Pandemic project, Don’t Walk Past has been upscaled to 4k along with the addition of remastered audio. Blue Peter – Don’t Walk Past (Official 4K Video)
Category: News
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Art Bergmann Appointed to the Order of Canada
By Allie Gregory
Today, Canada’s Governor General announced new appointments to the Order of Canada, one of the highest civilian honours in the country. Among the appointees is Vancouver punk legend Art Bergmann, who is being recognized for his “indelible contributions to the Canadian punk music scene, and for his thought-provoking discourse on social, gender and racial inequalities.”
Bergmann joins the rank of 61 Canadians shaping “our society; whose innovations ignite our imaginations; and whose compassion unites our communities,” in 2020. Bergmann is one of 47 recipients named as a Member of the Order by the Right Honourable Julie Payette.
“It’s humbling. And I want to know who did this to me,” Bergmann told the CBC.
“There’s a few things that have gone wrong in Canada … [and] me not having an award for my work is not one of them,” he added. “Honour the treaties, give the First Nations water and housing and thank you very much, Canada — a work in progress.”
Normally, Payette would issue the honorary insignias during an in-person ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa, but due to the pandemic, that ceremony will need to be scheduled at a future date.
In addition to Bergmann’s honour, and several notable Canadians in the arts community have been appointed to the Order, including Montreal’s Ginette Noiseux, for “leading expertise in stage direction and costume design”; Toronto’s Daniel John Taylor, for his “achievements as an internationally renowned opera singer”; as well as a number of Indigenous community advocates and public health officials recognized for their work during the pandemic.
https://exclaim.ca/music/article/art_bergmann_appointed_to_the_order_of_canada
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Spirit of John The Phoenix Concert Theatre Jan 31, 2019
Spirit of John
The Phoenix Concert Theatre
THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2019Chris Wardman, Chris Tait, John Dinsmore, Stephen Szczesniak, Damhnait Doyle, Serena Ryder, Jim Cuddy ,Tom Cochrane, Royal Wood, Danny Greaves and a bunch more.
Photo:Mike Nazwaski
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Blue Peter’s first-ever club gig. The Turning Point, October 21, 1978
It was 40 years ago today…Blue Peter’s first-ever club gig. The Turning Point, October 21, 1978.
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HAPPY RELEASE DAY! ENSIGN BRODERICK UNLEASHES HIS NEW RECORD “RANGER” TODAY.
Ensign Broderick released his latest companion piece to Feast of Panthers and Beauty Nor Ashes today. Stream, buy or download Ranger here.
Join us on Tuesday, May 29 for the official Ensign Broderick Albums Release Party in Toronto. Click here for tickets.
https://sixshooterrecords.com/happy-release-day-ensign-broderick-unleashes-new-record-ranger-today
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Guitar tracks on latest Emm Gryner record ‘Only of Earth’
Emm asked me to play guitar on the track Silent Steps for her latest album “Only of Earth”, released on May 4, 2018-05-04Album Details:
Check it out here:
Inspired by the birth of a child and the death of an icon, multiple Juno Award nominee and acclaimed singer/songwriter Emm Gryner brings us an ambitious musical project that may turn out to be one of the most important and compelling of her career – “Only of Earth”. “Days of Games”, the first album in a series of three in the “Only of Earth” trilogy, sees Gryner infusing songs with crunching rock riffs, soaring vocals, powerhouse beats and layered synthesizers of the best of 1970s and 1980s rock and pop music.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EN1GDEvPKXM -
It’s taken 47 years, but Ensign Broderick’s debut album is here
https://nowtoronto.com/music/features/ensign-broderick-jason-sniderman-feast-of-panthers
Jason Sniderman started dreaming of rock stardom when he was eight and invented his musical alter ego, Ensign Broderick, when he was 12. Now, 47 years later, he’s finally ready to release his debut record.
Feast Of Panthers (out March 9 on Six Shooter) combines recently written material with songs Sniderman wrote over four decades ago but which haven’t seen the light of day until now.
Seated in a booth at a Vietnamese restaurant on Dundas West, Sniderman explains the origin story of his new wave persona.
“It’s conceived and cultivated with a certain amount of innocence,” he says
Even the name bears the imprint of youth: “It just was a cooler-sounding name [than my own],” he smiles. “Ensign” rhymed with “Jensen,” the manufacturer of his favourite car.
There are a few contributing factors for the decades-long chasm between writing and releasing the music. One, he says, was that, when he played it for his friends in the 70s, reception was lukewarm at best. “Some of this music was just too weird for people back then.”
The muted response was discouraging. “Dealing with indifference or negative responses for a long time, you build up some scar tissue,” he says. “That scar tissue isn’t easily worn away.”
Despite shelving his hopes for Ensign Broderick, Sniderman remained a hidden cornerstone in the Toronto music scene. He worked with his father, Sam Sniderman, for years at iconic Toronto record store chain Sam the Record Man. In the 80s, he joined Canadian new wave group Blue Peter and went on to contribute piano work for records by Randy Bachman and Rush. By 2007, he was playing with Toronto roots-rock outfit NQ Arbuckle. Through it all, he skirted the spotlight.
“I always tried to keep a relatively low profile,” he shrugs. “That’s just my personality. I don’t socialize that much unless I’m actually playing a gig, and normally after the gig, I split.”
It wasn’t until he mentioned his solo work in conversation with Six Shooter founder Shauna de Cartier that his project resurfaced in earnest, though Sniderman admits that it took a while before he felt comfortable revealing the existence of Ensign Broderick. “I said, ‘I’m too insecure about it. I just do it for my own edification. It’s my thing.’”
When Sniderman, understandably reticent, declined to share the music, de Cartier sought it out herself. On his SoundCloud page, which he had started five years ago to archive his music but rarely shared with anyone, she found nearly five albums’ worth of gorgeous new wave balladry, fluorescent R&B, operatic rock and macabre piano-pop – a lifetime’s worth of influences, all relayed through a cavernous baritone.
When she expressed her admiration, Sniderman thought she was just being friendly. After decades of his compositions collecting dust, it seemed incomprehensible that someone would be interested in them. Once he realized her compliments were genuine, he opened up.
“I think [Shauna] made it safe for me. It made me feel a bit more secure in talking about it with her,” he says.
Anxieties began to dissipate, and suddenly it seemed Ensign Broderick could indeed be brought back to life.
“The more secure I felt about releasing it, the less likely I thought it was gonna be like the end of Carrie.”
With an army of collaborators including Tanya Tagaq’s violinist Jesse Zubot and ex-Protest the Hero bassist Arif Mirabdolbaghi, Sniderman resuscitated the old songs with new arrangements and wrote new tracks like the baleful Summer Snow and the Disney-ish whimsy of closer Accidence PSA.
Some songs were even partially recorded decades ago. Sniderman explains that the vocal track on lead single True Shame was recorded in 1976. “I recorded it basically in my bedroom,” he says. Of performing the song now, he jokes, “I had to drop it a few keys because my voice isn’t that high any more.”
The tracks are rooted in Toronto, past and present. True Shame draws from summer nights on Yonge in the 70s, a memory that, for Sniderman, is still vivid. “I can still see the city in that way. It doesn’t seem that dramatically different than when I was a kid, even though I know it is.”
Regardless of public response, Sniderman feels it’s important to finally bring Ensign Broderick to the public. “It’s hard for me to believe,” he says. “If I only wanted my own sense of gratification, then I’d be in my bedroom still. I want people to love it. If they hate it, then I’d like to know why. But I just don’t want people to be indifferent to it.
“I want it to mean something.”
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‘Northern Touch’ at 20: An oral history of the most important rap collaboration in Canadian history
Proud to have been part of the mix team on this iconic recording.
“Every Canadian rap fan will remember hearing this for the first time: “We notorious; ain’t nobody can hang with us: Rascalz, Checkmate, Kardinal and Thrust, Choclair coming down with that Northern touch.” One of the most iconic rap songs in Canada, there was no escaping the power of “Northern Touch,” a cross-country posse cut that would cement the careers of the artists who had the wherewithal to shout themselves out in the chorus…..”
Read more:
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Emm Gryner and her band performing Nov. 23 in Forest
http://www.theobserver.ca/2017/11/12/musician-and-her-band-performing-nov-23-in-forest
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Musicians in the band playing with Gryner that evening were among those involved in her upcoming album, Only of Earth.
The concept album is the first of a trilogy and based on an original sci-fi story, a style Gryner said she long been interested in.
“It stems back from long boring days in Camlachie, just looking at the space atlas,” she said.
Years later, Gryner began working with now retired Sarnia astronaut Chris Hadfield on musical projects, plus she said there has long been a connection between space and classic rock.
“I really wanted to explore this on this album,” she said.
The story is “semi-autobiographical” but the personal details are disguised in the characters and situations.
“I feel like when you come up with a story in sci-fi or fantasy, it gives you the licence to really be bizarre,” she said.
The project is a new approach for Gryner who has had a long career as a solo artist, recently as a founding member of the folk trio Trent Severn, and work she has done with other artists, including touring years ago as a member of the late David Bowie’s band.
“When Bowie passed away, I felt very compelled to look at why we do anything,” she said.
“It made you think about art and music, and his bravery and curiosity.”
Gryner said the new project also came out of the experience of becoming a mom.
The songs remain “reminiscent of a lot of the pop stuff that I’ve done, but there was a focus on this one to make it more geared towards the 70s and 80s,” she said.
“In a lot of cases, I asked people to play on the album who made music back in that time, and that gives it an authenticity.”
They include guitarist David Rhodes, who has worked with Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush.
“One day I just looked him up and asked him if he wanted to play on it, and he said ‘yes.’”
Others include the late Greg Lowe, a guitarist Gryner became close with when they were both part of a Grand Theatre production of the musical Joni Mitchell: River, and Chris Wardman, a guitarist and producer who has worked with Blue Peter and Big Wreck…..
