Ada Dahli & The Pallbearers: A Little Bit Folk, A Little Bit Rock’N Roll

Genre: Folk/Blues

“Blues is my life. It’s a true feeling that comes from the heart, not something that just comes out of my mouth. Blues is what I love, and blues is what I always do.” Koko Taylor

The first time I saw Ada Dahli was at the Blackout Party back in August. The weather was a bit chilly, she was sitting on the street and playing her acoustic guitar, there were only a few people around her. I sat down next to her on the ground, closed my eyes and listened to her tremendous voice for about a half an hour. Few days after, I had the opportunity to watch her band The Pallbearers at Silver Dollar Room and they literally rocked the stage! As I was very impressed by their live performance and dearly fond of great music, I started stalking them.

To save you from the troubles of stalking; Ada Dahli & The Pallbearers is formed by Ada Dahli (vocal, guitarist), Marlon Chaplin (guitar, piano, vocal), Charlie Crenshaw (bass) and Galen Pelley (drums). The band was founded back in 2011, since then they have been playing at various venues in Toronto. In August, they announced on their Facebook page that they were going to play at Not My Dog in the month of September. I brought it up to the table in deary music’s weekly meetings. Mustafa instantly suggested on covering their show as he already knew about the band.

On the gig day, we arrived to the venue pretty early that’s why we had the opportunity to meet the band members in person. They let us capture some shots before the show. According to the Facebook event, the gig was supposed to start at 10 pm but we were told that they were not going to play until 11.45 pm. It was quite challenging but we hanged in there! We grabbed few drinks and listened to previous performances.

They took the stage around 11.45 pm as they promised. They started the first set with “Where Are You”, continued with “Mama”, “Down in the Hole (Tom Waits cover)”, “Lord Knows”, “Keep in Mind”, “Hotel Yorba (the White Stripes cover)”, “Yeller Dream” and ended with “Island”. The first song, “Where Are You” is a slow tempo song of their own with candid and clever lyrics as most of their songs are very well written with beautiful folk-blues tunes. But overall we liked their song “Mama” the best; it has really great guitar riffs which would definitely wreak your chest out and feast your ears if you’d been there! Beside slow tempo songs, they also played high tempo songs such as “Hotel Yorba” of White Stripes as everyone knows the song. Everyone at the room sang and dance with the band.

After a half an hour break, they started the second set with “What is Life” which made people move along with the music, they continued with Long Black Veil (Lefty Frizzell cover), “Every Girl Is My Jolene”, “Motherless Child (Barbecue Bob cover), “Bound To Pack It Up (the White Stripes cover)”, “Gambler’s Woes” and “Long Way Down”. As you may realized they very much like playing White Stripes, well, who doesn’t like them? The most important point is they are pretty good at playing cover songs. We believe that it is not a very easy skill to build . In general, the audience tends to compare the band’s performance with the original piece which could be quite challenging for most of the musicians but Ada Dahli & The Pallbearers play cover songs very well; almost blow them away. During the second set the crowd crawled with delight while Ada was singing “Every Girl Is My Jolene”. Overall, the performance was really soulful and mesmerizing. Moreover, the band members are so approachable and humble. You’ll probably end up grabbing drinks with them after the show. If you are curious about their live performance, check our video out! You may also want to take a look at their Facebook page. Their music is totally worth listening!

Cheers!

Itir & Mustafa

Most People: One of the most entertaining local bands in Toronto

“Those who dance are considered insane by those who cannot hear the music.” George Carlin

Are you ready for dancing? You better be! We’d like to introduce you one of the most entertaining local bands in Toronto. Most People will thrill you with their live performance. I discovered them two years ago at the Holy Oak Cafe.

Unfortunately I can barely remember that night because I was feeling a bit under the weather. After that gig, I had many chances to see their live performances at variant venues like Handle Bar, The Garrison, and Horseshoe Tavern. I probably saw their shows at least 6 times in the past two years that’s why they were one of the first bands that came into my mind when we decided working on the blog. Mustafa really liked their sound as well – yes, he does like dancing – so we thought why we wouldn’t bring their music onto deary music for our dearest followers?

After having agreed on covering their show, we started stalking them on Facebook. The closest gig was on the 7^th of September at the Wavelength Festival so we marked our calendars! On the gig day, one of our friends Marvin accompanied us to take our photos and some footage to be used in the teaser video. It was a fantastic ferry trip on a beautiful sunny day. We arrived at the island then figured out how to get to the venue. The festival area was really cool as well as the crowd. It seemed like everyone was having a good time. I was really pumped to dance but we were on a big mission so we immediately settled in for the shooting.

First, we watched an electronic based band, dressed like Daft Punk. They were pretty awesome. After them, Most People took the stage and started the set with “You Said” (on 2012 LP). This song has really cool guitar riffs and makes you feel hyper. Then they continued with “Young and Wild” “Falling Apart” (2014 EP) “Love Don’t Mind” (2014 EP) “No Name Yet” (upcoming ep) “Release” (upcoming ep)

We really liked Falling Apart from new E.P. It may remind you a little bit The Cure but it is quite different. All their songs are cycled through electronic tunes, double-drumming, and harmony-drenched vocals. Most People sounds very 90’s and this is maybe another reason why we really enjoy their music. Their live performance is also really energetic. They dance and jump. They are all over the stage. It is 100% team work and band members Brandon Gibson-DeGroote and Paul McEachern love playing together. We have to say that they jazzed up the crowd even though they had a really short set list!

If you’d like to see their live performance, they are not going to play soon in Toronto but they will be opening for Twin Shadow at the Halifax Pop Explosion on October 21^st so if you are in Halifax, check them out. You can also check our video to hear how they sound!

Cheers!

Itir & Mustafa

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CADE: Dreamy Folk Tunes

We’d love to introduce you a dream folk project based out of Toronto which was founded by Kaiya Cade. She is the daughter of a blues guitarist, Brooke Blackburn, of the band Blackburn. If you are a Torontonian, you have probably heard about Blackburn before! CADE is formed of Kaiya Cade (lead vocals, guitar, and piano), Josh Bois (supporting vocals and guitar), Wesley Allen (upright bass), Julian Clarke (percussion and drums), and Adelaide Beach (supporting vocals and violin).

Mustafa discovered them last year at the Free Times Cafe. He had a chance to watch their shows a couple of times in different venues. Since he knows how I dearly love folk music, he highly recommended me to check them out. I listened to a couple of their songs on band camp. Their music reminded me the rainy days that I used to take long walks along the Beaches. Calm, peaceful. When we decided to work on deary music, CADE was one of the bands that we would definitely share with music lovers, so we started to stalk them! The closest gig was on August 20^th at the Island Cafe. We were really pumped to watch them at an outdoor venue.

We met 2 hours before the show and took the ferry. The weather was pretty awful but we hung in there! This is the most fractionating thing of outdoor shows in Toronto because weather is always unpredictable – don’t get us wrong, we dearly love our city.

After a lovely ferry trip, we arrived on the Ward Island, took a couple of photos, and then we set forth for the show. First of all, we grabbed our drinks and then settled in for the shooting. CADE took the stage by 7 pm. The gig started with “How Can I Write” (Kaiya+Josh Duo) then continued with “Road”, and “James Donalnue” They had to stop playing after the 4th song because it started raining as we had expected! The break took about 15 minutes thus they had to make sure the instruments were safe and sound. It stopped raining after 20 minutes or so then they started playing St John. We’d recommend you to check that song out at their next gig because you may not be able to find it online. The rest of the set list was “Liar”, “Plans”, “Semicircles” , “Giant on Our Trail”, “Fruit Fly”, “Homesick” and “ It Doesn’t Know How”

Even though the weather was pretty chilly, they were very connected to the audience so everyone stayed to listen to their dreamy folk tunes. Our favourite was Homesick. We love the lyrics as well as how it sounds, but we also have to say that we are a big fan of Fruit Fly because its tunes totally reflect the band’s concept. Kaiya has a tremendous voice. Fruity Fly will definitely take you to your happy place. Guaranteed.

The gig ended with “It Doesn’t Know How”. The show itself was really candid. This is what we really like about CADE. Kaiya is such an open minded, friendly musician and all the band members are very talented. They love playing music and they love sharing with the audience. This is absolutely very exciting for us to see passionate people who love what they do and open to share with audience. Kaiya’s voice will touch your heart and soul. If you are curious about their music, you can watch our video below.

CADE is like the rainy days that you spend under your blanket. If you are seeking for warm and dreamy tunes, here you go, check them out! http://www.cademusic.ca/

Cheers!

Itir & Mustafa

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Fog Lake: Down to Earth One-Man Band

“Where words fail, music speaks.” Hans Christian Andersen

“One-man band. Based on an island.” This is how Aaron Powell defines his band called Fog Lake. The first time that I heard his music was in a friend’s car. After the first 15 seconds I immediately asked my friend whose music it was. He said “Fog Lake-Farther Reaches” and I replied, “This is so lovely!” Thus my journey began with Fog Lake. And I guess it will never end.

I had spent quite a bit time digesting all his albums and started to follow his Facebook page. I mentioned him to Mustafa and he was quite amazed by music as well. We were not sure when we could see him live since he is from St John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. In the middle of the summer, he announced that he was going to go on tour in Ontario and Quebec. As soon as we got the good news, we started planning our pre- production. We were really excited to see him in TO because he came all the way to share his humble and naïve tunes.

On the day of the gig, we arrived to the venue -The Cavern- pretty early to set up our equipment and meet with Aaron. We got our permission from him to record the concert and talked a little bit about deary music. Everything was safe and sound. We were ready to go!

Before he took the stage, 3 different bands performed for 2 hours, and then Fog Lake appeared with his guitar and drum. Fog Lake is basically an one man band but from time to time his musician friends perform with him, depending on the show. The sound check was really painful. We could tell it from all the musicians’ eyes. There were several technical problems that nobody was able to fix, but then –probably- they found a way to make it work. The gig had started with Farther Reaches which is one of our favourites. Then continued with “Holy Cross”, “Despondency”, “It Was Never Enough”, “15 Ativan”, “Erik”, “Ambient Interlude”, “Inference (i)”, “Lost Love Letters” and “Space Station”

We personally very much like “It Was Never Enough” –you may realized that we used it on our teaser video- so it was pretty lovely to hear it live. The sound system didn’t make us very happy, but Aaron Powell is a talented and humble musician, and he quickly engaged the audience and recovered the technical problems. The best song of the night was Lost Love Letter, despite the song’s slow tempo. The show ended with Space Station from the last album which is a quite different tune among the other ones.

We had the opportunity to have a chat with Aaron Powell after the show. He shared his future tour plans with us. He hopes to be back in TO next summer or so. If you are curious about his music, you can check our video out. You may also want to take a look at his website http://foglake.bandcamp.com/

Cheers!

Itir & Mustafa

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Maneli Jamal: A Great Talent With A Humble Soul

“Music in the soul can be heard by the universe.” ― Lao Tzu

I had the opportunity to listen to Maneli Jamal’s incredible music at a friend’s house party. He played for such a small group of people and weaved intricate story after stories with his tunes. Everyone in the room admired him; we could see it in their eyes. After the concert, I had a chance to meet him and learn about his interesting life story…

Maneli Jamal is a Toronto based, Canadian acoustic guitarist but before he moved to Canada, he pretty much travelled the whole world. You will find his interesting stories between the lines of his songs.

We were really excited to watch his show on August 15^th 2014 at the Harbourfront Center, but unfortunately we were a little bit late for the show. Mustafa always bikes so it was not a problem for him, but I had to take TTC, so it was a big challenge during rush hour.

We arrived at the venue before he started playing a piece called “Most Glorious Day” which has a quite interesting story. During the show, Maneli told us little anecdotes about his songs. He said, Canada was the first country where he became a citizen and after the court day, he decided to make a song about his experience. “Most Glorious Day” has a beautiful and deep story but we don’t want to mention what it’s about because we’d definitely recommend you to see his live performance.

Then he played Zim Blues, Us Against Them, Ziur, On the Run and Awakening -we are not very sure about the exact order- Us Against Them is one of his greatest songs which carries an interesting story. Maneli and his family used to live in Unites States for about 9 years, and then one day they received a letter from US immigration that asked his family to leave the country in a month. The song definitely makes you feel his sadness and fragility and maybe a little bit anger. Basically, every song has its own story, which makes Maneli is a unique musician because the audience can listen to his beautiful tunes with interesting stories. Maneli was in full storyteller mode, which we saw at the Harbourfront Center once again.

Most of the songs he performed were from his previous albums or his latest album called Lamaj Movement, but there was also a brand new one called Zim Blues. He said he was really inspired during his Zimbabwe tour. This piece particularly sounds pretty different than his other pieces. It is a heavily blues-influenced tune with some percussive use of the guitar. If you would like to hear this song, you can find it on his Youtube channel. It is difficult to write about a talented musician and we have to say Maneli’s live performance is amazing. The way he played and communicated with the audience was fabulous. We did not hear any mistake during the show which is not quite possible during live performances. If you are curious about his music you can check our video out. We highly recommend you to see his show, because he is a great talent!

Cheers!

Itir & Mustafa

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Innovative Jazz Tunes from The Peripheral Vision

Members: Trevor Hogg – Saxophone Don Scott – Guitar Michael Herring – Bass Nick Fraser – Drums

Genre: Jazz

“It bugs me when people try to analyze jazz as an intellectual theorem. It’s not. It’s feeling.” Bill Evans

Since we dearly love jazz music, we’d like to introduce you a very niche Toronto based Canadian jazz quartet called Peripheral Vision. The quartet was founded by guitarist Don Scott and bassist Michael Herring. They have been performing in the Toronto jazz scene since 2008. They call themselves “one of the most exciting and innovative jazz quartets to have recently appeared on the international jazz scene” We totally agree with them since we had the opportunity to see their show at the Tranzac on August 5^th 2014. The quartet itself is very dynamic and collaborative.

We discovered The Peripheral Vision through another of Don Scott’s bands Idioteque (Toronto based Radiohead Tribute) We were quite curious about Dan’s other projects and then we found out about The Peripheral Vision through our investigation.

NEW TUNES AT THE TRANZAC

We arrived the venue before the gig and settled in and grabbed our drinks. The audience was formed of musicians. The gig was overall based on new tunes. They played 6 pieces and The Ill Conceived Plan (by Michael Herring) and Patina (by Don Scott) are from their upcoming album called “Sheer Tyranny Of Will” which will be released by September 23^rd 2014. We have to say the new pieces included experimental tunes. They took us through the heaven of jazz . The set list was: “Portrait of a Man in a Late 19th Century Frame” (by Michael Herring) – “Syntax Error” (by Don Scott) – “The Blunder” (by Michael Herring) – “Chubby Cello” (by Don Scott) – “The Ill Conceived Plan” (by Michael Herring) and “Patina” (by Don Scott)

We were really excited to hear “Living the Dream “(one of our favourites) but all the tunes they played were brand new. We have to say we were pretty impressed by the pieces called Patina and Syntax Error. You can check the Patina in the upcoming album. The show provided us the good tunes from “Sheer Tyranny Of Will”. We lost ourselves in experimental tunes as well as in jazz melodies.

After the gig, we had the opportunity to have a chat with Don Scott. They are all very excited about the new upcoming album and very happy about how it sounds and looks. The Peripheral Vision is obviously a group of musicians deeply invested in what they do and offer. You can check the video below and see how they deeply feel and dance with their instruments. Even if you are not into jazz, The Peripheral Vision could be a good starting point to explore more about jazz scene in Toronto. If you are curious about their live performance, you can find them at 80 Gladstone on September 27^th 2014 for their CD release concert and you can also check our video out. If I were you, I wouldn’t miss that opportunity to feast my ears. You can find them at http://www.peripheralvisionmusic.com/

Cheers!

Itir & Mustafa

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