Gloryhound
Moncton will get a sort of sneak peak at East Coast Music Week this weekend when some fantastic musicians from each of the Atlantic provinces hits the stage at Moncton bar/music hub Plan B, on St. George Street.
ECMA and Spincount, along with Broken Chord Promotions, are presenting CRANK IT UP! Canadian Music, East Coast Style on Saturday night.
Featuring Halifax hard rockers Gloryhound, Moncton singer-songwriter Phil Flowers, PEI indie rockers Coyote and Newfoundland artist Chris Kirby, the concert will showcase a variety of sounds from the east. In addition to simply being a kick-ass night of great music, the night will celebrating new and emerging artists from the Atlantic provinces and get everyone warmed up for East Coast Music Week, which takes place in Moncton, April 11-15.
Doors open at 9 p.m., music starts at 10:30 p.m. Check out a sample from each artist here.
Moncton’s Joseph Edgar back with new album
Moncton singer-songwriter Joseph Edgar is launching his new album, Interstices, in Montreal Thursday night at the bar O Patro Vys, but he’ll be returning home next week for a release celebration at the Empress Theatre on Tuesday, Feb. 28, at 6 p.m. Both events are free. He will also offer a show at the Igloo Bar and Grill (300 Elmwood Dr., Moncton) on the same evening at 10 p.m. The public will also have the opportunity to see him in performance at the taping of the show Radio-Canada’s tv show Luc et Luc, on Wednesday, Feb. 29, 8 p.m.
His fourth solo album in seven years, a press release for Interstices says the new album is more rock-inclined than its folky predecessors, La lune comprendra (2004), Oh ma ma (2006) and Y’a un train qui s’en vient (2009).
The founder of Zéro Celcius, which he lead in the 1990s and early 2000, Edgar has shows planned throughout Canada in the early part of this year before he will head to Europe in the summer for shows in France, Swiss, Belgium and Germany.
McDons House makes triumphant return
Having built a reputation for featuring some of the best bands from the east coast and beyond, popular web series The McDons House has returned for another season.
The series, which was created and produced by veteran Moncton musicians/engineers John Jerome and Kyle McDonald, is shot in McDonald’s house in Moncton.
The first season was available online and was also broadcast locally on Rogers Television. Each episode features a special guest band performing live in The McDons House, along with a variety of other art and comedy-based segments.
Season two premiered exclusively online Friday, Feb. 10, with new episodes debuting every second Friday featuring the likes of 2012 Juno-nominated psych/country band The Sadies, Halifax indie rockers Dog Day, 2010 ECMA award winners The Motorleague, hillbilly/swing extraordinaire Petunia and P.S. I Love You frontman Paul Saulnier drumming in his side project False Face.
Season one included episodes featuring Juno-nominated metal band Cauldron, rocker B.A. Johnston, electro-pop group Ruby Jean & The Thoughtful Bees and jazz/prog band Les Paiens.
All past and new episodes can be streamed and/or downloaded at the SuperBob website.
New Brunswick talent heads to China
New Brunswick country recording artists Kevin Chase and Melanie Morgan are teaming up to be the first Canadian country music artists to tour China this coming March. The introductory tour, which takes place in soft-seat theatres, introduces the Canadian musicians to the vastly growing Asian market in an effort to establish a touring circuit in China for years to come.
“We were approached late last summer with the idea,” Kevin Chase said in a press release. “Surprising to some, there is a lot of interest in country music in China, but there haven’t been a lot of tours happening over there yet. We are looking to open some doors and change that.”
Touring in China presents some unique challenges for cultural differences alone and with no touring history to speak of, there are a few uncertain elements. Chase isn’t worried: “We got as much information as we could get our hands on and adjusted our set with that in mind. What it boils down to is to deliver a great show that people can relate to,” he says.
“It’s a very interesting concept to export New Brunswick country music to a place like China,” says Morgan. “It certainly brings me back to my roots and why I started singing music in the first place. I am very excited to be part of something so special.”
Fellow New Brunswickers Kevin LeGault, Frankie Robichaud, Graeme McCausland, John Collier and Allison Hovey will be backing up both artists for this tour.
Lovestorm back with another video
The always busy New Brunswick/Mexico-based Lovestorm reached out to East Coast Noise with yet another interesting video to accompany one of the duo’s lush, beautiful songs. Recorded and filmed in Puerto Escondido, Mexico, earlier this month, the duet finds Nina Khosla and Tim Isaac singing about personal growth within a relationship and getting to know someone. Check out Now I Know You …
