Sort of.
They’ll be playing CKDU’s Final Friday benefit show this Friday.
Just Friends Dave Ewenson - of too many bands to list - will be filling in behind the kit.

Also, you can now buy Lands Where Tales Are Tall via CDBaby:
http://cdbaby.com/cd/theirmajesties

So if you’re bored and need more blogs to read, here’s a potentially new introduction to bands. This was mentioned in industry blogs Coolfer and Hypebot previously. When I first saw it in Coolfer I took a look and was like there’s no hint who this is writing all this even though the Coolfer post stated ” one of those rare music-related blogs actually written by someone closely involved with the music industry”, but Hypebot thought the same thing and went looking for answers [they at least got responses]. The best one being:

…This is my only real outlet to express my opinions honestly without having to sugarcoat things in fear of pissing someone off…

The other reason I’m mentioning Talent Filter though too is that they had a summary on the Yahoo! Up Your Music contest. Halifax’s Jimmy Swift Band made it to the final three in that contest - but lost to Toronto hip hop artist Seazon.

The Jimmy Swift video was mentioned previously [and can be viewed] at:
Local Video: “Holds water against any of the great music videos produced in recent memory”

Make The Next Ozzie Osbourne Video Using This Footage | Wired

So it finally happened:

Dear Pandora Visitor,

We are deeply, deeply sorry to say that due to licensing constraints, we can no longer allow access to Pandora for most listeners located outside of the U.S. We will continue to work diligently to realize the vision of a truly global Pandora, but for the time being we are required to restrict its use. We are very sad to have to do this, but there is no other alternative.

We believe that you are in Canada.

So if you need Pandora now:
1) Go to http://tools.rosinstrument.com/cgi-proxy.htm
2) Enter www.pandora.com into the box [or select it from the drop down menu]
3) Enjoy Pandora*

* Note: I’ve had questionable success with the above steps so far [50/50 I’d say in it working like it should - not sure if it is just Pandora or my going through a proxy server or something else].

In happier news from Radio3 today - they mention Rich Aucoin’s ongoing trek across Canada. And sum it up nicely:

Like many Canadian musicians before him, he is going on a cross-Canada tour. Unlike all the rest, Rich is touring the country on his bicycle. With all his instruments. In a Grinch costume. Raising money for cancer research.

Check out their interview and tour dates for Rich on his MySpace.

Rich on a quiet revolution previously [for the same tour]:
The Wish

Ok so the title of this post should technically read, Thanks to Feist We Know Shotgun and Jaybird Broke-Up - I’m working on shorter and snappier titles so something had to be edited.

Regardless - as Radio3’s Chris Kelly wrote:

WHAT?!

The details:

• They played their final show at the Capitol Theatre in Moncton, NB opening for band member Julie Doiron on May 5th, 2007.
• No reason given other than “it was just time”

Out of Ammo and Wings Clipped: Shotgun and Jaybird Break-Up - Radio3
[great title there]

Previous Shotgun & Jaybird mentions:
20 HottestPopular Bands from Canada’s East Coast [but mainly Halifax/NS]

See also: The Stance Shall Inherit The Earth, Just Not Right Away ChartAttack.com

And The Guest Bedroom on i (heart) music [one of the bands I know nothing about but Matthew seems to like].

* But it’s really about the poster

Sessions episode 13 featuring “Jon Epworth and The Improvements ” is now available at http://www.sessionswith.com.

Halifax Nova Scotia’s “Jon Epworth and the Improvements” have stirred quite a bit of buzz recently with the release of their latest CD “Wet on Wet.” The 2006 release solidified the band’s status as one of Atlantic Canada’s best musical talents by notching a 2007 ECMA nomination. Sessions had the opportunity to chat with the group about their album and experience as independent artists.

This episode features a live performance that took place at Ross Cole’s Back Room Studios in Moncton (http://www.myspace.com/backroomstudiosmoncton). Ross also did the audio for the live performance. This episode is definitely worth watching in a higher quality format (downloading through iTunes).

Previously: Sessions from New Brunswick

Matt Mays fills in the Tour Diary for Radio3’s Lisa Christiansen.

And if you’ll be in Toronto on May 25th, chromewaves is running a contest for folks to see Joel Plaskett and Peter Elkas at the Opera House.

Sex, Drugs and Updating Your Blog
Any independent artist worth their internet connection should take a few minutes and read this New York Times article [registration required]

One of my favorite parts of the article was how one of the main musicians profiled arranges his tour dates now:

When he performs, he upends the traditional logic of touring. Normally, a new Brooklyn-based artist like him would trek around the Northeast in grim circles, visiting and revisiting cities like Boston and New York and Chicago in order to slowly build an audience — playing for 3 people the first time, then 10, then (if he got lucky) 50. But Coulton realized he could simply poll his existing online audience members, find out where they lived and stage a tactical strike on any town with more than 100 fans, the point at which he’d be likely to make $1,000 for a concert. It is a flash-mob approach to touring: he parachutes into out-of-the-way towns like Ardmore, Pa., where he recently played to a sold-out club of 140.

Using website stats, your newsletter sign ups [you get their zip/postal codes, or at least city right?], MySpace friends and any other info you can gleam the location of fans from should be used to help by pass the towns/areas that are certain to be dead for ones that may be home to actual fans.

The article includes numerous other examples of artists connecting in a true grassroots manner with fans thanks to the internet and doing so to a degree that can sustain them. With the available access to fans however comes the expected access to the artist, and a number of examples are provided showing “when fans attack” essentially. The biggest concern some artists may have though with maintaining all these new relationships with fans - is well maintaining them and not feeling like they just took a customer care position at a call center:

It is the central paradox of online networking: if you’re really good at it, your audience quickly grows so big that you can no longer network with them. The Internet makes fame more quickly achievable — and more quickly unmanageable….Virtually everyone bemoaned the relentless and often boring slog of keyboarding. It is, of course, precisely the sort of administrative toil that people join rock bands to avoid.

Mind you working for yourself and promoting your own music [hell any music] far beats working in a call center. Trust me [5 past call center jobs here! woo!]
Via Michael Geist

__________________________________________________________________________

Music Execs Silent As Rap Debate Rages [AP]
The article details the current furor taking place over the language used in much hip hop today and asks why as the title states, music execs are mum on the issue. My guess:

The outcry could have an effect on sales. If it raises consciousness among people who have historically bought this music and thought it was OK, well, that’s lost sales. Executives’ bonuses are tied to sales and they don’t want to destroy this market.

But the article has other possibilities as well. And again provides an interesting glimpse of where the hip hop scene is right now, one example - Master P, founder of No Limit Records, starting a new label for “street music without offensive lyrics.”.