Tara Shannon to light up the stage with new album “Where the Light Comes In”

 Tara Shannon is back! She has a brand new album called Where the Light Comes In, featuring tracks written by Shannon and collaborators Tony Zavitson, Kim McLean, and Lori McKenna. It also features a never-before-released song by Jeff Silbar and Carole King, the most successful female songwriter of the late

Swing into Spring with These Classic Spins

 Ghetto: Misfortune’s Wealth - The 24-Carat Black You’d need an extra set of hands to count the past members of the 70s soul/funk group 24-Carat Black but it all started when Motown / Stax musician and producer Dale Warren caught a glimpse of a young Cincinnati, Ohio band called The

Timeout with the Twins talk family, new music and Tessa and Scott with Jim Cuddy

 Photo credits: Warner Music and Daniel Vazzoler / Video by Amanda and Brittany van Frankfoort On Feb. 26, 2018 fans of Blue Rodeo front-man Jim Cuddy were invited to share in new melodic stories of love and loss – delivered in the familiarly plainspoken storytelling style characteristic of Cuddy – on his fourth

Greatest Hits or Better Than Nothing? Q&A With Brad Sucks

 While spinning Ottawa musician Brad Turcotte’s (aka: Brad Sucks) new Greatest Hits album you learn two things once the dizziness wears off. One, this dude is kinda’ ballsy to put out a Hits disc after only three albums and, two, this guy sucks less than a broken pawn shop vacuum cleaner.

Split Shift Becomes Split Personality for Area Resident

 What do you do you do when you have a long break between your split shift? Well, if you’re Doug Hempstead, you develop a split personality! CBC traffic reporter by day, musician by whenever he has the time for it, Hempstead isn’t at a loss for ways to occupy his

Fiery Folk: Union Duke Lights Up the Blacksheep Inn

 Matt Warry-Smith, a member of the Toronto band, Union Duke, has a tattoo on his leg of the words “Keep Music Evil” that’s visible below the cut off point of his Bermuda shorts. The audacity of the phrase, coined by Anton Newcombe, epitomizes the band’s fresh and furious take on

Fiddle Feast for your Ears

 Natalie MacMaster needs no introduction. Over a recording career now spanning 25 years, this Order of Canada recipient has released 11 albums that have notched sales of over 200,000 copies. She has won two JUNO and eleven East Coast Music Awards and been nominated for a Grammy. Starting tonight, she

Lloyd Frost Provides Social Commentary with a Groove

 Photo courtesy of Ben Dionne © Blue Plazuela Music. Lloyd Frost has many tales to tell. Frost is a Montreal-born singer/songwriter and musician who lives and plays his songs in Ottawa. Lloyd has recently released The Sun Is Rising and Other True Stories, an 11 track album. People have told Frost that it

Levi Hart Kicks Off ‘My Kind of Night’

 ‘THAT is My Kind of Night!’ are the words roaring from radios across Canada, since Levi Hart released his new country hit on September 25. Recorded in June in Nashville, Tennessee, Hart’s new hit ‘My Kind of Night’ has made great headway, quickly landing airplay on international radio broadcasting networks, and has been

The Journey of ‘Five Crooked Lines’

 Finger Eleven has made a bold return to the Canadian music scene with the release of their sixth studio album, Five Crooked Lines. For the new record’s launch, the band has lined up a full summer tour across North America which includes a stop in Ottawa on August 13. Five Crooked

Could This Be Your Shot?

 Round five of Slaight Music’s annual talent search kicks off August 1, and this year’s “It’s Your Shot” is offering up a huge opportunity for Canadian musicians. The prize, which includes promotion from Maple Music Recordings, a professional photo session, an artist website and the chance to perform at a

An Old Guitar and an Ottawa Bar

 Union Duke’s soaring vocal harmonies and throbbing beats have enlivened hearts and dance floors across the nation. The quintet is sure to have Ottawa concertgoers heel-stomping and hip-swaying with their performance at the Black Sheep Inn on July 31. Balancing a mixture of soulful indie rock, bluegrass and country, the

Bluesfest Beats

 Photo by Steve G The countdown to RBC Ottawa Bluesfest is on. As the weeks leading up to the festival go by, OLM will continue to highlight must-see performances by some of the acts that you may have not yet discovered—so Ottawa music lovers listen up! An exciting variety of

Music from the Seoul

 Montreal-based trio, Seoul, will be casting a unique tone on the Canadian music scene with the release of their debut album I Become A Shade, on June 9.  Members Nigel Ward and Julian Flavin have known each other since childhood and have worked on various music projects together. They met

Steven Wilson Brings Psychedelic Soundscapes to Gatineau

 A night of eclectic and engaging rock guitar awaits you this summer at the Theatre du Casino Lac-Leamy. Prolific guitarist, keyboardist and composer Steven Wilson will be performing in Gatineau on June 30. It will be Wilson’s first time performing in Gatineau and will no doubt be a night to

Everything He Plays, Turns to Gold

 Photo Credit: Scarlet O'Neill For more than eight years, Toronto-based singer-songwriter Ben Kunder has been writing and producing music every Canadian can relate to. His long awaited debut solo album, Golden, will be released May 26, followed by a number of shows throughout Ontario and Quebec. One of the tour’s

Fast Forward to the Weekend with Boogat’s Newest Album

 Photo credit: Guillaume Simoneau It’s everything you need on a Friday night after a long week: catchy, danceable and totally infectious music! Montreal MC Boogat’s newest album release, Neo-Reconquista, is enough reason to celebrate on its own. He’s been recognized for constantly evolving his music. Boogat’s unique mixed Latin-urban-electro-pop sound will instantly

Folk Rock Hits the Road to Ottawa

 Shining headlights across the country, Vancouver-based folk rock band The River and The Road are touring Canada in support of their new album. They will be stopping in Ottawa on Thursday, May 14, for a performance at Cafe Dekcuf. The band started off as a busking duo, consisting of singer

Pick Zaac For Your Weekend Concert

 Zaac Pick will have Ottawa stargazing with his performance at the Black Sheep Inn on May 7, where he will be sharing songs from his new folk-pop album Constellations. The Vancouver-based singer-songwriter released his debut full-length album last month. Co-produced by Jonathan Anderson, the album was recorded over a span

The Musical Storm of Ash & Bloom

 The powerhouse folk duo Ash and Bloom, is bringing a musical storm to Ottawa. Echoing thunderous harmonies and striking bolts of brilliant songwriting, these two are a must-see act this spring. Hamilton-based Matt McKenna and James Bloemendal have been playing music together for almost a decade, originally meeting in the

Ontario’s Newest Folk Star

 Fiddler, singer, and step dancer April Verch is emerging into Ontario’s music spotlight! Recognized for her blissful voice, lively dancing and striking performances, her upcoming appearance at the National Arts Centre (NAC) is not one to miss! With impressive reviews coming from newspapers like the Huffington Post and Toronto Star, there

Tie Up Your Dancing Shoes and Get Ready for Sea Perry

 Get ready to put on your dancing shoes for the single Molly’s Shoes by Canadian folk-rock band Sea Perry. The catchy and upbeat song dropped at the beginning of April from the band’s debut full-length album, Do What You Do, set to be released April 21. If this first single

Ottawa Celebrates Diverse Cultural Roots

 Photo Credit: Connie Kaldor Embrace a return to your roots by taking part in the fourth annual Ottawa Grassroots Festival. The Grassroots Festival plans a spring weekend of family-oriented concerts and workshops each year thanks to its 100 per cent volunteer-run organization. The festival particularly focuses on folk music, dance

Experiencing Wonderkind

 Learn what it means to feel “wonderkind” with the cross-Canada tour of Language Arts this spring. Toronto’s unique alternative jazz-pop band has been together for ten years, although it has been a rotating door in terms of members. Currently the band consists of classically trained Kristen Cudmore, drummer Neil MacIntosh, keyboardist Joel

Unleashing Folk ’n’ Roll 

 Cloudless, blue skies are drawing nearer for the Toronto band Sun K with the release of their debut album on March 10. The eight-track collection titled Northern Lies, brings together a combination of folk and rock genres creating a fresh and catchy sound. “We like to call it folk ’n’