Monthly Archives: March 2017

BILL AND JOEL PLASKETT SHARE NEW VIDEO

WATCH AND SHARE “THE NEXT BLUE SKY” HERE

NEW ALBUM, SOLIDARITY, OUT NOW VIA PHEROMONE RECORDINGS

THE SOLIDARITY TOUR CONTINUES THIS WEEK WITH SPECIAL GUEST MAYHEMINGWAYS

“as cohesive as it is diverse…consistently impressive” No Depression

“Bill and Joel Plaskett get it right” NOW Magazine

“passion and prowess are evident throughout …beautifully shared vision” Exclaim!

“the most explicit folk foray of the Halifax musician’s career – built in his co-headlining father’s image, soaked in traditional sounds from both shores of the Atlantic” The Globe And Mail

Joel Plaskett and his father Bill Plaskett are just getting started on their cross country tour supporting their new collaborative album, Solidarity. Accompanying them on tour is Peterborough’s own Mayhemingways who also joined Bill and Joel in studio at Revolution in Toronto to capture the new video for “The Next Blue Sky.” The video was directed, edited, and captured by multiple JUNO Award winning veteran musician and producer Michael Phillip Wojewoda (Spirit Of The West, Rheostatics, Barenaked Ladies), who also recorded and mixed the live audio. Wojewoda is a long time fan of Joel’s however, this video marks the first time the two have worked together.

“The Next Blue Sky” is a song about heading West and looking for greener pastures. “This song is close to my heart these days,” says Joel. “Farewell to Nova Scotia while we hit the road, chasing the next blue sky.”

WATCH AND SHARE “THE NEXT BLUE SKY” HERE

Out now via Pheromone Recordings, Solidarity is a powerful collection of original and traditional songs, reflecting the duo’s individual journeys and personal politics. From the introspective opening track “Dragonfly,” a song about a paranormal experience that Joel had, to “On Down The River,” Bill’s closing track about leaving his home in England, the album is grounded in folk music but informed by rock and roll history.

The 11 songs on Solidarity are varied and personal, yet expressive of interconnecting themes.

Folk-based political songs like “We Have Fed You All for a Thousand Years” and “Jim Jones” sit side by side with contemplative love songs “No Sight Compares” and “New California,” a touch of rockabilly country blues “Help Me Somebody Depression Blues,” and more fully arranged folk rock songs of contemporary social commentary “Blank Cheque.”

Solidarity is a surprising and unique album, full of strong guitar playing and thoughtful, accessible songs. An excellent addition to the Plaskett catalogue and hopefully the first of many for the Plasketts.

THE SOLIDARITY TOUR

Mar 22 – Winnipeg, MB – West End Cultural Centre

Mar 23 – Regina, SK – WA WA Shire Centre

Mar 24 – Saskatoon, SK – Broadway Theatre

Mar 29 – Kelowna, BC – Mary Irwin Theatre

Mar 30 – Nanaimo, BC – The Queens

Mar 31 – Victoria, BC – Alix Goolden Performance Hall

Apr 1 – Vancouver, BC – Vogue Theatre

Apr 5 – Waterloo, ON – Starlight

Apr 6 – Waterloo, ON – Starlight

Apr 7 – Hamilton, ON – The Studio at Hamilton Place

Apr 8 – Toronto, ON – Massey Hall

Apr 12 – London, ON – Aeolian Hall

Apr 13 – London, ON – Aeolian Hall

Apr 14 – Stratford, ON – Avondale United Church

Apr 20 – Halifax, NS – Rebecca Cohn Auditorium

Apr 22 – Port Hawkesbury, NS – Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre

May 4 – Paris, ON – Dominion Telegraph

May 5 – Bayfield, ON – Old Town Hall

BILL AND JOEL PLASKETT SHARE NEW TRACK FROM UPCOMING ALBUM

LISTEN TO AND SHARE “THE NEXT BLUE SKY” HERE

NEW ALBUM, SOLIDARITY, OUT FEBRUARY 17 VIA PHEROMONE RECORDINGS

FATHER AND SON TO PERFORM AT MASSEY HALL APRIL 8
TICKETS ON SALE NOW

THE SOLIDARITY TOUR BEGINS MARCH 15 WITH SPECIAL GUEST MAYHEMINGWAYS

Many Canadian music fans know Joel Plaskett from his multiple JUNO Awards, nominations on the Polaris Music Prize Short List, and sold out clubs and concert halls from one side of the country to the other. But, in 2017 he’ll be sharing the spotlight with his earliest musical influence – his father Bill Plaskett.

In support of their upcoming collaborative record, Solidarity, the father and son pair are ready to take their new sound on the road for a string of tour dates beginning March 15 with special guests, Mayhemingways. This week, the duo have announced a stop at Toronto’s storied Massey Hall on April 8 as part of the fourth season of the concert and concert-film series Live At Massey Hall. Tickets are on sale today.

As a primer for the performance, Bill and Joel are sharing a new track from Solidarity, “The Next Blue Sky,” a song about greener pastures. “Go west, they say,” says Joel. “That’s been the story out east for years. Chasing some work, a safe haven, or the next blue sky. Or maybe just to get out from the shadows cast by the glassy trade centre they dropped on Argyle Street. The march of progress is no parade.”

LISTEN TO AND SHARE “THE NEXT BLUE SKY” HERE

Set for release on February 17 via Pheromone Recordings, Solidarity is a powerful collection of original and traditional songs, reflecting the duo’s individual journeys and personal politics. From the introspective opening track “Dragonfly,” a song about a paranormal experience that Joel had, to “On Down The River,” Bill’s closing track about leaving his home in England, the album is grounded in folk music but informed by rock and roll history.

The 11 songs on Solidarity are varied and personal, yet expressive of interconnecting themes. Folk-based political songs like “We Have Fed You All for a Thousand Years” and “Jim Jones” sit side by side with contemplative love songs “No Sight Compares” and “New California,” a touch of rockabilly country blues “Help Me Somebody Depression Blues,” and more fully arranged folk rock songs of contemporary social commentary “Blank Cheque.”

Solidarity is a surprising and unique album, full of strong guitar playing and thoughtful, accessible songs. An excellent addition to the Plaskett catalogue and hopefully the first of many for the Plasketts.

SOLIDARITY TRACK LIST
01 Dragonfly
02 The Next Blue Sky
03 We Have Fed You All For 1000 Years
04 Blank Cheque
05 Help Me Somebody Depression Blues
06 Up In The Air
07 Jim Jones
08 The New California
09 No Sight Compares
10 Solidarity
11 On Down The River

THE SOLIDARITY TOUR
Mar 15 – Truro, NS – Marigold Cultural Centre
Mar 17 – Montreal, QC – L’Astral
Mar 18 – Ottawa, ON – National Arts Centre
Mar 22 – Winnipeg, MB – West End Cultural Centre
Mar 23 – Regina, SK – WA WA Shire Centre
Mar 24 – Saskatoon, SK – Broadway Theatre
Mar 29 – Kelowna, BC – Mary Irwin Theatre
Mar 30 – Nanaimo, BC – The Queens
Mar 31 – Victoria, BC – Alix Goolden Performance Hall
Apr 1 – Vancouver, BC – Vogue Theatre
Apr 5 – Waterloo, ON – Starlight
Apr 6 – Waterloo, ON – Starlight
Apr 7 – Hamilton, ON – The Studio at Hamilton Place
Apr 8 – Toronto, ON – Massey Hall
Apr 12 – London, ON – Aeolian Hall
Apr 13 – London, ON – Aeolian Hall
Apr 14 – Stratford, ON – Avondale United Church
Apr 20 – Halifax, NS – Rebecca Cohn Auditorium
Apr 22 – Port Hawkesbury, NS – Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre
May 4 – Paris, ON – Dominion Telegraph
May 5 – Bayfield, ON – Old Town Hall

ALEJANDRA RIBERA REVEALS NEW TRACK FROM UPCOMING ALBUM

ACCLAIMED SONGWRITER’S SOPHOMORE ALBUM, THIS ISLAND, DUE OUT JANUARY 27 VIA PHEROMONE RECORDINGS
LISTEN TO AND SHARE “THE UNDERTOW” HERE
CANADIAN TOUR DATES BEGIN FEBRUARY 23
“…it has the making of a timeless classic.” – CBC Music

With only a few weeks remaining until the release of her sophomore album, This Island, acclaimed songwriter Alejandra Ribera is sharing a new track from the record. “The Undertow” is inspired by the film The Danish Girl. “The morning after I saw the film I wrote that song and it was done by evening,” says Ribera. “I wanted to write about the kind of love that is so immense that it inspires you to give everything you have to help the one you love – realize who they are meant to be, knowing full well that when they do, they will leave you.”

Alejandra Ribera has been writing about the unexpected places we find light since the release of her critically acclaimed debut album La boca. In her sophomore release This Island, the award-winning songwriter continues her exploration of luminescence – this time leaving the depths of mythological waters and delving firmly into the experience of the human heart. She cites some unlikely influences as inspiring her approach to this recording – a speech by actress Tilda Swinton at the Rothko Chapel, a documentary about performance artist Marina Abramović and studying movement in Paris with one of Pina Bausch’s earliest devotees.

Due out on January 27 via Pheromone Recordings, This Island was recorded at a studio in rural Ontario where she and the band lived and recorded in the depths of winter. That vast Canadian landscape is audible from the opening track and woven throughout much of the album. Reminiscent of early Damien Rice in its delicate and spacious arrangements we also hear the influence of contemporaries like Rufus Wainwright and Fiona Apple in This Island’s sophisticated melodies.

Ribera’s reputation for raw and emotive vocals has brought repeated comparisons to Tom Waits from the critics over the years. In “Blood Moon Rising” she harnesses that palpable intensity right to the hem with an almost athletic ability that leaves hairs standing on end. With horn arrangements written by Bryden Baird (Feist), This Island also brings us Ribera’s most accessible and up-tempo songwriting to date, perhaps the feature that most distinguishes it from her previous work.

“Carry Me,” “Will Not Drown,” and “Led Me To You” (which runs seven verses deep and reads rather like a Leonard Cohen poem set to a bluegrass jam) are probably the best examples of this new-found unabashed levity. And then there are her trademark heart-breaking lyrics that cut to the quick with love songs like “The Undertow” and “Undeclared War” – ‘The words you left metastasized, I cannot breath my hands are tied…’ swelling and subsiding in lush waves of strings, acoustic guitars and vocal harmonies.

There’s a timeless approach to the production which Ribera entrusted mixer Trina Shoemaker (Sheryl Crow) and engineer L. Stu Young (Prince) to help her achieve. “I wanted to make a record that sounded classic, simple and unencumbered by the production trends of the day. I knew it would take courage to strip everything down and so I needed a very particular team that would push me every step of the way.” Equal parts subtle and nourishing, all these elements were carefully crafted with her long time collaborators and Montreal-based band Jean-Sebastien Williams and Cédric Dind-Lavoie. With their talent in tow Ribera has created This Island, a place she invites us to visit, to dream and to celebrate that light that she is seeking wherever she goes.

THIS ISLAND TRACKLIST
01 Russian Plates On Michigan Avenue
02 The Undertow
03 Carry Me
04 Higher
05 Led Me To You
06 Will Not Drown
07 Blood Moon Rising
08 Undeclared War
09 Soft Place To Land
10 I Am Orlando

ALEJANDRA RIBERA TOUR DATES
Nov 25th – Berre, France – Forum Culturel
Nov 29th – London, UK – The Bedford
Dec 12th – New York, USA – Rockwood Music Hall
Feb 23rd – Quebec City, QC – Théâtre Petit-Champlain
Feb 24th – Jonquières, QC – Côté Cour
Feb 28th – Montreal, QC – Club Soda (MTL en Lumiere)
Mar 4th – Sutton, QC – Salle Alec & Gérald Pelletier
Mar 9th – Sorel-Tracey, QC – Marine Cabaret
Mar 15th – Toronto, ON – Trinity St. Paul’s
Mar 16th – London, ON – Aeolian Hall
Mar 17th – Ottawa, ON – NAC Studio
Mar 21st – Berlin, Germany – Grüner Salon
Mar 24th – Wawern, Germany – Synagoge
Mar 25th – Freiberg, Germany – Jazzhaus
Mar 26th – Landsberg, Germany – Stadttheater
Mar 28th – Vienna, Austria – Sargfabrik