D.O. Gibson is marking the 20th anniversary of Stay Driven with a new album, Still Driven, out Oct. 1 through Believe Music Canada. The 15-track collection is a testament to Gibson’s longevity in the music industry, which has seen him embark on 25 international tours, accumulate over one million YouTube streams. He says the musical approach of Still Driven is a direct by-product of his ongoing work with emerging and established artists, which has helped to keep his sound fresh.

In 2001 D.O. Gibson was asked to speak to a class of students about how he could be a rapper and also earn a university degree. In a few short months, Gibson was fielding similar requests to speak and perform at dozens of schools, leading him to create the Stay Driven program that addresses subjects including anti-bullying, peer pressure and literacy, based on his own life experiences. Gibson has since spoken and performed at over 1,000 schools to hundreds of thousands of students..

Gibson has always loved the entrepreneurial side of hip-hop.  In addition, to the album release he is  marking his two-decade milestone by publishing his second book on October 1st also, On This Grind, containing additional knowledge gleaned from the music business, lessons he says can be useful for entrepreneurs and students in all fields.

After over four decades, Canada's legendary electro-pop band Men Without Hats is still going strong while taking its trademark sound to unexpected places. On September 24, MWH will release Again (Part 1) a five-song EP featuring covers of Satellite of Love by Lou Reed, All Young Dudes by David Bowie, Blow at High Dough by The Tragically Hip, and 2000 Light Years From Home by The Rolling Stones.  The new release will also include an all new version of the groups hit "The Safety Dance", reimagined as "No Friends of Mine" that will be available as a single on August 25th, 2021.

Although Again (Part 1) is a look back into the past, the actual recording process once again demonstrated that Men Without Hats remains on the cutting edge of technology.  It's part of what's helped the band weather every musical trend that has come since to the point where "The Safety Dance" is now one of the most instantly recognizable songs in the world.      

Men Without Hats' Again (Part 1) is the bands first release on Sonic Envy, the label launched by Canadian music industry veteran Brian Hetherman, whose sister company Cerberus also manages MWH. The band is playing select American dates this summer.  More detailed touring plans for 2022 expected to be announced soon.     

The Garrison is pleased to announced ALIVE, a live music series featuring Canadian acts, celebrating the return of live music events.  Beginning September 29, the series will host 16 shows extending into March 2022, featuring performances by Cadence Weapon, Witch Prophet, Corridor, Dorothea Paas, Odonis Odonis and many more. All acts will be joined by local support and will have a ticketed price of $5 with all proceeds going to Unison Benevolent Fund and the AMY Project (Artists Mentoring Youth).  For the full line-up and ticketing information click here .

The Axis Club is pleased to announced the full line-up for the All Axis Festival this September 9th & 10th.  The two day hybrid event will feature both IRL performances as well as pre-recorded streams via Happin a ticketing and live streaming platform.  Savannah Re, The Dirty Nil, DijahSB, Dylan Sinclair, and more will perform at the newly renovated venue.  A limited number of in person tickets will be available based on Public  Health Ontario Covid restrictions.  For the full list of hybrid programming and ticketing information click here .

The Songwriters Association of Canada is proud to announce the Celebration Series Songbird North Women of S.A.C. live stream concert on April 21st for an evening of songs and stories. The virtual event will feature key Canadian music creators across multiple genres including Alysha Brilla, Barbra Lica, Helen Austin, Kayla Diamond, and Liz Rodrigues. 

Hosted by JUNO Award winner Shari Ulrich, the Celebration Series Songbird North Women of S.A.C. unites women in music and invites the inspiring songwriters to share the inspiration behind their songs and the stories for an incredible night of performances, storytelling and music. 

S.A.C. developed the concert series program in 1993, originally named Bluebird North (BBN), bringing together Canada's most inspiring songwriters to perform original work at an industry event in front of an educated audience.  

“S.A.C. Celebration Series Songbird North concerts are a showcase of all of Canada's talented music creators and the beautiful country we live in. ... The S.A.C. Celebration Series Songbird North concerts achieve a balance of high quality, creative and relevant content exploring themes of diversity through musicianship,” says Executive Director Zoë Cunningham.

The virtual concert will be from 7-9pm EDT and general admission tickets are $20. Tickets are free for all members of S.A.C., SOCAN, and any Canadian Music Industry Associations. Tickets are available to be purchased here.

Additional information about the Celebration Series Songbird North Women of S.A.C. may be found here. This celebration was made possible in part of funding partners FACTOR and the SOCAN Foundation.

A written deputation I submitted for today's Governance Communications and Human Resources Committee meeting

"Item 2H – Annual Review of Board and Committee Charters

After numerous attempts to advocate for the increase in the representation of Tenant Board Members to equal regular Board Members with no appreciable feedback I believe that TCHC (and its primary stakeholder 'the City') may be more comfortable with increasing its official tenant participation within the Tenant Services Committee.

Under the Composition heading for the Tenant Services Committee Charter “The Committee shall be composed of a minimum of four Directors.” Even if two of those seats are occupied by Tenant Board Members they are still more strategically aligned with the “Corporation” than with the tenants.

Seeing as the Tenant Services Committee is designed to have a positive impact on the tenant experience TCHC should open up this arrangement to include more tenants at the committee level.  If TCHC wishes to maintain a four “board” member minimum then we should have an equal four “tenant” member minimum.

This would thereby open up the level of communication between both the tenants and this committee. Going from a “tenant deputes and if we feel like it we'll respond” approach to an actual live[ly] back and forth discussion.  It may take decades, if ever, to increase the number of tenants allowed to be seated at the “Board” level of Toronto Community Housing Corporation. But, the very nature of the work that the Tenant Services Committee is responsible for indicates there should be more tenants admitted in an official capacity to give feedback on items that impact our day to day lived experience."

Toronto, ON - Carnage is a new album by Nick Cave & Warren Ellis, recorded over a period of weeks during lockdown. Although the pair have composed & recorded many soundtracks together, and Ellis is a long-term member of The Bad Seeds, this is the first time they have released an entire album of songs as a duo.

Cave describes the album as “a brutal but very beautiful record nested in a communal catastrophe.”

“Making Carnage was an accelerated process of intense creativity,” says Ellis, “the eight songs were there in one form or another within the first two and a half days.”

Cave & Ellis’ sonicly lyrical adventurism continues apace on Carnage, an album that emerged almost by accident out of the downtime created by the long, anxious, global pandemic. Carnage is a record for these uncertain times - one shot through with moments of distilled beauty and that resonates with an almost defiant sense of hope.