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railblazer Lori Yates is a renowned voice, a respected singer/songwriter in roots music, and a pioneer of “alternative country music” in Canada. The Band's Rick Danko once described Yates as having "that desperate Canadian sound," sealing her legendary status. Yates returned with her eighth album, Matador, released in January 2024. From the first notes of the opening track, it becomes apparent that Lori’s voice has matured into a powerful, beautiful, alluring instrument. Matador is a masterful collection of roots/indie songs; each one unfurls like a precious jewel. Recorded at The Woodshed, Matador features members from Toronto supergroup Hey Stella and Blue Rodeo, including Bazil Donovan, Jimmy Bowskill, Michelle Josef, and the late great guitarist David Baxter. This is a new sound for Yates, leaning on the piano and organ, played by Steve O'Connor. The title track, Matador, pays homage to the famed after-hours club depicted in Leonard Cohen's video "Closing Time,” an autobiographical call to save one of Toronto’s most storied landmarks. “Alive” deals with life's duality in an uplifting way. This sentiment sets the tone for an album that delves into triumph, heartache, pain, and love—capturing the myriad of emotions that define the human experience. Lori has re-recorded “Time After Time,” co-written with legendary songwriter Guy Clark, in hopes that it will get the attention it deserves. In a world where the single of the week rules, Matador demands to be heard, a timeless ritual akin to leafing through chapters of a cherished novel. It harkens back to a time when albums were immersive experience. Lori's transition from major labels like Sony Nashville and Virgin Music Canada to her independent recordings, where she has created her best work (five independent recordings), demonstrates the depth of her conviction that only a true artist can claim. Yates catapulted onto the Queen West scene in the 1980s with her cowpunk band Rang Tango. Discovered by Nashville, Lori has shared stages and studios with a dizzying array of music heavyweights, including Roky Erickson, Rick Danko, Colin Linden, Jim Cuddy, duets with Tom Wilson and movie soundtrack for Patrick Swayze’s Next of Kin with Greg Allman to name a few. Understandably, Lori Yates has a long list of accolades to her credit: Juno, CCMA, Polaris Prize longlist, Lifetime Achievement awards, and Songwriter of the Year nominations and wins. Lori Yates has marched to her own drum, and Matador is a testament to her authenticity and musical prowess.As Toronto’s music scene has grown in stature on the world stage, singer/songwriter Jerry Leger has been making his own significant contributions. A favourite of Uncut Magazine and Rolling Stone Germany, Leger has also earned the praise of fellow artists Ron Sexsmith (“he’s the real deal”) and Doug Paisley, while maintaining a long relationship with Cowboy Junkies as part of their Latent Recordings roster, with their songwriter/guitarist Michael Timmins serving as producer. On his 2023 album Donlands, Leger took a different approach, teaming up with legendary Canadian producer/engineer Mark Howard (Lucinda Williams, Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Neil Young), whose trademark atmospheric sound added an entirely new dimension to Leger’s approach. Named after the street in Toronto’s east end where it was recorded, in what once was the Donlands Theatre, Donlands presents Jerry Leger as he’s never been heard before. For Leger, the search for the elusive creative spark remains never-ending, but there are always new routes to explore in getting to it. Donlands stands as one of the peak moments in an already towering body of work. Born in the mid-'80s, singer-songwriter Leger came of age in the Upper Beaches area of Toronto. Surrounded by music from a young age, his grandfather first turned him onto Hank Williams, constantly playing the youngster a plethora of the honky tonk master’s great recordings. Although Williams’ voice came from another world in terms of time, geography, and class, Leger was intrigued by the ways that Williams’ songs told a story and often conjured up mysterious images in his head. Other seminal influences were slowly added including John Lennon (and the Beatles), Bob Dylan, Lightnin' Hopkins, Leonard Cohen, Elvis Costello, Neil Young, the Everly Brothers, Tom Waits, and Gordon Lightfoot. In 2005, as Leger turned 19, he cut his first independently released album. In the sixteen years since then the multi-talented singer-songwriter has recorded nine additional studio albums as well as one live compilation under his own name. In 2014 he was signed to the Cowboy Junkies’ label, Latent Recordings, releasing the critically acclaimed Early Riser that same year. His second Latent release, Nonsense and Heartache, followed in 2017. A year later, the two-album set was picked up by Proper Records for distribution in the U.K and Europe, leading to extensive touring throughout the continent, in the process opening up a whole new audience for Leger’s finely crafted songs. New live-in-the-studio album Lucky Streak, produced by Michael Timmins, arrives March 21, 2025.
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