Songwriters in the Round: a benefit for the music program at Westacres Public School on March 21, 2014

For me, it's all about the song. That magical combination of rhythm, melody and lyrics that manages to connect with my heart and soul. Without the songs, it doesn't matter how well the singers sing or the players play.

On March 21, in the Auditorium at Cawthra Park High School in Mississauga Ontario, it's all about the song, and the music program at Westacres Public School. For the third year running, community member and songwriter Rob Wells is bringing together a diverse group of artists for a night called Songwriters In The Round. It's an informal, relaxed evening where songwriters tell the stories and inspiration behind their songs and deliver stripped-down performances, all while raising money for a great cause.

This year, the songwriters are Gowan, Emm Gryner, Rob Wells, Divine Brown and Dan Kanter.

Gowan is a multi-platinum selling Juno award winning Canadian artist who had huge hits in the 80s and 90s with songs like "A Criminal Mind", "(You're a) Strange Animal", "Moonlight Desires" and "Dancing On My Own Ground". Since 1999, he has been lead singer for Styx. I've been a big Gowan fan since my younger days and saw him perform at the Ontario Place Forum - a revolving stage venue that has since been replaced by the Molson Amphitheatre.

Emm Gryner is a Juno nominated Canadian singer/songwriter, musician & actress. Her songs, singing and unique take on interpreting the songs of others has given her a prominent place in my own music collection. Ever since I first heard the magic earworm of "Summerlong" and through "Beautiful Things", "89 Days of Alcatraz", "Lose My Head" and many more, I've loved her songs. Her new album Torrential comes out April 8.

Rob Wells is the event organizer and producer/songwriter for pop sensations including Selena Gomez, Nick Lachey and Justin Bieber.

Divine Brown is a Universal Music recording artist and Canadian Juno award winning R&B singer.

Dan Kanter is a musical director, songwriter and producer for Justin Bieber and many others.

What: Songwriters In The Round
When: March 21st, 2014, 7pm to approximately 10pm (doors open at 6:30pm)
Where: Cawthra Park Secondary School's Auditorium, 1305 Cawthra Rd, Mississauga, ON L5G 4L1
Why: To benefit the music program at Westacres Public School
Tickets: $20 for adults and $10 for those 18 and under, available from Westacres Public School, 905-277-0912, 2165 Breezy Brae Dr, Mississauga, ON L4Y 1N3

Here are some tunes written by each of the songwriters:

Gowan's "A Criminal Mind", "Moonlight Desires" and "Dancing On My Own Ground". Yes, that's Jon Anderson of Yes singing on "Moonlight Desires".

Emm Gryner's "Summerlong", the first tune I ever heard of her's, and "Beautiful Things". If you're interested in unique cover interpretations, seek out her album Girl Versions.

Rob Wells' "I Can't Hate You Anymore" and "Rollin"

Divine Brown's "Old Skool Love"

Dan Kanter's "Be Alright"

Origins: Bob Mould

In previous Origins posts, I've written about Husker Du and Sugar. Now it's time to address Bob Mould. What can I say about Bob Mould? He's been an amazing influence on my songwriting and guitar playing. His music, from Husker Du to Sugar to his solo material has been inspirational and consistently enjoyable. He's grown into a person who seems comfortable in his own skin, very down-to-earth, and genuinely happy. He's had his share of rough spots as well, drug and alcohol dependency, and he blames himself for Husker Du's manager's suicide.

After Husker Du broke up, Bob Mould started putting out solo material. It has been great to watch the progression in his career as he moved through classic confessional songcraft, to dance music and back again to alternative rock. [Aside: I'll confess my discomfort with genre tags like alternative and indie, but often fall back on using them to describe certain styles, time periods and esthetics.] Bob is also working on an autobiography which I will be picking up as soon as it is released.

Here's a video for "See A Little Light" from Bob's first solo album Workbook. Bob has said that he considers his latest, Life and Times, as being a return to the style of songwriting on Workbook, twenty years later.



Here's a video of Bob performing "I'm Sorry, Baby, But You Can't Stand In My Light Any More" from Life and Times.



Bob has announced tour dates and will be hitting Toronto's Mod Club on October 5. I saw their show there for The District Line tour and it was amazing to see Bob in such great form, playing songs from across his career. The Mod Club is one of my favourite venues for live music in Toronto and I'm very much looking forward to the October show. Other tour dates are at www.bobmould.com

Gossip’s New Album Music for Men – Their Best Yet

I first saw the band Gossip on The New Music, which is a TV show that had a long history of introducing Canadians to new music, now relegated to the blogosphere. (All a mystery of it’s own that I may get into at a later date – but really, in an age when music discovery is harder than ever, why would this show not have the viewership required for it to survive?)

Beth Ditto has impressive stage presence and an impressive set of pipes. The song they featured, naturally enough, was "Standing in the Way of Control" from their 2005 release of the same name. Watching Ditto strut-dance across the festival stage, belting out this song, was instantly engaging. It is a great song from a solid album that impressed me from the first listen. If you want to pick it up, or listen to song samples, the album is available on emusic.

Emusic also has Gossip’s, then called The Gossip, 2000 release That’s Not What I Heard. It’s more raw, garage-y and directly blues based than their later albums.

In 2007, The New York Times featured an article on Rick Rubin, who had then been named co-head of Columbia Records, Gossip had been signed and Rubin was working as producer of the new Gossip album. With Rubin’s impressive production track record, I was looking forward to new music from Gossip.



Their new album, called Music For Men, came out on June 23 and is available at iTunes. The first single, "Heavy Cross", was released ahead of the album, at the end of April. It’s a great song, and based on a few listens, the album sounds great, too. The band continues to hone it’s songwriting craft. The songs are more accessible and polished with more emphasis on groovy drum and bass parts, and crunchy guitars. There’s less of the bluesy and garage-y aspects of Gossip’s previous releases. I’m sure there will be those that accuse Gossip of “selling out” and becoming more commercial, but I just think they sound great. Beth’s voice continues to shine on all tracks. I started writing out a list of song highlights and realized that pretty much every tune on the album is a highlight. I’m definitely enjoying this one!



Check out the way the crowd goes bananas at the beginning of the song. Then Beth belts it out, enthralls the crowd like a southern preacher, gets hands on with the audience and lets them sing along.



U.S. tour dates have just been announced by Spin. More dates are available on Gossip's web site.

10/7, Washington, DC (9:30 Club)
10/8, Philadelphia, PA (TLA)
10/9, New York, NY (Terminal 5)
10/11, Boston, MA (Paradise)
10/15, Detroit, MI (Majestic Theater)
10/16, Chicago, IL (Metro)
10/17, Madison, WO (Orpheum)
10/19, Denver, CO (Bluebird)
10/20, Salt Lace City, UT (Urban Lounge)
10/23, Seattle, WA (Showbox)
10/24, Portland, OR (Wonder Ballroom)
10/25, San Francisco, CA (Regency Ballroom)
10/26, Los Angeles, CA (Henry Fonda Theater)
10/29, Austin, TX (Emo's)
10/30, Little Rock, AR (Vino's)

Photos and videos from www.gossipyouth.com

Origins: Hüsker Dü

Where to start? Should I reach back to the beginning, when I liked the Village People and KISS? Maybe not. I'd like to start with the music that influenced me most. The music that has formed much of the foundation of what I like today, how I play the guitar and how I write songs.

In my teenage years, I got bored with mainstream music and started branching out. I listened to a lot of classic rock, metal and punk, in addition to a brief foray into dance music. And let's get this out of the way out front - I've always liked a good pop song. I like melody and good songwriting, and yes, I realize that "good" anything is highly subjective. So strong pop songwriting with an original twist is a thread that will likely begin to show itself over some time here.

One band really grabbed me back in the 80s and their effect has been felt for many years: Hüsker Dü. With the release of Candy Apple Grey and Warehouse: Songs and Stories, I discovered Hüsker Dü. I always gravitated more towards Bob Mould's songs. Their lyrics, melodies and structures spoke to me and have been a huge influence. There are a lot of sites out there that will take you through the history of Hüsker Dü, Sugar and Bob Mould. I'll just provide a few songs that are standouts for me.

"Could You Be The One" was the first Hüsker Dü song I learned how to play on the guitar and the first one I played with a band. The sound quality in this version isn't great, but hopefully the song shines through.



Then Hüsker Dü broke up.