The end of October is upon us with a thrill for kids as they get to become their favourite imaginary hero/demon for Halloween. It’s a magical time to go trick or treating which takes the sting out of the shock of having to go back to school the previous month. And winter will soon be here where we enter into the big social sleep – wrapped in the comfort of our domestic lives and wile away the cold months streaming movies, trolling social media, and discovering new music. Here’s some new and exciting projects you might want to accompany you in your hibernation.


For reader convenience, you can listen to a complete playlist of songs in this blog at Spotify by clicking the GWN Playlist button above.



* Hamilton singer-songwriter Tom Wilson‘s documentary Beautiful Scars (based on the 2017 autobiography of the same name) is now streaming for a limited time on TVO. Check it out here.

* The new film Drinkwater, starring Daniel Doheny, Loriza Tronco, Jana Benoit, and Eric McCormack (Will & Grace), is a loving pastiche of 1980s Canadiana with fashion and music of the times including a soundtrack that features The Kings, Loverboy, Trooper, Men Without Hats, and April Wine among other revered CanCon treasures. The 2021 made film has finally gotten cinema release and has an extended run currently at Landmark movie theatres. TRAILER

* Singer-songwriter Marc Parent announced this week that Andrés del Castillo and Scott Milks will be his special guests for his show at the The Brass in Aylmer next Friday, Nov 4th at 9pm. The significance of this show is that the three gents are former members of Eight Seconds who had a Canadian Top-40 hit in the 1980s called “Kiss You (When It’s Dangerous).“

* For those wanting to do deep dives into new music globally we highly recommend the blogs of former GWN scribe Bill Smith who has his finger on the pulse of dance, R & B, EDM, and pretty much any genre that’s thriving in the music eco-system currently. Follow his frequently updated charts and dig into his recommendations. There’s something here for everyone at the BILLCSNewMusicReport.

* Terry Jacks has emerged after a long music absence with a new collection of previously unreleased songs from his personal archive entitled Remember Me? It features the final recording between him and former partner Susan Jacks (RIP) entitled “The Pact.” You can get the new CD from Regenerator Records. YOUTUBE // SPOTIFY


* As mentioned last week, BLINKER THE STAR‘s upcoming album is Love Oblast. The first single from the record has dropped entitled “Walk Through The Park.”
YOUTUBE // SPOTIFY

* After a 3 year absence, Toronto’s Mr! Mouray has returned with their first new release since 2019’s Spares EP. “Cats Can’t Fly” is the 1st single from their sophomore album What’s The Stouray due November 21. Comes with a B-side on the band’s Bandcamp page. YOUTUBE // BANDCAMP


* During the pandemic most musicians were unable to perform live and so a community of collaborations began in the virtual world. Teenage Head‘s Dave Rave teamed up in Hamilton with The Trews‘ Jack Syperek to write and record an album with Mark Foley (guitar) and Claude DesRoches (drums) under the name Dave Rave & The 2nd Responders. GWN attended the CD release party for their self-titled debut. The album isn’t currently available to buy or stream but a video of “Eye To Eye” is available on YOUTUBE.

* If you like your rock loud, Lee Aaron has managed to squeeze out a new single in between live festival dates. Just released is “Rock Bottom Revolution” from her upcoming new album Elevate which is due November 25. YOUTUBE // SPOTIFY

* Immediately on the heels of Sloan‘s new album release Steady which we talked about last week, comes the second single “Dream It All Over Again.” YOUTUBE // SPOTIFY

* A post-humous collection of unreleased tracks from Pukka Orchestra‘s Graeme Williamson has been released entitled Because There Was You. Williamson passed away in June 2020 in Glasgow, Scotland of undisclosed causes. Former band mate Neil Chapman, and Canadian music executive Frank Davies have ensured that Graeme’s final recordings saw the light of day. Here’s the poignant “Now or Never.” YOUTUBE // SPOTIFY


* Toronto 4-piece Pop Punk act GROWERS have released their new single “TTYL.” Released in September 2022, the track is the second single from GROWERS’ new EP Cry Baby coming in Winter 2023. YOUTUBE // SPOTIFY

* We’re having a hard time keeping up with the output of Geoff Gibbons who we mentioned in last week’s blog. He’s put another new single out in the time it took to read this. The new track is “Execution Man.” YOUTUBE // SPOTIFY

* More than a decade in the making, “Lustre Parfait” is the first song from the long-mythologized collaboration between Gord Downie, the iconic late frontman of The Tragically Hip, and Bob Rock, the legendary producer and former guitarist for The Payolas. YOUTUBE // SPOTIFY


* Bilingual, Hamilton-based, indie-pop singer-songwriter Mary Clements has releases her second single, “Dundurn & King” from her upcoming debut full-length album Come With Me due on November 4. YOUTUBE // SPOTIFY

* Toronto-based Electro-pop R&B music sensation Jordana of Earth transports listeners with melancholy romance and light smoky vocals to tell a vulnerable tale of distance and its effect on love with the ethereal 3rd single “Need To Know” from the EP 10k.
YOUTUBE // SPOTIFY  

* Creating your own path and being proud of yourself is the message behind Toronto’s Anna Goldsmith‘s latest single, “Follower.” Living by her own words with her writing, performances and personal life, Anna Goldsmith is a 15-year-old multi-instrumentalist. YOUTUBE // SPOTIFY


*  Award-winning Canadian musician Julian Taylor has released a new compelling single called “Stolen Lands,” from his sophomore solo album Beyond The Reservoir.
YOUTUBE // SPOTIFY

SEND US YOUR STUFF!
This issue was brought to you by: The Led Hot Chili Zeppers’ new single “Under The Bridge, Over The Hills, And Faraway.”

Send us your news, views, and all manner of CANADIAN musical releases to promote and wave a flag for. Join the GWN Facebook page and drop us a message: https://www.facebook.com/gwntertainment

Keep up the fight!
Jaimie Vernon, 2022

=JV=

Jaimie “Captain CanCon” Vernon has been president of the on again/off-again Bullseye Records of Canada since 1985. He wrote and published Great White Noise magazine in the ‘90s, has been a musician for 44 years, and recently discovered he’s been happily married for 26 of those. He is also the author of The Canadian Pop Music Encyclopedia and editor of “Sunny Days: The Skip Prokop Story.” Available through Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Jaimie+Vernon

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We hope you enjoyed last week’s addition/edition of the long-running GWNtertainment Magazine blog to the Encyclopedia. We think it’s important to keep up with the happenings surrounding all Canadian music, and we’re happy to bring it to you weekly for the foreseeable future. To that end we’ll be adding other segments to the blog including news, and live event announcements as they present themselves. We are also continuing to add GWN playlists on Spotify so that the new releases we write about are available to listeners in one convenient spot.


Click on the Playlist button above for the playlist from GWN Issue 46 for your enjoyment. You can also search on Spotify for previous playlists by typing: GWNtertainment #
And please support these artists in whatever capacity you can whether it’s through streaming or purchasing their music as physical products or going to live shows.


* ANDY KIM returns at Christmas for his 18th annual Andy Kim Christmas Show for charity at the newly restored Massey Hall. The guest list has yet to be announced but is expected to be spectacular. Check out the Facebook page invite and follow along as the musical guests are added.

* Canada’s greatest diminutive rock and rollers, the KILLER DWARFS, are back on the road for their 40th anniversary (!!!) and a fan was kind enough to post their entire performance from the Rocktember Grand Casino in Hinckley, Minnesota on September 10, 2022. Check it out on YouTube.


* THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS are currently on tour with THE NORTHERN PIKES for the Northern Happiness Tour. Even better news for TPOH fans is that their 1995 album Where’s The Bone? and the 1996 album The Wonderful World Of Pursuit Of Happiness have both been remastered and available on streaming services for the first time. Check them out on Spotify.

* You may know him as one of the original VJ’s on MuchMusic back in the 1980s or later as the co-writer of Alannah Myles’ biggest hit “Black Velvet,” but before all that CHRISTOPHER WARD was a solo artist. His 1978 debut solo album Spark of Desire has been remastered and is now available on streaming services. The album features two Top40 hits in “Once In A Longtime” and “Maybe Your Heart.” Check it out on Spotify.

* JUNO Award nominated band WEDNESDAY (aka WENZDAY) were recently nominated for a Lifetime Achievement and Hall of Fame Award at the Oshawa Music Awards. The band is remembered for such hits as “Last Kiss,” “Fly Away,” and “Loving You Baby.” Check them out on Spotify.

* Great news for SLOAN fans – the band has just released its new studio album called Steady. It’s available on CD and the first pressing will be available on deep purple vinyl which will be limited to 2,500 copies. Order from their website here.


* Uber multi-instrumentalist Jordon Zadorozny has announced that the new BLINKER THE STAR album Love Oblast will be released November 10.

* SATTALITES frontman FERGUS HAMBLETON sees his 1971 debut album from Capitol Records entitled All The Right Noises released to digital platforms. The album was recorded at Art Snider’s Sounds Canada studio and produced by Fergus’ brother Greg Hambleton. The album featured the hit “Same Old Feeling.” SPOTIFY.


* LIGHTHOUSE members and songwriters Skip Prokop, Paul Hoffert, Ralph Cole, and Bob McBride were honoured with induction into the Canadian Songwriter’s Hall of Fame this past week at the SOCAN Awards. The four gents were responsible for such hits as “One Fine Morning,” “Sunny Days,” “Pretty Lady,” “Hats Off (To The Stranger),” “Take It Slow,” and “Can You Feel It” among others. SPOTIFY


* Kitchener songwriter, KEVIN WESTPHAL, has released a satirical song about the nightmare that all commuters in Southern Ontario know all too well – Highway 401. The song is called “A Typical Day On The 401” and is available exclusively on YouTube.

* Calgary’s GUNN BLUES BAND is celebrating their new single “I Just Wanna Know” from the album Hand In The Fire landing at #1 on the UK iTunes chart. Check it out on iTunes or at Spotify.

* ROSITA STONE has a new single out called “Luz Estelar.” YOUTUBE // SPOTIFY

* Long time friend of GWN, GEOFF GIBBONS, continues his run of fantastic singles with his new track “Waitin’ On a Train.” YOUTUBE // SPOTIFY
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This issue was brought to you by: “10 Downing Street Air B’n’B – You Won’t Be Here For A Good Time Or A Long Time.”
Send us your news, views, and all manner of CANADIAN musical releases to promote and wave a flag for. Join the GWN Facebook page and drop us a message: https://www.facebook.com/gwntertainment

Keep up the fight!
Jaimie Vernon, 2022

=JV=

Jaimie “Captain CanCon” Vernon has been president of the on again/off-again Bullseye Records of Canada since 1985. He wrote and published Great White Noise magazine in the ‘90s, has been a musician for 44 years, and recently discovered he’s been happily married for 26 of those. He is also the author of The Canadian Pop Music Encyclopedia and editor of “Sunny Days: The Skip Prokop Story.” Available through Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Jaimie+Vernon

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