wamm issue 17 | september 2009

september 2009 | issue 17

Windsor Arts & Music Monthly (WAMM) is afree independent publication designed tokeep you abreast of arts and culture in theWindsor area. Featuring music, visual arts,film, theatre, literature and beyond, WAMM isyour guide for entertainment in Windsor.WAMM will grow & evolve with every issueand continue to answer the question; “Whatdo you want to do tonight?”

editor: Stephen Hargreavescopy editor: Kate Hargreavescontributors: Jamie Greer, John Doherty,Adam Fox, Rob Tymec, Kate Hargreaves & Stephen Hargreavesdesign: Stephen Hargreaves

We are looking for freelance writers!email: [email protected], comments, advertising, etc. contact: [email protected]

visit our website:

WAMMonline.comalso find us on facebook.com, at myspace.com/WAMMmagazine

& at twitter.com/WAMMonline

printed in Canada

ISSN 1916-5900

© Windsor Arts & Music Monthly (WAMM)2008 All rights reserved. No part of this mag-azine may be reproduced without the writtenpermission of the editor.

2 | WAMM| issue 17 | september 2009

2 48 hour flick fest3 in love with a tuba

3 SOE wine fest3 prom v2.04 windsor scene6 best of windsor

6 food & drink7 shops7 life & nightlife9 music & art9 media

8 kathleen edwards

10 bombs11 l ist ings11 album charts

he 48Hour Flick Fest isright around the cornerand it has a few new

things going for it this year, in-cluding a new director, local pro-ducer Vanessa Shields.

Can you provide us a brief bio?

I worked on my first feature filmin Kelowna, B.C. in 1999. It wasan independent feature film writ-ten, produced and directed by twotalented women. I basically dideverything from pre-productioninto production - from producing,rehearsing, production managing,first assistant directing, acting! Itwas a blast and I realized thatbeing involved in the film indus-try was what I wanted to do formy career. Since then, I haveworked on five features, a bunchof videos, commercials and shortfilms. I have a degree in Commu-nication Studies from the Univer-sity of Windsor. While I was thereI immersed myself in everythingfilm related. If there was a pro-duction in town, I would try to beinvolved on some level. I workedin Toronto for The Weather Net-work and CBC. I also worked inOttawa for the Canada Day eventswith CBC.My talents lie in producing andorganizing. It works out well be-cause the creative people aroundme all have other talents on setthat allows me to use my skills asa producer. I love pre-production,organizing and being on set.There's nothing like it. I'm awriter through and through, how-ever, and my goal is to one daymake a film that I've actually writ-ten myself. I've got a few up myt-shirt sleeve.

Why a 48-hour film-making festi-val? What‘s the impact on Wind-sor?

The 48Hour Flick Fest is in itsthird year. That it made it to yearthree is something to be proud of.Last year, there were over 10teams that signed up. For theteams involved on a creativelevel, it's only a positive impactthat the event has on them. It fol-lows that their friends and fami-lies will be involved as wellwhether they are part of the film-making or part of the festivitiesafter. That’s a gala attendance ofover 300 people. I'd say that'spretty great. Also, it allows localcompanies and filmmakers in theWindsor/Essex area to be in-volved as sponsors and get theirnames and businesses out there.And on another level still, the 48

Hour Flick Fest falls under thelovely umbrella of the WindsorInternational Film Festival whichcompares in strength and great-ness to any other film festival I'vebeen to (and that includes Tribecain New York and Toronto, well, inToronto!) It's only a good impactas far as I'm concerned. Whenanything in the creative arts ishappening in Windsor, it can onlybe a positive thing for the city.

What is the 48Hour Flick Fest?

The 48Hour Flick Fest is literally48 hours in which teams write,film and edit a short film. It's ahuge challenge physically, men-tally and creatively - and it's somuch fun. The festival aspectcomes in after the fact, when thefilms are screened at a big galaevent, and when awards are givenfor various categories, like BestActor, Best Film, etc.

What sort of people sign up forthe fest?

Generally, students from the uni-versity/college are involved inhigh numbers but that certainly isnot the only group of people whopartake. Local creative peoplecome to play--call them writers,cinematographers, filmmakers.It's a creative, inspired group ofpeople who participate. Eager too.

What sort of groups is the festivalhoping to attract?

On the filmic level, I'm hopingthat anyone who has ever thoughtabout making a film will comeout. Get a group of friends to-gether with fun as their main goal,and make a film. Local filmmak-ers who may have a little more ex-perience, of course, they arewelcome as well! They can per-haps challenge themselves onmore than just a 'fun' level, al-though I'd hope that fun is part oftheir goal as well. Everyone iswelcome.

When does this year’s festival takeplace?

This year, the festival will startFriday, Oct. 23 and continue untilSunday, Oct. 25. That's our 48 thisyear. The awards gala will takeplace afterwards.

Where can interested filmmakersfind information on rules and re-strictions at this time?

The best place to go to get all this

information is our website:48hourflickfest.com. It is beingupdated as often as possible.

Will there be anything differentthis year?

I'm hoping to have some new, ex-citing sponsors this year to spruceup the prize packages as well as asurprise judge ... but nothing'sconfirmed at this point! It'll bewell worth it to stay connected viaour Facebook group, our Twittersite, and our website to find out allthe juicy details.

Film Goer’s Alternatives.

Summer Hours (Oliver Assayas, France, 2009,French with English subtitles,102 min., NR)The film deals with ideas of tradi-tion and family heritage, using ahouse and garden as a metaphorfor cultural memory. Hálène livesin a rambling mansion full of art.On her seventy-fifth birthday, herthree grown children arrive to cel-ebrate the happy milestone.Events force Hálène’s children tomake a series of decisions thathave everything to do with theirshared sense of the past. What todo with all of these memories andobjects that define them and in asense create their identity? Can allthis be discarded? What at firstappears to be a simple decisionthey make together turns intosomething much thornier.

Soul Power (Jeffrey Levy-Hinte, U.S., 2009,English & French, 93 min., PG)This is an extravagantly entertain-ing documentary, assembled froma trove of hundreds of hours offootage captured by some of theworld's finest cinéma vérité cam-era operators some 35 years ago.The number of people who saythey were at Woodstock has longsince grown beyond any plausibleestimate of attendance, and the re-lease of Soul Power may lead to arash of unlikely, passionate claimsto have been in Zaire when thismonumental and now half-forgot-ten concert went down. It's not toolate. And if for some reason youthink of James Brown and BillWithers as dusty names in the an-nals of popular music, this moviewill help you complete your edu-cation.

Moon (Duncan Jones, UK, 2009,English, 97 min., NR)Moon evokes many things — the

nature of the human experience,the nature of employee-manage-ment relations, how the odds arefairly good that the future will beexactly like today, but more so.With all of its far-flung inven-tions, impeccable visual designand Clint Mansell's eerie score,Moon boils down to a single manhaving a long conversation in iso-lation, telling himself a few liesand opening his own eyes to a fewtruths.

Whatever It Was (Dylan Pearce, 2008, Windsor)

The director of Baby Blues DylanPearce will screen his new filmthis month. The synopsis: What-ever It Was tells the story of sixstrangers that come into contactwith a man willing to say any-thing, and be anyone to get what,and who, he wants. This is a storyof suspense, romance, and thetype of passion that destroyseverything it touches. This is astory of relationships that beginwith a look, falter with a secret,and die by the truth. This is a storyof three couples who find them-selves falling out of love and intoa tangled future with unknownpossibilities and dangers.The locally shot film is presentedby Rocky Mountain Pictures and12.13. It stars ChristopherLawrence Menard, Norma Cole-man, Ashlee Leible, John An-thony Nabben, Ruth Stanton,Andrew Anthony and Tared Jafer.It was written by ChristopherLawrence Menard. MarioCarnevale is the executive pro-ducer while Darren Arsenault andDerek Bellemore are producers.The film shows at Lakeshore (164Lakeshore Blvd. in Tecumseh)Friday ,Sept. 18 through Thurs-day, Sept. 24 at 1:30 p.m., 4:10p.m., 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.Tickets: General admission $9.75and seniors $6.75 available at thegate.

For more information visit Whatever-ItWas.ca or visit their Facebook site.

Summer Hours shows Friday,Sept. 4, Soul Power screens Fri-day, Sept. 18, Moon shows Fri-day, Sept. 25. All films screen atthe Art Gallery of Windsor at 7p.m. Tickets can be purchased atthe Art Gallery Gift Shop for $10.A cash bar will be available onehour before each screening.

e-mail your film related ideas to

[email protected].

48Hourflick fest

CONTENTS

director and producer Vanessa Shields

Tphoto: John Doherty

“Wine is bottled poetry.” Or so saidRobert Louis Stevenson.While wine is a many splendored thing, perhapsmore than love, I often fear that the 8000 yearold drink has been largely hijacked by peoplewho would rather talk about it than drink it.Declamatory sommeliers go on at lengths about‘terroir’ and bicker about what ‘estate’ reallymeans and while I may fail to distinguish a Mal-var from a Merlot, or a Sauvignon from aSémillon, I still enjoy the evocative glug-glugof a peerless vintage cascading into gossamerthin crystal, oh no I’m starting to sound like oneof them.What many a wine ponce forgets is thatwinewas, and still is in most of the world, thedrink of the people and not a formalizedmethodology carried out by the affluent bour-geoisie to prove how interesting they are. Wine,good wine, thrives as a drink when it is con-sumed outside in a field under a setting sun withgood friends and good music, which is wherethe Shores of Erie International Wine Festivalhas hit the nail on the head.Set within Fort Malden National Historic Sitein Amherstburg, along the shoreline at themouth of Lake Erie and the Detroit River, thefestival acts as a showcase for the award win-ning wineries of Lake Erie’s north shore. Fer-mented grape juice from the cellars of PeleeIsland, Colio, Crew, and ten other vineyards,pair with a selection area of restaurants to keepthe many thousands in attendance in the perfecthead space for a music line-up that eclipses alltheir previous efforts combined.

On the opening night, Thursday, September10th, the festival kicks off with Justin Nozuka,follwed by 2009 two time Juno award winnersand post-punk revivalists The Stills and finallyreggae hit makers Bedouin Soundclash. On Fri-day, the 11th the second stage plays host to TheMonday Milkmen, Trish Wales and Clint Weirwhile the main stage welcomes Johnny Rocca,swinger Big Rude Jake and rising star SerenaRyder. On Saturday, the 12th the extensive line-up begins at noon with a stream of locals in-cluding Tara Watts, Mr. Chill & Greg Cox,Jackie Robitaille, Michou, Ron Leary, andmany others. Closing out the weekend on Sun-day, the 13th is a healthy mix of locals includ-ing Field Assembly, Pat Robitaille, LocustsHave No King front-man Dave Dubois, RonLeary and Kenneth MacLeod warming up thestage for the golden voice of Ottawa’s KathleenEdwards.Tickets are a reasonable $30 on Thursday and$15 throughout the weekend, and can be pur-chased in advance at soewinefestival.com, inturn avoiding the likelihood of spending half ofyour evening standing in a queue hoping to getin while the wine is still flowing.Providing you do cross the threshold; find your-self a nice patch of grass, pop open a bottle andenjoy the multi-sensual stimulation of the wind,water, music and wine. Later when, inevitably,you’ve experienced a bit too much of EssexCounty’s finest, beware of the trenches left overfrom the War of 1812, and at all costs watch outfor the ‘wine experts’ in attendance; they talk atlength about how brilliant a wine tastes and thenthey spit it out. They can not be trusted.

MUSIC &MUSIC &WINEstephen hargreaves

The Stills review the wine list at the Shores of Erie Wine Festival

Remember prom? Most people don’t, and of

those who do, the experience is often one they

would rather forget. Sure, it probably wasn’t

quite Carrie bad, but many prom experiences in-

volve all the humiliation, just without the pigs’

blood and telekinesis. It likely was not fun wait-

ing for a date who didn’t show up, arriving in

mom and dad’s minivan alone, boutonnière in-

juries abounding, and a cold pasta dinner knocked

all over the suit you rented on three weeks worth

of Burger King wages, all before your least

favourite high school couple were named king

and queen.

What about being too young to have a few drinks

without getting kicked out, having to swap your

real date for an opposite sex friend for fear of un-

wanted altercations, or just plain old refusing to

attend any event where the music selection prom-

ises to prominently feature Aerosmith’s “I Don’t

Want to Miss a Thing” or Vitamin C’s “Canon in

D,” erm… “Graduation (Friends Forever)?”

For everyone who felt like Duckie at the prom

(you know, when Andie ditched him for that ass-

hole Blaine), OPIRG Windsor has the event that

will let you rewrite your prom history and attach

some positive memories to the institution that you

now thank for years of therapy.

The Ontario Public Interest Research Group

(OPIRG), a social justice group that operates out

of the University of Windsor, is planning the

“Freaks, Geeks, and Queers Left Over Prom” at

the Blind Dog on Saturday, September 19th to

benefit social justice and environmental pro-

gramming throughout the upcoming year. Open

to anyone who wants to get dressed up and dance

like it was recently illegal, OPIRG’s prom hopes

to make all your prom movie fantasies a reality.

With prizes for best as well as worst dressed, and

of course the naming of a royal prom couple, it

might be an idea to dust off that hideous pink

trapezoid dress you made out of two perfectly de-

cent gowns given to you by your dad and that hip

record store owning pal of yours…with no wor-

ries that they are all going to laugh at you. In fact,

your outfit might even win you some fantastic

prizes from Ottawa Street rockabilly boutique,

The Unique Rabbit.

Ask a date or head out alone with your head heldhigh. No one is in high school anymore (19+) andlet’s face it, who would want to be. For more in-formation, check out the “Freaks, Geeks andQueers Left Over Prom” event on Facebook.

Summer's coming to a close, which means Wind-sor’s endless stream of festivals is also reachingits conclusion. As Fall creeps in, many theatrecompanies who shut their doors during the sum-mer because they know it's all about festivals andnot plays, are embarking upon the latter half oftheir season with a number of very interestingshows. As we approach late September, the latest offeringfrom Joey Ouellette's Purple Theatre will be hit-ting the stage (or, more specifically, the floor ofthe Main Level Studio) over at MacKenzie Hall.Not only are Ouellette’s plays fantastic, but hecontributes to the local art scene far more thanmost other theatre companies do, and yet, theamount of exposure he receives for the great workhe's done is minimal, at best. His latest play is The Man Who Fell In Love WithA Tuba, the title of which, believe it or not, is ac-tually creating some measure of consumer resist-ance for him!"People are buying tickets for my other shows,this season," Ouellette explains, "but not this one.The other day, I overheard a woman at the frontdesk, (of MacKenzie Hall) buying some ticketsfor some of my stuff. When they asked her if shewanted a ticket for this play, she was like: ‘No.Oh no!’ Like as if it was dirty or evil to fall inlove with a tuba. She seemed almost terrified!" "It's about a man who has grown tired of the dat-ing scene," Ouellette explains. "He only everseems to pick women who are terribly mean tohim. Finally, he decides to just swear off dating,altogether. But then, one night, he hears a tubaplaying. Its sound fills the emptiness he's beenfeeling in his life. And he realizes, in that mo-ment, that he's in love with a tuba!" If anyone can pull off a convincing portrayal of aman falling in love with a tuba - it will be Ouel-

lette! And part of the comedy of the play, nodoubt, will stem from the fact that he will makethe romance seem 100% convincing! When asked what strange directions this latest sto-ryline would go, all Ouellette would offer backwas: "There will be helicopters - that's all I'mwilling to say." Surprisingly, the only other actor in the show isTerry McConnell, who has been playing tuba (anda whole other assortment of instruments, for thatmatter) for over 20 years. With only two actors,the play brings to mind Ouellette’s The Red De-tective series, which involves rapid characterchanges by two actors playing many characters. "You'll have to wait and see" was all Ouellette

said, when asked about plans for staging The ManWho Fell in Love with the Tuba. It could be thathe likes to be mysterious - it could be that he's stillworking on the script even as we speak and stillisn't entirely sure what his format will end upbeing! With McConnell in the cast, there may be a fairamount of "riffing." Ouellette and McConnellhave been working together since the Dawn ofTime, and are incredibly comfortable together onstage, which guarantees a measure of creative im-provisation. You can expect, at least, a few sur-prises coming from him every show! For thoseof you old enough to know the reference, it's a bitlike watching Harvey Korman and Tim Conway.For those of you who are not, go watch someepisodes of The Carol Burnett Show on YouTube.

The Man Who Fell in Love with a Tuba, writtenand directed by Joey Ouellette runs Saturdays,September 19th, 26th and October 3rd at 8 PM atMacKenzie Hall (3277 Sandwich Street). Formore info call (519)- 255-7600.

TUBALOVE

PURPLE THEATRE CO. PRESENTS THEIR TOP-BRASS

Punk> Rock>Prom> Queens>

DRINK & SAY NO MORE AT THE SHORES OF ERIE WINE FESTIVAL

kate hargreaves

rob tymec

OPIRG OFFERS ASECONDCHANCE AT THESENIORPROM

4| WAMM| issue 17 | september 2009

Inside information from inside the Windsor

All images © & courtesy of artist’s web pages.

ongrats to CJAM Music

Director Chris White for

becoming the acci-

dental superstar

of the local music scene.

Earlier this year, he

anonymously re-

leased an experi-

mental electronic

album called Cen-sored under the guise

of Fortunately

Everything Dies. It

is a kaleidoscope of

sounds, some gor-

geously lay-

e r e d ,

some dis-

jointed and fre-

netic. Well some-

where along the

way something

odd happened –

with little to no

fanfare at all,

the album has

become a

minor sensa-

tion across the

country. It re-

cently peaked at

#16 on earshot!’s mighty album

charts of national campus and com-

munity radio stations, hitting #2 on

the national electronic chart. You can

download the

album for free

(that’s right

free) – legally

and by the

artist’s request –

at fortunatelyev-erythingdies.band-

camp.com

It seems like “death coun-

try” is becoming its own genre of

sorts. Although coined tongue in

cheek by Windsor’s own Elliott

Brood, it’s become a bizarre

term to describe

punk in-

d u c e d

g l o o m y

country.

W e l l ,

another

g r e a t

f o r m

of this

c o n -

cept is Toronto’s The Schomberg

Fair who ride death’s rusted horses

into Windsor for a show at Phog

Lounge (157 University Ave. West)

on Friday, September 4th. This rootsy

band will knock your socks off with

their high energy show (as well as the

devilishly deep voice of bassist

Nathan Sidon, a former Windsorite).

They’re bringing another great

Toronto outfit in The Warped 45’s to

show their wares in Windsor and the

show is rounded out by one of my

favourite locals right now, James O-

L & The Villains. This will be a real

great night of high energy roots

music.

myspace.com/theschombergfair, my-space.com/thewarped45s & my-spacec.om/jamesol

Which Witch is the latest in Windsor

trends these days – veterans from

other bands coming together to create

something monstrous. As of late,

these Supergroups have begun to lean

towards the heavier side of things

(Blastphemy, Monolith, The Vaude-

villianaires) and Which Witch is no

exception. With past and present

members of Explode When They

Bloom, Measured in Angles and In

A Hail of Gunfire making up the

line-up, these guys already know how

to rock the shit out of a good tune.

Combining forces they’ve created an

instrumental metal combo that slams

the intensity of Slayer with the groove

of Black Label Society and the gall of

the Melvins. They’re hitting the stage

on Friday, September 4th at the

Chubby Pickle (762 Ouellette Ave.)

with Rockasaurus Rex, Anonymous

Bosch, Jamology and Laval.

myspace.com/whichwitchwhichwitch

Kelly “Mr. Chill” Hoppe and his

guitar-in-crime Greg Cox will be

pulling a double header over the long

weekend as part of the Bob-Lo Beach

House (located on Bob-Lo Island, off

Amherstburg) Labour Day Bash. Wit-

ness the roots and blues mastery of

Hoppe and Cox on an outdoor patio

overlooking the water, as they help

celebrate the long weekend. They’re

playing Friday, September 4th and

Saturday, September 5th, with shows

running from 6:30pm to 9:30pm each

night. Catch the ferry over next to

Duffy’s Tavern, across from the Beer

Store on Dalhousie Street.

myspace.com/mrchillampthewitnesses

Apart from the impressive list of “big-

ger” names at this year’s Shores of

Erie Wine Festival in Amherstburg

(Thursday, September 10th – Sunday,

September 13th), which includes

Bedouin Soundclash and The Stills

on Thursday, Serena Ryder and Big

Rude Jake on Friday and Kathleen

Edwards on Sunday, the line-up is

also peppered with some of the

scene’s finest singer/songwriters. Ron

Leary, Field Assembly,

Tara Watts, Jackie Ro-

bitaille, Mr. Chill &

Greg Cox, Michou,

Pat Robitaille,

David Dubois

and many

more are tak-

ing part in

this great festi-

val at Fort

Malden. Check

out soewinefesti-val.com/entertain-ment for a complete

listing with bios and time tables.

After a sold out debut at the Coach &

Horses last month, The Vaudevil-

lianaires bring their macabaret to

Phog Lounge (157 University Ave.

West) on Friday, September 11th. Due

to the overwhelming response of their

first show, the Phog show will be sell-

ing pre-sale tickets up until the show.

Tickets are $5 in advance or $7 at the

door. As if the thunder of the Vaude-

villianaires wasn’t loud enough for

you, they’re bringing some very spe-

cial guests. Opening the show will be

the dirty blues of Toronto’s The

Speaking Tongues, followed by the

sonic boom of the recently returned

Lodown. Ear plugs are recom-

mended. myspace.com/thevaudevil-lianaires, myspace.com/lodown &myspace.com/thespeakingtongues.

Speaking of roots and songwriters,

another of Canada’s indie roots dar-

lings, Cuff The Duke, come through

The Blind Dog (761 Ouellette Ave.)

on Saturday, September 12th. The

Blind Dog has come a long way in

bring-

i n g

s o m e

C

Chris White a.k.a. Fortunately Everything Dies Cu

ff T

he D

uke

w/ Lodown &The Speaking Tongues

great acts through Windsor and pro-

viding a larger venue feel to a location

that has been traditionally misplayed

in the past.

myspace.com/cufftheduke

I always forget how amazing it is to

watch Tara Watts play and sing until

I see her again. What a gem we have in

this city.

Recently I discovered a great young

local talent named Kevin Echlin, a

musician only 19 years old but with a

old soul and maturity of someone

much older. His music is very akin to

artists such as Beirut, Viet Nam or

Bon Iver and it’s simply gorgeous.

He’s making his debut at Phog Lounge

(157 University Ave. West) on Satur-

day, September 12th as the opener of a

great night of singer/songwriters. The

second act of the night is Montrealer

David Simard, who has been making

great waves in his home city and is

now taking his songs

on the

r o a d .

Clos-

i n g

o u t

t h e

night will be the always great sounds

of Travis Reitsma, bringing along the

full band to bring down the house.

m y s p a c e . c o m / k e v i n e c h l i n ,myspace.com/davidsimardmusic / my-space.com/tgreitsma

With the impending birth of the child

of band members Kevin Buckridan

and Stefanie Zaccagnini-Buckridan,

it looks like Two For The Cascade

will be going on maternity leave. Over

the past year, Two For The Cascade (or

24TC) really became a crowd

favourite, with their hauntingly dark

style and use of the Theramin and

Moog during live performances. Their

debut album, As God Intended, per-

fectly captured their live sound that so

many took part in the past year. De-

spite the birthing hiatus, 24TC have no

plans of ending the band, just

its live performances (for

now). In the meantime, it

looks like Kevin

Buckridan and

bandmate/Theramin player Holly

Brush will be carrying on as a side

project called The Other Woman (no

word yet if 24TC drummer George

Manury will also be involved). my-space.com/twoforthecascade

Hamilton faves The Mark Inside –

who have had some legendary shows

at both The Avalon Front and Phog

Lounge in the past – bring it to bigger

stage with a show at The Chubby

Pickle (762 Ouellette Ave.) on Friday,

September 18th. These guys have been

building a solid fan base and reputa-

tion across Canada the past few years

and Windsor’s been a big part of their

success. They’re being joined by

Threat Level Midnight, The Eclec-

tic Chair and The Reagan Eighties.

myspace.com/themarkinside

The Magic Hall of Mirrors are solid-

ifying their line-up while amassing a

giant collection of songs. This new

project formed by Golden Hands Be-

fore God songwriter/frontman Sean

Barry, guitarist/vocalist Justin Faubert,

ex-Royal Dose guitarist/vocalist

Daren Dobsky and bassist Eric Arner

(the doLLies, Portia, ten year

drought), has recently added former

itzjunk drummer Rico Malizia to the

line-up. After a few low key per-

formances during the summer,

the Magic Hall of Mirrors –

whose music has been de-

scribed as “folk punk blues,” al-

though it hardly begins to

describe the sounds that almost

sound more like if Fleet Foxes

got together with the Pogues –

will be opening up for Toronto

band Bombs at The FM Lounge

(156 Chatham St. West, beside

Pogo’s) on Friday, September 18th.

myspace.com/themagichallofmirrors

What a difference a name

makes…well, maybe not, but it sure

seems like the artists formerly known

as D. have gotten a whole more atten-

tion since changing their name to The

Bulletproof Tiger (which is a great

name, by the way). Following in the

footsteps of such bands as Bloem-

fontein, What Seas What Shores,

Measured in Angles and Salt of the

Chief Cornerstone, these uber-talents

are showing that creativity in instru-

mental compositions is worth check-

ing out and can be just as satisfying as

a vocally driven performance. They’ve

been creating quite a stir and have two

very different shows coming up in

September – first opening for Hamil-

ton’s Wax Mannequin at Phog

Lounge (157 University Ave. West) on

Tuesday, September 8th, followed by

another opening slot, this time at The

Coach & Horses (156 Chatham St.

West, below Pogo’s) on Friday, Sep-

tember 18th, playing with Winnipeg’s

Absent Sound and My Son, My Son.

myspace.com/thebulletprooftiger

After a three month break, local

rock and roll rabble rousers

High Mother make

their return to the

stage as part of a

show taking place

at The Loop

( 1 5 6

C h a t h a m

St. West,

a b o v e

Pogo’s) on

Friday, September

25th. These rock and roll

bad boys join a bill that includes Me-

ters To Miles, The Tyres and Water-

loo’s City Wide Panic.

myspace.com/highmother,myspace.com/meters2miles, myspace.com/thetyres &myspace.com/citywidepanic.

Brampton’s The Junction make their

Windsor stop on their cross Canada

tour promoting their latest release, An-

other Link In The Chain, with a swing

through at The Chubby Pickle (762

Ouellette Ave.) on Saturday, Septem-

ber 26th. The Junction manages to

combine the catchiest of power pop

with almost BritPop-style vocals to

make for some catchy UK style rock

and pop. They’re being joined by two

of Windsor’s finest, as Stereo-

GoesStellar and Yellow Wood open

the show.

m y s p a c e . c o m / t h e j u n c t i o n ,myspace.com/stereogoesstellar & myspace.com/yellowwood

WAMM| issue 17 | september 2009 | 5MUSIC SCENE EVERY MONTH IN WAMM MAGAZINE WITH JAMIE GREER !

Two For the Cascade

Wax M

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Just squeaking past The Lumberjack, the metro-politan Elias Deli at 126 Ouellette Avenue takesthe cake, or should that be pancake, for bestbreakfast. Elias serves a simple array of break-fast options made well and quickly, and have nowboldly entered the late night market, staying open24 hours-a-day on weekends.

Curry, England’s national dish (and apparentlypopular in India and the far east) is one of thefastest growing food trends in Canada, inspiringa rash of curry houses to open and close in Wind-sor. One which has, despite having the décor of a1980s coffee shop, developed a strong followingis India Palace, at 1167 Ottawa Street. It walks thefine line of serving stellar authentic Indian cuisinewhile still creating dishes suitable to woo the unini-tiated into curry-hood.

Vegetarian cuisine, and I use the term cuisineloosely, has had a bit of a bad rap. The cardboardcircles of soy or tofu with “grill marks” painted onsold as veggie-burgers are inedible and the sameis true for much of the veggie bacon, chicken andsomething called Tofurkey, presumably fauxturkey. Taloola Café, on the other hand, has takena surprisingly novel approach to catering to her-bivores. Rather than trying to make coagulatedsoy milk taste of meat, they make satisfying, fillinglunches from vegetables that taste of, wait for it,vegetables and they do it rather well.

In by far the closest race of “The Best of Windsor,”the battle for best café pitted Walkerville’s TaloolaCafé against downtown’s Milk Coffee Bar, andwith each receiving over 300 nods, it was with amere five votes that Milk put a plastic lid on thecompetition. The café has birthed a jazz band,The Milkmen, in their namesake, lent their wallspace to hundreds of artists, acted as a hub forWindsor culture for years and fuelled widespreadabsinthe addiction.

With Windsor establishments gaining national accolades recently and the city the focus of some international attention, WAMM called on you the reader, to recognize your favourite Windsorspots as the best our city has to offer. The results are in with over a thousand votes giving props to pizza, parks and patios, supporting your favourite salons, shawarma and songwriters,kudos to comic shops, and big ups to blogs. With the accolades you have draped on so many local businesses it’s becoming likely that, despite the economic gloom, like a German trapezeartist during a one-off performance at a butcher shop, we are over the wurst, err worst.

A romantic candle-lit atmosphere, reasonableprices and impressive menu made The CookShop a resounding winner in our quest for Wind-sor’s most romantic dining experience. With can-dles softly lighting the face of your favouriteperson, a bottle of wine and a good conversation,you are just as likely to melt your partners heart asThe Cook Shop’s wonderful Italian cuisine is tomelt in your mouth.

When my favourite restaurant, Mamo, closed Iwas at a loss. Later when I heard Mamo’s formerowner was opening a “southern barbeque” restau-rant I was less than excited until I ate there. You,dear readers, agree and voted Smoke and Spice(1515 Ottawa Street) your top new restaurant. Notpretentious, yet still retaining the decorum ofMamo, Smoke and Spice is the prefect restaurantfor Windsor today. Runner up, Vito’s Pizzeria’s200 plus votes and excellent food and prices war-rants mention as well.

Despite posting a net income rise to $518 millionand serving nearly 47 million customers dailymega-chain McDonald’s was all but ignored byyou in picking your top burger. Instead you offeredup the names of restaurants producing greathomemade burgers, the most popular beingBubi's Awesome Eats at 620 University Ave West,who serve a great variety of burgers and onegreat big, eight pound “Bunds‘s Big V8!”

The unabashedly Parisian Creperie Omer is,while not the cheapest place to keep your sweettooth at bay, still a far sight cheaper than a jauntto the French capitol and offers crêpes frogs fromeither side of the pond leap for.

Despite a few level seven vegans who condonedour call to pick the best Butcher in town, the car-nivores spoke with one voice; Ted Farron's Gour-met Butcher Shop. Unlike the factory-style massbutcheries that supply many of our grocery stores,Ted Farron, who achieved celebrity for his"Butcher Shop" segments on CBC's Midday pro-gram, operates, a real, old-style, butcher shopwith skilled butchers and local meats.

Acapulco Delight is the strangest place to be at3am, or honestly any other time. Mexican food,served by east Asians, on plastic garden furniture,with tanks of weird fish, karaoke, a menu withthousands of options all of which look and tasteexactly the same…it’s perfect.

Despite the popularity of Shawarma in Ottawa,Vancouver and Toronto, Windsor is the undis-puted Shawarma capitol of Canada. We love ourShawarma, and with seven independent sellerswithin a döners throw downtown there is fiercecompetition. However, with nearly 80% of youswarming to Shawarma Palace for an Arabicsnack, it is clear the restaurant at 276 OuelletteAvenue has a good rap, and a great wrap.

Windsor Pizza is famous, and was recently thesubject of a debate on CBC Radio 3, and a heav-ily contested title. This survey was no differentwith props for pizza from more places than weknew existed. At the end of the day, the biggestslice of your votes was delivered to PelissierStreet’s Terra Cotta.

Likely the inspiration for the interior design ofApple Stores across the world, the clean back-drop of Noi’s interior is your favourite place toenjoy a healthy selection of wine. Reds, whites,sparkling and Champagne are available in greatnumbers from around the world, to fit the palletteand pocket book of most any wine drinker. Per-haps the most important factor making Noi theideal setting to enjoy a glass or two is the knowl-edgeable bar and wait staff.

Vermouth, who also received accolades for theirpatio also take home the prize for best wine list ata bar. Offering a wide selection of grapes from thefar reaches of the globe and closer to home, atprice points to please the economically gifted andchallenged alike, even serving a set few labels ata mere $16 on Thursdays, not NASCARbernet orChef Boyardeaux either, but good wine at a goodprice. Additionally, while the sommeliers knowmuch about the wine they serve, they graciouslyrefrain from going on about terroir and leave youto enjoy your glass.

Vermouth’s patio exists on two levels. During after-noons and weeknights, patrons enjoy conversationover wine, mixes and beer at teak tables as thebreeze cuts down Ouellette Avenue, but when nightfalls on the weekend, a seat on Vermouth’s patio be-comes a front row seat to a self-narrated live docu-mentary on the effects of large volumes of alcoholon young Americans, a fashion show, and the idealvantage point to study the mating habits of womanwho can no longer walk in their heels, all with the se-curity of the railing of what you have named the bestpatio in Windsor.

Open since the early 60s, Italia Bakery, at 571 ErieStreet is as much an Erie Street institution as itsrestaurants. Largely known for their famous breads,that are to store-bought breads what a fine Cheshirecheese is to Velveeta or a real coffee is to the swillTim Horton’s sells, there is no comparison.

In a, “oh no, we should have made another cate-gory” moment, we realized that despite the greatsupport for a variety of local wineries in this category,the vineyards split the vote and left the race for thetop to a brewer and a distiller. At the end of the dayyou agreed with James Bond in Dr. No, and JanisJoplin, The Band and The Grateful Dead in FestivalExpress and like the ‘72 Roxy Music hit ‘Mother ofPearl’ you have “Canadian Club love.”

In a bit of a surprise outcome, the new DowntownWindsor Farmers Market ran away with your votesfor your favourite place to buy produce. While it isopen just one day a week (Saturdays) for a limitedtime of year, local residents have flocked to the mar-ket at the former bus terminal in droves, and with aselection of local food and other wears sold largely bythe farmers and producers, you have access to the de-tails of where your food comes from and how it is grown.

Like their name should tell you, City Beer Market has apretty vast selection of beer. WAMM readers thoughtthe restaurant aptly named and voted the ChathamStreet spot’s beer selection the best in the city. Withnearly 40 beers to choose from, brewed all over theworld, you are likely to find something that suits any pal-lette. Sitting on their patio drinking a massive glass ofHoegaarden is one of the best ways to relax on a sum-mer evening downtown.

&FOODDRINK

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Books existed before Oprah’s Book Club, HarryPotter and Danielle Steele, and back then webought books from bookshops, not acreages ofthe latest Twilight novel and drivel like The DaVinci Code. Luckily, the vast majority of WAMMreaders are drawn to the wonderful smell of book-shops, and while the names of chain mega-storesdid arrive on our survey, they were out-numberedby real bookshops, mostly Juniper Books (1990Ottawa Street). A veritable Narnia of novels, thesurprisingly vast Juniper Books sprawls forstoreys of stories in volumes of volumes.

I know virtually nothing about comic books. I’venever read or owned a single volume in my life,but when I visit Rogues Gallery Comics I wish Iwas part of the graphic novel scene. Rogues, tome, feels like the best boutique style indie recordshop, with people scouring the shelves for“deleted Smith singles and original, not re-re-leased, Frank Zappa albums” to quote High Fi-delity, but rather than music it’s the incrediblycoveted world of the comic book. As far as my un-trained eyes can tell Rogues Gallery Comics islike the little record shop is for me, a place inwhich all is well in the world for a hundred squarefeet or so.

In this digital age, where iTunes is king, Sam’sMusic has folded and HMV has resorted to sellingvideo games, movies and even, strangely, iTunescards and iPod accessories, the indie music shopseems doomed. But with a 124% increase in newvinyl records last year and a further 50% this year,combined with a return to a boutique driven musicbuying public, a staggering 95% of you have cho-sen Dr.Disc (659 Ouellette) as your favouriteplace to refresh your ears.

As far too many people today fail to realize thatbuying a guitar a Wal-Mart is about as smart asbuying a Korean car, and as such people continueto buy disposable cheap rubbish, the North Amer-ican car industry is in a shambles and great littlemusical instrument shops are dwindling. Luckilyfor us, we still have Riverside Music Shop at 4769Wyandotte Street East,a great place to stumbleinto vintage guitars, amps and an array of othernew and old music gear.

With nearly every one of your votes, Walkerville’sJones & Co. stylishly ran away with the best vin-tage shop title tucked away in a 1940s Frenchclutch. Seeming pulling haute couture from daysof yore without the effects of time, Jones offers aselection to rival any Montreal vintage shop at afraction of les prix dans la Belle Ville.

One of the few chains picked as the best of Wind-sor, the Swedish clothier H&M known for its fastfashion, opened in Devonshire Mall in 2006 and isone of the few affordable European chains inWindsor. Though it took until the store 1700 toopen in Canada’s deep south, Windsor’s fashion-able women have embraced Hennes & Mauritz astheir own, picking it as their top shop for dressingup. Mention should be made of the locals ChattyCollection & Jones & Co, and to a lesser extentthe newly opened Envy Botique, all of whom werehot on H&M’s tail throughout the voting process.

The men’s clothing category was ripe with variety,with a fair amount of votes going to Hugo Boss atWindsor Crossings and Mexx in the Devonshire,but at final count we were left with our only tie, andwe counted five times to be sure. Splitting the votewas the long established Freeds on Ottawa Streetat Gladstone, and the shop at the center of Walk-erville’s shopping strip on Wyandotte, Jones & Co.

Katnandu, located at 1666 Wyandotte Street, eas-ily brought home the title of best salon. Catering tothe styles of virtually anyone with hair, thoughknown for their skills in the modern and trendset-ting, Katnandu offers the quality and service of amajor metro salon at a fraction of the prices, allset in a casual environment that makes you feelas good as your hair looks.

Started in Toronto in 1985, the cosmetic line en-dorsed by Madonna, Linda Evangelista, HelloKitty and others, M.A.C. was named by one ofyou, “the only reason to go to the mall” and de-spite being more expensive than drug storebrands, is in a league with professional cosmet-ics costing four times as much.

SHOPSThe Dodge Caravan and its variants the PlymouthVoyager and the Chrysler Town and Country arethe 13th bestselling automobile of all time withclose to 13 million sold. The Windsor-made vanis, as one dealer put it, “the only thing makingChrysler money” and has now birthed the latestvariant in the way of the Volkswagen Routan, areplacement for the German-made Eurovan.Even if the vans are about as cool as the soccermoms who covet them, they roll off of the sameassembly line as the real 1970s Charger, the 60sDart and even a car called the Swinger; thosegenes are somewhere in those vans, somewhere.

&LIFENIGHTLIFE

British conductor and impresario Sir ThomasBeecham one said, "try everything once exceptincest and folk dancing." That being said, a fairmajority of Windsor’s young folk enjoy dancingand when they do they need look no further thanwithin the faithful four walls of The Loop. As ac-cepting as pretentious, The Loop manages to pro-vide a danceable beat capable of uniting an arrayof tastes on one dance floor; they may have evenstopped playing “Love Shack”.

A disturbing amount of readers voted Phog’s TomLucier as ‘best bartender,’ which nearly convincedus to toss in the “Best of Windsor” towel, until atfinal count he was beaten by several hundredvotes for Scott Funnel. Funnel is able to run aband through sound check, maintain three con-versations, and still serve a packed house at theCoach & Horses without anyone having to waitmore than a moment for a drink; most importantlyhe doesn’t have an iPhone.

I recently heard the editor of Detroit’s MetroTimestalking about the growing trendiness of the divebar among the middle-classes, even offering tipson dive bar etiquette, if there is such a thing. If thisis true, and it may well be, The Coach, who haverecently replaced the aroma of the toilets with in-dustrial strength pine scent, may become thecity’s hottest hang-out, especially when combinedwith the best barman and near success in the livevenue slot.

Walkerville predates Windsor by 79 years. Per-haps it is its longevity that makes it Windsor’sstrongest community. Seemingly unaware of thecredit crunch, Walkerville is one of the only areasin the city where houses still sell and businessesnot only thrive but continue to open at a boomingrate. Million dollar homes and hundred thousanddollar homes share the same blocks, and no mat-ter the mortgage, residents take pride in theirhomes, their community and its history.

Host to Art in the Park, Concours d’Elegance(Windsor’s showcase of beautifully restored vin-tage cars), hundreds of weddings, and most re-cently, outdoor film screenings, Walkerville’sWillistead Park is perhaps best known as an idealplace in which to simply enjoy the outdoors andmarvel at the tudor-revival splendor of WillisteadManor.

Running from under the Ambassador Bridge tothe foot of Moy Avenue, the riverfront park andOdette Sculpture Garden attracts thousands ofvisitors and locals alike to stroll, enoying the in-comparable Detroit skyline, and an array of sculp-ture ranging from the Dadaist to the sublime.

Anyone who has lingered during the day in thedowntown core can attest to the influx of verycalm people carrying what appear to be rolled upcarpets in bags, chakras aligned in the direction ofthe Downtown Yoga Studio. Located aboveArtcite Inc. and The Capitol Theatre on UniversityAvenue West, Downtown Yoga provides a com-fortable and central spot for the very flexible to call “om.” Not unlike the Organisation Européenne pour la

Recherche Nucléaire’s Large Hadron Collider, Pogos isthat rare place where the perfect storm brews in orderto combine the culturally aware and those who enjoysport, and as with the opposing particle beams inCERN’s device, the two groups coexist in remarkablepeace. Most importantly, while the LHC’s bills roll in atover €1.6 billion, even a well-hydrated playoff series ofgames enjoyed at Pogos will not reach that figure andthe risk of creating a black hole is significantly less.

a strugglemost Cana-

dian bands know very well, even es-tablished ones. Once you’veconquered Canada, how do you getnoticed stateside? This is a tough ques-tion for many bands in this fair coun-try and not just obscure bands.Legendary bands, even. Ask Sloan.Ask Blue Rodeo. Hell, ask the Tragi-cally Hip. Regardless of how iconicthese artists seem to most Canadians,the bottom line is this: cross the Am-bassador bridge and these names sim-ply don’t carry the same cache. Andyet the last decade has been a goldenera for some Canadian artists likeNelly Furtado, Arcade Fire, LeslieFeist, and the like, artists that haven’tnecessarily tailored their sound to caterto American listening habits, but whocertainly don’t reveal their country oforigin on first listen. Like these artists,Kathleen Edwards also enjoys Ameri-can acceptance of her work. Unlikethem, however, there’s no mistakingwhere she’s from.

Edwards is enjoying a well-deservedbreak at her home in Hamilton, On-tario. Since February 2008 she’s beentirelessly touring in support of her lat-est and third full length release “Ask-ing for Flowers.” The tour, whichincluded a spot on the Late Show withDavid Letterman, appearances withJohn Doe [formerly of punk band X]and Bryan Adams, finally wrapped upafter the Junos in June and Edwardshas been filling her summers with gar-dening, weekend festival gigs, and….golf? Yes, golf. I caught up with Kath-leen Edwards at a driving range out-side of Hamilton to discuss her writingprocess, how her concept of home ischallenged by this nomadic lifestyleand her uniquely Canadian successsouth of the border.

I see you’ve been keeping busy withsome theatre shows and festival datesacross the country, have you foundtime to get some relaxation in thissummer – you’re golfing right now,but…?

Yeah, summer’s been nice. Most peo-ple don’t tour and play clubs in thesummer – people don’t wanna be in adirty old bar in the middle of July on aWednesday night. The festivals havebeen great – lots of really good shows.

Your life has been pretty nomadic overthe past 8 years or so – has the con-cept of “home” changed for you?

I’m from Ottawa and that’s certainlywhere my roots still are. My husband[guitarist and producer Colin Cripps]and I met in Toronto. We live inHamilton now, it might not be foreverbut it’s where we’re settled now. Thehardest thing about being away all thetime is when I come home I really feelthe need to be settled. The worst feel-ing is traveling all the time and cominghome and being in a place where ‘Ican’t wait to get out of here.’ Somepeople are really happy to constantlygo, but I’m into nesting and taking onthe hermit life when I come off theroad.

You spend an awful lot of time on theroad. Do you write a lot while you’retouring?

It comes in waves. I’m not generallyfocused or diligent enough [to finishsongs on the road]. I’m generally ahome-writer. Being home and havingtime to decompress is a really goodformula for me for getting creativeagain.

Has your writing process changed orevolved since your debut, 2004’s“Failer?”

Well, I hope so. Sometimes you’re theworst judge of your own creativeprocess because you’re so close to it.My first couple records were songsabout my personal life, growing up be-coming an adult – your first experi-ences in love and breakups andrelationships… life experiences. I’vebecome a little bit more open to beingperceptive and seeing other people gothrough really hard things and they’renot always your trials and tribulations.You become more open to trying tounderstand what that experience mustbe like. I think that’s where I draw alot more of my inspiration now is ac-tually other people. Having said that Ithink you never stop going throughstuff. The irony is being married andbeing with somebody is actuallyharder than being on your own some-times. Sometimes you get pushed upagainst the wall… and you can’t justrun away… love’s a funny thing. Youfall in love and you get all these thingsfrom being in love, but there are allthese things you give up with being inlove, too. You give up your independ-ence sometimes and you give up thesethings that you don’t realize untilthey’re gone. I have friends and familythat go through shit all the time. Forme it’s interesting to tell people’s sto-ries. I think that’s really the heart of

what I love about songs, becausethey’re relatable and their true. Every-one goes through shit.

Obviously you’ve never been a strictlyconfessional songwriter, even yourfirst album had some more vague orthird person narratives going on.When you were working on your latestrecord I read that you wanted to dis-tance yourself maybe a bit from thatconfessional writing approach. Was iteasy for you to switch modes?

No, it’s hard. My last record I made aconscious decision that I wanted towrite about some things that I feelstrongly about that weren’t necessar-ily about me and try to tell them in away that it would feel like it was mewriting them. A song like “Oil Men’sWar” I think a lot of people [misjudged

it.] They read thetitle and theythink it’sabout GeorgeW. Bush. It’snot aboutthat at all –it’s abouttraveling inthe US ands e e i n gcommuni-ties of peo-p l ec o m -pletely po-l a r i z e dand alien-ated fromeach otherb e c a u s eof whatthey think and feel.That song is about tolerance and aboutnot dismissing someone’s feelings be-cause you don’t share them. It reallyhas nothing to do with the policy of apresidential administration.

Unlike many of your Canadiancontemporaries, your music hasbeen very well received byAmerican listeners, and yetyou still write songs with ref-erences to stay-at-home defensemenand reference the CBC. Do you con-sciously try to maintain a Canadianperspective or identity, or is that some-thing that just comes naturally to you?

I love and connect with my Canadianidentity. I love going to places likeNew York and Austin and Portland andSeattle but they’re not places I thinkI’ll ever live because I really connect

with being Canadian. I spent so muchof my childhood away that I think itreally fortified that feeling in myself ofreally loving Canada. It’s a weird thing– Americans seem to get on board withthat connection. I get asked that a lot:‘why do you have more of a career inAmerica, why do you get more radioplay in America?’… I don’t reallyknow the answer to that. Maybe it’sbecause they have really good taste?[laughs.] It’s weird because you’reright – my songs have these Canadianreferences.

Yeah, it kind of blows mymind that you’re sowell-received but canstill get away with ref-erences to the CBCand Marty McSorley.It’s shocking to me be-cause you see so many

Canadian bands that are

just con-stantly an-

gling or tryingto get success

south of the borderand it seems like you’ve

just kind of done it natu-rally, without currying their

favour.

I don’t ever want to stop soundinglike me. I’m never going to beSimple Plan and try to take on thesound of modern American radio.To me that’s pointless – there’s amillion people in America that cando that. It’s like Bon Jovi doing acountry record – that was a veryspecific decision: ‘we are going tosound more country to get played oncountry [radio stations] so that these

people from this parallel down willcome to our shows and buy ourrecords.’ I will not sign up for that. It’sso calculated. I got asked to take outthe banjo from “In State” [Back to Me]because the [label] wanted to pitch itto radio. I said “no, no, no”… I even-tually did it because I thought I’m notbeing asked to change the album ver-sion. And six months later what comesout? That song by [“Forca” ] NellyFurtado where Bela Fleck plays thiskey banjo lick and its getting playedon top 40 radio. I wanted to call every-body who told me to take the banjo outand mail them a piece of dog shit! Oneparticular instrument doesn’t definethe success or possibility of [a song.]

Kathleen Edwards is working ona new album at home in Hamil-ton, but will take a break fromher songwriting and her gar-

dening and golf swing to per-form a set at the Shores of

Erie Wine Festival atFort Malden National

Historic Site inAmherstburg on

Sunday, Septem-ber 13th.

\àËá words: Adam Fox | top photo: Victor Tavares inset photo:Michael Scipper


One of the most contested categories, the battlefor the title of best band saw nearly 100 differententries! As we rounded the final turn in the finalhours of the voting, the race was between the un-likely pairing of the feel good sounds of Michouand wonderfully loud Fiftywatthead, the later tak-ing the lead at checkered flag, a well-deservedvictory for the band who celebrated 10 years ofmetal at the end of last month and an album Ab-solut Metal named their number one of 2008!

Windsor’s favourite troubadour Ron Leary hassuch a way with seemingly simple songs thatmany other singer-songwriters grow furious at theway he can string together a few chords and avocal in such a perfect way with ease, while theytoil with diminished sevenths and chords from thebottom of their chord chart to no avail. The songson his most recent effort theroadinbetween havebecome a favourite of Canadians and CBC tele-vision and radio. Perhaps he’s made a pact withthe devil, maybe he was born with it or it could beMaybelline, either way he’s very good.

In the light of the age of MP3s, designer PeterSaville, responsible for iconic sleeves of NewOrder, Roxy Music and a slew of others, declaredlast year; “the album cover is dead.” Today, a sim-ple 5”x5” Photoshopped image as a CD cover isnot enough to lure in a potential buyer, and inci-dentally the traditionally printed, die cut, multi-tex-tural packaging of Field Assembly’s debut LP‘Broadsides & Ephemera’ was in-part inspired bythe aforementioned designer’s work. ‘Broadsides& Ephemera’ was printed by Standard Printing,using an altered photograph by Stephen Nilssonand the design of Adam Fox and someone calledStephen Hargreaves.

Producer, DJ, video installation artist, visual artistand owner of DETUND Records, Kero (né SohailAzad) seized the best club DJ title from a listlargely littered with DJs who unlike Kero push oth-ers’ music through a pair of CD players. Kero,who is a spokesman for M-Audio, uses an array ofboxes bejewelled with dials and switches that inturn control computers running audio programs,many of which Kero invented himself.

Open mic nights can be a nightmare, an endlessstream of “artists” who seem to have beenhanded a guitar for the very first time paired withthe voice of Edith Bunker, alternately a line-up ofover confident young men who have managed tocombine the songs of Pearl Jam with the vocalstyle of Chad Kroeger. Open mics can also be apreview of the artists who will go on to form yourfavourite band, a chance to catch a trial run of anew side project or a one-off merger of two of thecity’s best musicians. Luckily Tara Watts has beenable to attract a majority of the latter, though someof the former do sneak in.

It may come as no surprise that you have pickedPhog Lounge as the best live venue, especiallyon the back of CBC Radio 3 naming the little barthat could as Canada’s best live music club. Whatmay come as a surprise was that while Phog re-ceived 38% of your votes, the Coach & Horsescame in with an impressive 33% and for a whileappeared to be overtaking Phog. But at the end,the venue that has presented Holy Fuck, FinalFantasy, Patrick Watson, Tokyo Police Club, andthousands of others takes home the best venueprize to sit next to their Jammy awards and theirobscenely large CBC trophy.

Daniel Bombardier a.k.a. Denial, a.k.a. D3N!@L,has evolved from a snotty kid high on anarchismcharged with the task of branding every flat sur-face with his now ubiquitous tag by way of die cutvinyl stickers into one of the most original and pro-ductive artists this city has ever seen. His work isinstantly recognisable, combining cut vinyl, spray-paint, stencilling, freehand painting, in a style sim-ilar to manipulated samples in the audio world. Heis a true innovator, working with what he can getand taking influence from residing in Windsorrather than other artists.

The monumentally under-funded Art Gallery ofWindsor has created, collected, presented, andconserved one of Ontario’s most significant col-lections of Canadian art, including a permanentcollection made up of over 3000 pieces coveringthe period from about 1750 through to the presentday. Additionally, the AGW presents impressivecollections from around the world, featuring artistwork usually reserved for galleries with 10-50times their budget.

Inspiring a quartet of similar galleries in the area,Nancy Johns has amassed the support of a who’swho of Windsor visual artists by the way of a se-ries of group and solo shows. In its relatively shortexistence, the gallery, at 4755 Wyandotte StreetEast, has become a respected and accepted partof the often fickle local arts community, a feataccomplished by few commercial galleries inWindsor.

The Capitol Theatre is still in limbo, but rather thanwait for red tape to clear and movement to bemade towards an official reopening of the 89 yearold theatre, arts organisations have found a set ofkeys and events are independently presentedmore and more as every month passes. Thisyear’s Fringe Fest dusted off all three of the the-atres at the Capitol to much revelry, and reminis-cence of the glory days under the flashingmarquis.

Author of three books of short stories, an ac-claimed novel, and an illustrated Christmas story,Alistair MacLeod topped a scattered list includingcomic book authors, journalists, and even a con-fusingly a bookshop. Subject of the 2005 NFB film‘Reading Alistair MacLeod,’ MacLeod’s admirersinclude Margaret Atwood, Colm Toibin and themajority of you.

&MUSICART Not surprisingly, CJAM comfortably collected the

vast majority of your votes, with an ever-increas-ing professionalism, a collection of programs wor-thy of national syndication and strong communitysupport dating back over 30 years. CJAM likelygarnered a new wave of listeners with the recentmedia attention regarding their fight to remain onair and an eventual planned frequency move from 91.5fm to 99.1 fm in for early October 2009.

In the final hours of voting, the TV top spot wasstolen by a handful of votes from Ten Dollar Talesby a fellow tvCogeco program, The Comic BookSyndicate. A discussion panel program aboutcomic books and related nerdiness, the Syndicatefeatures amusing spoof skits and a level of enter-tainment so impressive that a large percentage oftheir audience are not comic book fans, don’t getthe in-jokes, but still tune in every week. Friday at11pm, and Saturday at 6:30pm and 11pm on cable 11.

Blogging has evolved for the better over the lastfew years, with blogs such as the addictive ‘Inter-national Metropolis’ and ‘Scale Down’, and yourfavourite ‘Windsor Eats,’ a welcome change fromthe “I like this boy, I bought new socks, this bandis so hot” personal blogs. WindsorEats.com is, atthe core, an online menu guide, but over the yearshas evolved into a hub for events including ‘Win-ter Bites,’ ‘Eat Your City’ and winery bike tripsthrough the county, and of course their food blog.

MEDIATHE BEST OF WINDSOR | THE BEST

from Canada” in a positive review oftheir EP Bombs Over Windsor. Labelinterest and other opportunities has re-cently began to pour out of the wood-work so with such a buzz around theband, Yoker has finally decided to un-leash the Bombs on his hometown, witha special homecoming show at The FMLounge (156 Chatham St. West, besidePogo’s) on Friday, September 18th withspecial guests, The Magic Hall of Mir-rors. The show will be cover free.WAMM recently spoke to Ryan Yokerabout his rock and roll revitalization inBombs, being from Windsor and what’sin store for future Kings of Rock andRoll.

Although this is your Windsor debutwith Bombs, you guys have been layinga solid foundation in Toronto the pastyear. How has it been grooming a bandin the Toronto music scene?

Grooming a band in Toronto isn't muchdifferent than Windsor. If you're greatthen people notice. There are far morebands in Toronto, but I don't view any-one anywhere as our competition. Theprocess has always been the same. Iwrite a song, bring it to the band and weplay it live.

Bombs has literally exploded in

Toronto. At what point did you realizethis was becoming the real deal?I knew before we started playing livethat this was the real deal because aslong as I write the songs it will alwaysbe the real deal. Even in the very be-ginning playing to five people in a holein the ground I knew the music had anaudience they just had to find us. We'vehad key help from a few places includ-ing the NME which made people out-side of Canada start to take notice.We're not nearly where we want to bein terms of success yet, but Toronto hasbeen a good start.

Your songs have always had that sta-dium/arena rock anthem feel. Is thatyour ultimate destination or is simply a mat-ter of writing the music that's inside you?

If my songs have always had that feelthen I guess it's fitting ‘cos that's wherewe'd like to end up. As for writing withthat agenda in mind, I'd have to say Idon't, but I love anthemic music so Iguess that's where it comes from. Be-sides I don't think you can grow up lis-tening to Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, TheBeatles,The Jam and Queen and nothave it influence your songwriting.

Many people still remember you fromthe Stratus days in Windsor - how does

Bombs differ from Stratus personalitywise?

The members of Bombs are differentfrom Stratus in one key way. They aremarried to the band and divorce is notan option. They are also far more like-minded to my idea of what a bandshould be. We have many arguments,but what marriage doesn't. It works outas a plus ‘cos the arguments often con-tribute well to the music.

You've been getting some major pressand attention lately. How do you keep itall in perspective and never let the hypeget ahead of the product and remaingrounded in the project?

Press is nice and we love the fact ithelps get our music out to people, butour attitude towards that is it took youlong enough! The most important opin-ion to me is that of the audience thatcomes to a gig. If they love it we'rehappy and we've yet to find out whathappens when they're not.

Despite living in Toronto now, you stillmanage to come home few times eachmonth, often sitting in at various openmics. How important is it to you to re-main connected with your hometownWindsor roots?

Well, at the moment I'm half here andhalf there so it makes it pretty easy togo out when I'm here. My family,friends and dogs live here so when I'mnot needed out of town I like to be herewith them. I like to pop out to openmics and shows just to see and hearpeople I don't see much. It is, however,very important to me to play here forthe people I love.

You've got some big plans bubblingunder the radar - are there any you candivulge at this time?

At the moment we are preparing to re-lease our debut EP under Mint 400Records (U.S.A) and have a promo U.Stour in the works, but that's about all Ican say for sure at this point. Rest as-sured there's a lot more going on verysoon.

So what can Windsor expect when theBombs hit on September 18th?

Windsor can expect to see four hand-some lads on stage and the best bandthey've seen in a while. We've got alocal special guest opening band as welland it's all free.

Bombs with The Magic Hall of Mirrors, Fri-day, September 18th at The FM Lounge

any years ago, I inter-viewed a young manwho had just partedways with his equally

young band. He was slightly disillu-sioned with the band thing (but only inthe idea of it being a collective musicalunit) but was absolutely sure that re-gardless who joined him on his rockand roll adventure that the end chapterwould ultimately be with him wearingthe crown, that people could eitherstand alongside him, or they could not,it mattered not to him. All that mat-tered is that he wrote the very best rockand roll songs, that people would lis-ten, and by God, they would sing.They would sing. Well that young manwas Ryan Yoker and I can say thatnow, over five years later, not a lot haschanged. Well, that’s not entirely true.The bravado, the charisma and theswagger of Ryan Yoker are still there,but he’s not the young man whowalked out of a failing project lookingto the stars. He’s now realized that thehunger for rock’s majesty lies in thejourney itself and he’s living it everyday of his life. Following the releaseof his EP several years back, Yokerwithdrew from Windsor and headed toToronto, where he has since assembleda monstrous rock band called Bombsthat channels the ferocity of PaulWeller and the Jam with the anthemicpower of Oasis, all the while fully em-bracing the UK legacy of bands likeThe Beatles, The Rolling Stones, PinkFloyd, Led Zeppelin or The Who.Huge Wembley-esque refrains, rockroyalty swagger and Mouths ThatRoared, Yoker and the boys in Bombs– lead vocalist Tommy Preisler, bassistAdam James Osborne and drummerPhil Mailey - have recently started togain some major attention, not just lo-cally in Toronto, but abroad. The leg-endary British music magazine NME(New Music Express) recently calledBombs “grizzly Anglophile Mod Rock

MJamie Greer

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LIVE MUSIC______________________

TUESDAY 1

Liz Beattie w/ JP Maurice &Simon MargettsPhog Lounge

Open Mic w/ StephanieSarafianosThe Mill

Open Mic w/ AndrewMacLeodThe Dominion House

Open Mic w/JamieReaumeTwig N’ Berries

Clare Renauds SessionKildare House

Artist Appreciation Nightwith Pat RobitailleThe Blind Dog

THURSDAY 3

Mr. Chill, Tom Hogarth &Chris BorshukMezzo

Toast & JamThe Whiskey

HuladogFM lounge

Open Mic w/ BrianVanderPrytMick’s Irish Pub

Friday 4

Never DraftedCoach & Horses

Schomberg Fair w/ Warped45s & James O-L & the Vil-lains Phog Lounge


Mr. Chill & Greg CoxBoblo Island Beach House

Rockasaurus Rex w/Anonymous Bosch, Jamol-ogy, Which Witch & LavalChubby Pickle

SATURDAY 5

Howie ParkerTaloola Café

Trevor Malcolm Jazz Trio w/David DuboisMilk

I Invoke w/ Nicole Wood &Arkayik RevoltCoach & Horses

The Paint Movement w/ TinStar Orphans Phog Lounge

Mr. Chill & Greg CoxBoblo Island Beach House

SUNDAY 6

Open MicFM Lounge

MONDAY 7

MilkmenMilk

Open Mic w/ Tara WattsPhog Lounge

Open Mic w/ ClintonHammondKildare House

Tuesday 8

Wax Mannequin w/ Pop-eye’s Golden Theory & Bul-letproof TigerPhog Lounge






WEDNESDAY 9

L&M Open Band JamFM Lounge

THURSDAY 10

Shores of Erie Wine Fest:Bedouin Soundclash, TheStills & Justin NozukaFort Malden (Amherstburg)

Loggins & MessinaThe Colosseum at CaesarsWindsor



HuladogFM lounge


FRIDAY 11

Shores of Erie Wine Fest:Serena Ryder, JohnnyRocca, Big Rude Jake, TheMonday Milkmen, TrishWales & Clint WeirFort Malden (Amherstburg)

The Vaudevillianaires w/Lodown & The SpeakingTonguesPhog Lounge

Jody RaffoulThe Whiskey

Fear Before w/ Baptized inBlood, Tragedy of Mariam,Yours to Call & Brace Your-selfChubby Pickle

SATURDAY 12

Shores of Erie Wine Fest:Robert Penn Blues Band,Blood Sweat & Brass, RonLeary Quintet, Hogarth,Borg & Vella, Tara Watts,Mr.Chill and Greg Cox,Jackie Robitaille, Michou,Rick Rock, Nemesis,Johnny V and The Unfor-gettable Band, CathouseDogs & Lynn and TheRebelsFort Malden (Amherstburg)

Cuff the DukeThe Blind Dog

David Simard w/ Kevin Echlin Phog Lounge

Blonde TangoThe Whiskey

Credible Witness, The Bal-ance & EpicChubby Pickle

SUNDAY 13

Shores of Erie Wine Fest:Kathleen Edwards, FieldAssembly, Pat Robitaille,Dave Dubois, Ron Leary &Kenneth MacLeodFort Malden (Amherstburg)

Open MicFM Lounge

MONDAY 14

MilkmenMilk



TUESDAY 15






WEDNESDAY 16

Hot Panda w/ Little GirlsPhog Lounge


THURSDAY 17

Death In Custody w/ DiscoAssault &100 proofCoach & Horses

Alan JacksonThe Colosseum at CaesarsWindsor



Nathan Down & Purple Or-angeChubby Pickle

HuladogFM lounge


FRIDAY 18

Bombs & Magic Hall of Mir-rorsFM Lounge

The Absent Sound w/Bul-letproof Tiger & My Son,My SonCoach & Horses

Young Rival w/ The HeelsPhog Lounge

Alan JacksonThe Colosseum at CaesarsWindsor

Big Three TrioBoblo Island Beach House

Charlie LambrickThe Whiskey

The Mark Inside w/ ThreatLevel Midnight, The Eclec-tic Chair, The ReaganEightiesChubby Pickle

SATURDAY 19

The MindframesPhog Lounge

Mr.PleaseThe Whiskey

The Long LotsCoach & Horses

SUNDAY 20

Open MicFM Lounge

MONDAY 21

MilkmenMilk



TUESDAY 22






WEDNESDAY 23

Hey Ocean! w/ SecretBroadcast & The Fast Ro-manticsPhog Lounge


THURSDAY 24

Shotgun Jimmie w/ B.A.Johnston & CousinsPhog Lounge



Kingdoms (CD release) w/The Oxford Street Montage,Assassinate the Following,Odium, Cyreene & Deser-tionChubby Pickle

HuladogFM lounge


FRIDAY 25

Meters to Miles w/ TheTyres, High Mother & CityWide PanicThe Loop

Jay Clark & the Jones w/Andrew Vincent Phog Lounge

Lucid 44Coach & Horses

Richey NixThe Whiskey

SATURDAY 26

Arctic w/ Paisley Jura PhogLounge

Evan SimmonsCoach & Horses

Same Latitude as RomeTaloola Café

CiaoThe Whiskey

The Junction (CD release)w/ Yellow Wood & StereoGoes StellarChubby Pickle

SUNDAY 27

Open MicFM Lounge

SAC Songwriters GroupPhog Lounge

MONDAY 28

MilkmenMilk



TUESDAY 29






WEDNESDAY 30

Jean Paul de Roover w/Pawnshop DiamondPhog Lounge


______________________

ARTS______________________

WEDNESDAY 2

Art Day... All Day!Odette Sculpture Park,Windsor Community Mu-seum & AGWagw.ca

FRIDAY 4

Summer Hours (film |7pm)Art Gallery of Windsorwindsorfilmfestival.ca

WEDNESDAY 9

Whatever It Was (film pre-miere and after-party | 7pm)Lakeshore Cinemas519.551.0251

Friday 11

Marcia Huyer "What's UpThere Anyhow?"(opening reception |7:30pm)Artcite Inc.artcite.ca

Visions of Sandwich (opening reception | 7pm)featuring: Daniel Bom-bardier, Leesa Bringas,Collette Broeders, JasonDeary, Beth Dubeault, Jes-sica Howick, SuzanneFriemann, James Ollean-Lapp, Sasha Opeiko &Linda Renaud Common Ground Gallerycommon.mnsi.net

Scott Gregory: 9 Se-quence Series Show(opening reception | 6pm)Artspeak Gallery519.252.6855

SUNDAY 13

Sundays in the Studio:Clay DayArt Gallery of Windsoragw.ca

THURSDAY 17

DC (art opening)Phog Lounge

FRIDAY 18

Janet Werner: is anythingall right? (opening reception | 7pm)Art Gallery of Windsoragw.ca

Soul Power (film |7pm)Art Gallery of Windsor(after party at The Loop)windsorfilmfestival.ca

First Annual Art Show(opening reception | 8pm)Fine Art Paintings (4774Wyandotte St. E)519.945.8288

SUNDAY 20

Sundays in the Studio: SelfPortraitsArt Gallery of Windsoragw.ca

Tuesday 22

HRG Philosophers' CaféPhog Lounge

FRIDAY 25

Moon (film |7pm)Art Gallery of Windsorwindsorfilmfestival.ca

SATURDAY 26

7th Annual Fahrenheit Fes-tivalFestival of Fire SculptureVollmer Culture and Recre-ation Complex (LaSalle)artcite.ca

Sunday 27

Sundays in the Studio:Magnificent MagnetsArt Gallery of Windsoragw.ca

______________________

THEATRE& COMEDY

______________________

SUNDAY 6

Pauly ShoreThe Blind Dog

Spirits of Sandwich GhostTour (begins at 8:30pm)Mackenzie Hall

THURSDAY 10

Caught In the Net Theatre Windsortheatrewindsor.com

Friday 11Friday 11


SATURDAY 12


SUNDAY 13



THURSDAY 17

Noises OffEssex Hall (UofW)universityplayers.com


FRIDAY 18



SATURDAY 19


The Man Who Fell in Lovewith a Tuba (8pm)MacKenzie Hall519.255.7600


SUNDAY 20

Noises OffEssex Hall (UofW)universityplayers.comom



WEDNESDAY 23


THURSDAY 24


FRIDAY 25


SATURDAY 26

The Man Who Fell in Lovewith a Tuba (8pm)MacKenzie Hall519.255.7600


SUNDAY 27



MONDAY 28

Russell PetersWFCU Center

1. Fortunately Everything Dies / Censored / ind 1 (local)

2. Bahamas / Pink Strat / Nevado 13. Rural Alberta Advantage / Hometowns / Saddle Creek 14. The Wind Whistles / Animals Are People Too / ind 15. The Lazy MKs / A Field Guide To The Lazy MKs / Young Soul 16. Various / Manoeuvres 3 / So Called 17. YACHT / See Mystery Lights / DFA8. Gobble Gobble / Neon Graveyard / Bart 19. Ohbijou / Beacons / Last Gang 110. Ryan Dahle / Irrational Anthems / Sandbag 111. Extra Happy Ghost !!! / How The Beach Boys Sound... / Saved By

Radio 1

12. Octoberman / Fortresses / White Whale 113. Kestrels / Primary Colours / Noyes 114. Wire And Light / Wire And Light / ind 115. Portugal. The Man / The Satanic Satanist / Equal Vision16. Wye Oak / The Knot / Merge17. Fritz Helder and the Phantoms / Greatest Hits / Nelstar 118. The Gertrudes / Hard Water / Apple Crisp 119. The Jayhawks / Music From The North Country / American20. Cymbals Eat Guitars / Why There Are Mountains / Sister's Den21. Eleazar Vs John / Pits In The Sandblaster / ind 122. High Watt Electrocutions / Desert Opuses / Introspection 123. Fruit Bats / The Ruminant Band / Sub Pop24. Black Mold / Snow Blindness Is Crystal Antz / Flemish Eye 125. A Hawk And A Hacksaw / Deliverance / Leaf26. Art Brut / Art Brut Vs. Satan / Downtown27. Little Claw / Human Taste / Ecstatic Peace28. Fox Jaws / At Odds / Nevado 129. Set Your Goals / This Will Be The Death Of Us / Epitaph30. Heat-ray / Love All Over / ind 1

albumchartsindependent

Album charts are arranged according to number of plays on CJAM 91.5FM in Windsor over a four (4) weekperiod prior to the publishing of this issue. 1 denotes canadian artist, (local) denotes local artist.

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wamm issue 17 | september 2009

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