Revival

Ocean Country

Long-time local country group Ocean Country has release their second recording in their 27-year history. It is entitled Revival. An official launch will take place at the Murray River Hall on August 8 with special guests Janet McGarry and Serge Bernard, Garnet Buell and Friends, and local talent performing. Everyone is welcome. CDs will be available from band members and at local outlets to be announced later.

The original members of Ocean Country got together in 1982 as an informal gathering of friends and acquaintances with a common link—an interest in playing country music. Anchored around the country picking of founding member Jim Madsen, the group soon found themselves playing for dances at Legions and community halls from Charlottetown to Souris and points between, first using the handle Country Rangers and within a couple of years taking the name Ocean Country. Over the next decades, with the demise of country dances and the start of ceilidhs, the group has evolved with some members coming and going, but with a core group remaining. Today’s mix includes Jim Madsen (lead guitar, instrumentalist), Gail Madsen, Shawn Power (drums), Adrian Power (rhythm guitar, vocals). This group of friends now performs at many community ceilidhs and benefits in Eastern PEI, still playing traditional country with the odd Maritime favorite thrown in for variety.

Members of the group say, “We’ve wanted to record a CD for awhile now, and found the time this spring to work with producer Serge Bernard in his Stratford studio [Diamond Productions PEI]. We have chosen our selections from audience favorites of songs we’ve played over the years, as well as some more recent ones. We’ve tried to strike a balance between strong instrumentals and vocals which have special meaning to our members. To those who end up purchasing a CD, we hope you enjoy it and want to play it many times.”

STAN

Joey Kitson

A tribute to folk legend Stan Rogers, this is the debut solo album from Joey Kitson, lead singer of seven-time East Coast Music Award-winning and JUNO Award nominated Celtic rock group Rawlins Cross. (Ground Swell/Warner)

STAN offers ten of Rogers’ best known songs, including “The Field Behind the Plow,” “45 Years,” and “Fogarty’s Cove.” The CD was produced by Chris Corrigan and features “A-list” Maritime musicians, including Brian Bourne (bass), Dave Burton (drums, percussion), Chris Corrigan (guitars) Kim Dunn (keyboards), Ray Legere (fiddle, mandolin) and Vishten members Emmanuelle LeBlanc (bodhran, tin whistles, backing vocals) and Pastelle LeBlanc (accordion, backing vocals).

“Stan’s material is a good fit to my voice and vocal sensibilities. This album was a great opportunity to collaborate with longtime bandmate, Chris Corrigan, along with an all-star cast of east coast musicians,” says Kitson.

www.joeykitson.com.

ZOOT!

The Grass Mountain Hobos

ZOOT! is The Grass Mountain Hobos follow up to their ECMA winning self-titled album. In a nutshell, their second album captures The Hobos’ aggressive live performance with hard-driving bluegrass numbers like “Hillbilly Fix” and “Whiskey Night,” they say, while balancing their rough and rowdy ways with a new more poignant song-writing style. ZOOT! features ragtime swing melodies, songs of lust and murder, ballads of the fear of God and good old-fashioned hoedowns.

The 12 song album is available at Back Alley Music and at www.grassmountainhobos.com.

Deep Little Tale

Glencoe Road

Island roots-rock group Glencoe Road have released their debut CD of original songs, Deep Little Tale.

Members of Glencoe Road are Michael Buell, Sonya Pauley, Trevor-Wade MacInnis, and Alex McCosham. Sonya and Michael have been playing, writing, co-writing, performing and singing together since 2006. In the winter of 2009 they hooked up with a young drummer named Alex McCosham and soon after met Trevor Wade MacInnis who joined the band on the bass.

As a child Michael would sit behind his father Harry Buell as he played the guitar and the fiddle for various local house parties, and before too long Michael was picking up the guitar himself. He has been writing his own original music and lyrics since he was a teenager. Sonya has been singing and playing guitar since youth and has recently started writing her own lyrics. Her favourite part of being in a band is learning from and co-writing with her partner Michael. Trevor grew up with drums, guitars and other musical instruments setup in the family living room, since his mother was singing in a local country-rock group. Trevor was also a disc jockey for a while at Island Radio on PEI and is fan of classic rock-folk-pop with a little country mixed in. Alex McCosham grew up playing drums along with his brothers who all play various instruments. Alex is the beat of the band.

David Rashed produced the recording in his Charlottetown studio.

check them out on Myspace, Facebook or Twitter.

www.reverbnation.com/glencoeroad

Disco Rockin’ Llamas


Disco Rockin’ Llamas

Disco Rockin’ Llamas, formed in 2007 and based in Charlottetown, is comprised of Ashley Gorman (vocals, guitar), Eric Coffin (vocals, bass), Laura Oakie (vocals, keys, saxophone), and Scott Doyle (drums).

Their self-titled EP, released in April, contains 6 tracks and runs 33 minutes. The album was recorded last July at Shell Lane Studios with Adam Gallant as engineer and Trevor Campbell handling mastering. The artwork and layout for the CD were created by Natasha Kudashkina. Photographs were by Becka Viau.

Band members say that their sound draws upon influences as diverse as funk and bluegrass, blues and progressive rock. They can, they say, “get quite deep into these musical vehicles of improvisation, taking the open-minded listener along for a journey.” No two of their shows are the same.

The Llamas’ CD can be purchased at Back Alley Music or at a show. For more information contact the band by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or by phone at 902-367-9844.

East Coast Live

Lazy Jacks

Their fourth CD, East Coast Live was recorded throughout the summer of 2008 at the weekly show East Coast Live in Tyne Valley. The group celebrated a decade of traditional and original music with a 2009 ECMA nomination for Roots/Traditional Group Recording of the Year. The CD contains original music, traditional favorites and beautiful ballads. It places the listener in the middle of an East Coast session.

CDs will be available in stores and through the band’s website.

www.lazyjacks.ca

I’m Not Up For Sale

Johnny Oliver

Summerside singer-songwriter Johnny Oliver has released his second album, I’m Not Up For Sale. His debut album, The Reason‚ came out in May 2008. It won Johnny nominations for Male Vocalist and Country Recording of the Year at the 2009 Music PEI Awards.

Johnny went back into the studio to produce his second album, I’m Not Up For Sale‚ at Guernsey Cove Parlour Productions with Gordon Belsher. His goal with this CD, he says, was to show a greater diversity in his choice of songs, while staying true to his country roots and his desire to produce original material.

I’m not Up For Sale was released in June 2009. The title track, “I’m not Up For Sale‚“ is a ballad about holding onto one’s pride despite the many trials and tribulations that one has to face. Johnny has either written or co-written all of the songs on this album. His wife and two daughters have played major roles in the creation of this new album. His wife Joan co-wrote four songs, while his daughters help with studio production. Johnny has a three-piece band with his two daughters, Dallas (bass) and Dakota (keyboard, sax). They call themselves The Johnny D’s.

Once Upon a Dream

Angie Arsenault

Acadian Islander Angie Arsenault has released her first full-length CD Once Upon a Dream. The Montreal-based singer-pianist-songwriter is proving herself adept at getting her message out to the masses. Over 500 fans from around the globe put their money where their ears are on Sellaband.com, and raised enough cash to completely finance Angie’s full-length album debut. (Sellaband.com is an Amsterdam-based music label that uses crowd-sourcing to raise money for musicians—typically $50,000, at no cost to the artist—which is then used to produce and record an album.) Angie is the first Canadian artist to have an album funded solely by Sellaband.com.

The album—recorded in full band mode with piano, bass, drums and cello with additional strings and guitars—explores internalized dream space as it relates to externalized expression. It was produced by Montreal’s Daniel Cinelli. In support of the just-released Once Upon a Dream, Angie is releasing the first album single, “Turn Around,” as well as launching a series of web video shorts that chronicle the making of Once Upon a Dream. Visit www.angiemusic.com for complete details, as well as for Twitter and Facebook information.

This Moment with You

Emma Gallant

Emma Gallant from Morell is releasing her first CD, This Moment With You, this summer. The CD features Emma Gallant singing seven original songs backed by Todd MacLean on guitars and keyboards.

“I tend to write the lyrics first,” she said, “and then the music comes more easily. Sometimes the subject matter is drawn from my own life or that of acquaintances, but often it’s just in my mind.”

This Moment With You was recorded by Gordon Belsher at Guernsey Cove Parlour Productions. “Emma’s writing positive upbeat pop songs about life and love, as well as beautiful ballads, all very well crafted and catchy,” says Gordon, “and she has a great voice!”

A Change of Reasons

Richard Wood

Island fiddler Richard Wood has released his 6th CD A Change of Reasons. The album is a collection of fiddle tunes performed with by Richard Wood backed by Cape Breton multi-instrumental J.P. Cormier. On the recording is new jig-reel “Use Your Imagination” which was composed by Richard to honour the 100th anniversary of the publication of L.M. Montgomery’s novel Anne of Green Gables. The CD’s finale is a live track that captures the powerhouse trio of Richard Wood on fiddle, Gordon Belsher on guitar, and Brad Fremlin on piano.

Included with this release is a bonus disc—a compilation of selections from Richard Wood’s five previous CD’s. It plays like a concert of the decade of his career 1994 to 2004. Moving from traditional Celtic medleys to experimentation with rock and techno arrangements, Richard takes fiddling in his own unique direction. There are over two hours of fiddle jigs, reels, strathspeys, hornpipes, clogs, and slow airs in this double CD set.

“You will be pleasantly surprised with A Change of Reasons,” says Richard. “The double CD set has the most requested cuts from my past albums (lots of musical colour and instrumentation), and a selection of new tunes full of raw emotion and passion that take us back to traditional kitchen music with a small combo.”