Category Archives: Featured

It was a very red hued evening for Canadian Music Week fans at the Smiling Buddah for The Dead South. Dark and mood setting. The four piece from Saskatchewan, came dressed to kill. And kill it, they did. The audience changed when they started to play. They quieted down and moved forward. They danced and they hooted.

Back in October Dylan Black introduced me to a young lady named Danielle Allard.  Danielle was about to embark on the process of recording her début solo EP and Dylan, knowing our passion for promoting and discovering emerging artists, was hoping Sound Check would be able to do a feature on her to help spread the word.  I listened to a few tracks that Danielle had on YouTube, liked what I heard so I wrote the feature.  Last night that album, Chameleon, was officially released and what a night it was.

It’s Canadian Music Week as some are aware but for those of you not in the GTA that might mean absolutely nothing.  I try to partake as much as possible but with 2 little ones now the time is limited on what to attend so I choose carefully.  This past Thursday night I made the decision to catch Tanya Marie Harris, Leah Daniels and The Road Hammers play one of my favorite venues in the city Boots and Bourbon Saloon.

Bestival Toronto has announced Fido as a new sponsor and they’ll be bringing us five dates leading up to the festival.

One of the most anticipated country western events in Canada is the Calgary Stampede.  We were lucky enough to be there for Stampede 101 in 2013.  Although you will find music from every genre at the Stampede Nashville North is one of the hottest parties in town and today the 2015 Nashville North Lineup was announced!

Republic Live, organizers of the Boots and Hearts Music Festival,has announced the Top 8 Finalists for the Emerging Artist Showcase presented by SiriusXM Canada. The final eight artists include Birds of Bellwoods, Eric Ethridge, James Barker Band, Johnson Crook, Leanne Pearson, Ray Gibson, Tenille Arts and Travis Wood. The finalists will be competing for a chance to perform on the Main Stage at Boots and Hearts prior to Thomas Rhett on Sunday, August 9^th, in addition to winning a single release with Universal Music Canada and an opportunity to perform on the Main Stage at Boots and Hearts 2016. Fans are invited to vote for the Top 8 Finalists at www.bootsandhearts.com/showcase. Fan votes will determine the artists’ placement in the performance line up on the Front Porch Stage in front of a panel of judges at Boots and Hearts on Saturday, August 8, 2015.

It’s no secret that the city of Ottawa is thirsting for country music lately, with two country music stations and a country heavy line-up at Ottawa Bluesfest, I can’t think of anyone better to kick off a summer of country music in Ottawa than the reigning ACM Entertainer of the Year Luke Bryan.  Living up to his title Luke proved he was more than ready, and able, to quench our thirst.

It may only be May 1 but tonight kicks off one of the biggest summer’s of live music Ottawa has seen in a very long time.

CMW 2015 starts tomorrow and if you haven’t nailed down your schedule yet let me propose the following options or additions.

The 2015 lineup for North Bay’s Summer in the Park was announced this week and it’s fully loaded with plenty of Kickin it Country and Killer Classic Rock!