We've been waiting since the summer of 2019 for our Hillside fix. It's been a long time coming, but it was definitely worth it. It felt sooooo good to be back on the Hillside grounds with a community I've missed over the past years.
Here are links to each artist's post featuring photos, a few quick thoughts and music from the artists.
I've seen Julian Taylor and his band perform a couple of times so I knew we'd get a solid set of some cool tunes played by some great musicians at Hillside 2022. And we got a great set that matched and surpassed those expectations.
Canadian Music Week, CMW, is ringing in its 34th year from May 2-8, 2016 in various venues around Toronto. There are club shows, the iHeart Radio Festival, the Indie Awards, a.k.a. "The Indies", and much more. These festivals are amazing for seeing your favourite bands, the coolest up-and-coming artists and for checking out new bands. You're guaranteed to find some new artists to grace your music library.
The very cool line-up features personal favourite Bob Mould, Tegan and Sara, Skepta, Dilly Dally, No Joy, and David Bowie’s longtime producer Tony Visconti with his band Holy Holy, along with Eagles of Death Metal, The Strumbellas, Wintersleep, Sate, The Beaches, Partner, Wild Nothing, Royal Canoe, Le Sera, Tops, White Lung, Duchess Says, Dearly Beloved, guitar gods Steve Vai, Nuno Bettencourt and Yngwie Malmesteen and much more.
Day 2 of The Toronto Urban Roots Festival took place on September 19. Rain threatened and then followed through on the threat during The Strumbellas' set. It dampened us but not our spirits as the day continued with more of the fantastic music and festival atmosphere that we have grown to expect at TURF.
If you missed my individual posts, here's all of day two in one place.
Proving once again that The Toronto Urban Roots Festival is a great way to become acquainted with amazing new music, I discovered The Julian Taylor Band through their inclusion on the festival bill. I saw them as the local band that kicked off Day 2 of the festival. My pics from that show are here.
I was impressed with Julian's songs, the music's feel-good vibe, and the band's energy and musicianship. So impressed, that when I saw that the band was to headline a Saturday night show at The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern, I marked it on my calendar as a must-see show.
The Julian Taylor Band present a danceable, rockin', funky, easy going, R&B experience including two keyboard players (piano and Hammond organ, of course), a horn section, two guitars, bass and drums. That's one full Horseshoe stage. All the players in Julian's band are super-talented, making for a tight musical experience.
A couple of covers, Al Green's "Take Me To The River" and Bob Marley's "Is This Love?", are mixed in amongst Julian's original compositions, making for a well-balanced set for new comers and long-time fans alike.
With great tunes, a talented, polished band and Julian's instantly likeable stage presence, the Julian Taylor Band produces music and a stage show that will not disappoint. I know that I'm actively looking forward to seeing more and more from this great band.
The Julian Taylor Band are taking an innovative approach to their next album. It's a double album called Desert Star and they're releasing the album five songs at a time over the next year. You can collect the four 5-song EPs or wait for it to all come together on vinyl, if that's how you roll. You can pick up the first EP that equates to "side one" now plus the band's previous release Tech Noir.
Here are some tunes from the band's set:
"Do You Remember"
"Never Gonna Give You Up"
"Heatwave"
"Be Good To Your Woman"
"Further Again"
The track that ended their main set, "Zero to Eleven"
The Toronto Urban Roots Festival decided to put the spotlight on local talent by making sure that each day of the festival was kicked off by a local band. Day 2 of TURF saw The Julian Taylor Band hit the West Stage first.
The band is from Toronto and creates, "...a fusion of soul, rock and R&B – or rather, a form of modern rhythm and blues infused with rock ‘n’ roll." I described it as tight and rockin' blues to get the day started and funky R&B.
The band is stacked with fantastic musicians and they delivered a solid set that got the growing audience and me moving. Their next Toronto show is at The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern on November 28. I'd suggest you go check them out.
They're due to release their next album Desert Star in 2016.
Here's some music from The Julian Taylor Band:
"Never Gonna Give You Up" Definitely not the Rick Astley tune.
