March 2012

Goddo: Bowness Hall

Submitted by cashbox on Fri, 03/23/2012 - 13:51

Calgary

As the lights went down in Calgary’s Bowness Hall, the capacity crowd screamed with delight, hundreds of arms raised as Goddo’s opening notes filled the air. This was a rock show, the standard set long ago by Greg Godovitz, Gino Scarpelli, and Doug Inglis. The fans knew right away that they were at a rock show, and they were about to experience a classic Goddo performance.

This is the first time in thirty years Goddo had hit the stage in Western Canada. Cow Town is now where Godovitz proudly calls home.

” After having not played Calgary in thirty years I was a bit concerned about how we would do. A capacity and very vocal audience certainly allayed any concerns I might have had. I'm pretty sure it won't be another thirty years before we return. I hope not anyway”, says Godovitz.

He also advised on one social media site to “lock up your grandmothers”, while promoting the band’s return to the west. For those following the Goddo camp, you knew beforehand that this was going to be a special evening for both Godovitz and the band.

With no signs of letting up at the mature age of sixty, the boys came out with guns blazing. Goddo gave a solid two-hour show, with an unparalleled ebb and flow to their performance; all three were in their finest form. Guitar hero Gino Scarpelli worked the crowd into a frenzy with his trademark licks, Doug Inglis provided an intense showcase of his drumming prowess, and Greg Godovitz was particularly intense – solidifying the notion that this was his house, that he meant business.

March Madness ….Canadian Style- CMW is Back in Town.

Submitted by cashbox on Fri, 03/16/2012 - 13:35

Story: Sandy Graham

Springtime in Canada and Toronto means spring training for the Blue Jays, the Maple Leafs are out of the hunt for hockey’s holy grail, the Stanley Cup, and Canada’s music elite meet for Canadian Music Week.

Thirty years ago, what started as a small radio conference called The Record Conference, has evolved into one of Canada’s largest and most influential media and music conferences. It draws top industry professionals from around the world to participate in a four-day program of activities.

Designed to stimulate the exchange of market intelligence, increase dialogue and provide networking opportunities, Canadian Music Week continues to present the ideal platform for thousands of national and international delegates.

In an interview last year Neill Dixon, the president of Canadian Music Week, was asked about the early days of CMW and had this to say “It was called the Record Conference in the beginning, named after The Record, which was a trade paper that’s now defunct. It was sort of a reader appreciation convention, to get their constituents together. That was the original nucleus, and I was involved with it right from the beginning to put the thing together.

Bishop Morocco: Old Boys

Submitted by cashbox on Fri, 03/16/2012 - 13:03

Arts & Crafts

This Toronto duo has doubled its membership for this second release and in the process, twisted up their sound. Founding members James Sayce and Jake Fairley recruited Ian Worang on guitar and Jon McCann on drums and the new line-up has helped the band to branch out stylistically. As a press release dutifully notes, Old Boys downplays the Factory Records influence in favour of a "thicker, more contemplative sound."  On this six-song EP, it sounds like a reinvention of shoe gazing with a Gothic twist. The New Wave influence is still there but it’s darker and more introverted. That the mashup doesn’t always work shouldn’t take away from the band’s further adventures in this direction.

The best tracks, especially "City Island" and "Bleeds" lean on atmospheric guitars to underline the Goth gloom. Some others, "Colonial Man" and the title track are too literal in their reading of the Goth fusion and are kinda hard to get excited about.

Overall, even though they don’t grab ahold of everything they reach for, I like the direction they’re going in and by the full-length album; they should have gotten it right.

James Lizzard

Bell to acquire Astral Media for $3.38 billion

Submitted by cashbox on Fri, 03/16/2012 - 12:34

Courtesy of Canadian Wire Services

BCE's planned acquisition of Montreal-based Astral Media for $3.38 billion creates an "unmatched competitor" in the Canadian marketplace that will benefit consumers, BCE's president and CEO says.

"This fits perfectly with what we are trying to do," said George Cope at a press conference Friday alongside Astral president and CEO Ian Greenberg, who will join BCE's board of directors.

Cope said bringing Astral and Bell Canada together puts the company in an ideal position to take on Quebecor and its subsidiary Videotron in Quebec, as well as the CBC.

It also moves forward BCE's strategy of providing a wide range of services to customers across a "four-screen" platform - television, mobile phones, computers and tablets.

"The customer wins, no doubt about it, more choice in the marketplace across this four-screen evolution and in a way, also drives the Canadian broadcast business and puts it in a stronger position in the headwinds we see in this space going forward and the opportunities we see," Cope said.

Kelli Trottier ‘Can Smell the Rain’

Submitted by cashbox on Fri, 03/16/2012 - 11:07

Born and raised in the hotbed of musical tradition and innovation that is Ontario’s Ottawa Valley, Kelli Trottier discovered her passion for entertaining, learned her craft, and developed a distinctive style while still right at home.

Now, Kelli’s talent carries her to stages across North America, Europe, the Middle East, and the Far North, making fans and friends at every venue along the way.

Kelli’s musical odyssey of dance, fiddle and song began early in life as she studied and mastered the unique and fluid style of step-dance that evolved with the loggers and woodsmen of the historic Ottawa River watershed.

The fiddle was a natural extension of the dance; you just can’t have one without the other. And who better to learn from than the senior masters of Celtic and Scottish traditional music. Kelli learned well from these sources and then embraced the exuberant rhythmic fiddle and step dance styles of the French Canadian pioneers.

Every musical family needs a singer and a songwriter and Kelli’s family was fortunate that she had an amazing ear, a beautifully clear, natural voice, and the desire to use that voice at every opportunity. Learning the songs she loved from the artists she admired, and giving them wings with an effortlessly-developing style, soon led to the inevitable writing and performing of her own material.