Music News Digest, June 8, 2021
New Juno winner JP Saxe announces an international tour (pictured), The International Indigenous Music Summit begins tomorrow, and a Celine-inspired movie goes to Cannes. Also in the news are Bahamas, Jordana Talsky, Global Music Match, CIMA, Halifax Jazz Festival, Keys N Krates, MusicNL, Rube & Rake, and Mike Renaud.
By Kerry Doole
The International Indigenous Music Summit announces the complete program for the 2021 virtual edition, broadcasting from Ottawa, June 8-12. The program schedule includes ceremony, showcases, panel discussions, networking and professional development opportunities for Indigenous artists.
Also included in the program is the launch of a new National Indigenous Music Organization and a keynote speech by Jesse Wente, Executive Director of the Indigenous Screen Office and Chairperson for Canada Council for the Arts. Speakers will include Elder Jim Dumont, Alan Syliboy, Kinnie Starr, Xiuhtezcatl (Earth Guardians youth movement), Bear Witness (The Halluci Nation/ A Tribe Called Red), new Juno winner Leela Gilday; Keziah Myers (ADVANCE Canada’s Black Music Business Collective), Mike Downie (The Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund), Allan Reid (CARAS) and more. More info here.
The famed Cannes Film Festival is scheduled for July 6 to 17. The 65 movies in the Official Selection include the world premiere of Aline, The Voice of Love, an unofficial biopic inspired by the life of superstar Céline Dion. The film uses Dion’s songs, and theDionesque title character, Aline Dieu, is played by French actress/filmmaker Valérie Lemercier, who also directed the film. Source: Toronto Star
– Toronto pop songsmith JP Saxe won big last weekend at the 2021 Junos. He received multiple nominations and took home the Breakthrough Artist of the Year trophy. He also performed his multi-platinum hit single collaboration with Julia Michaels, If the World Was Ending, on the show. Now comes details of his 2021/2022 North American and European The Feelings Are Stupid tour. The trek includes shows in Calgary, Edmonton, Victoria, Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal. Tix on sale June 9, with more info here. JP Saxe will release his debut album, Dangerous Levels of Introspection, on June 25. Here's his current single.
– Following the major success of the debut Global Music Match in 2020, the worldwide programme returns from June 7, featuring 78 artists from 17 countries and four continents. Artists are set to collaborate over the coming three months, in what is thought to be the world’s largest online musical matchmaking programme.
Last year’s collaboration was created by founding partners Sounds Australia, Showcase Scotland Expo and Canada’s East Coast Music Association (ECMA) in a bid to continue developing profiles for folk-based artists in international music markets in a time of lockdown. This year, CIMA joins, repping six Canadian artists: Amy Nelson, Buckman Coe,, Krista Hartman, Lynne Hanson, Sonia Aimy, and Stephen Fearing. The ECMA returns, repping Émilie Landry, Terra Spencer, Pretty Archie, Jessica Pearson and the East Wind, Quote The Raven, Kubasonics and Andrew Waite. More info here.
– The 2021 Halifax Jazz Festival has announced that this year's event will be a virtual one, given the pandemic situation. It will run July 3 - Aug. 15, with the online performers TBA. Source: The Coast
– The Pacific Legal Education and Outreach Society and the TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival are co-presenting Pivoting to Digital: The Music Edition, a panel discussion for professional musicians on June 25. Taking part will be bassist-composer Jodi Proznick, writer-broadcaster Tim Reinert, and songwriter-producer Matthew Lien. The free event takes place via Zoom from 3:30 - 4:30 pm PT, and you can register here.
– Fresh off his fifth career Juno Award win this past weekend (Adult Alternative Album of the Year), Bahamas (Afie Jurvanen) returns to the stage at Toronto’s Meridian Hall on Dec. 1, 2021, supporting his fifth full-length album, Sad Hunk. Tix go on sale June 11 here. “I’m really excited to get back in front of live audiences,” says Jurvanen in a press release. “I always wondered what it would be like to have a break from touring, now I can tell you: I don’t like it.”
– Juno-winning Toronto-based trio Keys N Krates connected with German singer-songwriter Bibi Bourelly, for their latest single, Take It Off. This comes on the heels of signing a global deal with Last Gang Records, Take It Off is the group's first new song since 2020s remix of Double Dutch, featuring Dai Burger.
– MusicNL has teamed up with the Landfall Trust of Brigus and Genoa Design International to present their first ever musician-in-residence program. After a competitive selection process, St. John’s based folk duo Rube & Rake were selected as the inaugural recipients of the program. The pair will be provided an all-inclusive package enabling them to spend two weeks in August writing at the Kent Cottage in Brigus, working on material for their upcoming album, the follow-up to their award-winning 2020 release Leaving With Nothing.
– Today’s Indie Weekly session (June 8, 4 pm ET) is Part 2 of a "Contextualizing Blockchain Technologies" theme. Mike 'Parkside' Renaud (Hidden Pony Records & Management) is returning to give us an update on his AI and NFT driven project Token of Gratitude, and is joined by Gleb Divov (FAYR Ecosystem). They will also answer your questions about all things blockchain. Free with registration here.
– After earning attention with her earlier releases Neither of Either and Standard Deviation, singer/songwriter Jordana Talsky is now focused on the art of vocal looping. She accompanies herself by voice with a Roland Boss RC505 loop station, and this style is showcased on an upcoming EP and this first single/video (below). The track was produced by Justin Abedin (Jacksoul). Talsky's vocal loop song, Run, was a judge’s pick for finalist in the 2018 CBC Searchlight contest, and she has also made the finals of the John Lennon Songwriting Competition and Sarah Vaughan International Vocal Competition.
