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A Great Music Video–Library Voices, Unplugged

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Library Voices is an absolutely great band from Regina, Saskatchewan. They’ve been through New York City twice on tour since I discovered them a bit more than a year ago. The video below is an acoustic version of their song “Traveler’s Digest,” from the website of Green Couch Sessions. Library Voices plays with a boisterous enthusiasm, whether unplugged as here, or with full compliment of amps and synths in tow. I hope you enjoy the video. Their albums are great, including the most recent, “Summer of Lust.”

Green Couch Sessions says  it’s “a place where music lovers come to listen. Found abandoned in an alley it has transformed into a hub of local and awesome music. Reviews, Interviews and anything else we want to talk about!”

Green Couch was also responsible for the Tracks on Track musical extravaganza this past June, when 10 bands, including The Matinee, and Shred Kelly, CBC Radio 3 host and author Grant Lawrence, plus a couple dozen fans of Canadian indie music traveled by rail from Vancouver to Toronto. I was unable to join that journey from west to east, but I met many friends from the trip in Toronto for the annual North by Northeast festival (NXNE). There’s lots of cool video from Tracks on Tracks online.
Special thanks to CBC Radio 3 pal Rebecca Gladney for posting “Traveler’s Digest” on Facebook tonight. //end//
 

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Settling in and First Bands at NXNE

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Registration and checking in today was fun. Compared with last year, when I was a neophyte, I knew what to look for in the exhibits of the Interactive strand of this tri-partite conference and festival. There were game designers, graphic artists, music tech people, inventors, and everyone’s extremely friendly.

Other than encountering some problems with my cellular service here in Toronto–owing to the fact that incredibly, Verizon in NYC had failed to properly set me up, even though I dealt with half a dozen over the past several weeks, things are going great.

I’m at the Gladstone Hotel Ballroom, with good wifi, where the Tracks on Tracks showcase is happening. It’s between sets right now. The evening features all the bands that just traveled across Canada from Vancouver and headed east to Toronto over the past five days. Shred Kelly, named in honr of the Australian outlaw Ned Kelly, were fantastic. They’re a five-piece, driven by a terrific rhythm section–Jordan on bass, who I met after their set, and a barefooted drummer, who kicked the hell out of his bass drum–a female keyboard player named Sage; a rhythm guitarist; and a fellow who played banjo and mandolin. They played foot-stompers, including the showstopper, “I Hate Work,” but also some more pop-sounding tunes. A great blended sound.

I’m here with many CBC Radio 3 pals, as we’re enjoying a reunion, since many of us met here last year.

I’ll get photos from their set up on the blog later. For now, I’m going to take a break from live-blogging and get ready to listen to the next bands.

Late Update: Following Shred Kelly, the highlights for me were the bands Portage&Main and then The Matinee,” a lively five-piece with a great lead guitarist and dynamic lead singer. On the walk back to my hotel, through lively blocks filled with locals and tourists I took photos of many interestingly designed storefronts, photos I will post later. Near the end of my stroll, I stopped at another music venue listed in the NXNE guide, Cameron House, and discovered a great four-piece called Dodge Fiasco. They had a sort of NRBQ-feel, and also reminded me of the great Canadian all-instrumental group, Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet, famous for providing the theme music to the classic TV show, “Kids in the Hall.” I also a female singer-songwriter, Erika Werry, friend of the band, who told me she’s recording new songs of hers tomorrow, and is hoping to hear Andre Williams and the Sadies on Friday night. It’s always fun to make one more musical discovery before the night is over.

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Done with BEA, on to NXNE

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With Book Expo America (BEA) now a wrap–and time enough over the summer to review the publishers’ catalogs I collected and follow up on email with people whose business cards I exchanged for my own–this week I’m preparing to attend North by Northeast (NXNE), Toronto’s annual music/film/digital festival. Among the band and artists I’m eager to hear live I’m especially excited about Belle Game, Shred Kelly, Adaline, Daniel Romano, Julie Doiron, The Elwins, Brasstronaut, Jeremy Fisher, Plants & Animals, and that’s only through Friday on the schedule, leaving me the weekend line-up to scrutinize. Last year when I went to NXNE I was a bit overwhelmed with all the choices, but still had a great time. Even with a year under my belt, I’m feeling daunted again, but with useful guides like this one by producer Elliot Garnier on the Radio 3 blog, I know I can’t go far wrong. I’ll be blogging, posting to my wall on Facebook, tweeting from NXNE, and connecting on LinkedIn, so please watch for updates if you’re not attending NXNE and would like to know what’s going on in Toronto.

While I’m packing my bag and readying my kit for a Wednesday morning flight to Toronto, friends from the CBCRadio 3 listener community have been traveling by train since last Saturday from Vancouver, B.C., across the Canadian Rockies and prairies, in a musical excursion called Tracks on Tracks, that has placed ten indie Canadian bands on a train with dozens of indie music fans, including Radio 3 host and author Grant Lawrence. It’s a 21st Century version of 1970’s Festival Express, when Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead, The Band, and other musicians all trained across Canada. The documentary chronicling that trip is still fun to watch all these years later.

While in Toronto from June 13-18, I’ll also be meeting and working with Speakerfile, my new client who I introduced to many bookpeople during BEA. They have a great Internet platform that connects the events industry and conference organizers with authors, experts, and thought leaders. I’m pleased to host a promo from them at the upper-right hand corner of my site, so if you do public speaking, or work with authors who do public speaking, and you’re curious about what they can do for you and your authors, please click on the promo and surf through to their website. I can also provide you with information, if you want to ask me for it directly.
While I’m packing my bag and readying my kit for a Wednesday morning flight to Toronto, friends from the CBCRadio 3 listener community have been traveling by train since last Saturday from Vancouver, B.C., across the Canadian Rockies and prairies, in a musical excursion called Tracks on Tracks, that has placed ten indie Canadian bands on a train with dozens of indie music fans, including Radio 3 host and author Grant Lawrence. It’s a 21st Century version of 1970’s Festival Express, when Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead, The Band, and other musicians all trained across Canada. The documentary chronicling that trip is still fun to watch all these years later.

While in Toronto from June 13-18, I’ll also be meeting and working with Speakerfile, my new client who I introduced to many bookpeople during BEA. They have a great Internet platform that connects the events industry and conference organizers with authors, experts, and thought leaders. I’m pleased to host a promo from them at the upper-right hand corner of my site, so if you do public speaking, or work with authors who do public speaking, and you’re curious about what they can do for you and your authors, please click on the promo and surf through to their website. I can also provide you with information, if you want to ask me for it directly.

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