Rush, Iron Maiden, Santana, and The Black Eyed Peas perform at 11-day Quebec City Summer Festival

Friday, April 30th, 2010

ROCKERS’ ULTIMATE TRIP:

RUSH, IRON MAIDEN, SANTANA, AND BLACK EYED PEAS
PERFORM AT 11-DAY QUÉBEC CITY SUMMER FESTIVAL

Buy $50 pass online and experience an epic eleven days, hundreds of world music, rock, reggae, jazz artists including Allen Toussaint, Rammstein, and Jimmy Cliff

QUEBEC CITY, CANADA (April 27, 2010) – Music lovers are invited to brush up on their French, pack their bags, and head to North America’s most unique music festival experience: the Québec City Summer Festival.  Celebrating its 43^rd year, this eleven-day festival features a wide range of musical genres and over 1000 artists performing at three main outdoor venues.

Passes will be on sale on Saturday, May 1 at 10 a.m. at the regular price of  $50 – taxes included, plus service fees – on the Festival website at www.infofestival.com.  Festivalgoers can also purchase passes by calling 1-877-841-2010.  The flashing pass for the Festival d’été de Québec is sold with a unique “Smart” bracelet containing a microchip valid for the entire Festival. Both items, the pass and the bracelet, are mandatory for admission to the sites and re-sale of this wristband is strictly forbidden. Visit www.infofestival.com for details on the sale of Hydro-Québec passes.

“It’s a steal!” exclaimed the General Manager of the Festival d’été de Québec, Daniel Gélinas. “This Festival is not only affordable; it gives everyone the chance to see great shows and international stars. In Europe or the US, you’d have to spend a lot more for an event like ours.”

The enigmatic “Bell Stage – Plains of Abraham” venue has been compared to Red Rocks, Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza and Woodstock as memorable and captivating concert venues, and this year’s lineup will not disappoint:

JULY 9: Metal Legends IRON MAIDEN will attend the Festival on the Plaines of Abraham on July 9, bringing with them a huge new stage production for their first appearance in Quebec City in four years. Playing songs from across their illustrious career, they are likely to preview a song from their new album, The Final Frontier, which is expected to be released later in the summer. Maiden, who last week won a Juno for their documentary DVD Flight 666, will be joined by very special guests Dream Theater.

JULY 11: Roger Hodgson, who has been recognized as one of the most gifted composers, songwriters and lyricists, will follow on July 11. As the legendary voice, writer and arranger of most of Supertramp’s greatest hits that led to more than 60 million record sales, he gave us amazingly enduring songs like: “Give a Little Bit”, “The Logical Song”, “Dreamer”, “Take the Long Way Home”, “Breakfast In America”, “It’s Raining Again”, “School”, “Fools Overture” and so many others that have become the soundtrack of our lives.

JULY 12: The Canadian group The Arcade Fire is back with songs that will be on their third album. The two-time Grammy Awards nominee is acclaimed by the public, the critics and such international greats as Davie Bowie, David Byrne and Peter Gabriel. In 2010, their song “Wake Up” played in NFL Super Bowl ads to raise funds for Partners in Health in Haiti.

JULY 13: The Santana Universal Tone Tour 2010 gets underway with an initial North American leg and will be with us on July 13.  The Universal Tone Tour 2010 will feature hits from Santana’s four-decades-long career, as well as songs from a brand new studio album that he is currently putting finishing touches on. Santana will be joined on the road by special guest Steve Winwood, who will open the dates.

JULY 15: Legendary Canadian rock band, RUSH, always popular in Quebec City, will be coming to the Festival for the first time. Inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame for Limelight, Closer to the Heart, Spirit of Radio, Tom Sawyer and Subdivisions, Rush has 24 Gold Records and 14 Platinum Records to its credit in the United States.

JULY 16: Six-time Grammy Award-winning, multi-platinum artists The Black Eyed Peas will keep the party going on July 16 with their # 1 hits including “Boom, Boom Pow”, “I Gotta Feeling” and “Imma Be”. This stop is part of the North American leg of BlackBerry® presents “The Black Eyed Peas “The E.N.D. World Tour 2010” with Bacardi®, as the Official Spirit. The tour marks the first time that will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo and Fergie are united for North American headline dates since their 2006 Monkey Business world tour.

JULY 17: Having blown Festival fans away in 2005 and 2007, BILLY TALENT is pumped for its third appearance at the Festival on July 17. Blistering with energy, BILLY TALENT captures the spirit, attitude, and explosiveness that first launched rock’s rebel cause. The group musically captures a pressing sense of urgency devoid of anything trite or gimmicky. Ultimately, Billy Talent is the type of band that pops as much for its melodic sensibilities as for its against-the-grain aggression.

JULY 18: Finally, the German band Rammstein will be closing the Festival with their first North American mega show. Industrial rock, pyrotechnics and visual effects are the trademark of this supercharged group, world record holders for sales of German-language albums. Since its start-up in 1994, Rammstein has built a solid network of diehard fans over the years. The Finnish cello quartet, Apocalyptica, will blow spectators away in the first part of the show with their takes on heavy metal hits and original compositions.

Francophiles will enjoy hearing performances in both English and French, and can meet well-known French TV personality Daniela Lumbroso and several top Francophone singers from here and abroad, past and present to be broadcast on French television in the fall 2010 on France 3, TV5 Monde and in Canada to a potential audience of 5 million television viewers. This will be the Festival’s biggest TV production ever. Expect an emotion-packed evening of song on July 14 as Gilles Vigneault celebrates a career spanning 50 years with friends and accomplices. The poet who turned to song in 1960 with his first appearance at La Boîte à chansons, which he opened in Quebec City, is offering many of his finest compositions.

Daniel Gélinas, General Manager of the Festival d’été de Québec, remarked, “It’s true that we’ve made our name by bringing in top stars, but what makes us different is the range and the depth of our program. The talented artists we introduce to our public are sometimes very well-known artists in their own countries, but totally new to us. The introduction of seasoned artists to a new international audience makes our festival distinctive.”

ADDITIONAL PERFORMANCES: THE MOLSON DRY STAGE AT PARC DE LA FRANCOPHONIE

The Molson Dry Stage at Parc de la francophonie is the place to be for some of the best in French song. Just to name a few, from France: Enrico Macias and l’Orchestre Arabo-Andalou and Sanseverino. This year, the Festival welcomes three ambassadors of reggae from three generations― Bedouin Soundclash, Pierpoljak and the great Jimmy Cliff. Longtime Genesis fans can happily reunite with a former key member, guitarist Steve Hackett, whose complex and distinctive style greatly contributed to the band’s rise to fame in the 70s. The English progressive rock band, Renaissance, will be opening.

The guitar will be in able hands with Steve Hill and the folk-rock of Colin Moore, John Butler Trio and Trevor Hall, while Passion Pit, The Cat Empire, Phantogram and Fool’s Gold are sure to get the crowd up and dancing to a succession of soul, pop or electro beats.  Watch for hot new soul and R&B talent, Bobby Bazini, whose album Better in Time is doing very good, as well as Sam Shalabi, who will open for Enrico Macias with a tribute to Egyptian Shaabi.

ADDITIONAL PERFORMANCES : PLACE METRO AT PLACE D’YOUVILLE

With artists converging from the four corners of the earth, Place Metro remains the beating heart of world music. This year, the Festival is especially pleased to welcome Staff Benda Bilili, a Congolese orchestra made up of paraplegic street musicians who practice every day― at the Kinshasa zoo!

And you won’t want to miss: the very popular Charlie Winston; L’Orchestre Septentrional…bridging the gap between Haitian music, past and future; New Orleans-style R&B with Allen Toussaint, the Éthiopiques collective, featuring the inimitable Mahmoud Ahmed as well as a first appearance by musician, producer, actor, director and winner of two Palmes d’Or at Cannes, Emir Kusturica, accompanied by The No Smoking Orchestra.

The lineup:

• From Australia: Oka
• From Benin: Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou
• From Canada: Elisapie Isaac, Papagroove, Matt Andersen, Delhi 2 Dublin, Romulo  Larrea and Yoel Diaz
• From Catalonia: La Pegatina
• From Colombia: LA-33
• From the USA: Allen Toussaint, Frank Vignola Quintet, Ozomatli, The Budos Band, Chicha Libre and Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue
• From Ethiopia and France: Éthiopiques
• From France: Caravan Palace and Hindi Zahra
• From Haiti: Orchestre Septentrional
• From Japan:  Sweet Hollywaiians
• From Mali: Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba
• From the Democratic Republic of the Congo: Staff Benda Bilili and Konono n^o1
• From the UK: Charlie Winston and James Hunter
• From Serbia: Emir Kusturica & The No Smoking Orchestra
• From the Republic of Tuva: Yat-Kha

The Festival d’été de Québec is presented by Bell in collaboration with Molson Dry.

For more information or to book an interview please contact :

Melanie Kaye PR

info@melaniekayepr.com

Office:416-408-3223

Cell:416-823-9139

www.melaniekayepr.com

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Greg Macpherson On Tour In Canada !

Friday, April 30th, 2010

                                                                                                                                                       Smallman Records Recording Artist:

Greg Macpherson 

On tour in Canada in support of his new record

“Mr. Invitation”

This is music that has to be heard even if only by those striving for something real. Greg Macpherson is above all an artist, someone who sees the world differently and communicates possibility with sound. The simplicity of his production, a utilitarian aesthetic aligned with the post-rock movements of 90′s Chicago and New York, stretches to impress not with fantasy but with naked substance. There are a handful of Canadian lyricists writing songs this powerful, few of them are under the age of 50, fewer still offer performances as artistically charges as their writing. In this country Greg Macpherson shares a sparsely populated space saved for musicians who matter.

Catch him live in a city near you!

For press photos, album covers and bios please go to: 

http://smallmanrecords.com/press/band/greg-macpherson/

For more information or to book an interview please contact:

Melanie Kaye PR

info@melaniekayepr.com

Office:416-408-3223

Cell:416-823-9139

www.melaniekayepr.com

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Fat Wreck Chords / Drive Records Recording Artists :

Thursday, April 1st, 2010

Punk rock used to be about haggard road warriors. Before all the breakdowns and flat irons, there were busted transmissions and collect calls home. The Flatliners grew up believing in the later and rejecting the former, and after seven years playing together, they’re unleashing Cavalcade, their third full-length record and an epic sonic testament to the life they’ve chosen. Cavalcade hits the streets April 13^th !

Over the last four years, The Flatliners have spent almost thirty months in vans, dive bars, and concert halls across North America, Europe, and Japan, building up a dedicated following with a sound that mixes the endless fury of ‘90s skate punk with the nuanced, intelligent songwriting of classic post-punks like the Replacements and Hot Water Music. After releasing the ska-punk tinged Destroy to Create (Union Label Group) in 2005, the band evolved into a harsh melodic machine with 2007’s The Great Awake (Fat Wreck Chords), completing their transition into a vital modern punk unit with the Cynics 7” (Fat Wreck Chords) in late 2009.

For Cavalcade, The Flatliners once again teamed up with long-time producer and friend Steve Rizun, recording sporadically between tours in their hometown of Toronto over the course of 2009. Seeking to immortalize the last year of their lives on the road, the end result is easily the band’s finest hour; from the thrashy immediacy of “The Calming Collection” to the dub-influenced “He Was A Jazzman”, it’s the sound of a band hitting their stride musically and finding their voice lyrically, exploring the idea of unity through disconnectedness, of positivity in uncertain times. Driving home the theme are the numerous guest appearances on the record: members of Cancer Bats, A Wilhelm Scream, Dillinger Four, The Snips, Junior Battles, Permanent Bastards, and the Expos all contributed to Cavalcade. Add to that the presence of veteran punk Fat Mike, who flew up to jam with the band in November of 2009, earning an additional production credit and making one of the band’s childhood dreams come true.

They’ve grown up on record and in front of a crowd of like-minded punks. They’ve made sacrifices to keep the wheels of their van on the road, and Cavalcade is the reward. It really is, as the band says, “a call to arms to all who travel throughout the world on the wings of their creativity.”

Don’t miss your chance to see The Flatliners with Broadway Calls and Cobra Skulls in a city near you !!

April 9^th – Vancouver @ The Media Club

April 10^th  - Whistler @ Merlins

April 11^th – Calgary @ The New Black

April 12^th – Edmonton @ The Pawn Shop

April 13^th – Saskatoon @ The Cosmo

April 14^th – Regina @The Exchange

April 15^th – Winnipeg @ WECC

April 16^th – Thunderbay @ Black Pirates Pub

April 17^th – Sault Ste Marie @ Foggys

April 18^th  – Barrie @ The Mansion

April 19^th  -London @ Call The Office

April 20^th  – St Catherines @ L3

April 21^st – Hamilton @ The Casbah

April 22^nd  – Toronto @ The Mod Club

April 23^rd – Quebec City @ L’Agite

April 24^th  – Montreal @ Underworld

April 25^th – Ottawa @ Mavericks

For more information or to book an interview please contact :

Melanie Kaye PR

info@melaniekayepr.com

Office:416-408-3223

Cell:416-823-9139

www.melaniekayepr.com

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Jello Biafra And The Guantanamo School Of Medicine Coming To Canada !

Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010

Alternative Tentacles Records recording artists:

Jello Biafra And The Guantanamo School Of Medicine

In the twenty or so years since his brainchild Dead Kennedys officially disbanded, Jello Biafra has made a career of spoken word gigs interspersed with musical collaborations with some of the most compelling figures in underground music. Recording projects and touring with the likes of Melvins, No Means No, DOA, Mojo Nixon and Lard (with Ministry’s Al Jorgensen) among others have kept his “hardcore as political weapon” message sharp, but the lack of his own band made these collaborations usually short-lived and left Biafra with a ton of songs that had never seen the light of day.

Inspired by Iggy Pop’s 60th birthday gig at the Warfield in San Francisco, Biafra laid plans for his own 50th birthday party and finally decided it was time to start a band of his own. Ten years before he had been attempting the same thing with the likes of guitarist Ralph Spight (Victims Family, Freak Accident, Hellworms) and drummer Jon Weiss (Sharkbait, Horsey). They had also previously worked with basist Billy Gould (Faith No More) who was tapped for the new group. After cramming rehearsal for a month the four piece band known as Jello Biafra and the Axis Of Merry Evildoers took the stage in a sold-out two night stand at San Francisco’s Great American Music Hall and subsequently spent the next 9 months in rehearsal for an album project. Before entering the studio guitarist Kimo Ball (Freak Accident, Carneyball Johnson, Mol Triffid, Griddle) was recruited and the resulting twin guitar attack took the groups sound to new, noisier heights. The quintet now known as Jello Biafra and The Guantanamo School of Medicine released their debut  LP/CD “The Audacity Of Hype” in October 2009, produced by Biafra and engineered by Hip Hop legend and long time Jello co-conspirator Matt Kelley (Hieroglyphics, Tupac, Digital Underground, Victims Family) at Prairie Sun Recording in Cotati, CA and San Francisco’s Hyde Street Studios.

The band’s sound retains some of the the spy-music-on-meth chaos of the DK’s while adding a healthy dose of Detroit style proto-punk mixed with layers of sonic guitar noise, and Weiss’ industrial excursions into metal percussion. Topically, the album explores how our forced Iraqnophobia and Homeland Insecurity continues to feed lawlessness at the top (“The Terror Of Tiny Town”) vs. a runaway police state and class war towards the bottom (“Three Strikes”, “Electronic Plantation”). “Clean As A Thistle” becomes more timely every day as “Family Values” blowhards get caught in sinful trysts, while album closer “I Won’t Give Up” offers an age of Obama anthem on how change comes from agitation from below, not glamour and sound bites from the top

Thirty years on, Jello Biafra has made an album that solidifies and expands his uncompromising vision and updates it for the new century, with a powerhouse band that promises to be a terrifying live machine, featuring Jon’s brother Andrew Weiss (Rollins Band, Ween, Butthole Surfers) filling the live bass position recently left vacant by Billy Gould’s return to Faith No More.

Don’t miss you chance to see Jello Biafra And The Guantanamo School Of Medicine at one of their three very special Canadian appearances !

April 2^nd – Montreal – Le Studio

April 3^rd – Ottawa – Mavericks

April 4^th – Toronto – The Opera House

http://www.myspace.com/jellobiafraandthegsm

For more information or to book an interview please  contact :

Melanie Kaye PR

info@melaniekayepr.com

Office:416-408-3223

Cell:416-823-9139

www.melaniekayepr.com

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Suburban Home Records Recording Artists:

Tuesday, February 9th, 2010

Useless ID

Yotam – Vocals/Bass • Guy – Guitar/Vocals • Ishay – Guitar/Vocals • Jonathan – Drums

 History: During their first years, Useless ID was mainly active in the Israeli hardcore scene. After releasing two albums on their own label, Falafel Records (named after their favorite food), the band decided to tour the United States. While on tour, they caught the ear of Kris Roe (frontman of the Ataris). The Ataris and Useless ID ended up recording a split album together on Kung Fu Records. The band were then signed by Kung Fu, who put out their next 3 albums. In addition to those albums, Useless ID have been featured on the compilations “Short Songs for Short People” and the “Rock Against Bush” comps that Fat Wreck Chords released. They’ve also been featured in the documentary “Jericho’s Echo,” which showcased punk and hard­core acts from Israel. The band’s latest album :“THE LOST BROKEN BONES”(ON SUBURBAN HOME RECORDS) finds them returning to the States to record with Bill Stevenson and Jason Livermore at the Blasting Room in Ft. Collins, Colorado.

Hometown: Haifa, Israel. “It’s hard to go out on tour as airline tickets are not cheap. It’s hard to record in a good studio because there aren’t a lot of good studios. It’s hard to put out a record because there are no independent labels and especially no independent punk labels. It’s hard to play local shows because the country is so small. You pretty much have to do everything yourselves. The good side of all this, if there is any, is that our band took all these difficulties and decided that we were going to fight for it, no matter what, and not give up just because we’re from Israel and it’s a hard place to start a punk band.” They’ve now managed to move beyond the scope of just Israel, becoming an internationally recognized band that has toured all across the globe.

The Un-avoidable Politics Question: “We never ask any special credit for being a band based in the Middle East. We also never wanted to make a super strong political statement or try to get glued together with the hard time our country is getting/giving for its tricky political/religious status. We never cared about any of this at all. Whatever criticism we get for the state of politics in Israel and the Middle East, we do our best to explain the real facts that you don’t see on CNN, or in the worst case, just ignore it. We started this band in order to escape mainstream life in Israel, and there is a good reason for us to stay the way we are… our band is our escape from these difficult issues that every Israeli guy wakes up to.”

One of the most common things we hear on a daily basis is how “times are tough” for bands these days. Getting shows, finding someone to put out your records, and touring are all major hurdles that every band complains about at some point. Well, how about trying to do it in ISRAEL? When Useless ID got together over a decade ago, there was no “scene” to rely on for support, no clubs to set up shows, and there sure as hell weren’t any local record labels looking to put out punk bands. But they persevered, and today they can look back on an incredible track record – six albums, countless tours to the farthest reaches of the globe, and a slew of releases on punk stalwarts like FAT WRECK CHORDS, KUNG-FU RECORDS, and now SUBURBAN HOME in the US ,RUDE RECORDS in Europe ,BULLION/ULF in Japan, supported by Ear-say and OLEH!  in Israel And they’re definitely not done yet. “The Lost Broken Bones” is without a doubt their best record yet, twelve explosive tracks of infectious power-pop that hearken back to the glory days of pop-punk. Long before the genre was bastardized by stupid haircuts and designer jeans, there were countless bands funneling their aggression into catchy melodies, and Useless ID continue to carry that torch with pride.

Day Jobs: Yotam used to be a mailman, but now he produces records for local bands. Ishay and Guy used to dabble in the age-old punk rock tradition of tossing pizza dough, but these days Ishay works in a record store and Guy runs a backline rental business that rents gear to international touring bands. Nobody knows what Jonathan does, but he has a drink named after him called a “Harpak”. It’s four shots of vodka in a glass. Matt from No Use For a Name is the only person to have ever consumed two Harpak’s and lived to tell about it.

Oleh!  Extra:

These boys have an incredible track record – six albums and countless tours to the farthest reaches of the globe.

In the beginning of 2008, Useless entered the studio with Bill Stevenson, (drummer for the Descendents), and Jason Livermore, with the intention of creating the six and best Useless ID album they could possibly produce. The result, their new album The Lost Broken Bones. The album showcases many new sides of their long time musical experience through twelve explosive tracks of infectious power-pop that hearken back to the glory days of pop-punk.

With their fan base breaking through the walls of Israel, Useless ID continue to climb in popularity through constant appearances. They’ve managed to move beyond the scope of just Israel, becoming an internationally recognized band that has toured all across the world.

Tour(s): Have played shows in places many bands have never heard of. China, Russia, Palma de Mallorca, Australia, every single state in the US,Canada, Japan, Belorussia and Siberia.

Fun Fact: On their first tour of Germany, they didn’t wear a single piece of clothing on stage for the entire tour. Allegedly, they have since been forgiven by the German people.

Don’t miss your chance to see them live in Canada this Spring !

March 24 – Quebec – Dagobert

March 25 – Montreal – L’Absynthe

March 26 – Ottawa – The Rainbow

March 27 – Kitchener – The Schwaben Club

March 28 – Burlington – Red Rooster

March 31 – London – Moon Over Marin

April 1 – Oshawa – Atria

April 2 – Toronto – Soy Bomb Headquarters

April 3 – New Market – The White Rabbit

April 4 – Drummondville – La Brassée

For more information or to book an interview please contact :

Melanie Kaye PR

info@melaniekayepr.com

Office:416-408-3223

Cell:416-823-9139

www.melaniekayepr.com

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