Masheena-Riffy

 

The crazy blues stoner rockers Masheena from Norway are back with a fourth single "Riffy" from their upcoming album "Let The Spiders In". Which will be the bands second album, due for release on the April 10th, with a UK tour booked for the end of April and more shows planned in 2026, it looks to be a busy year for the Bergen quartet.

Some bands have that song—the one that captures the things happening during recording. The classic example is Smoke on the Water by Deep Purple, documenting a casino fire on Lake Geneva during a Frank Zappa show. Another is A Quick Death in Texas by Clutch, written on the spot and inspired by the surroundings while recording at The Machine Shop in Texas.

Riffy is Masheena’s entry into that lineage.

The song was born out of the band’s full Texas experience—traveling to Austin, living there, and recording just outside the city in Dripping Springs. The lyrics pull directly from what happened around the band: late-night conversations with their landlord about her growing up in old Austin with Roky Erickson, and crossing paths with Lester Bangs in the 1970s. There were tattoos at Rock of Ages Tattoo, drag shows, barbecues, and an unexpected meeting with the drummer from King Crimson over smoked meat and beers.

El Profesor aka bass player Tarjei elaborates: 

“I started going to Austin around 2012, and I immediately fell in love with the place. The people — big beards, tattoos, Hawaiian shirts and friendly smiles. The food was insane: barbecue, Mexican food, cheap beer with a hipster edge. My first visit was during SXSW, but I quickly realized I preferred Austin outside the festival. That’s when the city really breathes.”

Austin has changed. The skyline is different now, the city reshaped by an influx of tech money and new residents. Still, pockets of the old spirit remain. Spend an evening at Continental Club or C-Boy’s Heart & Soul, as the band did, strike up conversations with longtime locals, and you’ll find that the original Keep Austin Weird mentality is still alive. These things didn’t just inspire Riffy - they set the vibe for the whole album. 

Riffy is Masheena’s love letter to Austin—the one that still exists between the glass towers and startup offices. A song about place, memory, and the strange magic that can still happen when a band leaves home, plugs in, and lets the surroundings shape the music.

 

 https://www.masheena.rocks/

 

 

VERY SOON YOU CAN LISTEN TO THEM HERE

LIVE STREAM >> HERE

The Lemon Pistols

 

The Lemon Pistols are an explosive rock n roll band from Toronto Canada, known for their "savoury guitar licks," "bone-shattering" drums, and charismatic live performances. Described as having a modern power-pop sound with a "Tom Petty" influence, the band is fronted by three singer-songwriters and has built a reputation for high-energy shows. Supporting bands like the Electric 6, The Lazy`s and Monster Truck, the band have really honed their craft to be a great live band.

 

 https://www.facebook.com/thelemonpistols/

 

 

VERY SOON YOU CAN LISTEN TO THEM HERE

LIVE STREAM >> HERE

 

The Davidson Trio

 

Birmingham UK power trio The Davidson Trio are set to release their second studio recording, which will be a new 5 track EP called 'Follow You', following on from their debut album Cougar. 

 This new instalment is edgier, darker and more orientated towards rock than most of the previous offerings. The  band  wanted to go back to a sound and feel that they would have been previously renowned for. 

 "It just feels natural; this kind of music just flows out of us when we get together in the studio," says guitarist and songwriter Ben Bicknell. 

 The band are releasing three singles from the new EP before its official release to online stores and streaming platforms on 1st May 2026. The first single to be released on 14th March is War. 

A dark pulsating track with eery guitar crying throughout the track. Massive bass rumbles on like the sound of battle, steadily marching on. 

 

"It reflects the everyday battles we all face, the feeling of wanting to defend what we love the most whatever that may be...... music, loved ones, our culture or even our possessions," Explains Singer and Bass player Owen Davidson. 

 

"We were even fighting our own battles during the writing and recording of the EP. Floods, health, budgets and strict time scales but I think these battles have been won" says drummer Ellis Brown. 

 The remaining tracks all carry deep messages that we can all relate to in some aspect of our lives, shady characters that are out to get you, being disillusioned with the circus we live in or missing loved ones that are no longer in our lives. 

 

https://www.instagram.com/the_davidson_trio 

https://www.facebook.com/thedavidsontrio

 

VERY SOON YOU CAN LISTEN TO THEM HERE

LIVE STREAM >> HERE

Canadian Folk Legend Ken Whiteley Releases His 37th Album 'Keep Going'

 

Canadian folk legend Ken Whiteley releases his 37th album, 'Keep Going,' out now via Pyramid Records, distributed worldwide by Distrokid. A multi-instrumentalist, producer, and composer who has been at the heart of Canadian roots music for more than six decades, Whiteley is a Mariposa Festival Hall of Fame inductee, a Genie Award winner for Best Original Song in a Canadian feature film, and the recipient of Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Maple Blues Awards and Folk Music Ontario. With 'Keep Going,' he delivers his most thematically unified and deeply felt work in years - a record that draws from the oldest wells of blues and gospel to speak directly to the moment we are all living through.

The album's origin is characteristically Whiteley: in February 2025, he slipped on ice and fractured a bone in his ankle. Unable to walk for a month, he sat down, picked up his guitar, and began writing. "Keeping going in these troubled times is an expression of powerful determination and survival, tempered by the recognition of earthly transience," he reflects. "I immersed myself in old blues and gospel tunes and that message kept coming up. May listeners also find the inspiration to keep going." The result is 12 tracks - seven originals, four classics that speak urgently to today, and one co-write with Eve Goldberg - recorded at Casa Wroxton Studio in Toronto with engineer Nik Tjelios and mastered by Harris Newman at Grey Market Mastering in Montreal.

The breadth of Whiteley's musicianship across 'Keep Going' is remarkable even by his own extraordinary standards. He sings and plays acoustic guitar, resophonic guitar, mandolin, Hammond organ, piano, mandola, mandocello, harmonica, string bass, electric bass, and washboard across the 12 tracks - joined by a cast of trusted collaborators including vocalist Ciceal Levy, drummer Bucky Berger, his brother Chris Whiteley on harmonica and cornet, and bassist Gord Mowat. One of the album's most moving moments is 'Reaching Higher,' featuring the late vocalist Betty Richardson - Jackie Richardson's younger sister, who passed away in 2018 - on a demo track Whiteley returned to and knew was worth sending into the world. Guest vocalists Eve Goldberg and Pat Patrick appear on the closing co-write 'At The End Of The Day,' a twilight meditation on transition and the voices we hear at the edge of night.

The closing track's lyrics carry the album's spirit with quiet grace: "I hear something calling me / taking me far away / I hear something calling me / at the end of the day." That sense of listening for something beyond the noise of the present moment runs throughout 'Keep Going.' From the lead track 'Everybody's Got to Be Tried' - built from a phrase remembered from Appalachian banjo legend Frank Proffitt and performed on a 1928 National guitar - to the mandolin-quartet arrangement of Noah Lewis's 1929 jug stomper 'Going to German,' Whiteley draws unbroken lines between the music of the past and the challenges of the present. "It's heartbreaking that the systemic imprisonment of young people of colour is still with us," he writes in his notes. "What I embrace in this song is the affirmation that 'I'll be back some old day.' Keep going."

The stature Whiteley brings to this record has been earned across one of the richest careers in Canadian music. Beginning his public performances at the age of 14, he has shared stages and recordings with Pete Seeger, John Hammond Jr., Blind John Davis, Stan Rogers, and Tom Paxton. He changed the course of Canadian children's music through his work with Raffi, Fred Penner, and dozens of others, and has frequently collaborated with his brother Chris Whiteley and niece and nephew Jenny and Daniel Whiteley. He has written more than 400 songs, which have been covered by more than a dozen artists, and has released four albums since 2020 alone - including CFMA award nominees 'Long Time Travelling' and 'So Glad I'm Here.' These days, as he notes with characteristic wit, he is as likely to be performing at a yoga ashram as a bar, drawing on the full storehouse of blues, folk, and gospel to make music that brings people together.

TOUR DATES:

March 28 - Guelph, ON - Guelph House Concerts

April 4-5 - Val Morin, QC - Concerts & Workshop, Sivananda Yoga Ashram (Easter Weekend) - sivanandacanada.org/camp

May 1 - Ottawa, ON - Gil's Hootenanny 'Songs of Protest, Songs of Hope,' First Unitarian Church, 30 Cleary Ave., 7:00 p.m. - gilshootenanny.ca

May 2 - Toronto, ON - Hugh's Room Live - 75th Birthday Bash and Album Celebration with Bucky Berger, Ben Whiteley, Jesse Whiteley, David Wall, Ciceal Levy, Pat Patrick - Tickets: showpass.com/ken-whiteley-75th-birthday-bash

May 16 - North York, ON - Afro Metis Anthem Peace Concert, Don Heights Auditorium, 18 Wynford Dr., Suite 103, 2:00 p.m.

May 23 - Caledon, ON - Whole Village Eco Village Concert

May 28 - Burlington, ON - Retired Teachers' Luncheon Concert

June 7 - Orangeville, ON - Orangeville Blues & Jazz Festival, Orangeville Opera House with Ben Whiteley, Bucky Berger, Ciceal Levy - orangevillebluesandjazz.ca

June 23 - Roseville, ON - Detweiler Meeting House Concert, 3445 Roseville Rd., Ayr

Advent Horizon

 

This week see`s the release of US based progressive rock group Advent Horizon return with a new studio album "Falling Together" due for release on 15th May 2026 .Which will be the follow up to the critically acclaimed album release "A Cell to Call Home" which was released back in 2023. The first single "Past Life Parable" released on the 12<sup>th</sup> March, lead singer and guitarist Rylee McDonald said "Stylistically, Past List Parable" is a sort of bridge between our older music and the new direction that I`ve been wanting for some time to take this band in. It`s heavy at times, but it`s also a melody-driven rock song with an overall uplighting tone. The harmonized guitar/synth solo at the end is something I`m particularly proud of, and can`t wait to recreate live".

 

https://www.adventhorizonmusic.com/the-band-v2

 

 

NOW YOU CAN LISTEN TO THEM HERE

LIVE STREAM >> HERE

Use and Abusee

 

As quick as a flash we have another release from London based rockers Her Fury, I think it`s only about 5 weeks ago the band released "Feed The Fire", was released out into the world. I  believe the subject matter of new single "Use and Abusee" is about how a person decides to use their time on the planet, do they choose a positive outlook or will they fall into a negative thoughts and actions, to get them through their darker days.

Her Fury is a gritty Rock 'n' Roll four-piece from London, England. Fronted by a blues-drenched, powerhouse female vocalist, the band delivers raw, no-frills energy with soul and swagger. Their guitarist channels Classic Rock fire and Alt-Rock edge, whilst the bassist lays down intricate, groove-rich lines. Holding it all together is a drummer with a punk heartbeat-tight, fast, and ferociously alive. Her Fury is loud, wild, and unashamedly real.

 

 https://www.instagram.com/herfuryband

 

 

NOW YOU CAN LISTEN TO THEM HERE

LIVE STREAM >> HERE

Sick Things

 

One of the stronger hard rock releases of 2025 was "Too Beaucoup" from Sick Things and man what a statement it is. Stocked from top to bottom with one great track after another. An album where you can't really state a standout track because honestly the whole thing is a standout with no filler...just great writing, great riffs and great execution. You may be thinking a strong Alice Cooper influence with a band that shares the same name as the classic 1973 track but what really shines through is a feel of vintage Thin Lizzy with modern day vocals at the helm. There's much to love with 'Too Beaucoup', listen up for some fantastic tracks and an all round great album.

 

https://www.facebook.com/thesickthingsband#

 

NOW YOU CAN LISTEN TO THEM HERE

LIVE STREAM >> HERE

Tim Narducci

 

 

Tim Narducci is an American born vocalist, guitarist, drummer, producer and studio engineer. Tim plays and has played in a variety of heavy metal and hard rock bands. Has or had produced, co-produced and engineered for other local bands, as well. Tim has been play in bands since the early 80`s and but most notably during the  90`s 2000`s, with bands like Mayhem, Spiralarms, Systematic, Tyrranicide and most recently The Watches. As well as playing in a couple of tribute bands, Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers (ZZ Top) and The Lost Crowes (The Black Crowes) 

 

https://www.facebook.com/timnarducci

https://www.instagram.com/timnarducci/

https://open.spotify.com/album/0SHwISU1pxvAi4DsMQLjbY

 

 

Hamilton Guitar Visionary Kyle Pacey Releases Daring New EP “After the Fall”

 

 

There are artists who make music to entertain, and artists who make music to understand the world. Kyle Pacey, the Grammy-nominated Hamilton guitarist, singer, and songwriter, has always belonged firmly in the second category. On After the Fall, his luminous new five-song EP out now, Pacey brings the full force of that lifelong curiosity to bear — spinning R&B heat, jazz-inflected melody, funky locked-in groove, and blues-rooted soul into a cohesive and deeply felt statement about endurance, empathy, and what it means to be alive and paying attention in this moment.

At the center of the collection is the EP’s title track, a piece of breathtaking compositional ambition that deploys improvised jazz-scat phrasing against a driving rhythmic bed to pose the questions that animate the entire project. “What will remain / after the fall,” Pacey sings, his voice both urgent and luminous, before opening the lyric outward to encompass the sweep of human experience: “Farewell my friends now / there’s nowhere to hide — / oh sweet woman / please comfort me.” The song does not offer easy resolution; instead it offers something rarer and more nourishing — the comfort of being asked the right questions in exquisite company.

“What will remain after the fall… oh sweet woman, please comfort me.”

The EP moves through five distinct sonic worlds with the ease of a player who has inhabited all of them for decades. Back Against the Wall leans into rousing blues-rock, its propulsive funk bottom and insistent groove physically lifting the body even as the lyric grapples with the sensation of being hemmed in. Brave New World arrives on a reggae-styled pulse and draws openly from the philosophy of Aldous Huxley — a meditation on personal autonomy and the power each of us holds to chart a new course. I’m Here for You trades in a warm country-blues tenderness, its message of inner strength and self-reliance arriving with the quiet authority of earned wisdom. And Beware, the EP’s most strikingly cinematic moment, conjures a swampy, Lynchian unease — a soulful blues warning about division and the urgent need for common ground, delivered in a growl that would make Tom Waits take notice .

Pacey’s musical authority is built on a foundation that stretches back to lessons under Tony Braden — the celebrated guitarist and teacher who also shaped Kim Mitchell and Ed Bickert — and a run of local and international guitar championships before he turned eighteen. He went on to serve as opening act for the Duke Ellington Orchestra at Hamilton Place, became the first local musician ever to play that storied venue, and built a reputation whose arc runs from an invitation to audition for Chicago to a 2007 Grammy nomination as a member of the John Gora Band. His octave work draws comparison to Wes Montgomery; his full chordal approach recalls Freddie Green and Charlie Christian. After the Fall was recorded at Pine Street Studios in Hamilton, Ontario, with a stellar ensemble of collaborators — Kevin Christoff and Gordon Hall on bass, Michael Sloski, Johnny Winiarz, and Bruno Farrugia on drums, Michael Birth elmer on acoustic guitar, and Ed Roth on keyboards — each song matched to the precise combination of players that best serves its emotional weather.

What sets Pacey apart from the wide field of singer-songwriters working in blues, R&B, and jazz fusion is the particular lens through which he views his subject matter. His lyrics have always been informed by a restless intellectual life — a sustained interest in world events, the visionary culture of the 1960s and ‘70s, metaphysics, philosophy, and the New Thought movement — and After the Fall is his most fully realized expression of those preoccupations to date. From Huxley’s writings on individual agency in Brave New World to the Lynchian surrealism of Beware, Pacey positions contemporary feeling inside a much larger frame, inviting listeners to locate their own experience within the sweep of ideas that have shaped our culture. As broadcaster Kevin Barber has written of Pacey’s work: “He has lived through those times, and the passion and conviction he carries ensures tha t those who get to hear him are treated to something real and good.”

“I am captivated by music that is always changing,” Pacey says of his approach, “and like to incorporate a fusion of popular music genres. I am a very expressive player and like to push boundaries with my unorthodox style.” That restlessness is everywhere in evidence on After the Fall — in the sudden pivot from a jazz scat to a reggae groove, in the blues-country warmth of a song that could sit comfortably on a late-night radio playlist as easily as a Hamilton club stage, in the audacious Huxley reference tucked inside a propulsive beat. The EP is the work of an artist in the full command of his powers, making exactly the music he wants to make, and certain that the world is ready to receive it.

 

 https://kylepacey.com/

Wasted Wizards

 

We head back to Sweden for the latest release from the young guys from Wasted Wizards, with a new single "Monkey Say, Monkey Do" out on the 6th March 2026. The guys will be in the UK for two shows in May as part of the Mayhem Festival in Nottingham and London. This is a day festival with a number of Scandinavian bands, headlined by HEAT and will include Eclipse, who`s singer Erik, is the father of brothers Leo and Sam.

 

Wasted Wizards is a young Swedish hard rock band formed by brothers Leo (vocals) and Sam Mårtensson (guitar), sons of Erik Mårtensson (Eclipse). Known for a 90s grunge and 80s-influenced sound, they released singles like "Hear Me Out!" and "Monkey See Monkey Do". They are currently active, performing in Sweden, and working on their debut album.

 

https://open.spotify.com/artist/6B3U5gyzxUBrnNp9rah2ol?si=qTlcm-CCRh-quHzb13MBgg&nd=1&dlsi=ff3d921d93644022

 

NOW YOU CAN LISTEN TO THEM HERE

LIVE STREAM >> HERE

Canadian Blues Music Awards

 

 

The inaugural Canadian Blues Music Awards (CBMA) gala takes place Monday, March 30, 2026 at The Phoenix Concert Theatre in Toronto, bringing together the finest performers in Canadian blues for a landmark national celebration. The evening will feature live performances from nominees and honourees spanning the full breadth of the country’s blues landscape — from roots-drenched acoustic traditions to electrifying contemporary interpretations — with Lifetime Achievement and Industry Person tributes woven throughout the programme. Gala tickets are on sale now at canadianbluesmusicawards.com. Watch the official launch video here.

The Canadian Blues Music Awards is a fully independent, incorporated national not-for-profit organization with an exclusive mandate to govern, develop, and operate Canada’s premier blues recognition programme. The CBMAs are a wholly new creation — not a rebranding or restructuring of any previous programme. The CBMAs operate as a separate entity: the Toronto Blues Society has no role whatsoever in governance, nominations, judging, voting, or any other element of the awards process. The TBS will proudly host the gala ceremony, and that is the full extent of the relationship.

The new programme was built from the ground up. Initially formed in spring 2024 by Brant Zwicker and Cindy McLeod, the CBMA Governing Committee spent more than a year in extensive research, national consultation, and programme development before incorporating as an independent organization. In December 2024, Julie Hill joined the committee, and the completed plan was finalized in May 2025. The result is a programme grounded in transparency, expertise, and coast-to-coast representation: all artist category awards are decided exclusively by a jury panel of industry professionals drawn from a national pool spanning radio, print, labels, engineering, production, promotion, academia, associations, festivals, and venues. Nominees are determined by submission - not nomination - based on qualifying recordings released between September 1, 2023 and September 30, 2025. The sole exception is the Fan Favourite Award, which is open to the public as a write-in vote.

Quisha Wint, Chair of the Toronto Blues Society, has offered her full endorsement of the new programme. “The Canadian Blues Music Awards represents a complete overhaul,” Wint writes. “A whole new programme created to serve the Canadian blues community with greater transparency, fairness, and unity from coast to coast to coast.” With 16 competitive categories recognizing artists, instrumentalists, producers, and industry figures, alongside Lifetime Achievement honours for five foundational contributors to Canadian blues, the CBMAs are positioned to become the gold standard of blues recognition in this country - one that reflects the true depth, diversity, and resilience of the music and the people who make it.

There are many people asking what will the Canadian Blues Music Awards Gala look like this year? Here’s the breakdown: The Gala will be held at The Phoenix Concert Theatre on Monday March 30.2026 7pm start. All 17 Awards will be presented along with six performances sprinkled through the night with an intermission. 

This year’s host will be Danny Marks who will also perform a song. Steve Marriner, Crystal Shawanda, Kenny ‘Blues Boss’ Wayne, Brandon Isaak and Dana Wylie (Secondhand Dreamcar) will be the feature performers who will all perform a song each.

The gala backing band ‘Pass the Envelope’ will be run by Manny DeGrandis (MD & Bass) with Quincy Bullen (keyboards), Dave Patel (drums) and new additions Cecile Doo-Kingue (guitar) and Dan Jancar (Sax) Blazing Kitchen will also be in the house serving up tacos during the show There will be an After party but not our typical open jam. We will have Emerging artist nominees Glenn Marais & The Mojo Train, Ollie Owens, JP LeBlanc, plus Secondhand Dreamcar and more to be announced perform a few songs in the main room on the big stage starting immediately after the awards.< /p>

“We will be wrapping up at 11pm so everyone can venture off to other Toronto bars and catch more live music or get to bed for work the next day.” Says event producer and TBS Operations Manager, Manny DeGrandis.

Join the celebration on March 30 at The Phoenix and help honour the extraordinary talent that defines Canadian blues. Tickets at https://torontobluessociety.com/canadian-blues-music-awards-2/

Pil & Bue-Shadowcasters

 

 

Pil & Bue is a two-piece, consisting of Petter Carlsen (the arrow) and Goeran Johansen (the bow).

...a two-piece vastly more than the sum of their parts, their deeply invested fusion of metal and pop-bordering melodic dynamics is given emotional rocketfuel by Petter Carlsen's unrestrained vocals. Sia fronting Gojira is an approximation, but the result is exhilarating and uncontrived, and resonates on every level"- Jonathan Selzer, Metal Hammer UK .

With subtle, but pronounced references to artists like Metallica, Radiohead, A Perfect Circle, Anathema and Mars Volta, Pil & Bue delivers “Hard, gloomy & joyful music...” Metal Hammer NO

 

 

NOW YOU CAN LISTEN TO THEM HERE

LIVE STREAM >> HERE

Blonde Rose-Spirits Of The Sun

 

So we head back to Norway this week, seems the guys in Blonde Rose are creating a bit of buzz with their regular retro rock releases. I think it was only about 4 weeks ago, we had the single "Rock N Roll Endeavour", which was very well received. It`s now the turn of "Spirit Of The Sun" that the band have released this week, another quality tune, with their 70`s rock n roll stamp. I also had a former A&R guy for Earache Records, making enquiries about the band about a week ago. So maybe bigger things are in the works for Blonde Rose, I guess it`s a watch this space moment. It`s always nice to hear that some bands are reaching a wider audience with each release, which is what we all do it for!!

 

 

NOW YOU CAN LISTEN TO THEM HERE

LIVE STREAM >> HERE