Oh and Wombats too..but it didn't fit in my alliteration. 
Canadians tend to have a bit of the tall poppy syndrome to begin with and it's much worse for musicians. The whole 'indie' thing says, essentially, that anyone who is even modestly successful is a sellout and therefore should no longer be taken seriously. Never mind the fact that no one could ever properly define indie (there is a whole movie devoted to the question and it doesn't provide answers.) Also never mind that pretty much every musician in the world is 'independent' now except for Madonna and Bono. The accusations keep coming. "We've tallied the numbers, connected the dots, and are delighted to report that over $200,000 has been donated to various excellent organizations. These organizations include MSF Canada, CARE Canada, War Child Canada and The Salvation Army (for Dr. Paul Thistle, Howard Hospital, Zimbabwe). All of these agencies will continue to do immeasurably positive things, like: build schools, dig wells, educate communities and—in general—do piles of good well beyond the reach of rock and roll. We also undertook an incredible food drive! Near $20,000 was donated to food banks across Canada, not including the incredible 17,000 pounds of food that was delivered to tables across Canada during the November tour. As much as we're tallying last year's efforts, this is only the beginning. It's January, again. Please continue to think of the food bank through these next cold months and beyond, and if you make a donation, let us know below. Let the giving continueth and floweth and giveth back. If you'd like to volunteer at a food bank near you, click here. Let's all enjoy 2009 on a full stomach."
Aboriginal recording: Tracy Bone, No Lies. Blues recording: Little Miss Higgins, Junction City. Children's recording (tie): Googol Power, Crazy 4 Math and The Kerplunks, The Kerplunks. Contemporary Christian/gospel recording: Steve Bell, The Symphony Sessions. Classical composition: Elizabeth Raum, Dark Thoughts (How Bodies Make Ecstatic Marks). Classical recording: Jasper Wood, A Child's Cry from Izieu. Francophone recording: Ariane Mahryke Lemire, Double Entendre. Instrumental recording: Bob Evans, 4 on 6. Jazz recording: Altered Laws, Metaphora. Pop recording: The Liptonians, Self-Titled. Rock recording: State of Shock, Life, Love & Lies. Roots recording, duo/group: Twilight Hotel, Highway Prayer. Urban recording: Souljah Fyah, Truth Will Reveal. World recording: Alex Cuba, Agua Del Pozo.
Feist is on tour across Canada this fall and is asking for people who attend her shows to bring food, and buy merch in support of three different charities:"Feist is inviting you to bring more than your Fall coat to her upcoming Canadian tour; unlike many party hosts, she is asking you to bring food. The Feist concert food drive (in tandem with the Canadian Association of Food Banks) will take place at each tour stop along her upcoming 13-city tour. Feist encourages attendees to bring food donations and/or monetary contributions to help benefit their local Community Food Bank. Each month more than 720,000 Canadians access food banks, of which 39 per cent are children. Those who contribute will be rewarded with a chance to win a special prize from Feist.
Feist has also announced that all proceeds from her merchandise sales throughout the tour, will be donated to the following Canadian-based initiatives: CARE Canada, MSF (Doctors Without Borders) and War Child Canada. We will be posting more information on all of these initiatives in the weeks that follow, but please spread the word."
Sure, there have been the late night talk show appearances, the Emmy Nominations and the sweep of the Juno Awards but nothing quite says "you've made it" like a guest appearance on Sesame Street. 
This is all Moby’s fault. I have the feeling that it was sometime in the mid-90’s that it became completely acceptable, even the norm, for respectable musicians to turn themselves into cheap whores, turning tricks on TV to sell their tainted goods.
pleased with the end result while I’m attempting to capture that elusive something that is their essence, or je ne sais quoi, on paper. You will never find me in Stanley Park drawing portraits of your snot-runnin’, ice-cream eatin’ kids for $5 a pop, of that you can be sure! But yah, I’ve taken on illustration projects and created band posters where I’m more than happy to let someone else dictate what they’re looking for as the end result. It really makes me happy to have my art help out other people but it’s not the same as the stuff I make for myself. It still becomes a product, albeit a loving one. 
artists, after finding this out, would have their speed-dialed lawyers suing faster than that sloppy scab musician could finish writing his last plagiarized notes, and who could blame them, but Owen & team came up with a much more creative compensation for the crime. Why seek a monetary revenge when instead you can have the satisfaction of forcing a bloated corrupt corporation to fund a series of shows where you get to play with your friends and bands you love?! Thus was born the Maximum Black Festival that played dates in several cities across Europe in late Feb/early March. Hah! Bloody brilliant. (And now are you asking yourself, "Are the Vienna Utility Company really a bloated, corrupt corp?" Well, I’m assuming they are because, I mean, it’s Vienna, right? And there’s all that sausage, not to mention the pastries, so I’m just gonna assume there’s a lot of pudgy bloating going on over there. No offence, viennese!) Way to stick it to the man, Owen! "The Diableros generally come off as leaders of the next generation of no-bullshit rockers — ones who just happen to enjoy Echo and the Bunnymen and Dinosaur Jr. in equal measures, waxing nostalgic one minute (“No One Wants To Drive”) and stoically wry the next (“Any Other Time”). “I don’t care how punk rock you are, but it just isn’t anything new to me,” sings Carmichael in “Kicking Rocks.” Not caring about genres and all the posing that goes with them? Now there’s an idea"
"Vancouver crooner Michael Buble scored a nod for best male pop vocal/traditional pop vocal. Legendary power trio Rush is nominated for best rock instrumental and Montreal's Arcade Fire for best alternative music album."
"he guitar allows different tuning presets to be stored in its memory, meaning players can push buttons to flick between presets without altering the string tuning by hand."
Thanks to Mr. Bob Wiseman (aka my oldest daughters new piano teacher!) You can now download portable copies of his new music video (with Leslie Feist) at Who_Am_I(Feist&Bob_Wiseman).mp4 and some live footage from his recent tour of Europe at http://www.publicbroadcasting.ca/bob/YouDontLoveMefeat.Feist.mp4 (with Feist on drums). 
In a country as musically rich and diverse as Canada, even to be nominated for the Polaris Prize is a huge achievement. The Polaris prize is, in my view, the greatest musical honour in Canada. It is not run by the record industry. Sales, marketing, and location have no bearing on the outcome. The prize is voted on by 170 (ish) music journalists - people who love music so much that they have devoted their careers to it. 
