HARD-WORKING HEARTBROKEN GRAB CCMA NOM

Country-roots band The Heartbroken have a new motto: Every day is a work day.

As they roam from town-to-town on their first tour of the East Coast, the group is more than familiar with the ups and downs of being a hard-working band in Canada. "Yesterday was the weirdest day," reflects drummer Blake Manning. "We had a bad experience with a club the night before, and then woke up to the Canadian County Music Association Group Of The Year nomination. That's just how it goes with us. The highs and the lows of The Heartbroken. And then Stuart (Cameron) and Dav (Doyle) ran out of gas on the highway, about half an hour outside of town. Pete (Fusco) and I were having a day off yesterday, and our day off got squarely taken away from us. It turned into a work day."

"Every day is a work day boys, every day," singer Damhnait Doyle reminds them.

Doyle knows perhaps a little better than the three guys about life on the road, and being in a band. She's done the solo thing, and then was in the group Shaye for several years. A star in her own right, she's more than happy to be one-quarter of an up-and-coming act. "It wasn't where I thought I would be, because it's actually a much more noble pursuit than anything I ever thought, to be honest. It's four of us fully committed together, believing in ourselves and each other, and it's the most incredible feeling musically and as a family I've ever experienced."

Stuart Cameron has lots of stage and recording experience, first appearing as a kid with his father John Allen Cameron. Over the years he became the go-to guitarist for many Canadian artists, from Ashley MacIsaac to Matthew Good. "Three of us, out of the four, it's our first experience being in a band," says Cameron. "It's always been playing for other people. I think out of all those experiences of playing for others, and watching their careers rise, or fall, you learn from all that. I've never been happier, this is where I'm supposed to be."

The four of them didn't have to look hard to find suitable band mates. Cameron, Fusco and Manning are much in-demand studio pros in Toronto, who also played for fun together, often with Doyle. The idea of committing to a band wasn't a hard sell. "It was really easy, all of us are great friends, so it was an easy decision to be in a band with them," acknowledges Fusco. "We know how to be friends, and it's easy to be in a band with your friends."

The plans were hatched almost two years ago, at what was originally just another day hanging out. "We didn't even know we were writing a song," remembers Manning. "We always hang out together anyways, for years and years. We were all sitting around Stuart's kitchen with guitars, and I think we got half-way through the song before we released we were writing a really good song. There was no real idea of how the sound was going to form, it just kinda happened. By the third or fourth song, we were like, 'this is great, we should make a record, we should start a band!' And it took us so many years to figure that out, which was so stupid. Because we'd been sitting in that kitchen or other kitchens for years, and it took us that long to go hey, wow, this is really good."

Once the decision was made, the debut album Tonight Tonight came about. That's the disc that got them the CCMA nomination, a big one for a rookie band. Just like the kitchen sessions, everybody is credited with the songwriting. For four people who have spent so long working on their individual careers, they certainly are playing well with others.

"I'm very happy people are noticing," says Doyle. "With the CCMA, that makes a big difference, because it's very difficult to be a beginning band in the music industry right now. It's difficult to be an established band in the music industry right now. We're fighting for every nook and cranny and edge we can find."

It's hard work every day for The Heartbroken, because as they say, every day is a work day.

CHECK OUT THE BURNING HELL AT SAPPYFEST

What's the best music festival in Canada?  Hey, there's a can of worms.  Every community thinks theirs is great, and it probably is.  It's all about going or volunteering, making music part of your life, in your city or town.  Now, having said that, certain ones do stand out for a number of reasons, depending on what you like, whether it's the outdoor camping kind, the style of music, the setting, the high quality of the acts, it really is an individual taste question.

I will give a shout-out to a tiny little festival that in a few short years has managed to make a name for itself right across the country, at least in the alternative world.  SappyFest takes place in the small New Brunswick town of Sackville, home of Mount Allison University, and a pretty cool little arts place.  This is the sixth year for Sappy, which starts tomorrow and runs until Sunday.  Now, I haven't been, I must admit, despite living just 2 hours away.  It's a rough weekend for somebody with three kids, that's my only excuse.  Oh, this year my sister is getting married during it, too.  Someday I'll get there.

Sappy was started by the then-backbone of Sackville's music scene:  Canadian indie icon Julie Doiron, photographer Jon Claytor and label boss Paul Henderson, the folks behind Sappy Records.  The idea was simple, to get a few of their music pals from the area and abroad, and have fun.  It turned out that Sackville was a great place to throw up a couple of tents and play cool music.  The vibe has always been very small and very friendly and everybody be cool, and this will be great, and that's what people say it is.  There are some musicians and broadcasters and such that call SappyFest their very favourite music event of the year.  Oh, it's a lovely pretty place too, that helps.

This year's lineup includes The Acorn, Chad Vangaalen, Daniel Romano, Jim Bryson, John K. Samson, Jon Langford, The Sadies, Ladyhawk, Little Scream, Owen Pallett, and many more, including Ms. Doiron of course.  I could write a book about every one of these acts, but just for fun I grabbed the new disc from Newfoundland's, The Burning Hell to see what they're about.  Led by Mathias Kom, the group certainly singular, there's no mistaking them or writing them off as copycats.  First off, the album title Flux Capacitor refers to that gizmo that let Michael J. Fox time-travel in the Back To The Future movies.  Kom refers to a lot of 80's iconic moments, because they were so important to him as a kid.  Yes, there's a ton of humour and irony involved in that, especially a guy basically wrapping about actor John Stamos guest-drumming for the the Kokomo-era Beach Boys.

There's a bit of Klezmer in the sound, lots of basic instruments and lots of emphasis on Kom lead ukulele playing (!) and cool sounds from trombone, violin, clarinet and sax.  But really, we're there to hear Kom's stories, which on the disc center around the theme of returning to his childhood, so that Back To The Future equipment comes into play on a couple of songs.  He has a cool sense of humour, quite a bit philosophical, has a lot to say about death and how shit happens in life, best just to role with it.  I like it when he tells the little kids that sometimes the witches win in the classic fairy tales, and the kids get eaten and that's alright, he came out okay reading them.

Anyway, I'd love to see The Burning Hell sometime, I wish I could see them at SappyFest, but not this year.  You could still go though.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: GORDIE SAMPSON - ALMOST BEAUTIFUL

When I listen to a new Gordie Sampson album, I have a hard time deciding whether I'm listening to an artistic statement from him, or the next batch of good songs he's hoping will get covered in Nashville or elsewhere.  Ever since the Cape Breton songwriter relocated to Nashville, the writing has been the precedent, for good reason.  He's a Grammy winner for God's sake, for that Carrie Underwood song.  But with each number here, I find myself wondering which artist would sound best doing a version.

The Other Side Of Letting Go could be handed straight over to Nickelback for their next hit power ballad.  Or, it could go to Keith Urban.  Such is the state of pop music, where the difference between country and rock is whether the singer is wearing a hat or not.  Now, this is supposed to be Sampson's country disc, as opposed to his others in the roots-rock field.  Again, I don't hear much of a difference.  What I do hear is some gems, and some generic work, slick touches that mean he's learned how to appeal to the masses a little too much.

On the positive side, Fear Of Flying is a real heart-tugger, stripped back to basically Sampson, acoustic and an uncredited but excellent female vocalist.  There's a few of these mellow numbers here, Crazy Holdin' On is another sad but pretty duet which could find a country home but has a little Paul Simon in it as well.  Hurricane Jane is a fun uptempo one that's worthy of John Hiatt's pen ("she's a perfect storm").  Sampson's now four albums into a solo career that still holds the potential of making him a big star, but in the meantime you know there's dozens of big-name producers and artists checking out these offerings.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: THE UGLY DUCKLINGS - SOMEWHERE INSIDE/THUMP & TWANG

One of the bigger surprises when the numbers were crunched for both The Top 100 Canadian Singles, and Top 100 Canadian Albums books was the success of the Toronto 60's band The Ugly Ducklings.  The group's debut single from 1966, Nothin', was voted #33 of all time in the country, while the album Somewhere Outside grabbed the #72 spot in that poll.  Compared to other '60's bands, they had little exposure outside Toronto, and certainly haven't received much airplay since on classic rock radio formats.

The reason the Ducks have so many current fans is because of their connection with the late '70's punk crowd, and later, with fans of garage rock and authentic 1960's sounds.  Today The Ugly Ducklings are considered ahead of their time, and one of the best R'n'B groups to come along in the country.  Somewhere Outside is still a consistent seller, and now our knowledge of the group's sound is going to grow by leaps and bounds thanks to this new series of previously-unreleased music.

Compiled by band leader, singer and writer Dave Bingham, these rediscovered tapes fill in the gaps in the band history.  Subtitled The Lost Jams Series, Bingham has worked hard finding and trying to restore these vintage recordings.  First released for sale on eBay four years ago, now Bingham has raised enough funds and interest to make them widely available. 

From January of 1967 comes the cleverly-titled Somewhere Inside, which is a radio broadcast from legendary Toronto station CHUM-AM.  The band was featured on the program Talent In Toronto, with interviews by DJ Bob MacAdorey and band cuts from the studio.  Now, your patience is required for this set, as the tapes aren't in great shape, even after the restoration.  The sound is thin on the music, and the interview segments have all sorts of background noise and interference.  Of course, it's a miracle any copy still exists.  Despite the problems, fans will instantly recognize its historical importance.  We hear about the realities of band life in the those days, get a taste of vintage broadcasting, and even get to listen to a commercial for the Confederation Train that was about to cross the country to celebrate Canada's 100th birthday.  But what truly blew my musical mind was hearing the group do Bo Diddley's I'm A Man.  It is incendiary, psychedelic, and groundbreaking.  Remember, it's January of '67, and The Ducklings are blowing the lid off this blues number, in the same fashion as The Who soon would for Magic Bus.  These guys could see the future of rock.

Unfortunately, their record label, Yorkville, couldn't or didn't want to.  On the new set Thump & Twang, we hear the demos the band recorded to present to the label as the new direction they wanted.  The late '67-early '68 recordings were improvisational and psychedelic blues, but the label wanted more pop hits like the #1 Gaslight in Toronto.  Again, the sound isn't the best on several of the cuts, basic 2-track demos.  But after the band left the label, they had gone into storage, forgotten until Bingham brought them out in 2002.  History saved.  Padding out the set are two very interesting cuts from a CBC TV show in 1968, called Through The Eyes Of Tomorrow.  Both are spooky blues, their own Hangman, and another Bo Diddley number, You Can't Judge A Book By It's Cover.  The Ugly Ducklings were doing what like-minded groups in England and the U.S. were doing, making the blues modern and exciting, for the new FM and album rock audience about to make stars of Led Zeppelin, Ten Years After, and so many others.  Unfortunately, the band never got a chance to make that record.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: GILLIAN WELCH - THE HARROW & THE HARVEST

Gillian Welch, where the hell have you been?  After virtually making us all folk fans again with four brilliant albums, it's been bloody eight years since you've released something.  Geez, you even made partner Dave Rawlings actually released his own excellent disc.  Welch admits there was some writer's block involved in the delay, and some problems with early recording attempts.  But still, that's a long time to wait for ten tracks.  This better be worth it.

It takes a while to get back in to the quiet beauty of Welch and Rawlings work.  Nobody makes better two-guitar, two-voices music.  Heck, nobody is that brave to do pretty much only that.  Plus, it's all new songs, they don't fall back on cute reworked covers of pop songs or rediscovered music from decades past.  While there is no song that jumps out like Look At Miss Ohio, the opener from 2003's Soul Journey, it eventually sinks in that you're listening to music timeless, unique and important.

It's back to basics for this disc, with no other musicians, no covers, no looser feel that was offered on Soul Journey.  There are numbers that are truly 19th century attempts, such as Six White Horses, where Rawlings picks up the banjo, and Welch puts on the old-time accent.  That kind of number almost seems like a party trick for them now, we know they can take us back to that century.  I go for the ones that seem old, but have lots of modern touches, words and portions of melodies that make us go from old to modern in seconds, and there are indeed lots of thos moments here.

The song Tennessee is the centerpiece number, a soft and blue number, that could be an old Civil War number, or could be something off Neil Young's first solo album.  Of course, this being our favourite duo, they confound you with surprising chord choices, including one of their most beautiful and haunting choruses ever.  Rawlings sneaks in this tasty little licks as well.  That one will be great to hear live.  Thank goodness they are in the middle of their biggest tour in a decade, stopping by Toronto's Phoenix Concert Hall on Monday, July 25.  The rest of us will have to make due with an upcoming Austin City Limits show this coming season.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: THE MIDWAY STATE - PARIS OR INDIA

Glossy and poppy, kinda retro and sort of alternative, but really more mainstream, The Midway State is pretty slick.  Drenched in keys and effects, the music is big and important-sounding, worked over into a huge production.  The band spent a year holed up, crafting the followup to their 2008 debut Holes, and hearing the meticulous results I'm starting to understand what takes so long.  This isn't a bunch of guys pounding out tunes on bass, drums, guitars and keys.  Every note sounds like its been put through filters and flanges and valves and whistles.

With everything awash in this sheen, it's like we're stepping back into the synth-80's for 40 minutes.  I couldn't pick it out at first, it wasn't the New Wavers or New Romantics or the other synth bands.  Then it hit me.  With the combination of keys and effects with rock drive and pop accessibility, the album was reminding me of the 80's Moody Blues, with Your Wildest Dreams and The Voice.  That, and singer Nathan Ferraro's high-pitched, yearning vocals. 

Now, I'm pretty sure these Midway kids wouldn't have a clue about Moody Blues or much about the 80's at all, I just find it fascinating these big keyboard and effects productions are back in the rock world.  Epic numbers are cool, young bands are allowed to be serious instead of snotty.  I guess its the success of The Arcade Fire, who've managed to take those big, intelligent productions to the Grammy Awards.  It's all a bit too earnest, but you can't knock The Midway State's success rate so far with the MuchMusic crowd.  Maybe it gets a little looser and louder on stage when the fans get to take part.  It just feels so confined.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: THE EXPRESS

What's the matter with young musicians these days?  Why, back in the good old days, when a band had downtime, the members would simply trash hotel rooms or drive their Rolls-Royce into the swimming pool.  Nowadays, everybody's doing side projects, teaming up with players from other bands, trying on new styles, or going solo but staying in the main band.  Often, its simply the financial need:  Players can't get enough work in one band, so they, like other people, are working two jobs or freelancing.  And in some cases, it's all about the art.

The Express did come together for the music.  Liam Corcoran had more music, and different themes than he could expore in the power-pop setting of PEI's Two Hours Traffic.  It was acoustic, quiet and more personal then much of what has been suitable for the peppy group.  And if you're going to expose your most personal music, who are you going to trust more than family?  Corcoran found the ideal partner at the dinner table.  First cousin Kinley Dowling plays violin with everybody, I mean everybody on the East Coast, from Buck 65 to Jenn Grant to Matt Mays, but most notably and often with Hey Rosetta!  This collaboration has been discussed at various points, including shared tours and Christmas gatherings.

Initially, it was Corcoran who needed the outlet, but when it started to come together, Dowling brought her own similar quiet songs in, and it ended up she played an even larger role as vocalist on three of those.  The rest feature Liam, on acoustic, joined by Kinley's sympathetic harmonies and major string parts.  It's wonderful to hear violin and viola play such a major role, especially on relatively calm recordings.  The instruments stand out, and make the whole project sound very different from all the acoustic work right now.

Another great addition to the team is producer Dale Murray of Cuff The Duke, who put it all together at his studio in Dartmouth.  The multi-instrumentalist added the next layer of guitar, pedal steel and the like, providing much of the atmosphere.

So, you get intimate lyrics, calm and lovely harmonies, acoustic guitar, plenty of strings played in non-typical roles, and two interesting personalities.  Sorry I can't give you a handy comparison, I can't think of another duo to say "for fans of....", but if you like beauty in a laid-back setting, I'd take The Express.