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http://www.davemccann.com

http://www.myspace.com/davemccannmusic

Road ghosts, fallen shows and the blur of years built by song, sweat and stage noise. Americana-edged rock and roll tangled with the continuous trail of broken strings, headlights and a hell of a lot of laughter. You’re looking at the guiding force behind Dave McCann and his fourth release “Dixiebluebird.”

Produced by guitarist, producer and Nashville alt-icon Will Kimbrough (Todd Snider, Steve Earle, Mavis Staples, Rodney Crowell), “Dixiebluebird” is Dave’s strongest work to date. A wealth of road and heart worn original material that lays a torch to the influence of Bruised Country Soul, Classic Southern Rock and Heartfelt Americana. “Dixiebluebird” also brings transition, with an introduction to Dave McCann and the Firehearts. It’s a new name, but the same superlative line up: long time guitarist Dave Bauer, multi-instrumentalist Pete Loughlin on Bass, Tim Williams on Drums and all the sagacious force of Charlie Hase on the Pedal Steel Guitar.

“Dixiebluebird” was recorded at the Toybox Studio-a backyard studio hidden out in the old neighborhoods of East Nashville. Owned and operated by Eli “Lij” Shaw and aptly named after it’s incredible collection of historic and vintage gear. Beautiful compressors, incredible mics, and the analog MCI console that was rescued out of Florida’s Criteria Studios after the Seventies. It’s recorded the luminaries, Neil Young, Steven Stills, Elvin Bishop, Eric Clapton, Joe Walsh, the Marshall Tucker Band, the Eagles, the list goes on and you can sense that historic heartfelt rock influence.

From the title track “Dixiebluebird” to the high-caliber rockers like “Bloodpines” and “Fireheart” or following through to the pendulant swerve of “Tuscaloosa Blues” and “Unfamiliar Ground” you can hear right off what this band is all about...Heart. From the spine chilling and crunch-tangled crackle of the guitars to the uncommonly high standards of song craft, “Dixiebluebird” is full speed. With it’s consistent and matchless musicianship this recording finds itself the benchmark.

Previous releases “Shoot The Horse” (2008), “Country Medicine” (2004) and “Woodland Tea” (2000) garnered Dave international acclaim, brought him great shows across Canada and into the States, and won him the hearts of critics and fans. Songs from “Country Medicine” and “Woodland Tea” were also included in the award-winning sound track to the film “Hank Williams First Nation”, as well as the TV series. The film sound track included songs from Joe Ely, Billy Joe Shaver, Hank Williams and others. It ended up taking home “Best music in a motion picture” at the Nashville Film Festival in 2005.

“In a self-congratulated world marred with clones and contestants it’s refreshing to hear a band so true to their love for the music, building something larger and more satisfying than that influence.” 

John Wort Hannam http://www.johnworthannam.com or http://www.myspace.com/johnworthannam

For five years John Wort Hannam taught grade 9 language arts on the largest reserve in Canada – The Kainai Nation, part of the Blackfoot Confederacy.  B

ut in 1997 he heard a Loudon Wainwright III record and was hooked by the music and the stories.  In 1998 he bought a guitar and learnt some chords.  In 2002 he quit teaching and began to pursue the dream of being a working musician.

John Wort Hannam comes from a long line of people who make a living using their hands. His great-great grandfather drove horse and buggy for the village doctor.  His great-grandfather was a stevedore, his grandfather, a farmer and his father still works as a master carpenter. Wort Hannam now carries on the tradition making his living writing songs and playing music. He independently released his debut CD “pocket full of holes” in 2002 and his 2nd CD “Dynamite and ‘Dozers” in 2004.  His third CD “Two-Bit Suit” was released by Black Hen Music in the spring of 2007.  In May of 2009 John went back in the studio and recorded "Queen's Hotel".
“Queen’s Hotel” is Wort Hannam’s fourth full-length recording.   Once again Juno award winning Steve Dawson takes the helm producing eleven tracks of authentic Canadiana folk/roots music.The writing, although true to John’s narrative story-telling style, is tighter, smarter, more personal, and with a breadth of subject matter not seen on previous recordings. The upbeat “With The Grain” (a song for which Wort Hannam won Grand Prize at the 2009 Calgary Folk Music Festival Songwriting Competition) recalls the conversation where John tells his father he would quit teaching to attempt a shot at performing music.  “Worth A Damn”, a timeless sounding duet performed with multi-Juno award winner Jenny Whiteley is reminiscent of a John Prine/Iris Dement collaboration.  Despite the title, “Requiem For A Small Town” is a rollicking 3 and a half-minute look at the town that just never quite made it.  The poignant but catchy “Lucky Strikes” was written after a visit to Fort Macleod’s infamous Queen’s Hotel.  Wort Hannam also revisits two songs from previous independent releases: “Church of the Long Grass” which has been called by some “the un-official anthem of southern Alberta” and “Pier 21” which recounts the immigration of Wort Hannam’s family from the island of Jersey in the Channel Islands,UK to Canada in the late 70’s.

“Queen’s Hotel” was recorded live off the floor at Vancouver’s The Factory.  Musicians sat in one room facing each other in a circle and played the songs – no bed tracks, no click, and no overdubs except for a few harmonies.  It captures a realness that sounds less like musicians making a record and more like musicians making music that just happened to be recorded.
 

 Leeroy Stagger leeroystagger.com or http://www.myspace.com/leeroystagger

There are songwriters who find a creative niche and never stray from it. Then there are songwriters who choose to continually break down what they are known for and start again from the ground up. Leeroy Stagger is the latter. Capturing a more mature sound than earlier recordings, his 4th studio album, Everything is Real, presents Stagger at a new beginning. “I don’t want to make records that sound like the ones I’ve already made,” he explains from his home in Lethbridge, Alberta, “This time I wanted to make a classic sounding record like the ones I grew up listening to.” Stagger’s hope has been realized with songs like the Springsteen-esque “Petrified World”, the title track's homage to 70's New York punk and the nod to Little Feat with the song “Stormy”. Inspired by recordings of the 70s, Stagger wanted to evoke the feeling every kid got when putting a new rock and roll record on their parents’ stereo. The result is an album that straddles the lines between the rock side of Ryan Adams, the gravel-fueled poetry of Lucinda Williams, and the muscle of early Tom Petty. Everything is Real is a gritty, honest collection of songs that aren’t afraid to rock, sway, or break a few hearts. Stagger’s past is rich in success including featured placements on ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy and tours taking him to the UK, Europe and across North America. With such accomplishments, it’s strange to think his new album was in danger of never being completed. After steering himself away from a personal storm in 2008, the now-sober Stagger returned to finish writing Everything is Real and enlisted producer John Ellis, with whom he collaborated on his previous album, the critically-acclaimed Depression River. A cache of varied and “purer” songs in hand, Stagger brought in a versatile band including drummer Pat Steward (Bryan Adams, Odds), bassist Tyson Maiko, and guitarist Kevin Kane (The Grapes of Wrath), to translate his vision. They holed up in Ellis’ studio in the small town of Ashcroft, BC and invited a wealth of musical guests: Bobby Furgo (Leonard Cohen Band), Tim Easton (New West Records), Evan Phillips (The Whipsaws), Steve Bays (Hot Hot Heat), Neal Casal (Ryan Adams and the Cardinals), as well as Scottish songster Roddy Hart. The result is Stagger’s most realized album to date. With the classic-sounding “Snowing in Nashville” and wonderfully evocative “Red Bandana”,Everything Is Real is a beautiful documentation of the young troubadour finding his voice and putting himself back on track as one of the most promising new Canadian artists to join the ranks of Blue Rodeo and Kathleen Edwards. With a brand new band, a brand new record and a brand new outlook on life, Stagger is aiming for that mark. Leeroy Stagger is also a member of the folk trio Easton, Stagger, Phillips with acclaimed American songwriters Tim Easton and Evan Phillips.