Celebrate Canada's Musical History

This blog is a fantastic resource for Canadian music. Of course, writers and readers tend to focus on what's new and happening now. It's great to check in here to found out what's going on across the country at this very moment.

Canadian pop music has a rich history. Many of the greatest artists have made it into our collective consciousness through sheer popularity, Canadian content requirements, Juno awards, plain ol' patriotism and, of course, immense talent (a short list: think Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, The Guess Who, BTO, Rush, Anne Murray, April Wine, D.O.A....). However, there are many unsung Canadian musicians out there who have been forgotten, whose legacy is left on cassettes, 8-tracks, and vinyl records stored in musty basements, thrift shops, or garage sales.

Vinyl Hunters Kevin McGowan and Beau Levitt know this, and they have started a unique website dedicated to finding, researching and archiving the obscure Canadian music they collect on vinyl. Their website, It Came From Canada, is a treasury trove of information about rare Canadian artists, rare recordings, and interesting tidbits. As they put it:

Much of Canada's musical heritage lies waiting to be rediscovered in attics, crawlspaces, mouldy boxes at flea markets and endless racks of LPs at thrift stores. It Came From Canada is our attempt to dust off some of the music we've been lucky enough to find and help it reach new audiences.

Check it out when you can. The entries range from relatively known Doug and the Slugs or Hagood Hardy to complete unknowns like Northern Haze (heavy metal from the Arctic) or Gerry Joly (bluesy folk, live in Ottawa). What's really cool is the interactive feature, where readers can post their own comments. In some cases, family members have been delighted to find information on these relatively unknown musicians. Imagine if these artists had been around in these modern internet times: I am sure their music would have flourished.

Go NORTH to Detroit, SOUTH to Windsor.

A short list of Canadian Indie artists playing the Windsor/Detroit area.

4/4

Slow down, Molasses

Valery Gore

Wax Mannequin

Phog Lounge

157 University W.

Windsor, ON

www.phoglounge.com

4/6

F*cked Up

Magic Stick  8PM  $12

4120 Woodward

Detroit, MI

www.majesticdetroit.com/stick.asp

4/16

Sebastien Grainger & The Mountains

Pike Room @ The Crofoot  8PM  $8

1 S. Saginaw

Pontiac, MI

www.thecrofoot.com

4/22

Beast

Phog Lounge

157 University W.

Windsor, ON

www.phoglounge.com

4/30

Elliott BROOD 

The Blind Dog   8PM  $10

671 Ouellette Avenue

Windsor, ON

www.theblinddog.ca