Way back when, I was touting Ian Janes as Canada's next big R&B star. He was making records of serious worth and had one of the most soulful voices I'd ever heard. Of course, being a white guy from the East Coast certainly wasn't helping when the nexus of that particular style continued to be Toronto... Still, I had high hopes and then Ian kinda dropped out of sight.

Apparently, life got in the way. He started concentrating on carpentry and family but I always knew he'd get back to making music, he was too good not to!

Now, I'm happy to report, he's got a new album ready to go - Piece Of Mine - and he's finally playing a show at The Carleton. Tickets are a very reasonable $15. Show time is 9 PM. Dinner reservations are recommended for preferred seating.

Here's Ian's latest bio for your perusal...

"Piece of Mine is a piece of pure gold" -CBC Radio 2 



Ian Janes kicks off a new decade with his impeccably crafted new album,
Piece of Mine, showcasing Janes' rich, seasoned voice, distinctive guitar
playing and beautiful writing.

Maclean's Magazine named Ian Janes one of the 100 Canadians to Watch. CBC
Radio's Definitely Not The Opera gave Janes his own one-hour special. The
East Coast Music Awards (ECMA) featured Janes on their televised gala (he
 has received five ECMA nominations to date). And, Thom Fitzgerald used
Janes' music in his award winning film, The Event.



Ian Janes has previously released two albums, As it Seems (2002 Music Industry of Nova Scotia's Record of the Year), as well as his critically acclaimed debut, Occasional Crush.

Piece of Mine is a definitive snapshot of who Ian Janes is. The songs have depth and relevance, performed with effortless musicality.

I might as well come clean - if there's one group of creative people I have maybe even more respect for than musicians, it's writers. There. I said it. Of course if you know me at all, you'll already know that! I'm pretty impressed by the process of novel writing and if I was left to my own devices, I'd probably be stalking some of my favourite authors like Thomas McGuane, J.P. Donleavy, Martin Amis, Jim Harrison, Nick Hornby and a raft of others... I know how difficult it is to write a book and some day, if I ever get enough time, I'd love to take a shot at it.

So, when local author Pamela Callow approached me about doing a book launch for her first novel, I was already on board with the idea. I was even more into it when I realized it wasn't a "vanity press" printing; she has a real publisher! In fact, I'd been hoping someone would ask us to do exactly this kind of thing so I could pitch our place to the Word on the Street people and get some writerly types in to read at The Carleton.

With all that in mind, I'm very pleased to announce that Pamela will be launching her first novel - Damaged - at our place on Thursday, June 3rd from 7:30 PM to 9:30 PM and admission is free. Pamela will be doing a reading, answering questions and generally celebrating her accomplishment and we'd love it if you'd come out to lend her your support... and maybe buy a book too!

I've only read a couple of advance chapters but I'm pretty interested in finding out what happens in this medical thriller and I'll be buying a copy myself to hopefully read in my chaise lounge if I ever get a couple of days off this summer.

This is exciting stuff and we wish Pamela all the luck in the world. Hope to see you there. Maybe they'll make a movie out of it! Maybe we can be extras in it! Imaginations run wild!

Looks pretty cool to me... I love scary...

I first met Jay Semko when I was working with MuchMusic and had the opportunity to spend a lot of time with The Northern Pikes during the year they were touring the huge hit "Snow In June" album. Because my dad's family is from Saskatoon - and so were the Pikes - we had that Saskatchewan thing going for us. There are many stories from those days, although I'm not sure how many of them I'm allowed to tell...

I've kept in touch with Jay over the years and have been a big fan of his solo efforts as well as the work he's been doing for film and television. His Pikes songs are still some of my favourites - Girl With a Problem comes immediately to mind - and I'm very happy he'll be playing our place on May 30th. Maybe he'll tell some stories so I won't have to!

Accompanying Jay on this trip will be another notable Saskatchewan singer/songwriter, Kim Fontaine. She's got a couple of albums under her belt as well.

Both artists will be celebrating new releases so come out and, well, celebrate!

Thursdays are for fun at The Carleton and our "no talking" rule is right out the window. Local faves, Telfer, provide the entertainment with some cool covers, come great original songs and a guaranteed rocking good time. There's no cover and plenty of drink specials. Hell, dancing's even been known to break out!

Thursdays are for fun at The Carleton and our "no talking" rule is right out the window. Local faves, Telfer, provide the entertainment with some cool covers, come great original songs and a guaranteed rocking good time. There's no cover and plenty of drink specials. Hell, dancing's even been known to break out!

There are a LOT of singer/songwriters populating this country but there aren't many who are devoting their writing lives to serious discussion of weighty matters in both music and prose. Jon Brooks is one of those precious few. His latest album, Moths Nor Rust, earned him a 2009 Canadian Folk Music Award nomination for Best Songwriter and The Toronto Star made him one of its Top Ten Artists To Watch In 2010.

It's 2010, time to start watching!

Here's Jon's bio...

Upon his return from a 1997 visit to war ruined Bosnia-Herzegovina, Jon Brooks traded guitar for pen, claiming his faith in popular music as a source of healing had been challenged. 

 



In 2005 - after 8 years of neither writing music nor performing - Brooks conceded the opposing view to be equally true: that "only the art of song carries within itself the means toward greater social justice and community survival.” I want my songs to be three and half-minute pills which, if digested, induce upon the listener empathy toward others.” 

Though Jon’s music is filled with grey and morally ambiguous characters living on the outskirts of approval, his mandate is unequivocal: “I’m not interested in ‘happy songs’ – I’ve chosen to write healing songs and, for that reason, I’m obliged to reveal a wound or two now and then. I’m even less interested in writing unhappy songs: I want to write hopeful songs, inspiring songs and I expect I owe today’s listener some hopeful argument – some legitimate reason - as to why we should believe our present world could be improved, or healed. The highest aim of song is to invoke empathy - to offer that rare sight of ourselves in others. In this sense, the folk singer is simply trying to politicize love, hence, my contention that today’s songwriter should be a lobbyist for compassion to be our principle representative in government office.”



In 2006 he released No Mean City, a weighty and conceptual exposition of the modern urban soul’s homelessness and moral fatigue. 2007 afforded Brooks only superlative acclaim with the release of Ours And The Shepherds, a CD of Canadian war stories inspired by James Loney, Senator Romeo Dallaire, Sgt. Tommy Prince, and John McRae among others. The collection earned Brooks a Best Songwriter nomination at the 2007 Canadian Folk Music Awards. Penguin Eggs deemed it “a thoroughly wonderful and truly important addition to the canon of Canadian folk music.”

Ours And The Shepherds is now among the collections of The Canadian War Museum and The John McRae Society. 

Jon is also a published essayist with Guernica Editions’ Barry Callaghan Essays On His Works (2007) with contributions by Margaret Atwood, William Kennedy, Joyce Carol Oates, and others. 



His 2009 CD, Moth Nor Rust, looked inward to all that neither moth nor rust can touch: love, hope, trust, memory, inspiration, justice, and faith. More than a celebration of the inner life, Moth Nor Rust reminds us how the song is a necessary and moral means toward lifting humanity in the 21st century. 

Moth Nor Rust earned Jon his second Canadian Folk Music Award nomination for Best Songwriter and its lyrics were published by Canada’s esteemed literary quarterly, Exile Editions. 



Jon also made The Toronto Star’s annual list of Top 10 Artists To Watch In 2010.


Jon was recently in town for the Dead of Winter festival and we're very happy to be presenting him at The Carleton Music Bar & Grill. He's as good as anyone we've ever heard...

Thursdays are for fun at The Carleton and our "no talking" rule is right out the window. Local faves, Telfer, provide the entertainment with some cool covers, come great original songs and a guaranteed rocking good time. There's no cover and plenty of drink specials. Hell, dancing's even been known to break out!