Editors Picks CMW 2019
Who: Vinyl Williams
Date/Time/Where: Tuesday May 7th 11:00 pm – The Baby G,
Who are they? Vinyl Williams is a celestial rock band from Los Angeles which aims to transmute personal experiences of religious dissonance into multi-religious harmony through music & artwork. The band consists of Lionel Williams (composer) Ian Gibbs (keys & guitar) Billy Winger (bass) and James Lake (drums). Their 3rd LP “Brunei” came out on August 26, 2016 on Company Records. (Chaz Bundick of Toro Y Moi’s subsidiary of Carpark Records) They have toured extensively with Toro Y Moi, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Temples, & Mount Kimbie.
Who: Monowhales
Date/Time/Where: Wednesday May 8th 11:00 pm APA Presents – The Horseshoe,
Who are they? The band’s new EP Control Freak was produced by AL-P (MSTRKRFT Death From Above 1979) and released in June 2018. The record spawned multiple singles that received radio play across Canada with first single “Take It Back” being described by 102.1 The Edge as “the track that put [MONOWHALES] on the indie rock-map in Canada” after it peaked at #25. The band followed this up with multiple Canadian tours and the release of subsequent singles “Real Love” and “Let It Go”, climbing the charts to #31 and #32 respectively.
Who: And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead
Date/Time/Where: Wednesday May 8th 11:00 pm CMW / Distortion Presents – Mod Club
Who are they? An unlikely but powerful combination of punk fury and prog rock ambition, …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead were formed in late 1994 by singers/guitarists/drummers Jason Reece and Conrad Keely. 2019 marks the reveal of the band’s tenth studio release and the addition of Aaron Blount to the lineup. In support of this summer release, the band looks launch a series of national and international tour dates.
Who: Sauna
Date/Time/Where: Thursday May 9th 1:00 am Double Denim Showcase – The Garrison
Who are they? Sauna is the brand new project of Toronto based Michael le Riche (Fake Palms) and features the rhythm section of Zach Bines (Weaves) and Braeden Craig (Greys). Sauna’s first single Over was released in October, 2018 and are now set to release the debut record entitled EP on Idée Fixe Records on April 26th.
Who: Kongos
Date/Time/Where: Thursday May 9th 11:59pm Paradigm Showcase – Mod Club
Who are they? After years touring, emailing labels, agents, radio stations and management companies, the brothers got their first break in 2011 when “I’m Only Joking” became a radio smash in South Africa, followed by multiple top 40 hits from their second album “Lunatic”, including “Come With Me Now” which would go on to put KONGOS on the map in the United States and worldwide in 2014. The group became unanimously recognized as one of rock’s most infectious and invigorating new voices as the track went RIAA double-platinum for sales in excess of 2 million. It occupied the #1 spot at Alternative Radio for five weeks, marking the quickest ascent to the top by a new band in history. They spent the following 2 years on tour all over the world.
Who: Kevin Garrett
Date/Time/Where: Thursday May 9 11:00 pm – Kevin Garrett with TEEN and Clavvs – Adelaide Radio Hall
Who are they? Kevin Garrett twists up soulful tradition with singer-songwriter spirit, lush instrumentation, and post-modern alternative adventurousness. The Pittsburgh-born GRAMMY® Award-nominated artist, multi-instrumentalist, and producer echoes the kind of grit meant to be smoothed out only on vinyl and quietly emanates the vast ambition of a 21 st century festival draw on his 2019 full-length debut, HOAX [AWAL]
Who: Hatakaze
Date/Time/Where: Thursday May 9th 11:00 pm – Bovine Sex Club
Friday May 10th 1:00 am – Cherry Cola’s
Who are they? Hatakaze released their debut single in mid 2017 titled ‘Heavy Heart’ which has racked up over 50 000 streams on Spotify and featured on Spotify’s “Local Noise” playlist. Heavy Heart also received extensive radio play through FBi Radio and Triple J among other nationwide community stations. They are from Sydney Australia.
Who: The King Khan & BBQ Show
Date/Time/Where: Thursday May 9 12:00 am CMW Presents The King Khan & BBQ Show
Saturday May 11th 8:40 pm – YDS
Who are they? ‘The King Khan & BBQ Show’ is a real band. Sure, their sense of humour is dirty, often surreal, potentially subversive. But the seriousness of their love of real rock’n’roll should never be taken lightly. They live a lifestyle of pure love for the genre, respecting and understanding its basic tenets, living as lifers, representatives of what they see as an important tradition. They cut their teeth together in ‘The Spaceshits’, a lightning fast rock’n’roll band formed in 1995 (dead in 1998), and toured and paid dues since, sacrificing their mind, bodies, souls, friends, family… All for love.
Who: The Fame
Date/Time/Where: Thursday May 9 9:00 pm CMW Presents The King Khan & BBQ Show
Who are they? Toronto based indie-rock quartet, The Fame, born from online ads, and unlikely situations, proudly echoing the sounds of the 90’s, and 00’s rock scene. Their raw rock songs recall the sounds of Oasis, White Stripes, Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, The Strokes, and The Velvet Underground. Combining elegant, and memorable Beatle-esque melodies with an unhinged grit, tenacity, and ruthless passion.
Who: James Barker Band
Date/Time/Where: Thursday May 9 – The Phoenix
Who are they? The James Barker Band is a Canadian country group formed in Ontario. The band consists of James Barker, Taylor Abram, Connor Stephen, and Bobby Martin. In 2015, they won the Emerging Artist Showcase at the Boots and Hearts music festival and the following year, they were signed to Universal Music Canada. The group is best known for their top 10 singles “Lawn Chair Lazy” and “Just Sayin”. Their debut extended play, Game On, was released April 21, 2017. The band received two Juno Award nominations for Breakthrough Group of the Year and Country Album of the Year at the 2018 Juno Awards, winning the second. In 2018, the band’s song “Chills”, cowritten by Barker, Gavin Slate, Travis Wood and Donovan Woods, received a SOCAN Songwriting Prize nomination and won the award for Single of the Year at the Canadian Country Music Awards.
Who: DIJAHSB
Date/Time/Where: Thursday May 9th 11:00 pm Sneaky Dee’s
Who are they? Since then the 25-year-old has forged her own path revamped her sound and recorded five solo albums to date including her latest 2018’s Looking at Space From a Submarine. Dijah, born Kahdijah Payne is a clever and agile emcee whose rhymes are as witty as they are honest.
Who: The Brooks
Date/Time/Where: Thursday May 9 12:00 am Do Right Music & Exclaim! Present: Do Right Music Showcase – Supermarket
Friday May 10 10:00 pm Duprince Simone Records Showcase – Baby G
Who are they? From Montreal to Paris, Copenhagen, Morocco and Mexico, The Brooks is a success wherever they go, captivating crowds with their undeniable talent and energy worthy of the biggest names in the Funk, Soul and R & B scene. Major performances are accumulating on the band’s list: from Osheaga to the Montreal Jazz Festival, including being Charles Bradley’s opening act and the Montreux Jazz Fest.
Who: A Fellow Ship
Date/Time/Where: Friday May 10 Doors at 7pm – Horseshoe Tavern
Who are they? In 2017, A Fellow Ship released their sophomore EP, The Black Sheep, earning them consistent radio play across Canada, as well as multiple Canadian tours. This includes performances at many festivals and conferences such as CMW, NXNE, POP Montreal, Westport Music Festival, River Rock Festival, Balls Falls Music Festivals. They are regularly selling out prestigious Toronto venues such a The Horseshoe Tavern, Lee’s Palace, and The Mod Club. They have also landed high profile support slots for artists like Magic Giant, Fast Romantics, Japanese Breakfast, and Ezra Furman.
Who: The Reed Effect
Date/Time/Where: Friday May 10 Doors at 7:30pm The Rec Room
Who are they? Having been tapped as support for bands like Jeff Martin of The Tea Party, The Wild and Die Mannequin, The Reed Effect have been leaving their unique brand of stinkface-inducing, schizophrenic rock lingering in the air of venues across Canada since day one.
Who: Ghost Twin
Date/Time/Where: Friday May 10 at 10:00pm The Rec Room
Who are they? Their audio/visual performance creates a full sensory evocative narrative of shadowy haunted rooms occupied by astral phantasms and electronic voices from beyond the aether.
Who: Dearly Beloved
Date/Time/Where: Friday May 10, 2019 1:00 am – Bovine Sex Club
Saturday May 11, 2019 7:00 pm – YDS
Who are they? With 26 countries under their belt, Dearly Beloved is set to unleash their sixth studio album, Times Square Discount. Recorded at Foo Fighters’ Studio 606, the desert-rock epicentre that is Rancho de la Luna in Joshua Tree and the band’s own Phoebe St in Toronto, TSD is a ferocious ten song adventure that takes some unexpected turns in search of silver linings.
Who: Miles From Nowhere
Date/Time/Where: Saturday May 11, 2019 1:00 am – Cameron House
Who are they? At 23 years old, ‘miles from nowhere.’ has gained experience playing extensively in bars, clubs and festivals across Ontario. Along with his contribution to the live house band for the ‘Anytime with Eric Johnston’ talk show as the keyboardist of ‘Rhythm Express, Miles has also been touring Ontario & Quebec with the Maple Blues Award winning Spencer MacKenzie Band, and competed with that band in the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, TN in both 2016 & 2017.
Who: Grown Up Avenger Stuff
Date/Time/Where: Thursday May 9 8:00 pm 102.1 The Edge and CMW Present Black Mountain – Lee’s Palace
Saturday May 11, 2019 2:00 am – Cherry Cola’s
Who are they? In love with the road and chasing the goal of having studio quality sound in their live performances, they have toured all over the US, Canada, and Europe, performing at Summerfest (Milwaukee), Belle Chere (Asheville), K-Days (Edmonton), and Center of the Universe Fest (Tulsa), SXSW (Austin), and Canadian Music Week (Toronto) to name a few.
Who: The Standstills
Date/Time/Where: Saturday May 11 10:00 pm APA Presents -Danko Jones at The Horseshoe, Saturday May 11th
Who are they? Their 2015 EP “From The Devil’s Porch featuring “Orleans” reached #4 on BDS active rock charts in Canada and “Rise of the Fall” also reached top 10 in Canada. As a result The Standstills were awarded Best New Rock Group at the Canadian Radio Music Awards. The album also received over 1.4 million streams globally and the band performed extensively across Canada with acts such as Pop Evil, Billy Talent, Theory of a Deadman, Sebastian Bach, Seether, Eagles of Death Metal, Monster Truck and many more. More recently The Standstills accomplished their first European/ UK tour with Australian rockers The Lazys this past winter having played 18 shows in 9 countries. Prior to that the band toured the U.S. and Canada with Sebastian Bach in the summer. The Standstills highly anticipated full length album “Badlands” is about defining their craft and broadening their horizon.
Who: Danko Jones
Date/Time/Where: Saturday May 11 11:00 pm APA Presents Danko Jones – The Horseshoe,
Who are they? Formed in 1996, they played consistently for two years in and around the northeastern United States and Canada, opening for The New Bomb Turks, Nashville Pussy, Blonde Redhead, The Make-Up, The Dirtbombs, The Chrome Cranks and The Demolition Doll Rods. Originally they did not intend to release an album, preferring to have the band’s live reputation spread by word of mouth. Since then they have released 9 studio albums, toured the world and become a well known Canadian rock band.
Who: The Crooked
Date/Time/Where: Saturday May 11 1:00 am APA Presents Danko Jones – The Horseshoe
Who are they? The band was founded in early 2017 by friends and long-time comrades in the Toronto music scene J.C Sandoval (Former Die Mannequin/Dearly Beloved guitarist) and Anthony Dell’Orso (The Joy Arson). They were soon joined by Mississauga bassist Russ Shipman and British-German import Neelesh V. on lead guitar. Today they are known as one of the most important new rock bands in Toronto.
Who: Indian Handcrafts
Date/Time/Where: May 12 12:00 am Punk Rock Parish – The Rivoli
Who are they? They have released 2 eps and 2 singles as well as 2 full lengths for Sargeant House. They have toured with Billy Talent, Deafheaven, Red Fang and Kylesa and played with more bands we care to mention.
Who: Goodnight Sunrise
Date/Time/Where: Friday May 10 2:00 am 102.1 The Edge and CMW present Nick Waterhouse – The Horseshoe
Sunday May 12, 2019 12:00 am – Bovine Sex Club
Who are they? Founded in 2011 through a shared love of pop hooks, EDM drops, and the raw power of classic rock, their sound has naturally evolved into a hybrid reminiscent of CHVRCHES, Muse, and July Talk. Armed with confetti, glowsticks, and an abundance of relentless energy, they’ve taken their explosive live show to over 300 audiences across Canada, US, and Europe.