Music News Digest, May 17, 2019

By FYI Staff

Yvonne Matsell is named to receive CIMA Music’s Unsung Hero Award at the association’s annual, at Lithuanian House Banquet Halls in Toronto on June 10. Dubbed Queen of Queen Street West, the Welsh-born Torontonian is known for her pink hair, middle finger, quick wit and exceptional ear for new talent. The long-time club booker and independent promoter helped cultivate such talent as Barenaked Ladies, Broken Social Scene, Billy Talent, Arkells, Ron Sexsmith, Lights, The Tea Party, Kathleen Edwards, Oh Susanna, Sarah Slean, Skydiggers, Moist, Feist, Peaches, Sarah Harmer, and Matt Mays, in a range of local venues that include Albert’s Hall, Ultrasound, Horseshoe, Reverb, Ted’s Wrecking Yard, and the El Mocambo. To read more of Yvonne's story, click here. And to contact Yvonne write: yeahbaby@rogers.com.

– Toronto’s immensely popular SING! Vocal Arts Festival held a sing-off at City Hall earlier this week as a tease to the official launch of the 10-day, multi-venue a cappella shindig running May 24 through June 2. Featured groups this year include international super-stars The Swingles from the UK, guest artists Mzansi A Cappella Ensemble from South Africa and Vocal Sampling from Cuba, some of Canada’s leading a cappella groups including Countermeasure,  FreePlay, Retrocity, Hampton Avenue, The Watch, a SING! Mass Choir conducted by Kurt Sampson (of Toronto’s Juno Award-winning Cadence), celebrated Canadian singers Heather Bambrick, David Sereda, Patricia O’Callaghan, and up and coming groups The Ault Sisters, Wibi, and Yonge Guns. Tickets and other details here.

– The Country Music Association of Ontario (CMAOntario) has announced the complete programming for the CMAOntario Festival & Awards Weekend in Ottawa June 14 - 16, leading up to the 7th Annual CMAOntario Awards.  Presented by Slaight Music, with support from Ontario Creates, the Weekend kicks off June 14 with Songs & Stories: Songwriters in the Round at the National Arts Centre.

Two free outdoor concerts will run June 15 and 16, and June 16's Legacy Revival will feature some of the province's musical pioneers. The Road to Independence (R2I) Conference on June 15 and 16 at the NAC s designed to foster the development of Ontario’s country musicians and industry. The Weekend climaxes withthe Awards show at the NAC on June 16, hosted by Jason McCoy. More details here.

– Victoria's Loving has announced its signing to Last Gang Records. The trio's eponymous DiY EP a few years back has earned 21 million streams worldwide.  A new single, Nihilist Kite Flyer has been released, and Loving plays the July 20 Capitol Hill Block Party in Seattle.

– The Polaris Music Prize 2019 Long List will be announced on June 20 at the Oodena Celebration Circle at The Forks in Winnipeg and will be live streamed on the Polaris FB page. The Long List announcement will also feature a surprise free live performance from a newly named Long List artist. That same evening, Polaris co-presents an appearance by 2018 Polaris Short List act, Snotty Nose Rez Kids, with the Winnipeg Jazz Festival when they perform at Old Market Square. In conjunction with Polaris, Manitoba Music will be hosts a panel, Making Noise in the Media, taking place on June 20, 6-7.30 pm.

– The Rolling Stones have announced the new dates for the previously postponed shows on their North American tour. They begin at Soldier Field in Chicago on June 21 and 25, followed by a concert at Burl’s Creek, Ontario, on June 29, the only Canadian date affected. The Glorious Sons and The Beaches open.

– A2IM's 2019 Libera Awards will take place on June 20th at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in NYC. Sunflower Bean, Canadian Jean-Michel Blais, and Deva Mahala are the first announced performers. A2IM will honour Jonathan Poneman, co-founder of Sub Pop Records, with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the event.

– Tony Tobias, president of Pangaea Media & Music Inc., is the first recipient of the Canadian Music Publishers Association - CMPA Lifetime Achievement Award – Publishing Company Legacy Award. The award was presented to Tobias by his longtime music industry colleague and friend Pegi Cecconi of Anthem Records at a packed CMPA Annual General meeting on May 8 during CMW in Toronto.

– Starting June 28 with a concert by Rolling Stones' tribute band, The Blushing Brides, Music Express Entertainment is launching a series of concerts by classic bands at The Revival in Toronto. Ten percent of the net profits from each show will be donated to the Ronald McDonald House. Groups scheduled to perform in coming months include Georgia Satellites, Streetheart, Prism, Nick Gilder, The Spoons, Images In Vogue, The Box, Myles Goodwyn's Blues Band and top tribute acts such as Hotel California and Elton Rohn.

– Indigenous singer-songwriter Marcia Chum has just released a new folk-pop single and video, Undone. The daughter of two musicians, Chum is based in Kapuskasing, ON. An earlier song, If Only, earned a nomination at the 2017 Native American Music Awards. Chum has also participated in The Indigenous Music Residency and has collaborated with Tia Brazda, Derek Downham, and Chris Graham. One to watch.

– The sixth edition of the Sandbanks Music Festival in Ontario's Prince Edward County takes place on Sept. 15, with a lineup comprising the Grapes of Wrath, Lava Hay, Lovers Touch, Annelise Noronha, Siobhan Bodrug, and Moscow Apartment. Tx are $30.

– Built around the songs of singer Steve Ketchen, Toronto's Parkdale Rebels are something of a local roots-rock supergroup, with Chris Staig, Blue Rodeo's Bazil Donovan, and Pete Lambert rounding out the lineup. Tim Vesely, David Baxter and Peter J. Moore are involved in the recording, mixing and mastering of ace new album Roundup, and Lori Yates contributes a killer guest vocal.

– Jim Marino's Freewheeling Folk Show on CFMU in Hamilton celebrates its 25th anniversary on May 25 with a special five-hour show featuring guests including Lynn Jackson, Laura Bird, Fourwarned, Rae Billing, Edgar Breau and Colina Phillips, Dave McEathron, Piper and Carson, Hotcha!, The Redhill Valleys, James Gordon, Taivi Muse, and Ken Tizzard. Source: Roots Music Canada

– Quique Escamilla is a Toronto-based Juno-winning folk artist from Mexico, and his show in the intimate space of The Senator in T.O. on Saturday (May 18) is highly recommended.

RiP

Peggy (Margaret Ann)  Lipton, an American actress, model, and singer, died on May 11, of cancer, age 72.

She was best-known through her role as flower child Julie Barnes in the hit late '60s television series The Mod Squad, for which she won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama in 1970. She later returned to notoriety with a role in David Lynch's Twin Peaks.

As a singer, three of Lipton's singles landed on the Billboard charts: Stoney End (1968, later a hit for Barbra Streisand) and Lu (1970), both written by Laura Nyro. Her Wear Your Love Like Heaven (1970) was written by Donovan. Stoney End is included in her 1968 album Peggy Lipton (Ode Records).

Lipton is listed as one of several co-writers of the Frank Sinatra 1984 hit, L.A. Is My Lady.

She was formerly married to musician/producer/composer Quincy Jones and was the mother of their two daughters, Rashida Jones and Kidada Jones. Source: Wikipedia