MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: RYAN GAIO - THE BEST AIN'T HAPPENED YET

Gaio put out an EP ten years back, just out of his teens in Niagara-on-the-Lake, but then went off to school, including in Fredericton doing an MA in Creative Writing at UNB. It seems that his creative streak extended to music still, as he wrote some of the songs during those days. Once he moved to Toronto and started working, he found he still had the music bug and finished up these ten tracks for his first full album.

Right from the opening squelch of radio static and stations tuning in and out, the message is clear: he's inspired by the golden oldies stations he heard growing up, playing classic AM radio pop and rock singles. Opener "1949" contains shoo-wop backing vocals, lyrics about taking daddy's car to the beach, and lots of pumping piano and strumming guitars. 

These are light-hearted and loving takes on classic forms but combined with lots of 2023 energy. "Cry Over You" is doo-wop with a sloppy edge, Gaio getting overly dramatic for the break-up number, even yelling "I hate you!" instead of singing. There's a comfort food warmth to all these sounds, such as the sweet backing vocals and the catchy choruses, but those are camouflaging lots of smart rhymes and themes of nostalgia. Instead of mimicking 60s and 70s production, the songs are far more rough-and-ready instead of polished, along the lines of Joel Plaskett, or the Weezer-like soft-loud treatment on "Standing On Your Doorstep." 

There's a big blast of sunshine in most of the songs, particularly "So Much Younger Then," a great summertime, driving, and guitar tune. The whole album says it was a lot of fun back in the day, and it's still lots of fun now.

RAWLINS CROSS BEING HONOURED AT ECMA 2023

Brian Bourne has come a long way since his first pro band gig in Fredericton in the mid-'70s. Back then, he was playing with friends he met at UNB in a band called A Joint Effort. 

"Our very first live gig was at the Fredericton Exhibition," remembers Bourne. "We followed the trained seals, honest to God. And because of that show, we got a gig at the Hilltop," a landmark local pub still going strong.

Such humble beginnings have turned into a fifty-year music career for Bourne, the last three decades spent with East Coast allstars Rawlins Cross. But even A Joint Effort showed lots of excellence. The band's lone LP, the live A Final Effort, is now considered a freak-folk classic, with original copies currently being offered online for around $800. 

Bourne, who plays bass and the complicated Chapman Stick, joined Rawlins Cross in time for the group's second album, 1991's Crossing The Border. That's when the group expanded from its Newfoundland beginnings to become an Atlantic Canadian powerhouse. 1993's Reel 'n' Roll defined the sound of East Coast Celtic Rock, a driving rhythm section behind a front line of pipes, whistles, accordion, bouzouki, and all manner of acoustic instruments.

The classic lineup of Bourne, Howie Southwood, Joey Kitson, Geoff Panting, Dave Panting, and Ian McKinnon is being honoured at this year's East Coast Music Awards with the special Dr. Helen Creighton Lifetime Achievement Award. It's to be presented at the Music and Industry Awards Part II, held at the Marriott Harbourfront Hotel in Halifax on Sunday, May 7 at 11 AM. The band, of course, will play a tune as well.

Bourne is quick to deflect any personal praise for the award and sends it right back to the fans. "The audience is part of this award, because that's half the show, always," he says. "Pretty well everybody, I think, has a fear of getting up in front of a crowd and showing your stuff. That's kind of why we do it anyway. It's always exciting and you hope that the crowd likes it. You just hope everybody in the band is hitting their mark at the same time, and get it out there, get that message and that sound out there. And having people out there that appreciate it, that's the gift, that's the treasure."

Bourne says the band appreciates the crowds more than ever. The audience, and new fans, have followed them through one sort-of break-up in the early 2000s, and still come out in droves when Rawlins Cross returns to the stage every two or three years. Last fall's Atlantic Canadian tour for the new Sunrise album featured sell-outs and a great spirit on stage.

"We haven't worn each other out," says Bourne. "We don't live in the same town, and there are long stretches where nothing's happening with the group. It's a joy to get together, and you just feel so young again, back to the job at hand, which is taking over the world."

He thinks one of the keys to the renewed excitement each time the band gets together is that they first record new music, from EPs to full albums, and then tour with the new material. "That keeps it fresh, doesn't it? That was always the rule of thumb back in the bar band days, learn a new song every week so people aren't getting stale up there, something to keep you on your toes."

While it's called a Lifetime Achievement award, Bourne says there's still more life to come for the group. "Why not? There's work to be done. There was a break for about six years, but since then we've been together but not active all the time. So it's not a breakup, and it's not a reunion every time we get back together. The plan is to just carry on."

They're carrying on right away. After the group gets the award on May 7, they immediately hit the road for a celebration lap around Nova Scotia. There are shows in Guysborough on Wednesday, May 10, Truro May 11, Windsor May 12, Annapolis Royal May 13, and Lunenburg May 14. After that, there are several summer festival dates in the works.

Bourne even laughed and suggested he'd be happy to play the Fredericton Exhibition again, to celebrate his 50th anniversary of music-making. Please, please let there be trained seals too. 

ECMA 2023 IN HALIFAX MOST AMBITIOUS EVER

Photo by James West

With just a few days to go until the start of the East Coast Music Awards week in Halifax (May 3 - 7), it's about the time that ECMA CEO Andy McLean pauses for a moment and realizes just how big a job the group has ahead of it. McLean feels this is the most ambitious ECMA ever.

"Thirty full-time and contract staff, 320 volunteers, just the number of pieces, I think we all kind of went, wow, that's a lot," says McLean. "My main thing was to not underdeliver for the 35th anniversary, so I'm pretty confident we have achieved that."

That's taken a lot of ramping up in the Covid era, to get back to the pre-pandemic heights. Last year's event in Fredericton, the first in-person after two years of virtual activity, was a bit smaller as people were still weary of close quarters. 

ECMA CEO Andy McLean

"Ten weeks before the event, I still wasn't sure what public health measures were going to come in," says McLean. "We had to plan for online as well as in person, and there was a little bit of hesitancy for people to gather again. But after the first mixer and glass of wine, the masks seemed to come off and everybody had a great time."

Halifax always holds the biggest ECMA's, and 35 is a pretty impressive birthday, so the goal for the organization was to take it all one step further, with more events, more special programming, and more music opportunities for those going, and those watching at home.

As usual, the main event is near the beginning, with the Awards Gala happening Thursday night, May 4, at the Scotiabank Centre. The show is being hosted by This Hour Has 22 Minutes' Trent McLellan, and features performances by Natalie MacMaster, Neon Dreams, Fortunate Ones, City Natives, and lots more.

"We have two stages running, so we can cram as much music in as possible," says McLean. "There are going to be 13 performances and 15 awards given out, so I'm going to claim that we have the most live music of any awards. And there are some special moments that haven't been announced yet too, which look back on the ECMA's."

ECMA Gala Host Trent McLellan

The entire Awards Gala is also available to stream at ECMA.com, and is also being broadcast nationally on the Rogers platform, along with the pre-show Red Carpet, which starts at 6 PM. Then it's full-on live music all over Halifax and Dartmouth until Sunday.

"Over 200 individual showcases this year, in 11 official venues," says McLean. "And we've added these partnered stages, regular venues in Halifax that are not official venues but want to book music, so they are on board and booking ECMA artists that aren't official showcases. So that makes 24, 25 venues that are going to have live music."

The second batch of trophies get handed out on Sunday at 11 AM, which includes the honorary and industry awards. That show is also getting more attention, and with the recent addition of The East Pointers now features five performances. Plus the other daytime hours are filled up, especially in downtown Halifax. Saturday afternoon sees Argyle Street blocked off for the Dairy Farmers of Canada ECMA Fan Fest, a free event featuring JRDN, DeeDee Austin, Kellie Loder, and Neon Dreams.

Photo by Michael Bourgeois

There's also a daytime start to the whole event on Wednesday, with the official kick-off happening at noon at the Grand Parade. It's an opening blessing at the Wije'winen (Come With Us) Cultural Circle, a special partnership with the Mi'kmaw Native Friendship Centre. That's a big, ongoing part of the week each day on the Grand Parade, with lit teepees, a sacred fire, on-site Elders, and drumming, dance, and song.

"It's going to be an amazing opportunity for our international delegates to witness the rich Indigenous culture," says McLean. "That started with St. Mary's in Fredericton, we had that partnership, and that's going to be something that the ECMA will continue to develop as we move through the regions, and moving forward."

Anyone who recalls the humble beginnings of the ECMA 35 years ago in the Flamingo Pub in Halifax definitely knows how the awards and the entire East Coast music industry have moved forward in that time. All the schedules, ticket info, and the mobile App can be found at ECMA.com.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: A'COURT, SPIEGEL & VINNICK

Some things you know are just going to work great, even when it's still just an idea on paper. A'Court, Spiegel, and Vinnick are three of the most enjoyable roots/blues players traversing Canada these days. Vinnick and A'Court need no introduction to blues and festival music fans, as multiple award winners and excellent songwriters and performers. Spiegel's a relatively newer name, having been introduced to Canadian audiences just a few years back, from his native Australia. There he's a blues icon and one of the country's very top guitar players and has been wowing crowds here of late with his dynamic stage shows.

After crossing paths and hanging out, strong bonds were forged between Ontario, Nova Scotia, and Australia, and the idea of joining forces was judged a perfect one. A national tour resulted, which hit the East Coast this week, as well as a new album, combining all their talents. Vinnick's bass playing has won her a Maple Blues Award in that category, she's that good, so she handles that as well as acoustic guitar duties, while Spiegel and A'Court trade off lead and rhythm duties, and all three sing and write. That's the stage show, and the album, no need for anything else other than this super-talented trio.

The album is all original, aside from one lone cover song, "Sunshine Blues" by Bahamas, sung by Vinnick. She also contributes the dynamic "Better Angels," a heartfelt play for compassion in our messed-up world. It features beautiful harmonies from the trio and reminds me a lot of, say, a great Jann Arden single. I'm singling out songwriting first because this is far more than simply a guitar player's album, which it easily could have been. These people are grand writers and singers too, and that really makes the collection strong, from fun foot-stompers such as Charlie's "Dancing at the Dirty O" to Lloyd's classic acoustic blues, "Alligator Shoes." And yes, there's grand guitar too of course, found on two riff-happy instrumentals, A'Court's Latin jam "El Fuego," and the group co-write "Bo Jinx," full of true guitar-hero playing.

There are lots of East Coast dates, there were sold-out shows across the rest of the country, so grab your chance to see this trio, the energy will be great heading into these final concerts.


Apr. 20 - Saint John, NB - Imperial Theatre
Apr. 21 - Florenceville-Bristol, NB - Weldon Matthews Theatre
Apr. 22 - Annapolis Royal, NS - King's Theatre
Apr. 26 - Pictou, NS - deCoste Theatre
Apr. 27 - Liverpool, NS - Astor Theatre
Apr. 28 - Lunenburg, NS - Opera House
Apr. 29 - Windsor, NS - Mermaid Theatre
Apr. 30 - Truro, NS - Marigold Theatre
May 1 - Fredericton - The Playhouse
May 3 - Happy Valley-Goose Bay, NL - Lawrence O'Brien Arts Centre
May 7 - Torbay, NL - Jack Byrne Arena

ANASTASIO, GOV'T MULE, TROMBONE SHORTY & MORE TAPPED FOR SEPTEMBER'S HARVEST FESTIVAL IN FREDERICTON

I keep reading about how live music will never be the same, after Covid and thanks to ridiculous Ticketmaster prices. Well, I think people gotta forget about their mega superstar shows in cities and look at how we do it out in Festival Land. One of North America's very best (and it has been for a couple of decades), Fredericton's Harvest Music Festival, has just announced its lineup for September, and it's like Covid never happened. It's back to the size and high quality of before the pandemic, featuring a finely-curated lineup of big live music stars, reliable favourite veterans, and well-chosen newer acts that are making waves with their festival sets.

Harvest is going with a "getting our Mojo back" theme, thanks to the return this year of the well-loved Mojo tent, missing in the downsized Covid era. That means there will be a full 23 ticketed shows this year, the same number as 2019, after only 16 last year. Plus, there will be about twice as many free sets on various side stages, and all the extra events at all sorts of pubs and pop-up venues.

Taking a look at all the other music festivals in the wider area, including the Maritimes, Quebec, and New England, seriously, I can't find a reason to travel elsewhere. Harvest pretty much equals or betters everyone else's lineup on a night-by-night basis. Each venue, all within a couple of blocks of the next, has two or three excellent acts, from opener to headliner. Take a look at the fourth, fifth, and sixth lines of the above poster, the fine print.. These aren't the headliners, but there are names there that I'm sure many music fans will be excited about seeing. So, it's top to bottom top quality.

Let's look at some highlights. Harvest gets the first show of a new tour by what is called Trey Anastasio with Classic Tab. That's Anastasio going back to the sound and band configuration of the classic Trey Anastasio Band (TAB), a four-piece including keyboards, and very much in the Phish style. And Harvest gets it first, jam fans. Kaleo, best known for its huge hit "Way Down We Go," has become a big touring act thanks to a fantastic live show featuring its heavier blues-rock mixed with surprisingly sensitive tunes. Plus, they're all from Iceland, which is just cool. Trombone Shorty is simply one of the greatest New Orleans performers of any generation. Gov't Mule continues its huge popularity, and Matt Andersen ... well, we'll just consider that a sell-out right now.

I'm especially pleased with the solid lineup of Canadian acts from several different fields, from the alt-rock of CanRock faves Broken Social Scene, to the Brandi Carlile-approved folkie Allison Russell. Plus there are more great names such as Daniel Lanois, Joel Plaskett, Big Sugar, Wide Mouth Mason, and David Myles. Heck, I'd go to a festival with those five names alone. And as usual, there's a huge commitment to East Coast artists as well, great pairings such as Slowcoaster featuring Carmen Townsend, and Wolf Castle with Olympic Symphonium.

You know, I've been going to this festival since its very first year, when I stumbled into a downtown bar by accident, and discovered Holly Cole singing Marvin Gaye songs just for the fun of it. Every year I expect to be jaded (my natural inclination) and not care a whole lot when the lineup is announced. But every year, I take a look and shake my head in wonder of what Fredericton accomplishes with its festival. Tickets go on sale April 20.

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MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: ENGAGE - THE TIME HAS COME

Energize! is a roots combo that plays all over southern N.B., comprised of singer-songwriters Carla Bonnell and Rick Bartlett (ex-Howard Brook Band, for those with verryyy long memories). But when they're not a duo, they expand to a full band, adding in drummer Larry Steele and bass player/singer Ray Dunham. With Carla also covering keyboards, that gives them a big lineup, with three vocalists and three songwriters, called Engage. That project has taken over their activities for the past several months, resulting in the group's first album, The Time Has Come. With that many writers and singers on board, well, it's a luxury, and they make the most of it. There are a full 15 songs on the album, all three contributing their efforts, with the lead vocals shared, and lots of group backup singing too.

The album moves back and forth between folk, rock, and country, and a little bit of each in every track. The themes will be instantly recognizable to most Maritimers, including hard work, hard times, and getting past all that and enjoying life anyway. It's the kind of songwriting that reflects everybody in the hall or bar on a Friday night, the audience and the band, happy to be there, but acknowledging life can suck sometimes. "Nothing in the wishing well but dust," sings Bonnell in "No Wishes In The Well," but Bartlett has the anecdote to that in the very next song, "This One," an uptempo, positive blues. In it, he acknowledges not everything went great, he hasn't made a fortune, but he wouldn't have it any other way, screw the money and fame: "I must admit it sure sounds nice/But who would I have become?/Maybe in another life, but I really like this one." That's a pretty great attitude, and it rings throughout the whole album from each writer.

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Don't expect major league recording sounds and samples here, these are working musicians, probably with day jobs as well, and they've made it themselves, grabbing time when they can, getting together over two provinces, recording in "Carla's Kitchen and Larry's Basement (NB and NS)." So, rough but certainly ready, and you can feel the hard work and happiness that went into the project. The folks that come out to see either Energize! or Engage on those Friday nights will hear their stories reflected back in the album. Speaking of gigs, Engage will be part of the upcoming Living Roots Festival, coming up in Fredericton June 8 to 11.