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Sunday, 12 February 2023 13:00

Melissa Etheridge

Melissa Etheridge stormed onto the American rock scene in 1988 with the release of her critically acclaimed self-titled debut album, which led to an appearance on the 1989 Grammy Awards show. For several years, her popularity grew around such memorable originals as "Bring Me Some Water," "No Souvenirs" and "Ain't It Heavy," for which she won a Grammy® in 1992. Etheridge hit her commercial and artistic stride with her fourth album, Yes I Am (1993). The collection featured the massive hits, "I'm the Only One" and "Come to My Window," a searing song of longing that brought Etheridge her second Grammy® Award for Best Female Rock Performance. In 1995, Etheridge issued her highest charting album, Your Little Secret, which was distinguished by the hit single, "I Want to Come Over." Her astounding success that year led to Etheridge receiving the Songwriter of the Year honor at the ASCAP Pop Awards in 1996.

Known for her confessional lyrics and raspy, smoky vocals, Etheridge has remained one of America’s favorite female singer-songwriters for more than two decades. In February 2007, Melissa Etheridge celebrated a career milestone with a victory in the “Best Song” category at the Academy® Awards for “I Need to Wake Up,” written for the Al Gore documentary on global warming, An Inconvenient Truth. As a performer and songwriter, Etheridge has shown herself to be an artist who has never allowed “inconvenient truths” to keep her down. Earlier in her recording career, Etheridge acknowledged her sexual orientation when it was considered less than prudent to do so. In October 2004, Etheridge was diagnosed with breast cancer, a health battle that, with her typical tenacity, she won. Despite losing her hair from chemotherapy, Etheridge appeared on the 2005 Grammy® telecast to sing “Piece of My Heart” in tribute to Janis Joplin. By doing so she gave hope to many women afflicted with the disease.

On October 7, 2016 Melissa Etheridge released Memphis Rock & Soul, her first album since 2014’s critically lauded This Is M.E. Recorded at Royal Studios in Memphis, the album received stellar reviews from the likes of Entertainment Weekly, Parade, Rolling Stone, American Songwriter and more. She followed that up with the release of The Medicine Show in April, 2019. For The Medicine Show, Melissa reunited with celebrated producer John Shanks and sounds as rousing as ever, bringing a new level of artistry to her 15th studio recording. The Medicine Show deals with universal themes of renewal, reconciliation, reckoning, compassion and, most profoundly, healing.

In June of 2020, Etheridge launched her own live streaming subscription and single ticket concert platform, Etheridge TV and has done over 200 live streams in 2020.

On September 17, 2021, Melissa released a new album called One Way Out. The 9-track album is a collection of songs Etheridge wrote in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s that never made the cut….until now! The time is finally right, and fans will finally get a deeper glimpse to who Melissa was then.

October 2022 saw Melissa’s return to the theatre with her one woman show, My Window – A Journey Through Life. The critically acclaimed, sold-out run premiered at New World Stages on October 13 and has plans to move to Broadway in 2023.

Friday, 16 December 2022 20:06

Colin James

“I’m opening doors for you –walk through them.”
-Stevie Ray Vaughan.

From the prairies of Saskatchewan to sharing the stage with arguably the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time, Colin James still remembers those words of advice given to him by the late, great, Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Colin James has taken those words to heart. His career has spanned over 30 years, with a track record that includes 20 studio albums, 8 Juno Awards, 29 Maple Blues Awards and multi-platinum record sales. His latest 2021 release, Open Road, is a celebration of personal connections. It includes original tunes written with long time collaborators such as Colin Linden, Craig Northey and Tom Wilson and reinterpretations of covers by a diverse group of songwriters including Bob Dylan, Albert King, Tony Joe White and others.

His 2018 album Miles To Go garnered worldwide attention, debuting on the Billboard Blues Charts and holding a position on the RMR Blues Chart for 24 weeks, 14 weeks in the top 10. He continues to sell out shows across Canada with over 80,000 tickets sold on tours over the past 3 years. Colin was inducted into the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame in 2013.

Looking back over Colin’s career, it’s a timeline rich in highlights. His 1988 self-titled debut, featuring his two self-penned hits “Voodoo Thing” and “Five Long Years,” was the fastest-
selling album in Canadian history. It won him his first Juno and an opening spot on tour with Keith Richards. His second album, Sudden Stop, featured his hit “Just Came Back,” which reached #3 on the U.S. radio charts and earned him the Juno Award for “Single of the Year.” Colin was next credited with launching the swing revival, thanks to his wildly popular Little Big Band, which has released four successful albums to date.

However, it wasn’t until 2016’s Blue Highways that James found himself on a blues chart: the album spent 10 weeks at No. 1 on the Roots Music Report’s Blues Chart. It also landed him one of his biggest hits: “Riding in the Moonlight,” a Willie Dixon song that garnered millions of streams on Spotify.

Over the years Colin has worked with some of the world’s most revered artists including, Bonnie Raitt, Albert Collins, Pops Staples, Robert Cray, Albert King, Keith Richards, Lenny Kravitz, ZZ Top, Mavis Staples, Luther Allison, Roomful of Blues, Bobby King and Terry Evans, John Hammond Jr., The Chieftains, Carlos Santana, Little Feat, Johnny Hallyday, Jeff Healey, and Buddy Guy. In addition to his own recording and touring Colin is a prolific songwriter, his music has been recorded by the likes of Maria Muldaur, Johnny Hallyday and Lucinda Williams.

Colin has set the bar for consistency and talent in Canadian music and even after 20 acclaimed albums remains at the top of his game, always challenging himself musically. A consummate professional and a superb guitarist, Colin is a musician’s, musician. The confidence that comes with maturity can be heard in his voice and seen in his electrifying stage performance. He does what comes naturally – he always has – he knows no other way and no other life.

Tuesday, 19 July 2022 08:51

Leah Marlene

Leah Marlene is a songwriter, artist, and producer with a deeply rooted desire to create art unlike anything you have heard before. With a unique, engaging voice and a songwriting style that combines elements of folk, rock, pop, soul, funk, jazz and more, she cannot be put into a box.

Leah grew up in a house full of music and guitars as her father, Derry Grehan, is a songwriter and lead guitarist with the Canadian band, Honeymoon Suite. He passed along his knowledge and passion for writing and performing. Leah began singing and writing her own songs at a very young age and never looked back! She has been performing professionally since the age of ten and releasing music since she was thirteen.

After graduating high school, Leah spent two years studying songwriting at Belmont University in Nashville. She then returned back to the midwest to produce her most recent album, “Many Colors.”

Now twenty-one years old, Leah most recently came off an incredible run on season 20 of American Idol, where she released her latest original single, "Flowers" and placed second runner up of the season!

Leah is a lover of people and her greatest hope is that her music may meet you exactly where you are at and help you feel whatever it is you need to feel in a given moment.

https://www.leahmarlene.com/

Wednesday, 08 June 2022 15:34

Head over Heels

Kevin and Vanessa Head are Head over Heels, an acoustic guitar/vocal duo from the Kingston, Ontario area. Veteran singer-songwriter-guitarist Kevin and his wife vocalist Vanessa, perform a diverse mix of Kevin's original music and interpretive covers of Roots, Jazz, Classic Rock and Contemporary tunes. Their musicianship, harmonies and playful onstage rapport has endeared them to many audiences in Eastern Ontario.

They've entertained audiences on VIA Rail, and at several festivals in the area over the years, including the Limestone City Blues Festival in 2018 and 2019, the 2018 Kemptville Live Music festival, and 2020's Kemptville Live at the Library.

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