After 18 weeks of releasing a new track each week off its new album, Halifax-based group MIR is finally releasing that album, OK2GO!, this week. The album lands in stores on Tuesday, Sept. 16.
All summer long, the band has been releasing one track from the new album each week on its website. Every track is available for sampling/purchasing on the band’s site and the album will be in stores tomorrow.
Hospital Grade to release sophomore effort
Saint John, N.B.’s Hospital Grade will release its new album, Secrets and Sawdust (BBQ Records), next week, on Sept. 26. The band (Jason Ogden, Andrew Ogden, Mike MacAloon and Adam Kierstead) worked on the tracks that would become Secrets and Sawdust for the last two years.
The band formed in 2002 and released its first CD, Written Axe To Trigger, in 2004, on Kansas City, MO’s URININE Records.
Jill Barber preps new album, tour
Juno Award nominee and ECMA winner Jill Barber, who calls Halifax home, is set to release her new album, Chances, on Oct. 14. The folk songstress recorded most of the album in Blue Rodeo’s Woodshed Studios. The 10-track disc features guest appearances by the Good Lovelies, The Sojourners and Ron Sexsmith, who co-wrote some of the new disc along with Les Cooper.
Along with the new album, Barber has an extensive East Coast tour planned between Oct. 24 and Nov. 9, with dates in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. Check out her website for tour dates.
We, The Undersigned announce changes, tour
Fredericton, N.B.-based We, the Undersigned is planning a month-long eastern Canadian tour with Kitchener, Ont.’s What’s He Building In There? The metal band will play shows in Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Quebec and Ontario. Current planned shows are on the band’s myspace page and more are expected to be added.
The band recently underwent some personnel changes. Andy Stevens (I Am Error/Born Under Satellites) is filling in on guitar for the group after Brandon Larocque decided to leave the band in May. The band also features Tyler Feeney, Jai Sadler and Chris Gatza.
Indie Pop Night rocks the East Coast
Marc Xavier “bones” LeBlanc, a Moncton photographer, promoter and DJ, hosts regular Indie Pop Nights at Moncton’s Paramount Lounge. The show features Bones DJing, spinning pop tunes – everything from Top 40 to underground stuff you’re unlikely to hear anywhere else. Bones’ goal is to basically get the entire room dancing.
The next show coming up is Friday, Sept. 19 at the Paramount Lounge, but he has been taking his show on the road as well, so to keep up with where Bones will be next, search “((Indie Pop Night)) events with bones” on Facebook.
Great Big Sea goes gold
Warner Music Canada has announced that Newfoundland’s Great Big Sea, recently seen opening for Keith Urban in Halifax, has had its latest album, Fortune’s Favour, go gold.
I caught the band at the Urban show a few weeks ago and they sounded great. The crowd ate up the hits and seemed to respond well to the newer material. Nice to see that after nine albums and over 15 years together, the band still holds up well live and on the charts. Each of the band’s albums has gone gold or platinum. In November, the band will embark on another tour that will take them from Ontario to British Columbia. No East Coast dates have been announced thus far.
Moncton re-releases project
In one of the coolest East Coast undertakings I’ve ever heard of, two Moncton, N.B. based fellows are making rare, out-of-print Moncton releases freely available in mp3 format (whole albums tagged properly and zipped), complete with cover art and wiki entries.
Musician Don Levandier (ex-The Ditchpigs, The Motorleague) and producer Kyle MacDonald (HOPE, many others) are spearheading this via The Van Door Records.
The idea here is to dig up some old treasures and also promote Moncton’s new wikiMonctonLocals, an online archive of Moncton’s music history. It’s a volunteer project that Levandier started.
The first release through the new initiative is 1996’s Honeybucket – Honeybucket, the band’s second album. The album is now available at The Van Door website. Future releases planned are The Neutrinos and Super Dicky 66, as well as a live Iron Giant release.
ECMA 2009 music award submissions open soon
Deadline to submit for a 2009 East Coast Music Award is Oct. 15. Submissions are opening soon with an announcement expected this week.
In other ECMA news, the deadline to submit for the ECMA 2009 Showcase Stages is Sept. 24. You can apply here.
Halifax festival seeks submissions
The In the Dead of Winter festival is an annual acoustic festival that will be held in Halifax, N.S. Jan. 27-29. The organizers are currently accepting submissions for performance consideration. All artists will be compensated for their performances and some may receive travel and accommodations. For full details check out their website, and to submit for consideration, check this out. Deadline to submit is Oct. 1.
Pop Explosion to rock the coast
The Halifax Pop Explosion is presenting a short East Coast tour, Molson Canadian Rocks the Coast, which will feature Grand Theft Bus, Slowcoaster, Rich Aucoin and i see rowboats performing four shows this month across the Maritimes. Here are the dates:
Sept. 24 – Halifax, N.S. – The Marquee Club
Sept. 25 – Sydney, N.S. – Membertou Convention Center
Sept. 26 – Moncton, N.B. – L’Osmose (Université de Moncton bar)
Sept. 27 – Fredericton, N.B. – UNB Sub Cafeteria
For more info on the shows, check ‘em out here.
SpinCount in business for East Coast artists
I was asked to spread word of a service available to East Coast musicians. Liverpool, N.S.-based SpinCount Music & Promotions is now offering digital music distribution services to Canadian musicians. This method of sending songs to radio stations throughout North America is possible due to the company’s partnership with DMDS, making SpinCount the distributor’s only active agent located east of Montreal. SpinCount distributes music instantaneously in a form similar to an e-mail to potentially hundreds of radio stations at once, along with the artists’ press release and marketing materials.
This method of distribution can save time and coin versus the traditional method of mailing a separate CD to radio stations across the country.
SpinCount also offers an array of promotional tools to artists to assist them in getting heard on radio. These services include radio tracking to follow up on song releases with each station and encourage the stations to listen to the track and consider adding the songs to their play lists; consulting on website design and social networking sites and marketing assistance through iTunes and CDBaby.
Owner Kimberly Sinclair also hosts a radio show, InSight, with live internet streaming radio from QCCR in Liverpool.
