Canadian | Musicosity

Canadian

Motherlode

William Smith and Steve Kennedy and Smith had been playing together with Eric Mercury and Diane Brooks in a Toronto band called the Soul Searchers that Mercury and Brooks fronted as lead vocalists. After the Soul Searchers broke up, first Kennedy and then Smith joined a group called Grant Smith And The Power which also featured David Clayton Thomas. They formed Motherlode in 1969 and relocated to Ontario where they struggled and stayed with friends. They finally got a break following their debut at the Image Club when Mort Ross signed them to Revolver Records that same year.

Artist Type: 

City and Colour

City and Colour is the recording alias for Canadian singer-songwriter Dallas Green, who is also the guitarist and vocalist of the St. Catharines, Ontario-based post-hardcore band Alexisonfire. He plays melodic acoustic/folk music, and is often accompanied by a rotating number of Canadian indie rock musicians, such as Daniel Romano and Spencer Burton of Attack in Black. The name City and Colour comes from his own name: Dallas, a city, and Green, a colour. His reasoning for the name was that he felt queasy "putting the album out under the name Dallas Green".

Green began releasing City and Colour songs on the Internet for fans to download in 2004. Eventually, he compiled and rewrote several of these songs to make his first album, Sometimes. The full length debut was released on November 1, 2005 to a good reception, described by one reviewer as "dynamically gentle and vulnerable". The cover art was designed by Scott McEwan, in a tattoo-esque style; Green "still may decide to have some of them inked at a later point in time". Sometimes was re-released on Vagrant Records on January 13, 2009, which was the first time the album was available in physical form in the United States.

Green's second album, Bring Me Your Love, was released on February 12, 2008 and features a wide array of instruments not used on his previous recordings (such as harmonica, banjo, drums and lap steel) giving it a more folk-influenced sound. The album also features collaborations with other musicians, such as Canadian musician Gordon Downie of The Tragically Hip on the track "Sleeping Sickness", and additional instrumentals done by Matt Sullivan and the members of Attack in Black. The lead single, "Waiting...", was released on Green's official MySpace page for the first time featuring a "making of" video. The album is named after a short story by Charles Bukowski. It is also a line sung in the closing track, "As Much As I Ever Could."

On September 26, 2008, City and Colour embarked on their first American tour, in support of Bring Me Your Love. On the tour, the band supported Tegan and Sara along with Girl in a Coma. This tour was followed by a headlining tour of the US in January 2009, with support from William Elliott Whitmore. In October 2008, Dine Alone Records announced a special 2-disc limited edition of Bring Me Your Love to be released on December 2, 2008. Only 6,000 copies are available; 5,000 in North America and 1,000 in Australia.[5] In Canada, when the record label put up the album on pre-sale on November 20, 2008, so many fans tried to pre-order it that the store's website crashed.

In January 2010, City and Colour embarked on an additional US headlining tour, again supporting Bring Me Your Love, with supporting act Lissie, and an additional UK tour in June 2010, supporting P!nk, along with Butch Walker, along with a few headlining dates. On these tours, Dallas Green performed two new songs by the titles of "Silver and Gold" and "Oh Sister", as well as a couple of never-played-before covers - "Murderer", originally by Low, and "Grinnin' In Your Face", originally by Son House.

On February 23, 2011, it was officially announced on the Dine Alone Records website that City and Colour's third album would be titled Little Hell and was set for release in June 2011. On March 23, 2011, the official track listing was posted on City and Colour's official website. On April 5, 2011, "Fragile Bird", the first single off Little Hell was released to the radio. The song had its world premiere on Australian radio station Triple J, where the band was touring at the time. The single became City and Colour's highest charting single, reaching No. 1 on the Canadian rock/alternative chart. On August 5, 2011, Alexisonfire announced their break-up. George Pettit wrote a message on the band's official website saying Dallas had been planning to leave to focus on City and Colour, as balancing the two bands had become too difficult.

City and Colour announced the release of the new album entitled The Hurry and the Harm to be released on June 4, 2013. The song "Of Space and Time" was released on March 11, 2013 prior to the announcement of the new album. The song "Thirst" was released on April 1, 2013 on City and Colour's Soundcloud page.

City and Colour announced the release of the new album entitled If I Should Go Before You to be released on October 9, 2015. The song "Woman" was released exclusively on Beats 1 station on Apple Radio on July 15, 2015 hosted by Zane Lowe.

www.cityandcolour.ca
www.myspace.com/dallasgreen Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.

Artist Type: 

The Besnard Lakes

The Besnard Lakes are a music band from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, formed by the husband and wife team of Jace Lasek (Vocals/Guitar/Keyboards) and Olga Goreas (Vocals/Bass), and completed by Kevin Laing (Drums) and Richard White (Guitar). According to Songfacts, their name comes from Besnard Lake in North-Central Saskatchewan. The band gained critical attention with their second album, The Besnard Lakes Are The Dark Horse, that was nominated for a Polaris Prize in 2007.

Artist Type: 

Wolf Parade

Wolf Parade is an indie rock band from Victoria, British Columbia, now based in Montreal,QC. Wolf Parade was formed when Spencer Krug (also Sunset Rubdown, Frog Eyes, Moonface and Swan Lake) was offered a gig supporting Arcade Fire. He called Dan Boeckner (formerly of notable B.C. band Atlas Strategic, now also part of Handsome Furs) and they wrote songs with a drum machine before calling Arlen Thompson to play drums. Hadji Bakara joined in 2004. Dante DeCaro (formerly of Hot Hot Heat and currently of Johnny and the Moon) joined in Summer 2005 as second guitarist and percussionist.

Bedouin Soundclash

Bedouin Soundclash is a reggae/alternative rock band from Kingston, Ontario, Canada. The current lineup consists of vocalist and guitarist Jay Malinowski and bassist Eon Sinclair. Drummer Pat Pengelly left the group in January 2009. Their debut album, Root Fire, released in 2001 also included djimbae player Brett Dunlop. The band met while attending Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. The band released their second album, Sounding a Mosaic, in 2004.

Artist Type: 

Islands

Hailing from Montreal, Canada, Islands is a 6 piece band founded in 2005 by The Unicorns co-founder/songwriter Nick Thorburn (often performing as "Nick Diamonds") and drummer J'Aime Tambeur. Following the untimely disbandment of The Unicorns as they teetered on the brink of breaking through, Islands' debut release entitled Return to the Sea, with its quirky sounds and refreshing, catchy melodies includes collaborations with members of Arcade Fire and Wolf Parade.

Artist Type: 

Death from Above 1979

Death from Above 1979 are the Toronto-based duo of Jesse F. Keeler on bass/synths and Sebastien Grainger on vocals/drums. Refusing to employ a lead guitarist, they played loud synth infused dance punk on the drum and bass combination alone. Originally named just "Death From Above", the duo changed their name after a legal dispute with New York City dance-punk label Death From Above (known as DFA Records since the September 11, 2001 attacks).

Artist Type: 

Harry Manx

Harry Manx is a musician who blends blues, folk, and Hindustani classical music. Born on the Isle of Man and raised in Ontario, he is currently living on Saltspring Island, BC, Canada. He plays slide guitar, harmonica, six-string banjo, cigar-box guitar and the Mohan Veena (a 20-stringed guitar/sitar hybrid). He studied for five years in India with Vishwa Mohan Bhatt. Discography: * Dog My Cat (2001)
* Wise and Otherwise (2002)
* Jubilee (with Kevin Breit) (2003)
* Road Ragas Live (2003)

Artist Type: 

Jill Barber

Drawing on influences from old-time jazz standards, folk balladry and traditional country, Halifax Nova Scotia’s Jill Barber has become one of Canada’s most distinctive young voices. Jill is gaining acclaim and radio play for her new 2008 album " Chances" and her status as a 2008 double-Juno nominee and multiple East Coast Music Award winner for previous releases "For all Time" (2006) and "Oh Heart" (2004).

Artist Type: