From smooth jazz vocalist, Cat Bernardi, comes her very first holiday single, “Let’s Get Cozy”, with music video to come on December 21st. This single is the title track of a holiday season EP of the same name and was generously supported by the Mississauga Arts Council's MicroGrant award.

Listen and enjoy “Let’s Get Cozy” here:

“Lots of people are unable to connect with those outside of their households and unable to partake in the typical activities they would at this time of year,” says Bernardi of her new holiday single, “It celebrates the simple beauty of being at home and making a special event out of spending time with people in your household and taking a break in the solace of the home.”

It’s almost that time, and Conestogo, Ontario’s Carla Muller spreads evergreen cheer with the release of a double A-side single, “Christmas Eve” and “Christmas At Home,” both out now, ushering in the warmth of a much anticipated 2020 holiday season – and beyond.

Watch “Christmas Eve” on YouTube here:

Supporting what we all need right now, Carla fuses Americana/Roots vibes into the songs, and donating 50% of the proceeds to Food Banks Canada. She says, " If I go back far enough, I can remember past Christmases from my own younger days. I just have to close my eyes and I can picture my Mom in the kitchen, singing softly to herself, our old dog Cassidy barking his head off as the doorbell rings and scrabbling to greet friends. Boxing Day would bring carols, sung in a way that only family can, our voices blending as they rose and fell in harmony.

East Coast breakthrough band Arsenal Mills continue their quest to reimagine rock n’ roll as they deliver their sophomore single, “The Bleeding Heart”.

That we have it in our hands is a feat, though; the energy-laden 80s-inspired tale surrounding matters of the heart almost didn’t come to be from the PEI-based band.

“‘The Bleeding Heart’ was never meant to be an Arsenal Mills song, strangely enough,” lead vocalist and guitarist Brad Milligan muses. “It began as a song I had written for someone special in my life, so I was planning on keeping it for myself.

Watch the lyric video for The Bleeding Heart here: https://youtu.be/GesOlP3Fs7A

“But it was a little too raw,” he continues. ““I’m not usually one to write ‘love songs,’ but ‘The Bleeding Heart’ isn’t your average love song. After showing it to the band, we collectively realized it was worth working on and perfecting.”

The single is the second of a few set to land ahead of the emerging East Coast band’s forthcoming debut EP, Lovesick & Broke; it follows this summer’s earlier single offering of the same name.

As the holiday season creeps upon us all and the COVID-19 pandemic rages on, it’s becoming clear to a lot of us that 2020 won’t be a year where we’re able to celebrate with all our family or friends. After struggling with this revelation for the majority of the year, Long Island-based folk musician Josie Bello has released a one-off Christmas single chocked full of raw emotion and sentiments. It’s called “Come Home” and you can listen to it here on YouTube:

The four-minute, 45 second-spanning folk number was penned by the New York musician after her 24-year-old son moved out earlier this year to start life with his fiancee. It features a myriad of vivid lyrics which express the feeling of missing someone so much that it hurts — it’s clear that Bello’s came right from the heart.

When guitarist Jay Geils passed away at age 71, he left behind a legacy of wonderful music, not only for the blues-rock sounds he created within his namesake J. Geils Band, but also on several albums he recorded for Stony Plain Records that explored the music of his formative years – jazz and swing – instilled in him by his father.

“Stony Plain was honored to release several swing jazz recordings by Jay Geils including two projects by New Guitar Summit (Jay Geils, Duke Robillard and Gerry Beaudoin),” said Stony Plain Records founder Holger Petersen. “It was a joy to be in the studio with them and to witness Jay's ability to arrange big band songs for three great swing guitar players. Jazz and blues were his first love and he had a deep understanding of their roots. I admired him for turning his back on rock stardom to play the music he loved.”

“I Won’t Put Up With It” is the newest single from folk pop singer-songwriter, Taylor Abrahamse. This infectious single is widely available on streaming services, with a dance-in-your-seat music video now on YouTube.

“I’m fascinated with pushing the boundaries for what’s possible in a catchy pop song” says Abrahamse. “‘I Won’t Put Up With It’ was bedtracked in Nashville with top session musicians... A Michael Jackson-inspired slice of 80s funk with a modern protest message, it twists and turns through key changes and a complex arrangement.”

Father/Daughter duo that is Steve and April Bennett string up some “Holiday Lights” this season with their newly released Christmas song — available now!

As Wild & Blue, the Bennett’s take the time-honoured tradition of family harmony into inspirational and new territory; theirs is a musical partnership deeply rooted in country music’s tradition, yet firmly contemporary in its emotionally charged lyrical offerings and genre-blending approach.

There’s a debut full-length on the horizon; Restless is set for release in early 2021. In the meantime, “Holiday Lights” radiates with exuberant joy thanks to April’s timeless take-notice vox and the song’s decidedly uplifting vibe.

Check out “Holidays Lights” here:

Canadian folk-pop jazz artists The Keen & The Kind have mindfully mined family archives, unearthing the makings of a compelling new single, “Joseph” — available now.

The Winnipeg-based five-piece that is Violet Vopni, Clinton Giesbrecht, Kevin Cote, Alana Giesbrecht, and Stephen Chubaty released their critically acclaimed debut album, Unacknowledged, earlier this year under their former moniker, Nineteen, and were featured on CBC’s Up to Speed, the Indigenous Music Countdown, and Manitoba Music’s Song of the Week.

Now, the band increasingly known for their expansive range in easy-going upbeat pop to groovy smooth jazz to thought-provoking emotive folk is putting the finishing touches on a forthcoming deluxe LP, The Things We Don’t Know, set for release this June 2021.

This sophomore offering’s first preview, “Joseph,” attentively ushers audiences into the fractured legacy and aftermath of Vopni’s lineage, and the story of the song’s namesake, her great grandfather Joseph Huppe.

Watch and listen to “Joseph”  here:

Celtic ‘super group’ Runa is back with a brand new Christmas album and it’s a dandy!

The current climate of the pandemic may have slowed the band down but they refused to let it stop them. The band , consisting  of vocalist and step-dancer, Shannon Lambert-Ryan of Philadelphia, Dublin-born guitarist, Fionán de Barra, Cheryl  Prashker of Canada on percussion, Jake  James of New York on the fiddle, and Caleb Edwards of Nashville on mandolin and vocals have released their long awaited Christmas album, The Tide of Winter. In the tradition of their past work of blending tunes of Ireland and Scotland with the tight harmonies and the rhythms and percussions of jazz, bluegrass, blues and folk they have carved their own niche in the Celtic/Americana/ Roots world.

Americana-folk singer/songwriter Roland Roberts traveled to the Canadian north for a creative gold rush all his own, All About The Timing.

“I walked into Old Crow Recording in Whitehorse, Yukon on a cold, snowy January day,” Roberts recalls. “I’d only brought a ‘bag’ of new songs and an acoustic guitar, and had little knowledge of what the outcome would be.

“What happened next, though, was pure gold.” 

In more formal terms, what he means is All About the Timing, Roland Roberts’ 10-track debut LP, released in Fall 2020.

Check out the title track “All About the Timing” here on YouTube:

From Peter Bloom Band (alias of alt-pop singer/songwriter, voiceover artist, and former radio personality Pete Cugno) comes an all-new original holiday season single called “Reindeers Away.” This toe-tapping tune will certainly have you dancing in your seat all month long.

“The coronavirus pandemic had a multi-pronged effect on me and my creative outlook,” Cugno says. “First, it made me stop feeling sorry for myself as I realized just how lucky I have been and still am. Many have not been so fortunate as a result of the pandemic.

“Second, it made me take stock of what really matters to me and gives me a sense of purpose, which is making people feel good... Making them smile and laugh. God knows, we could all use more of that in these times.

“Finally,” he adds, “with less voiceover work coming in, I had more time on my hands to get in my studio and focus on creating music that would make people feel good. Despite the unfamiliar territory of writing in this style of music, ‘Reindeers Away’ just came pouring out of me, and I figured if it makes me feel this good, then hopefully it can do the same for others.”

Up-and-coming singer/songwriting duo Cameron & Crawford  have just released their fourth single in this year alone. It’s called “I Want a Song” and it’s a groovy, upbeat, jazz song jam-packed with all sorts of vivid imagery which invokes some of the smaller, yet more powerful, beauties of life — much like music itself.

Check out “I Want a Song” here:

Trish Cameron and Wendy Crawford first started jamming in the early 2010s and co-wrote their first song — a country-inspired tearjerker entitled “Never Said” — in 2014. Two years later, they made their performing debut in their hometown of Saskatoon, SK, with an eclectic mix of covers and originals.

Ana is a young and talented singer and songwriter. She was trained from a young age in classical piano and was part of several musical projects as lead singer/songwriter and keyboardist. Ana kept writing music independently and performing in Paris until meeting producer Delman and starting the Anaté project together

Delman is a seasoned producer and guitar player. He performed as guitar player with several local bands from early 2000's to 2015, when he decided to focus on producing local artists and writing own music.

Their collaboration allowed to mix influences from artists of the past and present, with arrangements inspired by iconic trip-hop bands such as Hooverphonic, Massive Attack and Morcheeba, while vocal melodies and harmonies remind of artists such as Sade, Dido and Amy Lee. 

Anaté have released their debut single “Confusion” on iTunes and all streaming platforms.

Check out “Confusion” here:

Canadian singer/songwriter dynamo K BESD has turned rock, pop, and hip hop genres on their heads as she pays homage to Goddo’s 1978 iconic hit in “TUFF TIMES”.

Executive produced by Goddo’s Greg Godovitz himself — and co-produced by Trey Mills (KRS One, Canadian Brass, Forest Blakk) and Eddie Kramer (The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Jimi Hendrix) — the track was mastered by multi-GRAMMY Award-winning engineer John Greenham (Billie Eillish).

“I’ve known Greg since I was a kid, and ‘Tough Times’ has always been one of my favourite songs of Goddo’s,” K BESD (Kelly Abesdris) recalls. “My producer and I were sitting at the studio brainstorming ideas and played the beginnings of Post Malone’s ‘Take What You Want’ and Goddo’s ‘Tough Times’ — they both have a great guitar riff in the intro, and I love the idea of blending genres to create what Post Malone calls ‘shmusic.’ We realized it was time for me to make a call to Greg and luckily he said yes to allowing me to rework his song.

Check out “Tuff Times” here on YouTube:

But, of course, it’s not that simple — which is exactly the song’s point of view.

“This track is about how there’s more to life than meets the eye,” frontman Jordan Best says. “When we choose to take a deeper look at things, we can find beauty and meaning — or “art” — in anything.”

“We are all walking sculptures,” bassist Sean Bampton considers. “Everything around us is a painting, and every sound is music. Each of us are living our own story and, together, we’re living one giant collective one. Our mind is the paint brush and our life is the canvas.”

The music video for “Hanging Paintings” grabs firm hold of the metaphor and runs with it just as artfully. “We took the concept and implied it further by bringing famous paintings to life,” guitarist Dylan Bingham offers. “First we see the main character waking up to Salvador Dali’s melting alarm clock before, on his way to work, he’s stunned to see Grant Wood’s ‘American Gothic’ couple staring at him as he drives by.

To get the full picture (heh…) of what they mean, you’ll have to watch the full video here:

Toronto singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Jay Gordon Wright wishes there was more cowbell on his newest single, “Take Your Time,” and sophomore EP, Fall For Anyone.

Check out “Take Your Time” on YouTube here:

But, let’s back up a moment…

“The EP represents a journey of sorts,” Wright fittingly offers, noting it’s from the idyllic to the dystopian. “It begins with the purest of love and intentions, handicapped by self-doubt, impatience, and frustration, and ultimately it ends in disillusionment and fury.

“This song is more carefree in a way that others on the EP aren’t; it’s a bit of a release,” he continues. “It’s meant to be reassuring, kind of like the inverse of the impatience I can feel throughout the artistic process.

Despite their band name of Fake Magic, there’s nothing but authentic sonic alchemy pouring out of Canadian rockers Greg Markham and Bryan Paccagnella’s newly released sophomore album, N.A.— available now!

While lead single “Father” is about the day-to-day lives of the Heaven’s Gate cult, the concept around the new LP orbits a road trip across North America — as heard in follow-up track, “Always Nice.”

Watch “Always Nice” (Official) here:

“It’s an exploration of the unique places and the ‘animals’ of the continent,” Paccagnella offers. “The album art is based on an original photo Greg took while on tour with Whosarmy; the album is meant to evoke an upside-down slide in a slideshow.”

“The initial recording was done in my apartment downtown Toronto at Bathurst and Bloor,” Markham shares. “We incorporated elements of the apartment and street into the songs, like the sounds of fans, car alarms, and sirens.

At 10,000+ streams and counting, Canadian artist, producer and DJ Auro is delivering a delectable groove guaranteed to get you out of your seat with “Move That Body”.

It’s sultry. It’s vibe-y. And it’s anything but a cliché, Auro and his collaborators Lucky Widmore and Jonas Music assure.

Give a listen and groove out to “Move That Body” here:

“We didn’t want this to be a typical Latin tune talking about señoritas and far-off paradises,” Auro shares. “We wanted it to have an urban vibe and a universal message about love, and chance meetings with beautiful strangers.”

The track is a fitting testament to teamwork and technology. “In this brave new world, ‘Move That Body’ confirms you don’t need to all be in the same room to collaborate and release meaningful art,” Auro shares from his home base in Saskatchewan.

Adding to his 200,000+ streams, Canadian artist, songwriter and producer David Bray debuts “Overdue,” his latest Neo-soul single.

With vocals described as “stunning” by the likes of Bristol Funk, EARMILK, Alfitude, and more, the single also features the knock-out vox of Bray’s long-time musical partner, Lorraine Reid.

Check out “Overdue” here on YouTube:

Produced alongside multi-JUNO Award winning and Platinum-selling producer and composer Chris Birkett (Steve Earle, Sinead O’Connor), “Overdue” lands as the premiere preview to Bray’s forthcoming album, Land of Extremes.

His third full-length release — and the final installment in a specialized trilogy — Land of Extremes follows Night Rains (2016), and Crowded Isolation (2018) — the latter of which received international critical acclaim following features across 100+ stations worldwide.

Life Gets Strange is the newest six-song EP by indie pop singer-songwriter, Cliff Hillis.

This happy and uplifting EP is available on streaming services Spotify and Soundcloud, with the first single “Let’s Pretend” on YouTube.

Check it out here:

“This is the fourth EP I’ve released, I decided it’s a much easier format to digest in such a short attention-span world, and it allows me to get music out quicker than recording a full album at a time,” says Hillis about the format of this EP. “I had to get fairly creative with social distanced recording. A number of the drum tracks were recorded in my garage (which, as it turns out, sound good!)