Coverters & Black Hat Brigade at Cafe Dekcuf

On May 22nd i(heart)music got Black Hat Brigade to Ottawa.
It is their third time in Ottawa.
I was happy to see them again.
I guess you can say "Third times a charm"??

The first band to play was an Ottawa band called Converters.
From what I was told from Matt of i(heart)music was that it was either their second or third show meaning that they are new band.
They were great, rocking it up.
The lead singer sound very much like Roy Orbinson.
Maybe they will get to play more show in Ottawa and beyond.


Waiting a few more minutes for Black Hat Brigade to set up.
They have alot of equipment to put up on the stage and it was crazy.
They were very amazing and love their high energy sound.
They are a band you have to see live. Why? Because each members (minus the drummer) alternate turns in playing a different instrument and vocals.
Its great to see the dynamic of the band and never gets boring if its the same old routine.
I recommend that seeing them live.

Get their new CD called "Fathers"

I (Heart) Music v. SOCAN II

It would appear that, through tremendous support from readers, musicians, bloggers and others that I (Heart) Music will continue. Through a combination of donations of money and music and a settlement with SOCAN the blogger/promoter will be able to settle with SOCAN and continue to blog and produce live shows. First, it was announced, that in addition to monetary donations that a number of musicians have dedicated songs to a benefit CD:

"I'm extremely grateful to everyone who's helped out, and all the people whose name appears to the right will be rewarded for their generosity in the form a compilation album that I'm in the process of putting together. It's going to feature new, rare and unreleased tracks donated by the likes of Bonjour Brumaire, The Burning Hell, Amos the Transparent, These Electric Lives, Black Hat Brigade and a whole bunch of other great artists (including some other big names who are just in the process of figuring out what songs they can provide), and it's my way of saying thank you in a non-email way.

Second there is a very interesting tidbit of SOCAN info in the post that does not seem to be widely known:

"I also learned that, contrary to what a lot of people have told me in the last week, just because a show costs less than $6, it doesn't mean that it's exempt from SOCAN. It only means that SOCAN doesn't have to reimburse artists for those shows. I'm going to repeat that, since everyone I've told that to has responded with a stunned silence: SOCAN is legally entitled to royalty payments for every show in which either one member of a band is a member of SOCAN(or one of the songs performed was written by a SOCAN member), regardless of the show's price. If a show is greater than $6, then the SOCAN-member bands are allowed to apply to be reimbursed for performance royalties (starting at $75 per show). If, however, the show is $6 or less, than SOCAN gets to keep the money. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the logic of that, but, apparently, it is the law. So that defence didn't work either."

Third there is a benefeit show coming up - see image below or visit I (Heart) Music and read the whole thing.



Cheers to the music community for pulling together and helping to keep a good thing going, in spite of SOCAN!

Pick of the Week #20: Black Hat Brigade

I suspect everyone here is on board with how awesome the Black Hat Brigade is, so, the fact that Fathers is pretty excellent shouldn't really surprise anyone. What might surprise you is the range that the band shows in their new 8-song album/EP.

You might also be excited to learn that they've got a few shows coming up, in particular, Torontonians will want to check out their May 29 CD release at the El Mocambo as part of the Pitter Patter Music Festival ...

See the full post at the BM.

Zygiella Podcast #36

Jen and Tyler on stuff coming up in Toronto including Beth in Battle Mode, Ghost is Dancing, Black Hat Brigade, Woodhands, how the can go about becoming fraternal twins without actually being related and other really important stuff!


download here