Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Review: The Boxer Rebellion-The Cold Still


       By the time a band let’s lose their third album they our either in a musical groove that the idiom “if it ain't broke, don't fix it” would apply and have a diehard fan base that believes they can do no wrong… or they take chances musically that leaves their fans bewildered and confused…The Boxer Rebellion is following the first formula to a T on “The Cold Still”. This is The Boxer Rebellion’s third studio album and it was released back in Feb onto a public that it seems is always hungry for the next Coldplay or The National, with The Cold Still that is exactly what they are getting, and more. 

      This is a band that was no stranger to public adulation having their second release 2009’s 'Union' being named Alternative Album of the Year by iTunes US. The Cold Still was produced by Ethan Johns (Kings of Leon, Ryan Adams, Crowded House) and you can really hear his touch within’ the grooves of each track, this record flows, some records are made to be single driven and have no flow to them, and this record is the total opposite of that, you move from song to song without any of those awkward musical pauses…it just works. 

      Recorded at Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios, producer Johns really captured the band’s live sound , these four guys are a group that were taylor made for playing live, and this record really conjures up that sound. It was not until my second listen through of the record that it hit me what they were all about...super catchy tunes that don’t hurt your brain too much and transfer to a live setting almost effortlessly, and this is a very difficult feat even for the most seasoned band… The Boxer Rebellion seems to pull it off with this record. 

     The stands out tracks on the record for me are: Both Sides Are Even, Cause for Alarm, Step out of the Car and the eerily evocative Doubt

The Cold Still is available on iTunes


Joe Cornelisse-SSGS

Monday, June 27, 2011

Mariposa Folk Festival 2011...
Information You'll Need


      This Mariposa article is a informational one in nature, in other words I’ve got some things for y’all to take in before heading out for your Mariposa Weekend (July the 8th to the 10th in case you have forgotten). 


     Parking-There will be as in the past on-site parking available on a first-come first-served basis at a cost of $10 per day. (Let’s just hope the rain holds off this year and doesn’t flood the back lots out). New this year is 50 accessible parking spots; they will be located at the front gate (Accessible Parking Permit required). If all of the designated accessible parking spots are occupied when you arrive, the parking volunteers will help you find a suitable parking alternative.


Shuttle Busses-The organizers of the Mariposa folk Festival have always make it a point to push the usage of the Shuttle Busses as a means to get back and forth during the Festival, it frees up traffic jams and if you are going to indulge in a few “pops” it is obviously the only way to go. 


    The buses start at 3:30 p.m. on Friday and 10:30 a.m. both Saturday and Sunday. The last bus will leave the festival site at 12:30 p.m. each night. The pick-up points are:


  David H. Church School 
  Brian Orser Arena 
  Lions Oval
  Orillia Square Mall
  West Ridge Place (former Walmart store)




Bikes-Another great way to get to the Festival is by bike, and the Mariposa Festival has a free bicycle parking compound located just inside the main entrance, lock your bike up and enjoy the day.

Chairs and Blankets- There is a new policy this year concerning chairs, blankets and other personal effects left overnight at the festival site. You cannot leave them at the site overnight anymore; people have been leaving their chairs and blankets in front of the main stage to “save their spots” for the entire weekend, and in my opinion that’s not fair, it should be a first-come first-spot sort of deal (you know what I mean). All items left behind will be removed each night after the close of the main stage and placed in an unsecured compound located behind the accreditation tent where they may be retrieved during festival hours. All items left overnight are left at your own risk.

Youth and Young Adults-There are some really great discounts for kids and young adults this year (I feel really old typing Young Adult). A Weekend Pass for Young Adults (age 17-24) is only $55, A Weekend Pass for Youth (age 13-16) is only $12, and don’t forget Children 12 and under are admitted FREE!

Water Station-When coming to the festival this year why not bring your own refillable cup or bottle to use, it can be refilled at the Eausis Water Station. This water station is one of the best inventions I have seen in years. Do you remember just a few years ago the large bags filled with empty water bottles, can you just imagine how many of those would be used in an entire weekend at a festival? The Eausis Water Station comes along and changes the whole game, just walk up with your refillable cup or bottle and get yourself a cold drink of water just like that...oh and if I forgot to mention it's FREE!


This year’s Mariposa Folk Festival takes place July 8-10, Orillia, Ontario. This year’s line-up includes Emmylou Harris, Josh Ritter and the Royal City Band, Peter Yarrow, Lunch at Allen’s, John McDermott, Ron Hynes, Garnet Rogers, Adonis Puentes and many more on eleven stages throughout the beautiful Tudhope Park on the shores of Lake Couchiching.
There will be Audience camping available at nearby Burl’s Creek Family Event Park
http://www.mariposafolk.com/

All ticket categories are now on sale at www.mariposafolk.com

Kids 12 and under are admitted free. There is discounted pricing for youth and young adults.

Joe Cornelisse-SSGS

***Another SURPRISE GUEST has been booked for this years Mariposa Folk Festival...I wonder who it is***

Sunday, June 26, 2011

2011 Mariposa Folk Festival Contest...Well Sort Of


Hey everyone

           So my contest to give away 3 pairs of weekend passes to this year’s Mariposa Folk Festival was in a few words kind of a bust...I’m chalking it up to most of the people that read my Blog already have their passes, there’s always next year. 

    Anyways, I did receive one email from a reader with a really great story , here it is: 

Dear Music Gods and Joe,

      I grew up in a home where my dad censored the TV we were allowed to watch, the places we were allowed to go, and the music we listened to. He had the stereo removed from his 1985 Citation to this end.

      I loved music but had to listen to it secretly a lot of the time. I never went to any concerts or music festivals until I was eighteen. My first concert was at the Koolhaus in Toronto and the band that was playing was The Beautiful South. I saw Moist, I Mother Earth and Ginger (Formerly known as The Grapes of Wrath) in early 1997 in Barrie. I have also seen Vince Gill twice at the Casino, once in 2002, and again last fall. I also saw Jann Arden playing in Barrie back in 2007 and she was excellent, funny as hell.

But for the most part I have had a severe deficiency of fun in my life and I would love to go to the Mariposa Music Festival. 

The truth is, the only artist I have ever heard of at the festival is Emmylou Harris, but Yukon Blonde looks awesome. I will listen to music, drink in the sights, walk around, maybe buy a hemp bracelette, and relax. I might get a sun burn. I might get a little bit drunk and take a cab home. ;) Kidding. Alcohol makes me puffy.

If the Gods of Music would help me to go to the festival, I would be forever grateful.

Leissa S

This one email made up for me not receiving any others, thank you Leissa and Congratulations

      So with 2 pairs of weekend passes left I contacted a friend of mine who had expressed interest in really wanting to go but who has a rather large extended family and financially could not see swinging it, so the “Gods of Music” (I’m starting to really like that handle) will bestow upon him and his fiancee the remaining 2 weekend passes so they and their family can enjoy a great weekend of music and memories.

  So ends my first experience in the wide world of Blog Contests, it didn't turn out like I wanted it to, but I also realize that I'm just getting the Blog off the ground and with time everything will work itself out.

Don’t forget Mariposa is less than 2 weeks away...excited yet?

     This year’s Mariposa Folk Festival takes place July 8-10, Orillia, Ontario. This year’s line-up includes Emmylou Harris, Josh Ritter and the Royal City Band, Peter Yarrow, Lunch at Allen’s, John McDermott, Ron Hynes, Garnet Rogers, Adonis Puentes and many more on eleven stages throughout the beautiful Tudhope Park on the shores of Lake Couchiching.

There will be Audience camping available at nearby Burl’s Creek Family Event Park
http://www.mariposafolk.com/

All ticket categories are now on sale at www.mariposafolk.com
Kids 12 and under are admitted free. There is discounted pricing for youth and young adults.

Joe Cornelisse-SSGS



Saturday, June 18, 2011

R.I.P. "The Big Man" Clarence Clemons 1942-2011

     Just got the word that Clarence Clemons, the 
saxophonist in Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band died Saturday at a hospital in Palm Beach, Fla. He was 69. The cause was complications from a stroke, which he suffered last Sunday.


Friday, June 17, 2011

Mariposa Folk Festival.....More Than Just The Mainstage

       With the Festival only 3 weeks away I thought I’d take a moment to mention a bit about all of the great workshops that are happening throughout this year’s Festival. 


     The Workshops are in my opinion what make the Festival great. You get to see your favourite artist’s one on one or in many cases you get to discover musicians you would never have had the chance to hear in any other setting. The flying by the seat of your pants mentality is also what I enjoy about the workshops, as much as they prepare you always get that guitar out of tune, or the broken string or the forgotten line of a song, and in all of my years going I have never seen an artist’s get upset, they just go with the flow and laugh it off, it’s a really refreshing vibe to take in.


      This year’s Festival is offering over 30 workshops throughout the entire weekend, some of them are : Bluegrass Brunch, World Stage,  Raised All Wrong, Fiddlin’ Around, Lightfoot Songs, Booze Boots & Bedlam, We Shall Overcome, This Land is Your Land, Through Ages and Acres, Beatles Sing Along.


     My advice to Festival goers is to take a few minutes and plan out their day so they don’t miss out on some of these really great workshops and artist’s that Mariposa is offering this year, because that happens to me every year. I’m sitting there looking at the program and just as I’m headed off to one stage I look and there’s someone on another stage at the same time that I really wanted to see

   If there is one thing “wrong” with Mariposa it’s that there is just too much Good Music, and if that is wrong then I just don't want to be right


This year’s Mariposa Folk Festival takes place July 8-10, Orillia, Ontario. This year’s line-up includes Emmylou Harris, Josh Ritter and the Royal City Band, Peter Yarrow, Lunch at Allen’s, John McDermott, Ron Hynes, Garnet Rogers, Adonis Puentes and many more on eleven stages throughout the beautiful Tudhope Park on the shores of Lake Couchiching.


There will be Audience camping available at nearby Burl’s Creek Family Event Park


http://www.mariposafolk.com/

All ticket categories are now on sale at www.mariposafolk.com


Kids 12 and under are admitted free. There is discounted pricing for youth and young adults.

Joe Cornelisse-SSGS


Sunday, June 12, 2011

SSGS MUSIC NEWS- Week of June the 5th to June the 12th, 2011


    Sloan has been added as a headliner to Guelph, ON's Hillside Festival, this year’s festival runs from July 22 to 24.

      With the release this week of “David Comes To Life”  Fucked Up’s punk rock “Opera” the band decided to celebrate it with a Pop-Up Record Store release party, the first hand info I got from the guys (and girl) in the band is that the midnight opening was crazy until all the free beer was gone than it fizzled out leaving band members and die-hard fans.

   Jack White and wife Karen Elson announced this week that they are throwing a 6th Anniversary/Impending Divorce party…it takes all kinds I guess

    I knew there was a reason I love small indie labels…free music. Paper Bag Records released a FREE Summer sampler this week which includes everyone from Austra to PS I Love You, they also throw in some Elliot Brood for good measure…enjoy  

    Broken Social Scene released a video this week for their single “Sweetest Kill”; it was banned by MuchMusic and embraced by everyone else. I watched and wondered what the big deal was, some woman chopping up some guy’s rubber arm...I’ve seen worse on Freaky Eaters

      Next week is the annual NXNE Festival and conference in Toronto, everyone should get out and see at least one band, my personal viewing choice for the week is at Yonge-Dundas Square on Thursday, it’s Free and bands include The Descendents, Fucked Up, METZ, OFF! and Rusty…can’t wait to see OFF!..........(I’m still holding my breath for a Press Pass)

Joe Cornelisse-SSGS

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Mariposa Folk Festival Ticket Giveaway!!!***CONTEST UPDATE!!!***

      *** Contest Update!!***

        So after some intense soul searching and great advice from my incredible wife I’ve decided to improve the Contest by adding a second part, and it goes a little something’ like this, if you have never had the pleasure of attending the festival before I want to hear from you, I want you to tell me who you are most excited about seeing this year, or what activity at the festival you are most thrilled about partaking in.
So get those emails into me ASAP with your name, phone # and of course Past or Future Mariposa experiences. 
Email me at: 
sonicmoremusic@gmail.com

   
  Yes you read it right; the generous people at the 2011 Mariposa Folk Festival were kind enough to pass along to me 3 Pairs of Weekend Passes for me to do with as I please, so I am giving them to you.


     As soon as I got them I started brainstorming about the type of contest I could put together for these super-hot tickets, what could I make my readers do…I was picturing some sort of Survivor style contest, you know standing on one leg for umpteenth number of hours….or maybe an essay written just about me (all things positive of course), then it came to me in a dream, yes I dream about contests, it’s something I’m working on. Why not have you (my readers) write me and tell me about your most favourite Mariposa Folk Festival experience, maybe a performer you saw, maybe you ran into an old friend that you hadn’t seen in years, or maybe you proposed to your one true love at the Festival.

    So email me your favourite Mariposa Folk Festival experience and out of the thousands of responses I expect to get I will choose my 3 favourite, then those 3 will each win a pair of Weekend Passes!! Excited Yet? I am

    That’s not all; I will also publish your stories in this Blog for the entire world to read what a great time Mariposa can be , so get writing!!!

Please email me your experiences to :     

 sonicmoremusic@gmail.com

Please put Attention: Mariposa Folk Festival experience

The deadline for entries will be June the 22nd, so that’s only 2 weeks from today!!!     



This year’s Mariposa Folk Festival takes place July 8-10, Orillia, Ontario. This year’s line-up includes Emmylou Harris, Josh Ritter and the Royal City Band, Peter Yarrow, Lunch at Allen’s, John McDermott, Ron Hynes, Garnet Rogers, Adonis Puentes and many more on eleven stages throughout the beautiful Tudhope Park on the shores of Lake Couchiching.

There will be Audience camping available at nearby Burl’s Creek Family Event Park

http://www.mariposafolk.com/

All ticket categories are now on sale at www.mariposafolk.com

Kids 12 and under are admitted free. There is discounted pricing for youth and young adults.

Joe Cornelisse-SSGS


Friday, June 10, 2011

Getting a Divorce? Jack White says Throw a Party


    Jack White and wife Karen Elson are throwing an anniversary party…well kind of, it’s a party to announce their 6th wedding anniversary and also their upcoming divorce, and as usual Jack does it with just a little bit of fever thrown into the mix. 

    White and Elson married in Brazil back in 2005 and have 2 kids together, they live in Nashville.
   This statement was released by their PR firm Nasty Little Man on their website:

To whom it may concern:

 “We remain dear and trusted friends and co-parents to our wonderful children Scarlett and Henry Lee. We feel so fortunate for the time we have shared and the time we will continue to spend both separately and together watching our children grow. In honor of that time shared, we are throwing a divorce party.  an evening together in Nashville to re-affirm our friendship and celebrate the past and future with close friends and family.”
with love
Karen Elson and Jack White


    Knowing a bit of how Jack White works, this whole parade just smells a little too much like a PR stunt. For their 2 kids’ sake I hope it’s not.

Joe Cornelisse-SSGS