BRANDON WOLFE SCOTT (YUKON BLONDE) CELEBRATES EP RELEASE WITH NEW VIDEO

WATCH AND SHARE “SUMMERS ON FIRE” HERE

BURDEN ON YOUR SHOULDERS EP OUT TOMORROW  VIA DINE ALONE

STREAM / BUY BURDEN ON YOUR SHOULDERS HERE

Photo Credit : Roberto Brundo // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES

Tomorrow, Brandon Wolfe Scott will release Burden On Your Shoulders EP via Dine Alone Records. To celebrate the release he is sharing the new video for “Summers On Fire”, a song about climate change and the negative impact humans have on the planet. “Having spent a few years living in the Okanagan region of British Columbia, rising temperatures and wildfires have become an annual summer tragedy along with the coast of California, and of course the absolute catastrophe currently taking place in Australia,” says Brandon.

“The narrative is not me preaching, but more about stepping outside my own echo chamber of ignorance. Looking to the future generation I think it's important to inspire change and hope in the face of sadness and ecological grief." 

WATCH AND SHARE “SUMMERS ON FIRE” HERE

Best known as the guitarist and co-songwriter in the JUNO Award nominated Indie rock group Yukon Blonde, Burden On Your Shoulders came together in the winter months of 2019, when the band found themselves with time off between tours, giving Scott the opportunity to turn his tiny living room space into a minimal recording set up. 

“Being fully immersed in the recording process became a comforting experience and a constant learning curve. Working at my own pace, deliberately tracking with limitations, helped me shape a cohesive sound that feels like the most genuine thing I’ve done.”

Scott has settled into a natural songwriting style - paying homage to the golden era of the 70’s drawing inspiration from Al Stewart, Todd Rundgren and Beatle favourite; George Harrison - whilst still maintaining a modern approach through his introspective lyrics laced with lush harmonies.

STREAM / BUY BURDEN ON YOUR SHOULDERS HERE

WATCH AND SHARE “BURDEN ON YOUR SHOULDERS” HERE

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BURDEN ON YOUR SHOULDERS EP
1. Burden On Your Shoulders
2. Something Real
3. Need You Now
4. Shaky Handed
5. Summers On Fire

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APPLE MUSIC

R GRUNWALD SHARES NEW VIDEO FOR “AGE”

WATCH AND SHARE “AGE” HERE

NEW SOLO PIANO LP, OMA, OUT MARCH 6, 2020 VIA COMMON NOISE/OUTSIDE MUSIC

PRE-ORDER OMA HERE

TOUR DATES BEGINS MARCH 11, 2020

Photo Credit : Jen Squires // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES

In a few short months, R Grunwald will release his debut solo piano LP. A session player for hundreds of musicians, the Toronto keyboardist has been faithful to two different singer-songwriters, jazz/pop chanteuse Jill Barber and songwriter Donovan Woods, for the better part of a decade. He’s played with New York City’s Three Famed Cantors, and scored film and TV shows including the award-winning Yid Life Crisis (“It’s basically Curb Your Enthusiasm, but set in Montreal and in Yiddish,” he says.)

Now he’s ready to step onto the public stage with his own music—alone. But there’s one person who will be with him every night he performs, though she won’t be there physically. His 96-year-old grandmother, who has lived in Chile after fleeing her native Poland in 1946, is the primary inspiration for Grunwald’s first solo album. It’s called Oma — which is the German word for ‘grandmother’.

Grunwald’s favourite track on the record, and arguably the centrepiece of the LP, “Age” represents “a life cycle of a human,” he says. “It starts gently and delicate, like childhood and youth… then it gets more complex and heavy as life moves on, and by the end it goes back to frailty. That song makes me think of my grandmother’s life.” When the album was mastered, Grunwald went to Chile to play it for her, and also to record her incredible life story for posterity. While there, he and his partner learned they were about to have their first child. Now that both the album and the child have arrived, Oma plays as much more than just another meditative solo piano record. Though they might sound like lullabies, these bedtime stories belie their sparse simplicity.

The accompanying video for “Age”, edited by Les Cooper, was filmed by Grunwald while visiting his Grandmother in Chile. “While I was there, I played her this music, interviewed her about her life story, and filmed it along with footage of the house,” says Grunwald. Coincidentally, the imagery from the video for “Wood Meets Water” is made from the same footage just treated very differently by Cooper.

WATCH AND SHARE “AGE” HERE

“Age” Single Cover // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES

Grunwald started piano lessons in Canada when he was 6. His teacher was a strict Russian woman whose edicts frustrated the boy enough that one day he leaned back on his piano stool, anchored his feet on the keyboard and announced, “I quit!” His mother started gathering their things. The teacher admonished her for caving in to the petulant child. That Christmas season, when Grunwald’s family went to Chile to visit his paternal grandparents, his Oma was concerned that the youngster was giving up so easily. So she gathered family and friends for a day of piano music, including a four-hand duet with Grunwald’s uncle. The boy was smitten. On the plane ride home, he told his mother he wanted to play again. 

Decades later, Grunwald found himself at the Banff Centre for Creative Arts, nestled in the Rocky Mountains of Alberta. He was there in January 2017 to compose music for solo piano, inspired by ambient music he’d been making with friends. He’d already recorded one piece, “Fountain”, for a 2016 compilation called Slow Music Vol. 1 (featuring Christine Bougie, Sarah Slean, Felicity Williams and others). Whenever he would get stuck, he would think about his grandmother and the music she loved: Chopin, Lizst, Satie, “a lot of late classical and early Romantic composers,” he says. “That music is really deep inside of me because of her.”

WATCH AND SHARE “WOOD MEETS WATER” HERE

Grunwald was also inspired by a wave of solo piano music in recent years, including favourites of his like Nils Frahm, Chilly Gonzales, and Max Richter. “I would never have considered doing this project five years ago,” he says. “Who’s going to listen to solo piano? Especially the kind of music I write, which is very slow and cerebral and takes a lot of attention.” He admits, though, that there is now a glut in the genre, and he hopes to stand apart. “When I look under the category ‘solo piano’ on streaming services, I go through the list, and 90% of it sounds exactly the same: arpeggios, not very melodic. What’s different about my music is that it’s intensely focused on melody. It’s not pop music, but it has something to latch on to. I’m a session guy, so the one thing I know more than anything is that melody is king, and you shouldn’t get in the way of that.”

His family’s history was on his mind while he was composing, but there’s a whole other history he was in touch with while recording. The grand piano on which the album was recorded now sits at Toronto studio Union Sound Company, but for years was located at the city’s legendary Montreal Bistro, where many live recordings were made; everyone from Oscar Peterson to Diana Krall played at some point. “People know this piano; it’s famous,” says Grunwald. “There was actually an album made where they got all the top Canadian jazz pianists of the ’90s to perform on it as a tribute to the instrument itself.”

PRE-ORDER OMA HERE

This isn’t jazz, though. Grunwald refers to the compositions on Oma as “extended minimalism.” He explains, “It’s taking from the tradition of Philip Glass and Steve Reich, but in all that music the motifs are short and develop through repetition. I wanted to expand that, using motifs that form complete melodies, and have those evolve through different textures or harmony.” The album’s creation was also extended: two years between composition and mastering of the final recording, and almost another year before the album was ready to release. No need to rush slow music. 

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OMA TRACKLIST

01 Wood Meets Water
02 Determination Of The Crossing
03 The Gate
04 Age
05 Fountain
06 Fountain Var 1
07 Said He To Thee08 Emily

TOUR DATES
March 11 - The Bassment, Saskatoon, SK
March 13 - King Eddy, Calgary, AB
March 17 - Central Library, Halifax, NS
March 28 - NAC 4th stage, Ottawa, ON
March 31 - Café Resonance, Montreal, QC
April 2 - Heliconian Hall, Toronto, ON

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TAMI NEILSON SHARES “YOU WERE MINE” FROM UPCOMING LP

LISTEN AND SHARE “YOU WERE MINE” HERE

WATCH AND SHARE “YOU WERE MINE” LIVE ACOUSTIC SESSION AT SIRIUSXM

CHICKABOOM! DUE FEBRUARY 14 VIA OUTSIDE MUSIC

With only a month remaining till the release of her new LP, CHICKABOOM!, Tami Neilson is sharing another new track from the upcoming album. “You Were Mine” was written together with her brother Jay Neilson, Tami says “we had recently lost our beloved Dad and were discussing how, when you lose someone, it is such a line in the sand, a marker in time. We talk about everything in terms of "before" and "after"- each family event, each movie that comes out, each album that is recorded..."was Dad there for that? Did he see that movie or was it after? He would've loved that album..." So, this song is for anyone who measures time against a deep loss of love that was an integral part of the fabric that makes up your life.”

The song was supposed to come complete with a music video for the track created by her brother Todd Neilson, however now is not the right time to share it. Tami says “while I am so incredibly proud of what an amazing visual clip he created, I have decided against releasing it at this time, due to the element of fire being a prominent part of the video. I am a Canadian / New Zealander who resides in NZ where the skies have been hazy, orange, and smoke-filled as we grieve for our Australian neighbours fighting the terrible bushfires. Please donate and help the beautiful people of this beautiful country.”

LISTEN AND SHARE “YOU WERE MINE” HERE

WATCH AND SHARE “YOU WERE MINE” LIVE ACOUSTIC SESSION AT SIRIUSXM

No one forgets the first time they saw Tami Neilson. She can hush a room with an original song that channels the hurting spirit of Patsy Cline or the sensuality of Peggy Lee, or bring the audience to its feet on a rockabilly raver.

She’s an artist with real range, whose powerful voice can take on big ballads, golden-age country, heartfelt gospel, soul-infused R&B, Western swing, even old-style rock ’n’ roll. Tami encompasses them all and is a personality-powered cyclonic force of nature in stylishly retro attire, long lashes and a stacked-high beehive.

WATCH AND SHARE “TEN TONNE TRUCK” HERE

Of her new album’s title, CHICKABOOM!, Tami explains, “I wanted to write an album of punchy little songs, popping firecrackers that, when stripped back to nothing but a guitar, percussion and two voices, would still go boom!”  The new collection, out February 14, 2020 on Outside Music, brings much personal and family history to the table. Returning in full force to Tami’s recording and live performance zone is her brother Jay Neilson.

WATCH AND SHARE “ANY FOOL WITH A HEART” HERE

Tami grew up performing across North America with Canada’s Neilson Family Band, working alongside greats such as Johnny Cash, Tanya Tucker, and Kitty Wells. With her parents Betty and Ron (her late father, a songwriter of considerable accomplishment) and two brothers Todd (drums) and Jay (bass), she spent years on the road learning her craft. This enabled Tami to explore her increasing vocal and emotional range and build a deep well of musical influences to draw upon when she started to write her own material.

Subsequently, Tami fell in love with a New Zealander, moved to the bottom of the world and began her solo career. Though she left the comforts of her loving family and musical community in Canada, over many years she built a platform for herself through open-mic nights, playing soulless casinos and the dead-air time-slots at festivals, finding a small group of fellow travellers and supportive players; a series of increasingly impressive albums followed.

WATCH AND SHARE “HEY, BUS DRIVER!” HERE

The early records saw her in a self-created territory between mainstream country and alternative country, a couple recorded around the kitchen table back home in Canada with brother Jay, who is now an acclaimed producer and songwriter. Then awards started coming in New Zealand for albums that added breadth to her “country singer” label: Best Female Artist, Best Country Album, Best Country Song, an APRA Silver Scroll (songwriting) award and Album of the Year nominations. Her 2014 release Dynamite! received rave reviews in Britain’s MOJO and The Guardian named it a Top 10 Best Country Music Album. Her songs appeared on the Netflix series Wanted and the terrestrial TV series Nashville.

Tami Neilson’s singing and writing is too big to contain, as entertainment company HMV Canada noted: “There are singers and then there is Tami Neilson, for whom the word singer just isn’t big enough.”

The road has now led to CHICKABOOM!, which is something different again, and even more personal. “In the past year, I started to notice something,” Tami says. “The artists I would spend time with backstage at festivals, the ones I gravitated to the most and followed on social media ... artists like the Secret Sisters, Shovels & Rope, Kasey Chambers, Brandi Carlile ... they all had family performing with them. When you tour away from loved ones, it makes a world of difference to have part of your village with you on the road. Not to mention, nothing can come close to that special blend of blood harmonies and silent communication that only comes from being onstage with a person for over 30 years. Family has always been a huge part my music-writing, recording and creating with me, but I wanted family on this project and on the road with me again.” Brother Jay flew to Auckland, New Zealand from Toronto to record a selection of new songs that have unmistakable sibling magic and harmonies. “I don’t think he quite understands what he’s gotten himself into but now the album’s coming out it’s a bit too late. Sucker,” she laughs.

And if you’ve missed Tami— on record or in concert — then you are in for a treat ... and you might not quite understand what you’ve gotten yourself into either.

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CHICKABOOM! TRACKLIST
01 Call Your Mama
02 Hey Bus Driver!
03 Ten Tonne Truck
04 Queenie, Queenie
05 You Were Mine
06 16 Miles Of Chain
07 Tell Me That You Love Me
08 Any Fool With A Heart
09 Sister Mavis
10 Sleep

PHOTO CREDIT : Si Moore // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES

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