Toronto Four-Piece Follows Up Another Successful Tour In Support Of Critically Acclaimed Third Album, Island Of Echoes With New Video
Highly Cinematic & Surrealistic, “Echoes” Was Shot Over Two Days In Death Valley, California By Director John Albanis

“When I first listened to the track, I immediately envisioned a cinematic Americana road trip. The more I listened, the more I was struck with a nostalgic sense of lost love… an emotion that everybody experiences at some point in their lives. I wanted to convey this universal feeling in a raw, stripped down form. I jotted down a few words… Inanimate Objects. Animate Love. This was my starting point. I was looking to challenge myself as a storyteller… so I chose to use a simple ball as the story’s main character. A simple ball searching for its long lost love.” John Albanis

The Wilderness of Manitoba recently left the winter doldrums behind with a burst of spring activity. The Toronto band debuted a song from their just released US only EP, Leslieville Sessions, premiered a new single from Island Of Echoes, released last fall on Pheromone Recordings and just returned from a tour that took them to SXSW, The Canadian east coast and New York as part of a monthly residency.

Listen To “A Year In Its Passing” Single Version HERE
Listen To “A Year In Its Passing” Leslieville Sessions Version Via Paste Magazine HERE

“…ranges well beyond a single reference point on the first-rate follow-up to 2010’s exceptional When You Left the Fire. One to watch, once again.” The Toronto Star

“the sound of old friends gathering around the fireplace in the den and joining their voices together in song. … a truly enjoyable album.” Beatroute

“Simply put: flawlessly poetic. Pure magic.” Postcity

“A sky full of CSN harmonies twinkling in the leftover light of U2, shining against softly triumphant drums.” The Globe and Mail

“…continues to showcase just how diverse the genre can be. ..like a cross between Neil Young and the Decemberists.” Vue Weekly

“Few of their contemporaries are as attuned to their environment, creating music that sounds like it’s sprung from fertile patches in the Canadian Shield, blooming against all odds.” Quick Before It Melts

“Beautiful harmonies and soundscapes, moulded by the omnipresent yet ever changing geography that surrounds them.” Ear Buds and Ticket Stubs

“this album is gorgeous.” Grayowl Point

In its four year existence, the band has released three albums and toured the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Canada and the US. The highlights range from their UK live debut at the End of the Road Festival where they received a standing ovation to playing the Philadelphia Folk Festival and meeting Levon Helm; from opening for such acts as Cloud Cult, the Head and the Heart, Other Lives and Aimee Mann to performing the WOMAD festival in the UK with artists like Robert Plant. 2013 continues to be just as exciting.

Watch “Morning Sun ”
Stream/Download “Morning Sun ”
Watch “The Aral Sea/Southern Winds ”

The Wilderness Of Manitoba Tour Dates

April 28 – Toronto, ON – Campbell House
May 3 – Collingwood, ON – Gayety Theatre
July 25 – Sarnia, ON – Paddy Flaherty’s
July 26 – Bayfield, ON – The Black Dog
July 27/28 – Guelph, ON – Hillside Festival

The Wilderness Of Manitoba: http://www.thewildernessofmanitoba.com/

Early February finds Mo playing her first headlining shows in eastern Canada including Montreal Feb. 12 @ Salla Rosa and Feb. 13 in Toronto @ The Rivoli.

The following week Mo will be all around the Chelsea Hotel in Toronto, site of this year’s Folk Alliance. You can find Mo at the Anti/Sweet Beaver Suite where she has been invited to play Feb. 20-24.

To top it off early Mo fan Ron Sexsmith bestows a plum accolade, asking her to open his forthcoming March Western tour dates.

Here are the details on where Mo is playing and when:

Feb 7 – Wakefield, QC – Black Sheep Inn
Feb 12 – Montreal, QC – Casa Del Popolo
Feb 13 – Toronto, ON – The Rivoli
Feb 22 – Toronto, ON – Delta Chelsea Hotel for Folk Alliance delegates
Mar 9 – Halifax, NS – Casino Nova Scotia Compass Room for East Coast Music Week

Opening for Ron Sexsmith:
Mar 23 – Winnipeg, MB – Burton Cummings Theatre
Mar 25 – Saskatoon, SK – Broadway Theatre
Mar 26 – Calgary, AB – The Grand Theatre
Mar 27 – Saint Albert, AB – Arden Theatre
Mar 28 – Red Deer, AB – The Hideout
Mar 29 – Canmore, AB – Communitea Cafe
Mar 30 – Lethbridge, AB – The Geomatic Attic

Airing Saturday, December 1 across Canada on CBC television (1:00 pm ATL, 1:30 pm NL, 12 Noon ET, 10 am MTN, 9 am PAC), this documentary film, tirelessly edited by Paul Tom, was produced and directed entirely by the band. These recordings may have never seen the light of day were it not for the insistence of the film’s Executive Producer, Carrie Haber, who approached the band early this year about the possibility of releasing a documentary featuring The Dears. It’s more than the story of one night, or even three.

With additional tour footage spanning the band’s entire career and interviews with band members, the full story of The Dears from 1995 to the present is for the first time illuminated brightly for everyone on the outside. The show is a part of the CBC series – Absolutely Canadian. It features the best of documentaries, performance and comedy from across Canada. Each show in the series was produced locally and broadcast in the province where it was produced. The production shines a national spotlight on these special projects and is created by a combination of CBC staff and independent producers.

Accompanying the national release of this CBC documentary is the digital companion piece, The Dears Live At Pasaguero, an hour long audio recording taken from their performances on those three nights in Mexico City. These renditions of the songs that would soon become Degeneration Street are raw, energizing and fresh, the sound of a band rediscovering themselves while embracing the adulation and support of a frenzied Mexican audience. Sweaty, rough, and at times vulnerable beauty, this is rock ‘n’ roll just as it should be.

The documentary will air on CBC Television’s Absolutely Canadian on Saturday, December 1, 2012
1:00 pm ATL | 1:30 pm NL | 12 Noon ET | 10 am MTN | 9 am PAC

~21 DATES THROUGH THE SPRING~

“… I am in love with both her music and her arrangements – hands down, some of the best I have ever seen.” – Bradely Thacuk, Conductor, Niagara Symphony

“simply superb, the unexpected turns in melody and harmony, beautiful counterpoint and delicate support of the voice…. {her songs} do not feel like a sum of parts, they feel organic, emerging from a place deep within. Truly an inspiring artist… I am completely taken with her superb talent.” – Christos Hatzis, award-winning Composer and Professor of Music, University of Toronto”

“a virtuoso pianist… so much more than a pop singer…” – Glenn Buhr, Composer and Professor of Music, Laurier University

Toronto, ON – October 24, 2012 – Hot off the heels of a performance on the prestigious TED Global stage in Edinburgh with the Cairn Quartet, a triumphant debut with Symphony Nova Scotia, and a highly successful performance with the Niagara Symphony – the best selling show in Jackson Triggs’ concert series history – Sarah Slean is ready to take the Sea half of her critically acclaimed double disc Land & Sea on the road. Sarah will be bringing her sweeping orchestral arrangements to life in 21 cities across Canada this spring with her Sea Tour (details below).

Together with an incredibly talented group of musicians, including a string quintet (two violins, viola, cello, and double bass), Karen Kosowski on back up vocals, and Mark Mariash on drums/orchestral percussion, Sarah will perform nearly all of her songs that feature strings, including the stunning arrangements found on Sea, that “’unfurl like mainsails under a steady, gentle breeze” (Toronto Star) and old favourites such as Parasol and Duncan. The group will also be bringing on board symphony performers from each city along the way to join them on stage– with a number of shows featuring up to a 12-piece section.

“We’ve found of a way to bring the music of Sea on the road!” says Sarah, “We’ll be performing the original orchestral arrangements as faithfully as possible, traveling with a core group and supplementing with some of the finest classical string players in Canada from every city. We can’t wait to bring audiences a truly awe-inspiring sound – and in some of the most beautiful, unique venues Canada has to offer. We aim to bring pretense-free artistry, dazzling skill and depth to the concert experience – aren’t you tired of pop culture insulting your intelligence? I am. It will truly be an un-categorizable, one-of-a-kind adventure and I couldn’t be more excited.”

Sarah will also be on tour in November and December with Tom Jackson as part of The Huron Carole tour. For dates and details, please visit huroncarole.ca/tour-dates.

Don’t miss the one-of-a-kind Sea Tour by
“one of the most compelling acts Canada has to offer” – TIME MAGAZINE

Sea Tour Dates:
Feb 1 – Ottawa, ON – Centrepointe Theatre
Feb 2 – Quebec City, QC – Theatre du Petit Camplain
Feb 14 – Meaford, ON – Meaford Hall
Feb 15 – Bayfield, ON – Bayfield Town Hall
Feb 16 – London, ON – Aeolian Hall
Feb 21 – Winnipeg, MB – West End Cultural Centre
Feb 22 – Regina, SK – Artesian Hall
Feb 23 – Saskatoon, SK – Broadway Theatre
Feb 26 – Lethbridge, AB – Southminster United Church
Feb 27 – Canmore, AB – Communitea Café
Feb 28 – Calgary, AB – University Theatre
Mar 2 – Sherwood Park, AB – Festival Place
Mar 4 – Nelson, BC – The Royal
Mar 5 – Kelowna, BC – Kelowna Community Theatre
Mar 6 – Vancouver, BC – Rio Theatre
Mar 8 – St. John, NB – Imperial Theatre
Mar 9 – Fredericton, NB – The Fredericton Playhouse
Mar 10 – Halifax, NS – The Spaz Theatre
Apr 12 – Mississauga, ON – Living Arts Centre
May 10 – Stouffville, ON – Lebovic Centre
May 11 – Hamilton, ON – Studio Place Theatre

Popmatters.com called the new edition of the book “addictive and exhaustive… a nearly complete look at the Canadian indie rock scene in its formulative, post-punk years.” In praising the book, Blurt.com described it as chronicling, “a vast, varied music scene that has long existed as if in a parallel dimension to the rest of the world.”

In compiling the album, Jason Schneider finally gives readers a taste of the music that initially inspired him and his co-authors. Opening with the title track by Vancouver grunge pioneers Slow—available again for the first time since 1991—the collection offers a treasure-trove of long out-of-print and previously unreleased material, touching on every chapter in the book.

“This has been part of the plan since the book was first published in 2001,” Schneider says. “I’m grateful to all of the artists for donating their work, and in many cases going the extra mile in giving me something really special that very few people have ever heard before. I’m confident that this compilation will shed new light on an era of Canadian music that is still in process of being rediscovered.”

Mastered in Toronto by Joao Carvalho, Have Not Been The Same brings a modern clarity to the previously raw sounds of seminal artists like The Nils, Jr. Gone Wild, Change of Heart, and many more who blazed the trail for today’s internationally acclaimed Canadian indie rockers.

TRACK LISTING:
1. Slow – Have Not Been The Same
2. Poisoned (Art Bergmann) – Final Cliché
3. NoMeansNo – Dad
4. The Nils – In Betweens
5. Doughboys – Long Hall (previously unreleased)
6. Rational Youth – To The Goddess Electricity (2011 mix)
7. Jane Siberry – Symmetry (previously unreleased version)
8. Hunger Project (pre-Cowboy Junkies) – The Same Inside
9. The Pursuit of Happiness – Wake Up And Smell Cathy (previously unreleased)
10. A Neon Rome – Shatter The Illusions (previously unreleased)
11. Change of Heart – Smile
12. Jr. Gone Wild – God Is Not My Father
13. Skydiggers – When You’re Down (previously unreleased)
14. Crash Vegas – Moving Too Fast (previously unreleased version)
15. 13 Engines – Beached
16. Weeping Tile – Pushover
17. The Grapes Of Wrath – Misunderstanding (2000 acoustic version)
18. Sloan – Lucky For Me (previously unreleased version)
19. Jale – Jesus Loves Me
20. Bob Wiseman – Gabriel Dumont Blues

“The Love You Gave” is available now as a free download on SoundCloud.

http://soundcloud.com/webstermc/elisapie-the-love-you-gave

Describing the album title she explains “Love cannot be owned. It is something that is always moving, always flowing. That’s what I mean by ‘Travelling Love’.”

Travelling Love was produced by Karkwa’s Francois Lafontaine and Éloi Painchaud. Singer-songwriter Jim Corcoran co-wrote six tracks on the album, which also features Brad Barr (The Slip, Barr Brothers), Robbie Kuster (Patrick Watson) and Simon Angell (Patrick Watson). Elisapie’s touring band of multi-instrumentalists Manuel Gasse and Gabriel Gratton contribute throughout the album.

Adopted at birth by an Inuit family Elisapie was raised in Salluit, Nunavik, immersed in Inuk culture. For Elisapie, the North is not the end of the earth; rather, it is the centre. Following the success of her duo Taima, with guitarist and composer Alain Auger, which won the Juno Award for Aboriginal Recording of the Year in 2005, her 2009 debut solo album There Will Be Stars was an eloquent portrait of the past, present and future of her muse, the North, selling over 25,000 copies.

In October Elisapie takes Travelling Love across Canada opening for Royal Wood.

TOUR DATES
Oct 15 Winnipeg, MB – West End Cultural Center
Oct 16 Regina, SK – The Exchange
Oct 17 Prince Albert, SK – The E.A. Rawlinson Centre for the Arts
Oct 18 Saskatoon, SK – Broadway Theatre
Oct 20 Vancouver, BC – Rio on Broadway
Oct 21 Victoria, BC – St. Ane Theatre
Oct 23 Nelson, BC – The Royal on Baker
Oct 24 Canmore, AB – Communitea Café
Oct 25 Calgary, AB – Hillhurst Church
Oct 26 Edmonton, AB – Myer Horowitz Theatre
Nov 7 Hamilton, ON – Studio Theatre
Nov 8 London, ON – Aeolian Hall
Nov 10 Toronto, ON – Winter Garden Theatre
Dec 7 Kingston, ON – Chalmers Church
Dec 8 Peterborough, ON – Market Hall

“Arrive early to the Joel Plaskett concert in Cochrane, Alta and the ones that follow, so as to witness singer songwriter Mo Kenney performing first on the bill. The fellow Haligonian is by turns graceful and gutsy, recalling the likes of Sharon Van Etten and her kind of sharp, tuneful players. Her compelling self-titled debut album is out now.”

And this from groundcontrolmag.com:

It feels awkward to just blurt it out, but Mo Kenney has achieved a craft on the level with artists including Ani DiFranco, Stevie Nicks, Jolie Holland and Neko Case on her self-titled debut. Such a statement feels awkward because the album in question is her first; those other artists had to work for years to refine their talents and chops, but it’s hard not to feel like you’re bearing witness to the birth of a new star when you hear this record.

Listeners will know they’re hearing something special as, from the top of “Eden,” Mo Kenney conjures a sort of classic coffeehouse acousticism which turned timeless for acts including The Beatles (“Blackbird”), The Replacements (“Skyway”), The Killjoys (“Someplace”) and Ani DiFranco (“Both Hands”) years ago – but the singer makes her own here. The song’s finger-picked guitars are only the gateway which will hold listeners dazzled as lyrics like “Busy, busy, go go go/ Run around don’t let me know/ All we do is dream out loud/ and you see your own face in the clouds” threaten to rewrite the bodily rhythms of those who hear them and, as the song fades out and “Sucker” fades in, listeners will find they are changed. That’s when they’ll be ready for this record.

After “Eden” prepares listeners, Kenney sets to presenting as complete an image of herself – that is, who she is at this point in time – as she can. As she builds that image, she does so unafraid to both totally disarm herself in front of listeners (check out “The Great Escape”) as well as present a much larger and imposing figure for them (you have to hear the size of “Déjà Vu” for yourself to believe it), but the best moments are those when Kenney allows herself to fall perfectly at the midpoint between those poles. Tracks like “Sucker,” “I Can’t Talk” and “Scene Of The Crime” represent perfect examples of that midpoint where Kenney is able to teeter between heartfelt and cavalier poses effortlessly and make lines like “Before you left me in this place/ You gave me a look that I could taste,” “I won’t pray to you/ There’s no cross around my neck” and “A lifetime in no time at all” seem like the newest, best reason to believe in indie rock again, and listeners will find themselves hoping to hear more and more of them at each turn through the album’s run-time. The effect is remarkable; this untested singer manages to capture the imagination of everyone who happens upon this record, but then they’ll find themselves held dearly by it too. That’s fantastic to experience, but even better is the fact that this album is only Mo Kenney’s first; it’s very possible that the going will actually get better from this point forward.

Stream some music here: http://www.pheromonerecordings.com/?page_id=831

and watch for Mo opening for Joel in Ontario and the Maritimes October and November.