life attended the event, includ...

Toronto’s Cowboy Junkies have carved out an impressive career with their narcotic brand of roots rock. Reveling in downtempo numbers, they’ve often been accused of making sad music. On the Junkies’ latest album, One Soul Now, songwriter Michael Timmins addresses the issue on the song “Notes Falling Slow.” “Partly,” says Timmins, “it comes from a lot of people saying to us that our music is depressing, when actually, it’s just slow.” Nice try, Mike, but the music actually is melancholic. Timmins’ sister, singer Margo, confirms as much when she explains that the new album’s songs deal with “death, divorce, financial worries, age, sickness and just general fatigue.” Not typically...

Hailing from the U.S. Midwest, The BoDeans first made their mark with a sound that drew on stirring harmonies and ringing guitars. Along with bands like Los Lobos and Lone Justice, they led the roots-rock revolution of the mid-1980s. Although they haven’t issued an album since 1996’s Blend, due to contractual disputes, The BoDeans are back with their signature sound. You’d never know there’d been problems. Passionate songs like the chiming “If It Makes U,” the Springsteen-inspired “617” and the dreamy ballad “Slipping into You” feature the patented vocals of Sam Llanas and Kurt Neumann. And “(We Can) Live” and “Wild World” are buoyant, feel-good rockers, while “Two Souls” boasts a fine,...