Established in 2000 in Toronto, Six Shooter Records is a full-service music company with a diverse roster that includes artists in the genres of Americana, country, rock, and avant-garde. In addition to being a label and a publisher, the company also provides artist management services. Since its inception, Six Shooter has released over 140 albums. Our artists have been consistently recognized in national award programs, including the JUNO Awards, Polaris Music Prize, SOCAN Awards, Canadian Folk Music Awards, and others.
Ours is a fast-paced, friendly environment with an enterprising culture. We seek a new member of our management team, who will be key in performing day-to-day management duties. Responsibilities will be as follows:
LIVE
– Prepare touring budgets/alternate scenarios to choose from
– Apply for and complete all touring grants
– Liaise with booking agents, signing contracts, checking routings and tour details including announce plans and marketing.
– Execute all tour logistics, including work visas, travel, advancing shows/events when there is no TM, gear and shipping logistics.
– Hire, liaise and communicate with artist teams (tech, musicians, etc).
– Ensure artist merchandise is ordered, shipped, and tracked as well as work with manager/merch company on overall merchandise strategy and marketing through socials/touring sales.
– Ensure all songs and set lists are properly registered, working with admin department.
MARKETING/SOCIAL MEDIA
– Share updates with label/marketing team, follow through on all projects, specifically execution of social media posting, monitoring and interaction.
– Attend all management and marketing meetings related to the artist and act as central communication hub
– Ensure all tour marketing posts/announces are executed correctly (including tags/hashtags) and in a timely manner as per content calendar
– Work with artist to ensure personal social media posts occur.
– Oversee accounts such as Patreon, where necessary.
ADMINISTRATION
– Provide production assistance & management to all photo & video shoots, live stream performances, interviews, recording sessions etc.
– Maintain admin/personal information files as well as portals and password maintenance.
– Manage/organize artist files in an easy to use and orderly fashion.
– Work with label /publisher on metadata
– Work with business manager where relevant for payments and receipt maintenance.
– Special projects for artist, as required.
– Other duties as required.
Requirements:
– Experience in the Canadian music industry for 2+ years
– Exceptional attention to detail, solid time management skills and the ability to multi-task and prioritize, while staying ahead of deadlines in a fast-moving environment
– Ability to work independently and in a team environment, a self-starter
– Proficiency with top social media platforms
– Excellent interpersonal and verbal communication skills
– Proficiency in MS Office, Google Suite, Dropbox, Slack, Adobe.
Nice to Haves & Attributes:
– Education related to the music business and/or artist management
– Optimistic with positive energy and outlook
– Passionate about music and advocating for artists
– Thrive in a fast-paced and dynamic environment; a team player, willing to pitch in whenever needed
Job Specs:
Position: Artist Management Associate
Reporting to: President, Six Shooter Inc.
Hours: Monday-Friday 10:00AM – 6:00PM (EST)
Location: Temporarily remote, due to COVID-19. Toronto, ON post-COVID.
Compensation: Salary range from 40K-55K to be determined commensurate with experience, and health benefits.
Application Deadline: June 1, 2021
Please apply via the “Apply Here” link on this page.
No phone calls please.
We invite applications from all qualified candidates, especially from people who identify as racialized, Indigenous, differently abled, and persons of any sexual orientation or gender identity. Upon request, suitable accommodations are available under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act for applicants invited to an interview.
ELLIOTT BROOD SHARE “RUNAWAY,” DEL SHANNON COVER
/in NEWS /by Caitlin VeitchElliott BROOD release “Runaway,” gruff-and-ready take on Del Shannon hit.
Listen to “Runaway” here.
First tour date of 2021 announced:
July 17 @ Toronto’s CityView Drive-In.
“A well-crafted set of hook-filled folk-rock.” – KEXP
Elliott BROOD follow the 2020 release of their sixth album, Keeper, with a fresh take on Del Shannon’s 1960s chart-topper “Runaway.” The reverb-heavy take comes complete with Elliott BROOD’s signature grizzle and a classic rock n’ roll coda. “Runaway” arrives ahead of upcoming tour dates that will reunite the cross-border band for the first time since February, 2020.
Keeper, named one of American Songwriter’s best indie albums of 2020, explored themes of maintaining relationships and maturity. A Keeper session recording, “Runaway” carries forward the vintage rock n’ roll sounds of album track “No Way Out,” and Elliott BROOD’s affinity for travelogues of all sorts, heart, mind or body.
TOUR DATES
Toronto, ON: Horseshoe Chill-O-Rama (CityView Drive-In), July 17 w/ The Skydiggers, The Sadies
More tour dates to come.
ABOUT ELLIOTT BROOD
From the mountains of Utah to the trenches of Vimy Ridge, Elliott BROOD’s songs have travelled the gore and glory of history in equal measure. With the stomp and thrash of their early albums, Elliott BROOD carved their niche drawing from history and memory. As heavy and harrowing the past can be, for Elliott BROOD, it is also a generous companion, giving the gift of appreciation for times of peace and grace.
From the Polaris Music Prize short listed breakout album Mountain Meadows to the JUNO Award winning Days Into Years, the well-traveled trio of Mark Sasso, Casey Laforet and Stephen Pitkin have created a body of work that is at once meticulous and boisterous, substantial and entertaining.
WE’RE HIRING A FULL TIME ARTIST MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATE
/in NEWS /by Caitlin VeitchEstablished in 2000 in Toronto, Six Shooter Records is a full-service music company with a diverse roster that includes artists in the genres of Americana, country, rock, and avant-garde. In addition to being a label and a publisher, the company also provides artist management services. Since its inception, Six Shooter has released over 140 albums. Our artists have been consistently recognized in national award programs, including the JUNO Awards, Polaris Music Prize, SOCAN Awards, Canadian Folk Music Awards, and others.
Ours is a fast-paced, friendly environment with an enterprising culture. We seek a new member of our management team, who will be key in performing day-to-day management duties. Responsibilities will be as follows:
LIVE
– Prepare touring budgets/alternate scenarios to choose from
– Apply for and complete all touring grants
– Liaise with booking agents, signing contracts, checking routings and tour details including announce plans and marketing.
– Execute all tour logistics, including work visas, travel, advancing shows/events when there is no TM, gear and shipping logistics.
– Hire, liaise and communicate with artist teams (tech, musicians, etc).
– Ensure artist merchandise is ordered, shipped, and tracked as well as work with manager/merch company on overall merchandise strategy and marketing through socials/touring sales.
– Ensure all songs and set lists are properly registered, working with admin department.
MARKETING/SOCIAL MEDIA
– Share updates with label/marketing team, follow through on all projects, specifically execution of social media posting, monitoring and interaction.
– Attend all management and marketing meetings related to the artist and act as central communication hub
– Ensure all tour marketing posts/announces are executed correctly (including tags/hashtags) and in a timely manner as per content calendar
– Work with artist to ensure personal social media posts occur.
– Oversee accounts such as Patreon, where necessary.
ADMINISTRATION
– Provide production assistance & management to all photo & video shoots, live stream performances, interviews, recording sessions etc.
– Maintain admin/personal information files as well as portals and password maintenance.
– Manage/organize artist files in an easy to use and orderly fashion.
– Work with label /publisher on metadata
– Work with business manager where relevant for payments and receipt maintenance.
– Special projects for artist, as required.
– Other duties as required.
Requirements:
– Experience in the Canadian music industry for 2+ years
– Exceptional attention to detail, solid time management skills and the ability to multi-task and prioritize, while staying ahead of deadlines in a fast-moving environment
– Ability to work independently and in a team environment, a self-starter
– Proficiency with top social media platforms
– Excellent interpersonal and verbal communication skills
– Proficiency in MS Office, Google Suite, Dropbox, Slack, Adobe.
Nice to Haves & Attributes:
– Education related to the music business and/or artist management
– Optimistic with positive energy and outlook
– Passionate about music and advocating for artists
– Thrive in a fast-paced and dynamic environment; a team player, willing to pitch in whenever needed
Job Specs:
Position: Artist Management Associate
Reporting to: President, Six Shooter Inc.
Hours: Monday-Friday 10:00AM – 6:00PM (EST)
Location: Temporarily remote, due to COVID-19. Toronto, ON post-COVID.
Compensation: Salary range from 40K-55K to be determined commensurate with experience, and health benefits.
Application Deadline: June 1, 2021
Please apply via the “Apply Here” link on this page.
No phone calls please.
We invite applications from all qualified candidates, especially from people who identify as racialized, Indigenous, differently abled, and persons of any sexual orientation or gender identity. Upon request, suitable accommodations are available under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act for applicants invited to an interview.
Ghostcore Folklore: The Deep Dark Woods release Changing Faces today.
/in NEWS /by Caitlin VeitchClick to listen
The Deep Dark Woods’ latest album, Changing Faces, is fraught with tales from spirits both recent and centuries old. With its melancholy melodies and ethereal lilts, its haunting timbres echoes long after the last note sounds off. Boldt’s sombre yearning and grave tones are a match made in heaven (or hell) with the bleak nature of the album’s narrative themes. Changing Faces paints a sonic landscape steeped with mournful lyrics and lovelorn laments that float somewhere between this world and the next.
“This is indeed a backwoods version of The Deep Dark Woods, with songs such as “How Could I Ever Be Single Again?,” “Yarrow” and “My Love For You Is Gone” sounding like nothing less than old Appalachian folk ballads mined from the essence of sadness and despair.” – American Songwriter
WHITEHORSE ANNOUNCES STRIKE ME DOWN, SECOND NEW ALBUM OF 2021
/in NEWS /by Caitlin VeitchWhitehorse announces second album of 2021:
Strike Me Down out September 10.
New song “Am I Just Gonna Stand Here (While You Take My Girl Away)” out today with spirographic video.
Photo credit: Lyle Bell
Whitehorse pick up moments after the release of Modern Love, the duo’s blueprint for love in the digital age, with the announcement of a second new album. Strike Me Down, set for release in September, showcases Whitehorse’s masterful, fantastical storytelling and melodic sensibilities, with plenty of space made for guitar shredding, epic basslines and spaced-out vocal layering. High-impact production and prismatic visuals contribute to Strike Me Down’s high-stakes mood.
“Am I Just Gonna Stand Here (While You Take My Girl Away)” spins and swirls in equal measure, dizzy and giddy in sound while it weighs its options, or lack thereof. The song arrives with a kaleidoscopic video filmed in the album art set, another Six Shooter Art Squad creation directed by Lyle Bell. With the help of a multi-image prism filter, the video translates album themes of building and breaking into set-smashing, confetti bursting abandon.
The new song announces a sharp shift from Modern Love’s hushed, atmospheric warmth. If Modern Love is about commitment, Strike Me Down raises the stakes and explores themes of ultimatums and consequences. This second album was written in the aftershocks of the vulnerabilities large and small exposed in Modern Love’s making.
On Strike Me Down, Whitehorse continue to play with fantasies and realities, theirs and ours.
ABOUT WHITEHORSE
Since their debut, Whitehorse has traveled from magnetic folk duo to full-blown rock band and beyond. In truth Whitehorse is never fully either one or the other, but an ever-evolving creative partnership that challenges both artists, Melissa McClelland and Luke Doucet, to explore new instrumental and lyrical terrain with each record. Steamy, swampy and squalling in equal measure, Whitehorse’s signature sound is guitar-heavy, harmony-abundant and lyrically deft.
The JUNO Award winners returned in March with Modern Love, their first co-produced full-length album since the pink pop kink of Panther In The Dollhouse (2017). Strike Me Down will be the duo’s second new album of 2021.
THE DEEP DARK WOODS SHARE “HOW COULD I EVER BE SINGLE AGAIN?”
/in NEWS /by Caitlin VeitchThe Deep Dark Woods share “How Could I Ever Be Single Again?” from forthcoming album Changing Faces.
Watch / Listen here.
Changing Faces, out May 14, 2021.
The Deep Dark Woods share another song from forthcoming album, Changing Faces, out May 14. An album standout, “How Could I Ever Be Single Again?” haunts with a gently lilting lament. Inspired by Irish waltzes and featuring contributions from Kacy & Clayton, the song is a still-watered pool of reflection, a question that comes with its own answer.
“How Could I Ever Be Single Again?” arrives with a video directed by Craig Range, who also created the video for “Everything Reminds Me,” a Vimeo Staff Pick. Featuring the emerald lagoons and everytown motels of Lillooet, British Columbia wrapped in a hazy 70s glow, the video translates the song’s sorrow into the director’s own experiences with loss due to overdoses, which have surged during the pandemic. “I wanted to make something that touched on the ongoing tragedy many face as the opiod epidemic continues unabated. I lost coworkers and friends. They were young men in the prime of their lives. It was something I wanted to address in an empathetic way.”
On Changing Faces, The Deep Dark Woods’ fifth album, you will be surprised by how gradual yet complete a turn the band has made from cabin cozy jam band to pan-Atlantic folk revivalist collective. Lead songwriter Ryan Boldt’s delicate melodies and metallic-stringed bite rattle centuries-old folkloric ghosts and personal demons alike. The Deep Dark Woods is a vessel for Boldt and frequent collaborators, Kacy & Clayton, Evan Cheadle and Geoff Hilhorst, among others, to find their own vocabulary for translating traditional folk forms – Irish waltzes, Broadside Ballads, ominous lullabies – to contemporary electric terms.
SUNNY SIDE UP: BOY GOLDEN’S DEBUT DOUBLE SERVING, “CHURCH OF BETTER DAZE” AND “EGGS BENEDICTION ARRIVE TODAY
/in NEWS /by Caitlin VeitchLISTEN TO “CHURCH OF BETTER DAZE” AND “EGGS BENEDICTION,” HERE.
CHURCH OF BETTER DAZE ALBUM OUT JULY 16, 2021.
Click the photo to watch the video!
Brand new artist Boy Golden details Church of Better Daze – song, album and frame of mind – today with his first released music. Listen to the jangly, galloping title track to his debut album and a bonus post-Amen reprise, an irreverent nod to blessings long and less-than-2-minutes alike, “Eggs Benediction” here. Together, the double offering swings open the doors to Boy Golden’s budding congregation, and you’re welcome too. “The Church is both the place I go when I’m creating and the place I hope to offer to my community,” explains Boy Golden. “It’s an inclusive place that is about being present with what is, and making quality music.”
“Church of Better Daze” arrives with Boy Golden’s first video, a mini gonzo adventure-comedy (and accidental medical drama) that introduces the artist, his 1995 Toyota Previa, and his friends and fellow Better Daze-rs Brother Roman, Mama Tizzy and Ooly. Directed by Martin LaFrenière, who situates the vibe “between Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and a country-fried / laid back version of Matt Foley, living in his van down by the western canadian prairie,” the “Church of Better Daze” video is also a friendly homily on fellowship as a mobile concept. Where Boy Golden rolls, the Church rolls.
With “Church of Better Daze” and “Eggs Benediction,” Boy Golden also details his debut album, confirming its release date, July 16, 2021, full track list and album art, designed by fellow Winnipegger Austin Boulton aka Basement Lagoon.
Apply for your membership at the Church of Better Daze here or text +1 450 800 2205 to join. New members will receive a welcome package from the Founder and Minister himself, Boy Golden.
Six Shooter Records will release Church of Better Daze July 16, 2021.
CHURCH OF BETTER DAZE TRACK LIST
(A LITTLE BIT) ABOUT BOY GOLDEN
Boy Golden has a purpose: enjoy each day and make good music. Founder and minister of The Church of Better Daze, he wants to help people seeking to improve on yesterday’s themes. His songs, like hymns, are hopeful, fresh and upbeat. Redefining jam band and stoner cultures by turning dead heads into lively brains, Boy Golden wants to unite us all in a hazy dream under one roof. If you’re open to learn, and can speak your truth, you can blaze and still get paid in Boy Golden’s Church of Better Daze.
SIX SHOOTER RECORDS EXPANSION PACK: ANDREA AGUILAR, MEGHAN BORTHWICK AND JULIAN STANIEWSKI JOIN THE LABEL’S MARKETING TEAM
/in NEWS /by Caitlin VeitchL-R: Andrea Aguilar, Meghan Borthwick, Julian Staniewski
Six Shooter Records joyously welcomes three talented, inspiring new staff to the label, including Andrea Aguilar who joins as the new Director of Digital Strategy and Marketing, Meghan Borthwick as Marketing Department Coordinator and Julian Staniewski as Operations Manager. Long titles, but the short of it is that the label has again leveled up in capacity, capability and creativity.
As Director of Digital Strategy & Marketing, Aguilar will focus on continuing to build the label’s toolkit to navigate the challenges and opportunities of the digital space. Aguilar, founder of digital marketing company A Squared Creative, is already a known force on the Toronto scene with her energy and impressive ability to pinpoint and amplify compelling narratives in an ocean of artist data. In related news, Six Shooter is still in hiring mode, this time for a Social Media Coordinator under Aguilar’s direction. Fantastic candidates should click here.
Borthwick, who many Canadian music industry and media members will recognize from her time at the Polaris Music Prize, joins the team in a newly created role as Marketing Department Coordinator. Working closely with VP Marketing Emily Smart, Borthwick will support the label’s ever-growing department with her outstanding organizational skill set.
Staniewski, new to the position as full-time Operations Manager, began his work with Six Shooter in late 2020. Staniewski builds on his valuable knowledge of the live realm with this new focus on label operations, under the direction of Sarah Sleeth, Director of Operations.
While Aguilar, Borthwick and Staniewski arrive at Six Shooter Records from different paths in the music industry, all three have intelligence, enthusiasm and expertise in common. Six Shooter Records is very pleased to welcome them all to the team.
“It’s a thrill to make this announcement,” says VP Marketing/Publicity Emily Smart. “Andrea, Meghan and Julian have already found their strides and made our heads spin; they immediately became essential to our team. We can’t wait to all meet in person at some indeterminate point in the future.”
ABOUT ANDREA AGUILAR
Being a college dropout was definitely never the plan; however, at the end of 2015 the Mexican-Vancouverite decided that being a hydrologist was not quite the future she had in mind. Having been a music lover and a singer-songwriter for most of her life, Andrea decided to move to Toronto to pursue a career in entertainment.
With a strong science and music business background, she was able to marry two unlikely worlds to form her marketing agency, A Squared Creative (A2C). Her drive and passion for the field has led her to work with clients such as Serena Ryder, STARS, Haley Blais, Jonathan Roy, Tim Baker (of Hey Rosetta!) and Choir!Choir!Choir! to name a few.
Excited to embark her new journey at Six Shooter Records, Andrea brings her expertise to one of Canada’s most prolific indie labels.
ABOUT MEGHAN BORTHWICK
Meghan Borthwick has forged extensive pathways in arts organizations across Canada, beginning 8 years ago with her volunteer work at just about every music festival in Toronto. A graduate of Humber College’s Arts Administration & Cultural Management program, Meghan began her professional career in events with Polaris Music Prize, where she worked with a medley of artists teams and assisted with the orchestration of the 2016 and 2017 Polaris Music Prize Galas.
She continued her passion for supporting emerging and established artists by moving across the country to work in production for Canadian and international performing arts residencies at the world-renowned Banff Centre for Arts & Creativity, and is now looking forward to an exciting career in marketing with the incredible team at Six Shooter Records.
ABOUT JULIAN STANIEWSKI
Julian Staniewski, a graduate of the Harris Institute’s 2016 Class, was working as Marketing Manager with Embrace Entertainment until last year. Alongside artist management and agency teams, Julian used his passion for live music and his general insight into the concert consumer to coordinate hundreds of marketing campaigns around major international and debut tours alike.
With the sudden and indefinite postponement of live events, Julian enthusiastically joined the Six Shooter Records team in November part time, and is now excited to bring his industry experience to the Operations team in a full time capacity.
WE’RE HIRING! SOCIAL MEDIA COORDINATOR (FULL TIME)
/in NEWS /by Caitlin VeitchEstablished in 2000 in Toronto, Six Shooter Records is a full-service music company with a diverse roster that includes artists in the genres of Americana, country, rock, and avant-garde. In addition to being a label and a publisher, the company also provides artist management services. Since its inception, Six Shooter has released over 140 albums. Our artists have been consistently recognized in national award programs, including the JUNO Awards, Polaris Music Prize, SOCAN Awards, Canadian Folk Music Awards, and others.
Ours is a fast-paced, friendly environment with an enterprising culture. We seek a new member of our marketing team, who will be key in performing day-to-day social media duties. Responsibilities will be as follows:
– Execute and help plan social media content across platforms that are consistent with the company’s brand and artists’ identity
– Coordinate the creation of consistent, meaningful content on all social media platforms, including writing and editing social media posts. Work closely with Artist in Residence and Creative Content Manager to curate content (videos, graphics, etc), improving customer engagement, and promoting social media campaigns
– Manage a high volume of daily social media posts across label + artist socials
– Assist in scraping and gathering of social media analytics for reporting purposes
– Execute community management, which includes communicating with social media followers via direct messages, responding to comments/retweets in a timely manner
– Manage social influencer programs and attend social influencer events
– Curate Apple and Spotify playlists, refreshing Spotify Six Shooter Essentials playlist and sharing links
– Assist in the community engagement on Artist and Label socials (YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter)
– Updating the Six Shooter Records website news section when needed
– Manage / create GIPHY links and content in collaboration with Artist in Residence/Graphic Designer
– Suggest recommendations to adjust the social media marketing strategy for optimal results
– Staying up to date on best practices and emerging trends in social media
– Format existing graphic and video creative into various formats for digital and print campaigns
– Assist in brainstorming and implementing exciting new online content
– Collaborate on the strategy and development of marketing plans for priority label projects
– Assist the Management Team with the communication of artist Socials (sharing links, press, important events and information)
– Assist with development and execution of contesting and promotions
– Assisting with grant applications and completions for both the label and management clients as requested. Including but not limited to: proofing copy, gathering marketing material examples, collaborating on marketing development plans
– Other duties as required.
Requirements:
– Experience in the Canadian music industry for 2+ years
– Proficiency with top social media platforms (e.g, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Twitter, etc.)
– Exceptional attention to detail, solid time management skills and the ability to multi-task and prioritize, while staying ahead of deadlines in a fast-moving environment
– Ability to work independently and in a team environment, a self-starter
– Excellent creative copywriting skills
– Excellent interpersonal and verbal communication skills
– Proficiency in MS Office, Google Suite, Dropbox, Slack, Social Sprout, Facebook Business Manager and YouTube Studio.
Nice to Haves & Attributes:
– Education related to the music business or digital marketing
Basic knowledge of Adobe Suite of products and Notion
– Optimistic with positive energy and outlook
– Passionate about music and social media
– Thrive in a fast-paced and dynamic environment; a team player, willing to pitch in whenever needed
Job Specs:
Position: Social Media Coordinator
Reporting to: Director of Digital Strategy & Marketing
Hours: Monday-Friday 10:00AM – 6:00PM
Location: Temporarily remote, due to COVID-19 (EST time zone hours). Toronto, ON post-COVID.
Compensation: Salary range from 40K-50K to be determined commensurate with experience, and health benefits.
Application Deadline: April 30, 2021
Please apply via the “Apply Now” link here.
No phone calls please.
We invite applications from all qualified candidates, especially from people who identify as racialized, Indigenous, differently abled, and persons of any sexual orientation or gender identity. Upon request, suitable accommodations are available under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act for applicants invited to an interview.
WELCOME TO THE CHURCH OF BETTER DAZE: INTRODUCING BOY GOLDEN, SIX SHOOTER RECORDS’ NEWEST SIGNING.
/in NEWS /by Caitlin VeitchEXPECT NEW MUSIC ON 4/20.
BOY GOLDEN’S DEBUT ALBUM ARRIVES THIS SUMMER.
Learn and Burn: Boy Golden hosts “Roll With Tokyo Smoke” Virtual Workshop on 4/20. Join here.
Six Shooter Records is thrilled to welcome Boy Golden, a new artist from Winnipeg, MB, to the label. A chrysalis in a 1940s lemon lounge suit, Boy Golden is poised to emerge fully formed from the pandopolis deep freeze with his charismatic vision of good vibes, even in hard times. A charming dealer of laid-back devil on your shoulder advice for life, Boy Golden’s worldview is located somewhere between ‘work hard everyday’ and ‘quit that job!’ With a soundcloud link and a 1995 Toyota Previa-sized personality, Boy Golden has signed a multi-album deal at one of Canada’s most singular and discerning record labels.
“Our love affair with Winnipeg is long and rich, and we are beguiled with our latest discovery from this Great City,” says Six Shooter Records President, Shauna de Cartier. The company’s connection to Winnipeg’s music scene runs deep, from the early days of Luke Doucet’s solo career to Interstellar Rodeo (Beck!), to William Prince and the handful of Six Shooter staffers who call Winnipeg their home. “From the first song I heard by Boy Golden, I was instantly swooning. It was love at first listen.”
Boy Golden will release new music in the coming months, starting with the title track from his forthcoming debut album, The Church of Better Daze, arriving – naturally – on 4/20. Celebrate and educate alike on this day by joining Boy Golden for a live virtual rolling workshop in partnership with Tokyo Smoke. Sign up here. Get ready with Boy Golden’s inaugural artist-curated playlist, SPLIFFSZN.
Everyone is welcome at The Church of Better Daze. “The partnership with Six Shooter Records has been absolutely crispy so far,” says Boy Golden. “They are even helping me repair the church’s leaky roof.”
Restrictions on cannabis messaging prevents us from detailing exactly how much fun you’ll have with Boy Golden’s debut album, The Church of Better Daze.
(A LITTLE BIT) ABOUT BOY GOLDEN
Boy Golden has a purpose: enjoy each day and make good music. Founder and minister of The Church of Better Daze, he wants to help people seeking to improve on yesterday’s themes. His songs, like hymns, are hopeful, fresh and upbeat. Redefining jam band and stoner cultures by turning dead heads into lively brains, Boy Golden wants to unite us all in a hazy dream under one roof. If you’re open to learn, and can speak your truth, you can blaze and still get paid in Boy Golden’s Church of Better Daze.
HORIZON LINE: THE DEEP DARK WOODS – EVERYTHING REMINDS ME
/in NEWS /by Caitlin VeitchWritten by David Morrison
Being useless at everything else and because music is on my mind as many hours per day as koalas are asleep, I’ve spent the majority of my working life cheerily toiling away in record stores. Thirteen years into my employ at the fabled Fascinating Rhythm in Nanaimo, BC, that situation – and, essentially, my music retail career – ground to an unceremonious halt upon the declaration of this godforsaken pandemic.
Oh, how I miss my regular customers and yakking day in, day out with them about the artform that is fundamental to my role on this beleaguered pale blue dot. I also miss the buzz of random visits from artists I admire, such as Ryan Boldt, a scholarly roots music fanatic and the beating heart of recherché folk dreamers, The Deep Dark Woods.
Like myself, Ryan is a melomaniac: for he and I music is far above even a passion – it’s an intrinsic need. We now reside on opposite coasts, but when living on Vancouver Island he’d sporadically swing by between tours and recording to spend goodly time flipping through racks, rifling through boxes, and poking about the store’s dusty corners in search of rustic melodious treasures. Satisfied with the day’s findings, flashing a scratchcard winner’s grin he’d present me with a stack of arcane folk, bluegrass, old-timey, country-blues and gospel vinyl for purchase, then off at it we’d go…yak, yak, yak, music, music, music. He knows his stuff and I know mine, so our mutually enthusiastic exchanges flowed like whitewater.
I dearly miss such simple, yet now inestimably valued interactions with Ryan and so many like him during the course of those working days, so how apt it is in this challenging time that the exquisite first single from The Deep Dark Woods’ forthcoming album, Changing Faces, is a pining contemplation on separation from a loved one, and the deep yearning for reconnection. In the same hankering spirit of his legendary compatriot Gordon Lightfoot’s classic “Early Morning Rain”, Ryan’s “Everything Reminds Me” is a stark chamber-folk song of haunting beauty, enhanced by melancholy strings arranged and performed by Maria Grigoryeva. Directed by the award-winning Craig Range, the intimate accompanying video shows the family of a friend of Ryan’s, rugged prairie folks going about their day in the isolated Saskatchewan hamlet of Cardross. Underscoring our innate need for closeness and community at a time when we’re so deprived of it, with dignity and quiet defiance the poignant short film also emphasizes that even the most mundane moments of any given day all add up to something far greater in life’s considerably grander scheme, should we care to look for them. Every moment, every second is precious, people; use them well.
WIN A SIGNED TEST PRESSING HERE.
THE DEEP DARK WOODS DETAIL CHANGING FACES, NEW ALBUM OUT 5/14/21.
/in NEWS /by Caitlin VeitchNew video for “Everything Reminds Me” adds small daily rituals up to something big and beautiful. Watch here.
It wasn’t easy when I think about it
Living in the house of changing faces
David Blue
“The air in the house is different now,” says Ryan Boldt, the creative force behind The Deep Dark Woods. Boldt’s house is now full of pets and plants, and happiness. It’s a house by the ocean, far from the rural prairie landscapes of his childhood and a defining feature of The Deep Dark Woods’ sound and lyrics. The house is also an emotional dwelling, an inner place for processing upheaval, finding new direction and making peace with the past. On Changing Faces, The Deep Dark Woods’ sixth album, Boldt works through the complications, unique to him and recognizable to many, of leaving one place for the next.
The bittersweet melancholy of new song “Everything Reminds Me,” is brought into focus with its accompanying video, out today. Directed by Craig Range, the video reminds us, in fact, that all of life’s small daily rituals add up to something profound and beautiful. The addition of strings, arranged and performed by Russian composer and violinist Maria Grigoryeva, carve the song’s deep longing with graceful swells and swirls.
On Changing Faces, you will be surprised by how gradual yet complete a turn The Deep Dark Woods have made from cabin cozy jam band to pan-Atlantic folk revivalist collective. Boldt’s delicate melodies and metallic-stringed bite rattle centuries-old folkloric ghosts and personal demons alike. The Deep Dark Woods, a band with few fixed members, is a vessel for Boldt, keyboard wonder Geoff Hilhorst and frequent collaborators, Kacy & Clayton and Evan Cheadle, among others, to find their own vocabulary for translating traditional folk forms – Irish waltzes, Broadside Ballads, ominous lullabies – to contemporary electric terms.
Throughout Changing Faces, there is a push and pull between place and placelessness. In the modulated Farfisa churn-up of 50s doo wop on album opener, “Treacherous Waters,” and the dizzying experimental pastoral voyage of “In The Meadow,” arrangements layer the familiar with the disorienting. Lyrically, the homesick headspin of “When I Get Home Tonight” explores the feeling of not knowing where you belong. With Changing Faces, Boldt arrives in a new place, the culmination of a project both historical and personal.
Changing Faces arrives May 14, 2021 on Six Shooter Records.
CHANGING FACES TRACK LIST
1. Treacherous Waters
2. How Could I Ever Be Single Again
3. My Love For You Is Gone
4. Anathea
5. When I Get Home Tonight
6. Everything Reminds Me
7. In The Meadow
8. Yarrow
ABOUT THE DEEP DARK WOODS
Originally from Saskatchewan and now based on the east coast of Canada, The Deep Dark Woods take up a deep tradition of forlorn storytelling, drawing lines from Celtic folksongs to country blues, John Fahey to Shirley Collins. Lush and devastating, Boldt’s gothic surrealism is stark in detail and full of emotion, a murder balladeer for our time.
Following their JUNO nominated album Yarrow (2017), Changing Faces is The Deep Dark Woods reimagined. Produced by Boldt, the new album also features touring companions Kacy & Clayton and the guitar stylings of Evan Cheadle.
BALLOON BENDER: WHITEHORSE RELEASE “I WANNA MAKE PROMISES (THAT I CAN’T KEEP),” FROM NEW ALBUM MODERN LOVE.
/in NEWS /by Caitlin Veitch“A trippy Harold Edgerton moment for the 21st Century.”
Watch Whitehorse perform Modern Love at Toronto’s Horseshoe Tavern Friday, March 26.
Live stream tickets here.
Whitehorse’s “I Wanna Make Promises (That I Can’t Keep),” is a loping, laidback wishful think, travelling from aisle 9 to cloud 9 and back again. Today, the song gets an absurdist, mad scientist video treatment, shot in ultra slo-mo, that makes art out of all of the awkward milliseconds, reflexes and micro cringes that go unseen in reality’s standard frame rate.
Directed by Six Shooter’s Artist in Residence Lyle Bell (currently a JUNO Award Album Artwork of the Year nominee for July Talk’s Pray For It), “Promises” video is the evolution and culmination of Bell’s vision for Modern Love’s visual aesthetic, not to mention the product of Six Shooter’s highly creative in-house Art Squad. “The band had done street photos with a massive balloon, the balloon being my idea of a metaphor for “modern love,” says Bell. “It’s beautiful but delicate. Once it pops it’s gone for good!”
“I thought about extreme slow motion videos on YouTube and how it would be cool to capture the definitive ‘pop’ moment with a Phantom camera,” shares Bell. “I was highly inspired by Harold Edgerton’s mid century bullet-time photography (Three Balloons) and I wanted an album cover to be a modern and dynamic version of this. The Promises video, shot at the same time as the album art, is this concept taken two steps further with balloon explosions, 40 pounds of glitter and samurai swords. There is no narrative, it’s again a colourful metaphor for how love can be beautiful and messy at the same time. A trippy Harold Edgerton moment for the 21 century.”
“I Wanna Make Promises (That I Can’t Keep)” is found on Whitehorse’s new full-length album, Modern Love, released last week. The first collection co-produced by the duo, Modern Love looks unflinchingly at the fantasies and realities of romance; how easy it is to get our wires crossed in the wireless age. Impressionistic, ambient and diffusive in sound, Modern Love’s sound taffy pull strings, surf-in-a-seashell guitar tones, and gauzy, hushed vocals.
LISTEN TO MODERN LOVE HERE.