Taming Sari

 

Canadian rock/blues band Taming Sari releases their rippin’ new song about being vulnerable in a hyper-exposed world where there are fewer places to hide with the supercharged new single, “No Shelter” — available now!

 

A hard-hitting anthem of compassion and connectedness, “No Shelter” acts as a visceral reminder to cherish the people in your life — especially during an era filled with social trauma. “Things will never be the same, but we still need that crucial support to get through life and be happy.”

   

Beyond its commentary, “No Shelter” is a blistering track that showcases the exceptional musicianship and vocal prowess of each member of Taming Sari. Listeners are treated to a sonically sophisticated song that is the culmination of Taming Sari’s pent-up creativity and energy during the pandemic; as the band says, “‘No Shelter’ is three minutes of pure mental and physical release that we all so desperately need in these times.”

   

The backdrop of the Polson Pier in downtown Toronto set the stage for the recording of “No Shelter” earlier this year in the dead of winter as light at the end of the tunnel came shining through. Drummer Adam Ouellette and bassist Alex Pellerin-Auprix provide the tight backbone of the new single, while guitarist Miguel Kingsberry-Brunette rounds out the rhythm section. The earth-shattering vocals of Warren Meredith pave the way for Taming Sari’s new lead guitarist, Joe Fraser.

   

“No Shelter” effortlessly exudes youthful energy through its meticulous guitar riffs and thunderous drums. “It's also about forming strong relationships that make us feel connected.” Anyone with a penchant for raw, melodic craftsmanship can be assured that the harmonies embedded in the music are as potent as the message. 

 

“Let's settle the score 

know who to blame 

how long can it last? 

thing's will never be the same.”

 

Hailing from across Canada, Taming Sari is a collection of eclectic artists hell-bent on refining their distinct blend of classic rock and blues. This bilingual band has been on fire since the release of their debut album, Thirsty From The Drought, in 2019. 

They have since performed during the intermission of an Ottawa Senators game, made it on the Canadian Active Rock charts, and racked up 200,000 streams and 70k listeners on Spotify with their last single alone. With a long list of recognitions and accolades, the release of their latest single ensures that Taming Sari is one of the most exciting Canadian acts today.

 

 https://www.tamingsariband.com/

Donnie Walsh

 

Donnie Walsh has experienced a lot of things in his over 53 years of playing the blues, since forming The Legendary Downchild Blues Band in 1969 with his brother, Hock Walsh. Perhaps none more rewarding than getting the call that he will be inducted into the North Bay Musicians & Entertainers Hall of Recognition on September 1, 2022, at Downchild’s performance at the Capitol Centre in North Bay as part of the Capitol Centre Bluesfest.

 "It's really exciting to be inducted to the Hall in North Bay as it's where, as a kid, I started to actually listen to music and began to play guitar” states Donnie Walsh.

 Donnie spent his formative years in North Bay, when his parents moved to the city in 1957 and bought The Lakeview Inn in West Ferris, Ontario, now part of North Bay, as it was known then. It was at the infamous Lakeview Inn where Donnie and Hock discovered music on the jukebox.  "At 11:30 every Saturday night it was closing time" says Walsh. "People would load up the jukebox throughout the night to play well past the time we shut down for the evening. Hock and I would sneak in there on Sunday mornings and plug it back in and listen to hours and hours of great music by Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Bill Haley and the Comets, Louis Prima, and Keeley Smith, to name a few. It was around this time that I got a steel guitar one Christmas and quickly exchanged it for a regular guitar. Then I took guitar lessons for almost a year from local guitar legend, Russ Smith, who played guitar on a TV show with Irwin Prescott and His Mellowtones."

 He attended grade 7 and 8 at Tweedsmuir Public School in West Ferris and then spent two years at Algonquin Composite Collegiate in North Bay, before heading to Toronto in 1962. Two year later, Walsh began his journey to becoming a full-time musician, forming Downchild in 1969 with Hock, and the rest, as they say, is history.

 Downchild have long been known as the inspiration for Hollywood stars Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi’s hit film The Blues Brothers. In fact, two Downchild songs “I Got Everything I Need (Almost)” and “Shotgun Blues” are found on The Blues Brothers smash album Briefcase Full of Blues.

 Downchild has released 19 albums, including their 50^th Anniversary Live At The Toronto Jazz Festival recording (featuring special guests Dan Aykroyd, Paul Shaffer, David Wilcox, Kenny Neal, Gene Taylor and Erja Lyytinen), won 2 JUNO Awards and over 26 Maple Blues Awards.

 Donnie Walsh wrote Downchild's song “I’ve Got Everything I Need (Almost)” that was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2019, where he joined some of the greatest songwriters of our time, including Neil Young, Gordon Lightfoot, Joni Mitchell, and Leonard Cohen.

 Downchild is a Canadian blues institution with an international reputation. They have shared the stage with blues icons B.B. King, Buddy Guy, and John Lee Hooker to name a few and have performed around the world, leaving fans thoroughly entertained wherever they go. The band continues to perform regularly and are currently on The Longest 50th Anniversary Tour Ever!

 For further information on Downchild see www.downchild.com

Fresh Breath

 

Some songs become known for one standout, dramatic element – a scream, for example – and Ontario-based alt-country duo Fresh Breath’s new single “Find Your Way Home” – available now – just might be one of them. It’s bluesy, it’s catchy, it’s harmony and harmonica-infused, and it also stops the action in the middle of everything for a memorable husky, guttural YEAHHHHHHH.

From their 2021 EP, How Did I Get Here, “Find Your Way Home” explores the question of what it might have been like to have not been born human – “Sometimes I wonder/ How my life would have been/ Had my soul not been placed down here/ In this body wrapped with skin.” The song questions how it might have been to have been born a deer rather than someone who spends their day in an office, a dolphin rather than a factory worker, or even a river whose only job is to rage on. 

“I’d still help you find your/ Find your way home,” the duo concludes.

Overall, the song is about reclaiming and rediscovering one’s humanity by philosophically going outside of it for a little while. “It's a hypothetical question about having your own mind but in a different body,” Fresh Breath explain. “Perhaps a bird or dolphin. Realizing that all living things have their own unique issues and struggles and maybe it would be easier to be a bridge or a river that helps you 'Find Your Way Home.’”

Although it deals with lofty and difficult questions, “Find Your Way Home” doesn’t take itself too seriously. The earthiness of the exercise is reflected in the music video, shot exclusively on an iPhone 12 mini by the band themselves. It shows Josh and Katie Pascoe hanging out on their family farm, chillin’ in the hayloft and the old cow shed, and playing in the sunshine. When that aforementioned YEAHHHH comes, they stop to do a little bit of hair-flipping and headbanging in glorious slow motion.

At the end of the video, they even include a funny blooper. “When we did the slow-motion shot, Katie thought it would be a cool effect to toss her hat – not realizing that it would surely smack Josh directly in the face as he came back up violently fast,” the duo said. “Luckily he wasn't hurt or injured, but what we managed to grab on film was too good not to include as a blooper at the end of the video.”

It’s just one of those things that reflect the duo’s ethos. “We ultimately love to have fun, and try not to take ourselves too seriously,” they share.

 https://www.freshbreathband.com/

Nick Moss

 

 Nick Moss is an American Chicago blues and electric blues musician. He has released thirteen albums to date, all on his own label, Blue Bella Records label. He has played with Buddy Scott, Jimmy Dawkins, Jimmy Rogers and the Legendary Blues Band. More recently he has performed fronting his own group, Nick Moss and the Flip Tops until 2008 and then shortening the name in 2009 to Nick Moss Band. The music journalist Bill Dahl stated that Moss possesses "mastery of the classic Chicago sound."

Moss originally learned to play the bass guitar. He joined Buddy Scott's backing band when he was in his late teens. He played for Scott for two years. After that he played with Jimmy Dawkins. By 1993, he had joined the Legendary Blues Band and played bass on their final album, Money Talks.[3] The band's frontman, Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, suggested Moss should switch to lead guitar, and he spent over two years there before they split up.

Moss moved on to play guitar in the Jimmy Rogers band for three years, before he turned to a solo career. His debut album, First Offense (re-released in 2003), billed as by Nick Moss and the Flip Tops, included a guest appearance by the harmonica player Lynwood Slim. His next albums, Got a New Plan (2001), Count Your Blessings (2003), Sadie Mae (2005) and Live at Chan's (2006), were each nominated for a W. C. Handy Award.

Nick Moss and the Flip Tops recorded two live albums at Chan's, a Rhode Island club, the second of which included the harp playing of Gerry Hundt.[4] Moss and the Flip Tops played at Memphis in May and the Ottawa Blues Festival in 2008.[5] The same year Moss produced Magic Slim's album Midnight Blues. Moss later changed the name of his group, which became the Nick Moss Band.

Moss's ninth album, Here I Am, was released on November 22, 2011. It was nominated for a Blues Music Award in 2013 in the category Rock Blues Album. His tenth album, Time Ain't Free, was released in March 2014 and was voted by the editors at Guitar World magazine as One of the Top 50 Albums of 2014.

The band released Live & Luscious on October 30, 2015. It was their 11th album released after a European tour in April that year. It featured live versions of unreleased songs that will be introduced in the following studio album. The 12th album was issued on May 20, 2016, and was a double disc studio effort, From the Root to the Fruit.

The High Cost of Low Living (2018) was a slight departure from the norm, incorporating a significant guest appearance from the harmonica player Dennis Gruenling, plus the release was via Alligator Records.

At the 40th Blues Music Awards in 2019, Moss was named 'Traditional Blues Male Artist of the Year'.

His 2019 joint recording with Dennis Gruenling, Lucky Guy!, was chosen as a 'Favorite Blues Album' by AllMusic. In May 2020, the Nick Moss Band featuring Dennis Gruenling won two Blues Music Awards for 'Band of the Year' and 'Traditional Blues Album of the Year' for Lucky Guy!. 

https://www.nickmossband.com/

Big Joe Williams

 

Joseph Lee Williams, billed throughout his career as Big Joe Williams, was an American Delta blues guitarist, singer and songwriter, notable for the distinctive sound of his nine-string guitar. Performing over four decades, he recorded such songs as "Baby Please Don't Go", "Crawlin' King Snake" and "Peach Orchard Mama" for a variety of record labels, including Bluebird, Delmark, Okeh, Prestige and Vocalion.

Williams was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame on October 4, 1992. 

 

Ben Harper

 

 

Grammy award-winning guitarist, songwriter, and bandleader Ben Harper enjoyed cult status on the jam band scene in the 1990s largely due to the success of his debut album, Welcome to the Cruel World, and its follow-up, Fight for Your Mind, before gaining wider attention near the decade's end. During the 21st century, he transcended the genre to become a wildly diverse performer, collaborator, and sideman who has worked with artists ranging from the Blind Boys of Alabama and Charlie Musselwhite to John Mayer. Harper drew his influences from classic singer/songwriters, blues revivalists, guitar slingers, and jam bands like Blues Traveler and Phish, which meant he was embraced by critics and college kids alike. Despite finding commercial success with the radio single "Steal My Kisses" in 2000, Harper continued to explore different (and often challenging) musical textures during the early 21st century, enjoying a solid fan base at home and a considerable amount of fame in Europe, where he was named 2003's Artist of the Year by the French branch of Rolling Stone.

A native of California, Harper grew up listening to blues, folk, soul, R&B, and reggae. He started playing guitar as a child and began to perform regularly as a preteen. During his adolescence, he focused heavily on the acoustic slide guitar, which eventually became his signature instrument. Harper scored a deal with Virgin Records in 1992 after maintaining a steady schedule of shows in the L.A. area; two years later, he released his debut album, Welcome to the Cruel World, to positive reviews. 

Released in 1995, the politically heavy Fight for Your Mind made for a strong sophomore effort, an obvious growth in musical experimentation and individual declamation. It was also the songwriter's first record to later reach gold status. Harper's third album, 1997's The Will to Live, pushed his blues-oriented alternative folk into the middle mainstream, becoming a mainstay at college radio and making inroads at adult alternative radio. Recorded over two years of touring in support of Fight for Your Mind, The Will to Live also introduced the Innocent Criminals, Harper's longstanding backup band. The Innocent Criminals -- bassist Juan Nelson, drummer Dean Butterworth, and percussionist David Leach -- helped solidify Harper's musical rhythms and emotional diversity over the years to come. 

 Harper's career gained momentum during 1998 and 1999. One of his most successful albums to date, 1999's Burn to Shine, blended his fondness of '20s jazz compositions with urban beatboxing, resulting in a clever and passionate collection of songs. "Steal My Kisses" and "Suzie Blue" were radio favorites, landing him two headlining world tours and an opening spot on the Dave Matthews Band's annual summer trek in 2000. The following spring, Harper issued Live from Mars, a double disc of live electric and acoustic material spanning the previous year's tour and including covers of material by Led Zeppelin, the Verve, and Marvin Gaye. 

 Harper dove into worldbeat on his fifth studio effort, Diamonds on the Inside, which appeared in March 2003. He toured through Europe the following year with the Blind Boys of Alabama, and the two acts entered Capitol Records' basement studios after the tour's commencement to lay down ten tracks together. The resulting collaborative album (issued under the names of both Harper and the Blind Boys of Alabama), There Will Be a Light, was released in September 2004, followed by the concert CD/DVD package Live at the Apollo in 2005. 

 Eager to release more material, Harper reconvened the Innocent Criminals and issued the double album Both Sides of the Gun in March 2006. The album reached number seven on the Billboard album charts and rose to number one in Australia. While touring in support of the record, Harper and company began playing a new slew of songs during their evening soundchecks, eventually decamping to Paris and recording the new material within one week. This resulted in two records -- Lifeline and Live at Twist and Shout Records -- both of which were issued in 2007. 

For his 2009 album White Lies for Dark Times, Harper recorded with the band Relentless7, whose members had previously worked with Harper on the track "Serve Your Soul" from Both Sides of the Gun. Harper & the Relentless7 recorded Live from the Montreal International Jazz Festival in July 2009 and released the album early the following year. Afterwards, Harper began working on his first solo album in years, using Jackson Browne's basement as a recording studio and collaborating with Ringo Starr on two tracks. The album's first single, "Rock n' Roll Is Free," was released during the early spring of 2011, followed two months later by the full-length Give Till It's Gone, and in 2012 by the career retrospective By My Side. Harper then moved over to Stax and teamed with blues legend Charlie Musselwhite for 2013's collaboratively released Get Up! It won the 2014 Grammy for Best Blues Album. 

Harper went back to his roots on his next offering. He teamed with his mother, Ellen Harper, a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist in her own right, and the director of The Folk Music Center and Museum in Claremont, California -- which his grandparents founded -- for the recording Childhood Home. Ellen wrote four tunes on the set while Ben wrote six, and they performed together throughout. The album was issued by Concord in May 2014. Next, Harper reunited with his band the Innocent Criminals for 2016's Call It What It Is, the group's first studio album since 2007's Lifeline. Harper and Musselwhite announced a second collaborative album in January 2018 by issuing the title track single to No Mercy in This Land. A second single, "The Bottle Wins Again," was released in March followed by the album on the 30th. The next year saw Harper write and produce gospel legend Mavis Staples' 14th studio LP, the acclaimed We Get By, and in 2020 he released Winter Is for Lovers, an all-instrumental lap steel album. 

 https://www.benharper.com/

Ukrainian Humanitarian Fund GoFundMe Campaign

Steve Aiden just released this song to raise awareness and funds for the Ukrainian Humanitarian Fund GoFundMe Campaign. 

The donate button on Spotify takes you directly to the charity fundraiser, nothing comes to https://open.spotify.com/track/1NOD5NneJ3BaKAz2D06blQ?si=7Ks6m66KQ5CqR3FJu6nymw

I Forget Myself

 I Forget Myself is a professional recording artist with over two decades of experience: from playing in touring bands for over a decade and being signed to a major label in his native South Africa through to writing, recording, producing and mixing his own music. He has just released his fourth full-length album Sing, to commemorate a friend who passed away; collaborating with a longtime session drummer friend and mixing engineer, respectively, to produce his second 11 song Alternative Rock album of note in 2022, which is now available on all major digital distribution platforms.

 

I Forget Myself is also an active online content creator, updating his various social media channels daily. As a YouTuber, he has created a channel with over 850 hours of content, over 120 videos and receiving over 20 000 views in under two years. In addition to releasing music on his YouTube Channel he professionally reviews games and occasionally live streams to platforms such as Twitch and Steam. Most characteristic of his left-handedness, I Forget Myself furthermore is an artist who uses painting as a medium, creating and displaying original artwork and painted tabletop miniatures as well as sharing his photography throughout his travels of the world. I Forget Myself is additionally an aspiring fiction writer who is working on his first fiction novel, currently based in the Asian world city of Hong Kong. Actions most certainly speak louder than words… and there will certainly be no forgetting this memorable musician, artist and creator any time soon.

 https://www.iforgetmyself.com/