Fond Memories of Toronto’s Michael Laderoute (1947-2021)
From the mystery of the root, in its mud and manure, with all its worms and groundwater working away, the blossom appears, and draws us, with all of its beauty and fragrance, into the realms of a particular magic. What ...
EXCLUSIVE: Canadian artists perform Dylan covers for Bob’s 80th
Why should Canadians celebrate Bob Dylan’s birthday as if he were one of our own? Firstly, since Bob Dylan’s birthplace of Duluth, MN is only a couple of small forests away from the Canadian border, just above the tip of ...
90s cult figure Scott B. Sympathy is ‘growing up’ in ...
In 1990, at Wellesley Sound Studios on Ontario Street in Toronto, with the regular middle-of-the-night application of “too much coffee and pot,” it happened that Brantford’s poignant acoustic poet, Scott Bradshaw, was gradually transformed into Toronto’s raucous roots rocker Scott ...
Scott B. Sympathy’s birthday tribute to the late Joe Hall
Nineties Queen Street cult figure Scott B. Sympathy is in Brantford now, living somewhere between the railroad tracks and the river, between his T.O. past and his rural present and foreseeable future. His legacy of classic Canadian roots rock records ...
Dub Debut: The Dub Chronicles’ record brings new riddims to ...
After years of making a name for themselves in clubs around the city, Toronto’s The Dub Chronicles released their long-awaited debut album, Simba (Return to the Throne), on April 23. As a live dub band, the group is somewhat of an ...
Corby reflects on 20 years of community radio
In addition to writing for Roots Music Canada, Paul Corby hosts Corby’s Orbit on Radio Regent in Toronto. This month, he is celebrating 20 years on air, and he wrote this lovely piece in celebration. I am but a ...
2021 Canadian Folk Music Awards nightly showcases present the future ...
What, is it time for the 16th annual Canadian Folk Music Awards already? This mostly volunteer organization has been celebrating Canada’s rich community and niche song cultures in the late fall for years, giving a sense of closure and consensus to ...
‘The Never-ending Hits In My Head’: Paul Corby’s favourite songs ...
The torrential torment of commercial radio is not as toxic this year in Toronto, since all the stores and restaurants where we usually have to suffer under its miasma are in a dragged-out lockdown. We are left to our own ...
Lynn Miles Didn’t Have a Video for ‘High Heels in ...
Wrapped in shivers, a little porn queen waits to do someone’s bidding, anyone who can take her off of her cold winter corner into the dingy shelter of a temporary, albeit warmer, bedroom. It’s a Christmas song. Lynn Miles had ...
Braden Gates – Kitchen Days
Preamble The dignity of labour has been a theme central to the folk music tradition forever, but it became politicized over class lines in former times, by songs and artists that polarized worker versus administration conflicts. I can’t recall many ...