Jazz piano sideman in the driver’s seat tonight >>> Jazz piano accompanist Peter Hill is fairly well known now as singer Laura Hubert’s main man in her band for about 15 years and for his longstanding commitment as part of the house band for Lisa Particelli’s Girl’s Night Out singers jam at Chalkers Pub in…
Doc prescribes himself for today’s dose of Folk >>> With the nicer weather finally starting to become the norm (although watch out for Monday night through Wednesday —it’s gonna get colder and may snow again!) Toronto Moon will be increasing the number of out-of-city shows included in the daily show listings. We have readers and…
Great talent, it’s a shame about her name >>> I’m a big fan of the music of stunningly attractive and exquisitely talented Folk songwriter Nicole Coward. Her debut album from 2012, Why Don’t You Care, contains more gems than just the title track, which has become her signature tune but is just one of many…
This Church St. show welcomes Hate-rs >>> The name of the group I Hate Todd is impressive enough —I mean after all, who would be likely to say “I hate I Hate Todd” ever, since they’d sound like a mouth-breathing mental defective. So bonus points for that, but really, this niftily dressed 5-piece Art Rock…
Signe showcasing results of teaching skills >>> One of the young musician-promoters I’ve been very impressed with over the years is spunky and talented songwriter Signe Miranda. This go-getter has been involved in promoting other artists as well as her own Signe Miranda’s Veranda band since I first met her at the late great Renaissance…
Bacha a different kind of solo in Scarborough >>> As I’ve learned from first-hand experience hosting innumerable open stage nights over the past 25 years, pretty much every hot rod electric guitar player around is also quite adept at picking up an acoustic guitar and delivering an impressive set of tunes all by their lonesome…
Marks and Fraser are back in business weekly >>> For many years, stretching back well before I came on the scene in 1992 with the first issue of the progenitor of this publication (a twice-monthly ‘zine about open mics and jams known as The Open Season) and continuing for another ten years after the publication’s…
Seb is still Seb and not fade away >>> As he continues to recover from a series of surgical procedures he underwent last year, you won’t hear iconoclastic protest songwriter and versatile guitar player Sebastian Agnello playing with his band for a little while yet, which is a shame for his legion of fans across…
>>> Veteran Folk singer Marianne Girard and fellow Roots artist Allan Fraser have been trying to figure out who they are together for the past several months. Not wondering what they’re doing teamed up as a duo —that’s obvious by the sheer talent they each possess and, according to reports I’ve received, the musical sympatico…
Double-dating’s ok when you’re a musician Normally one might look somewhat askance at a friend who confessed that they were “double-dating”, but when it comes to musicians, such behaviour is not only tolerable but should be encouraged. Two very talented performers who’ll be doing just that on Saturday April 5 are power Pop Jazz…
Scarborough’s de facto Rock power couple, Catalyst singer Al Reilly and wife Brenda Elaine, not only work together to stage always hugely successful shows by Al’s band, but they’re out on the scene across the GTA several nights a month supporting shows by other groups who hail from the former ‘burb that many regard…
The Durham Region Music Society has posted a $1,000 reward for information leading to the return of several valuable items, including musical equipment specifically designed to assist a sightless person, after the home of Oshawa keyboardist and vocalist Eric Lambier was burglarized while he performed at a gig the night of Friday March 28. The…
Editor’s update/correction, 140403, 15:00: I’m now advised that the bi-weekly or twice-monthly jam hosted by Howard Ross referred to in this story is not on tonight but takes place next week. This is the big problem with these “alternate Thursday” or “two Thursdays a month” type of events: it’s very easy for people to…
How long has it been since Juno-winning Blues songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Julian Fauth has been away from his weekly gigs at Axis Grill on Sundays for brunch and at Gate 403 doing a Blues night? Well, when I called the club last night to see if it were true that starting tonight he’s back in…
Some people have commented to me recently that “Country music is making a comeback” and on the face of it that certainly seems to be true. With the opening in TO of two new bars offering a Country vibe and live music plus an increasing number of “alt-Country” acts popping up here and…
A compelling performer and absorbing songwriter, Myke Mazzei first came to my attention as the sideman of first choice for artist and songstress Sharron Katz. In December I was also lucky enough to have him visit me at the open stage I was running, when we got to really hear his own impressive…
“Elvis” George Pliakes may look a bit like Elvis and he may be able to channel the long-departed icon when called upon to do so, but the east-end based entertainer has a lot more going for him than that. George is a truly engaging performer who is more than willing to share the spotlight and…
From the very, very deep archives, one of my earliest “Opening Act” columns when the publication, then known as to-nite, had just turned two years old and was starting to hit its stride back in the spring of 1994. (Normally posts in the Vault sections of the website are blocked to non-subscribers, but I want…
140329Sa One of the artists that Moon subscribers will be seeing articles both about and by in the Vault section of the torontomoon.ca website in coming days is singer Dee Flat, about whom I’ve been writing for nearly twenty years. It’s hard to believe that in all that time she hardly seems to have…
With a versatile and high energy singer in former AC/DC tribute band frontman James Alcock and the sizzling six-string work of Andrew J. Walsh, Rockin’ A Hard Place is a band of veterans who are finding a second life tearing up stages across the GTA these days since coming together last summer. The group…
Since initiating the new “Vault” section for Moon subscribers on the www.torontomoon.ca website a few weeks ago I’ve found myself quite naturally gravitating to recalling bands and rooms from my history over the past 22 years, since I started covering the GTA music scene full-time with the launch of this magazine project. One of the…
According to a report from Canadian Press and 680 News, Ontario’s Culture Minister, Michael Chan, announced Wed. March 26 that the government has found another program that will provide the $75,000 the Beaches International Jazz Festival lost out on when its application for an annual grant from the Celebrate Ontario program was denied…
