Advantage RAA
Juno Award-nominated band Rural Alberta Advantage have announced that they will head into the studio to begin work on a new album scheduled for release in 2014. With said announcement, the trio will also be playing a few select concerts in the United States and Canada. Sadly, no Toronto date has been announced. But we're initiating a write-in campaign starting now. The Rural Alberta Advantage was founded in 2002 and includes the current incarnation of Paul Banwatt (drums) and Amy Cole (keys, percussion, backing vocals), along with founder Nils Edenloff (singer/songwriter).
Two Hours Traffic announce farewell tour
East Coast rock stalwart Two Hours Traffic has called its quits and have announced a farewell tour that includes a stop in Toronto on Dec. 12 at Lee's Palace. The band posted a statement on their website that reads, in part,
"To all of our friends and fans. After 12 years of making music together we have decided that Foolish Blood will be our final album. We want to make it clear that we are not breaking up due to any personal problems within the band or because of any creative issues – it is just the right time. We want to thank all of you from the bottom of our hearts for the love and support we have received over the past decade. We have travelled farther and met more wonderful people than we could have ever imagined. When we started playing music together in our parents’ basements in 2001 our only intention was to write our own songs and hopefully get to play them for an audience. We truly feel fortunate that we have been able to do that for as long as we have."
Check out the video for their song "Amour Than Amis" below.
Hip to be solo
Paul Langlois of seminal Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip has announced his second solo album Not Guilty scheduled for release on Nov. 5. through Ching Music. The guitarist will also embark upon a Canadian tour that includes a stop in Toronto's Horseshoe Tavern on Nov. 28. With The Tragically Hip, Langlois has released more than 12 albums and was inducted into Canada's Hall of Fame. The album, Fix This Head, was recording in Bath, Ont. at The Bathouse Recording Studio with the help of fellow musicians Jeff Montgomery, Mauro Sepe and fellow Hip band member Rob Baker. For a taste of the new album check out the single "Watching You" below:
Hey ho let's go… to the last pogo?
Canada's most infamous punk concert, The Last Pogo, along with other key events and happenings from punk's first wave in the 1970s in Toronto was chronicled in a film dubbed The Last Pogo Jumps Again, which played to a sold-out screen at the 2013 Canadian Music Week. The film returns for a short run from Nov. 1-7 at Big Picture Cinema, 1035 Gerrard Street East. The film features rare concert footage including The Last Pogo at the Horseshoe Tavern, and a rare recording of Kurt Cobain covering Toronto band The Viletones's "Possibilities."
The Last Pogo Jumps Again trailer from Colin Brunton on Vimeo.
Our favourite Rob Ford related tweets from T.O. musicians:
Evening Hymns (@eveninghymns): "The new rule: if one side picks a crackhead as our mayor then we get to pick the next one and they can't vote."
Dave Bidini (@hockeyesque): "i bet R Ford comes out crying like a baby cause it's what cowardly bullies do. DONT BUY IT."
Hollerado (@hollerado): "Yaaaay!!!!! Get outta town rob ford."
Ron Sexsmith (@RonSexsmith): "A friend of mine was looking to buy a car with the most awards and high praise I said "How about the Ford Accolade?" RS"
Dan Mangan (@danmanganmusic): "How many Rob Ford costumes can we expect at parties tonight? #halloween #crack"
And the winner is: Katheleen Edwards (@kittythefool): "Smoking crack doesn't make you a bad person. But deceit, denial, and blatant incompetence while holding public office does."