Entertainment

Tianna Woods is Dancin’ with Elvis

Submitted by cashbox on Fri, 09/21/2012 - 10:40
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Submitted by Cashbox Canada

Multi-talented singer-songwriter, Tianna Woods has been performing on stage for as long as she can remember – whether it be singing, dancing, playing or performing in a theatre production as well as cruise ships and lately festivals and corporate events.

This dazzling dynamo has appeared on stage in such outstanding musicals as "Anything Goes", "That's Showbiz", "Brigadoon", "Anne of Green Gables", " Music Man" "Once on This Island", "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" and "Mikado".

While in Japan performing the lead role in "Anne of Green Gables" Tianna also toured the schools with her pop band meeting and performing for the children of Japan. 
Tianna attended the Etobicoke School of Performing Arts (ESA) and is a graduate of McMaster University. She conducted a 120 piece orchestra at age 8 at Hamilton Place in Hamilton Ontario.  Trained in voice, dance, acting and music, Tianna has entertained and performed in theatre, corporate functions, private parties, and in Canada, Japan and the U.S.

An accomplished stage performer as well as a musician, Tianna plays five instruments, and is more than ready to claim her rightful place in the Country music scene as she releases her debut single to country radio – “Dancin’ With Elvis’ (produced by Rick Hutt).  The completed CD will be available in 2013.

PEAR’s Grey Cup Drive Third Down and Goal to Go

Submitted by cashbox on Fri, 09/21/2012 - 10:37
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Submitted by Don Graham

The 2012 All Star Band Awards were handed out to seven musicians celebrated for their talents. This year, both Lynae and Denis Dufresne of PEAR were nominated in the category of Fiddle Player of the Year with Denis taking home the honours the second year in a row. Denis was also noiminated in the category of Speciality Instrument (mandolin).

Adorned in custom couture created by Vietnam born and Toronto based Thien LE (Tara Spencer-Nairn, Colm Feore, Natalie McMaster), Lynae and Denis stopped CCMA Gala attendee traffic by their peers and the press.  “My inspiration came from the artists themselves,” said Thien LE, “they are multi-talented as individuals, and although powerful as a duo, have a very playful, fun side; I wanted their designs to reflect the combination of both.”

Capping off the CCMAs, PEAR took the stage at The Ole Party where their high energy snap shot duo fiddle performance brought back memories of their standing ovation at the 2011 CCMAs Industry Brunch and Awards.

OUT IN THE STREET- All the news that spits

Submitted by cashbox on Fri, 09/14/2012 - 11:21
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Hot on the heels of last week’s premiere of second single “Where Things Go Wrong” from altrock poster boy Jason Collette’s upcoming fifth full length album “Reckon”, comes word of a building Canadian tour.  As Colette’s from Toronto, the bigass album debut show goes down at The Great Hall Oct.2. The all-star line up’s Bahamas, Zeus, Andrew Cash, Kevin Drew, Brendan Canning, Danielle Duval, Liam O’Neil, Charles Spearin, Howie Beck & Bryden Baird. More special guests hoping to get on Arts & Crafts’ good side will be announced soon.


Due out on September 25, via Arts & Crafts, “Reckon” is being released with a limited edition eleven-song retrospective companion album, “Essential Cuts”.


Oct 2 – Toronto, ON - The Great Hall Album Release Show with Special Guests
Oct 3 – London, ON - The London Music Club
Oct 4 – Hamilton, ON - The Casbah
Oct 6 – Wakefield, QC - Blacksheep Inn
Oct 7 – Montreal, QC - Lion d'Or
Oct 8 – Northampton, MA - Iron Horse
Oct 9 – Philadelphia, PA - World Cafe Live (upstairs)
Oct 10 - New York, NY - Joe's Pub
October 23 - Victoria - St. Ann's Academy w/ Bahamas 

October 24 - Vancouver - Rio Theatre w/ Bahamas
October 26 - Calgary - Commonwealth w/ Bahamas
October 27 - Edmonton - Royal Alberta Museum Theatre w/ Bahamas 

October 28 - Saskatoon - Amigo’s w/ Bahamas 

October 30 - Winnipeg - West End Cultural Centre w/ Bahamas

The Abrams Brothers Win New Artist Showcase at the CCMA

Submitted by cashbox on Fri, 09/14/2012 - 11:02
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Submitted by Cashbox Canada


On Thursday, September 6th at the New Artist Showcase, CCMA delegates and fans alike witnessed why all of Canada has been whispering about The Abrams Brothers for the past few years. Their high energy show receiving the only standing a standing ovation of the evening, captured the hearts of everyone in attendance, and set the industry in attendance buzzing about this wonderful new talent.


At the Gala Awards presentation on Saturday, September 8th the boys were awarded the 2012 New Artist Showcase. The Abrams Brothers had to leave Saskatoon on the Friday for the Ottawa Folk Festival and a performance Sunday for one of the world’s largest film festivals, TIFF in Toronto.


On hand to receive the award for the boys was their longtime team member and media advocate Deborah Wood (Deborah Wood Publicity) who gave a very emotional acceptance speech. Deborah Wood is long time publicist of Canadian music legend, Michelle Wright and also manages up and coming singer/songwriter Tyler Whelan. When reached for comment, Wood said “ I had an acceptance speech rehearsed just in case, but it all went out that window once I got up there. It was very emotional and these guys deserve this award.”Deborah Wood is long time publicist of Canadian music legend, Michelle Wright and also manages up and coming singer/songwriter Tyler Whelan.

Multiple Award Winner at the CCMA’S Dean Brody Hits the ‘Dirt’ Road

Submitted by cashbox on Fri, 09/14/2012 - 10:58
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Submitted by Cashbox Canada


Newly crowned as Male Artist of Year and awarded Album of Year for the second consecutive time at the 2012 Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) Awards, Dean Brody announces his first national headlining tour beginning January 2013.


After the breakout success of his 2011 CCMA Award winning and JUNO nominated sophomore album “Trail In Life”, Brody has returned in 2012 with his third studio album, ‘Dirt’. Released in April, the album debuted at #1 on the Canadian Country charts. The first single, "Canadian Girls," dominated Country radio becoming a certified Gold and #1 SOCAN hit. The success of "Canadian Girls," has brought Brody to the forefront of audiences; being featured on Degrassi - The Next Generation, performing at CBC's Fall Season Preview, CBC's Stampede 100! and the CFL's Labour Day Rematch between rivals Edmonton Eskimos and Calgary Stampeders.

Recordings by Rory Storm and the Hurricanes Surface in England

Submitted by cashbox on Thu, 09/06/2012 - 22:49
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Submitted by Sandy Graham


After nearly 50 years, recordings by Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, Ringo Starr's first band have been unearthed and found in a cellar in England. The tapes were recorded in March 1960, two years before Starr was poached by Brian Epstein to join The Beatles.


Found in Rory Storm’s sister’s cellar, the tapes will form the group’s first and only album release later this month. The band were at the forefront of the Liverpool scene but never made it big.


Starr joined the group at the age of 18 in 1959, but the band got left behind during the Merseybeat boom in the wake of The Beatles' success. They only released a couple of singles, including one produced by Brian Epstein in 1964, but they failed to chart. Frontman Storm, born Alan Caldwell, was known for his gold lame costumes and on-stage charisma. He died in 1972 aged just 34.


"Rory was a performer," his sister Iris Caldwell said. "He wasn't, like The Beatles, a brilliant songwriter. They called him The Golden Boy and Mr Show Business. The spirit and rawness suggest a whole scene waiting to happen.”


"Rory was so far ahead of his time. He was doing glam rock then." Rod Stewart is among the artists thought to have been influenced by Storm's style, she said. Epstein did not give Storm a real shot at the big time because he "didn't want any major competition" for The Beatles, Caldwell believes.

The Return of the Mods and Rockers

Submitted by cashbox on Thu, 09/06/2012 - 22:32
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Submitted by Don Graham


Maybe you’re too young to remember the Mods and Rockers of Great Britain in the 1960’s. Or maybe you just don’t remember? Like Wavy Gravy said , “ If you remember the 60’s you weren’t really there!” Or as Ringo Starr said in the movie Hard Days Night when asked “Are you a Mod or a Rocker?” he replied “ I’m A Mocker!”


Anyway, if you watched the closing ceremonies of the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England and saw The Who doing their thing then you saw the mirrored Vespas that the Mods favoured. The Mod movement in the British 1960's was a cultural phase that saw young English urbanites dressed to the nines, meticulously coiffed and strutting and riding about on those stylish scooters. The coloured RAF roundels used by the Who as part of their pop-art stage apparel came to symbolize Mods.


The movie Quadrophenia, based on The Who album of the same name, is the story of Mods and Rockers and their conflicts and the re-release of a double DVD of the movie later this month will bring the story back to the forefront.

Michelle Wright Makes Multiple Appearances at Canadian Country Music Week

Submitted by cashbox on Thu, 09/06/2012 - 22:30
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Submitted by Cashbox Canada


Beginning this Thursday, September 6, in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Savannah Music recording star Michelle Wright will participate in multiple events throughout Canada's Country Music Week, culminating with an appearance at the 2012 Canadian Country Music Association Awards on Sunday, September 9, where she is a nominee for the Female Artist of the Year Award.


On Thursday, Wright hosted the CCMA New Artist Showcase at the TCU Place Arts & Convention Centre at 9 p.m. Wright will appear next at CCMA FanFest at 2 p.m. on Saturday at Prairieland Park, where she will perform "in the round" with fellow Canadian country artists Gord  Bamford, George Canyon, and Aaron Pritchett. Wright will wrap up the weekend at the 2012 Canadian Country Music Awards, where she is both an award presenter and a nominee for the Female Artist of the Year Award. The 2012 CCMA Awards will air on Sunday, September 9 at 8 p.m. on CBC, with encore airings on CMT Canada at 10 p.m. EST.


A five-time winner of the CCMA Female Artist of the Year Award and recent inductee into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame, Wright is having an outstanding year thus far, including the release of her latest single, Another Good Day, an upcoming 30-date tour across Canada, a new album scheduled for release this fall, and a rapidly increasing Facebook Fan Page total (currently numbering just over 61,000 Fans).


For more information and publicity please contact www.deborahwoodpublicity.co

Krysta Scoggins Alberta Born and Stardom Bound

Submitted by cashbox on Thu, 09/06/2012 - 22:27
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Submitted by Don Graham


So many great things come out of Alberta. The Stampeders;  football team and musical icons, current Canadian Country Music Hall Of Famer, Dick Damron, country star Paul Brandt, the band Pear with Lynae and Denis Dufresne and now Krysta Scoggins, a country artist with all the right stuff to take her over the top.


An album recorded in Nashville, a video shot in Los Angeles and a heart in Alberta, Kyrsta Scoggins is taking the on ramp to international success. Kyrsta has secured a deal with On Ramp/EMI in Nashville for her sophomore CD, Shine, produced by Scott Bagget, a Nashville mainstay whose credits include John Waite, Alison Krauss and Canadian country star Jason McCoy.


Reached at her home in Alberta, Canada, Scoggins was as bubbly and excited as her picture intimates. “I’m just so thrilled at the way this album turned out. I got to record in Nashville with top notch people, fly to Los Angeles to shoot the video and write with some of the best songwriters in Nashville. The single, “I Will Carry You”,  I got to write with the awesome Patricia Conroy!”  She sounded genuinely excited when going on to say, “and I got to sit down with the awesome Carolyn Dawn Johnson and the ever so talented Jason McCoy. I learned so much from him. I love the fact that these seasoned and track proven professionals are so giving of their knowledge and experience.”

Blake Reid Releases Take Me Back

Submitted by cashbox on Fri, 08/31/2012 - 09:23
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Submitted by Cashbox Canada


‘Take Me Back’, is a new single released to country radio from Blake Reid. The first single from Against the Grain – Reid’s debut solo album– is a fresh breath of the real diesel and dust in country music air.


Reid, a down to earth man’s man has a lot to say of the lifestyle he grew up in. “I’m not a GQ guy in designer threads.  I come from a farm family who staked their claim in 1902, broke the land and made a life.  I’ve been up to my elbows in grease, guts and chaff since before I was in grade school.   I grew up with country music.  On the farm, my mom would sing along with all the country radio legends that echoed in the old farmhouse and Dad would tune into the daily grain prices.  I spent thousands of hours listening to the evolution of country music through the AM radios of tractors, trucks, and combines.  Even before I played guitar I would find a beat and write a song around the pulse of a square baler when we spent the summers in the hayfields.”

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