Band: The Dave Murphy Band CD Release: Waiting For Dave Year: 1996 Genre: Funk, rock & blues Home: Toronto/Hamilton
Chatham Connection: Guitarist Dan Noordermeer is from Chatham. Dan played locally with ‘River Road’, was a long time member of the Jeff Healey Blues Band, and has done session work on several CD releases.
About Chatham’s own Dan Noordermeer:
Guitarist extraordinaire Dan Noordermeer has been with the band for almost a decade, and continues to dazzle audiences with his formidable talents. Originally from Chatham, Dan now resides in Hamilton. Dan is known for his Samson-like mane of hair and his wicked sense of humour. Unlikely as it seems, Dan was a full time country musician for many years before joining the band. But for those familiar with his playing it’s no surprise, since he has an uncanny ability to play every style of music with incredible authenticity, passion and virtuosity.
CD & band notes:
Over 200 shows a year quickly earned the band its reputation as one of the most talented, versatile and hardest working acts in the business.
In the summer of 1996 the band released its first album entitled “Waiting for Dave.” The ten original tracks display the broad range of the group’s influences and talents. Later that same year, a dream came true for the band when they opened for their hero, James Brown. Since then the band has opened for numerous other acts, including The Bare Naked Ladies.
In 1997, the band made the prestigious Orbit Room in downtown Toronto their new home for weekly performances, where the band continues to perform on Friday nights. It was here, on a stage complete with a house Hammond organ, that the band really began to stretch out musically, and since then there have been many incredible shows featuring the band at their spontaneous and improvisational best. In early 1998, exhausted by years of nonstop performing, the band took a four-month break while Dave travelled around the world.
Sylvia Tyson in Quartette Artist: Quartette Release: It’s Christmas Year: 1996 Chatham Connection: Sylvia is from Chatham-Kent Style: Country
Who:
Sylvia Tyson
Caitlin Hanford
Cindy Church
Colleen Peterson
Quartette is a Canadian country-folk group.1995 and 1996 they were nominated at the Juno Awards in the category of best country group.
Tracks:
It’s Christmas
Holy Christmas Night
Now It’s Christmas
O COme, O Come Emmanuel
When Was Jesus Born
A Christmas Dream
The Angels Wept
This Year My Christmas Wish is Mexico
What Child Is This
Christmas Came Early This Year
Hush Baby Jesus
Silent Night
I knew I was in for a treat when I listened to It’s Christmas, because I had also received a copy of Quartette’s new CD, In the Beauty of the Day which is simply awesome! And I wasn’t disappointed. This beautiful “super band,” composed of four of Canada’s best folk and country artists, does everything it needs to live up to its tremendous potential.
Cindy Church begins the record with a strong voice and spirit, singing lead on the title track (a song she co-wrote with Nathan Tinkham). This song is one that should get year-to-year air play. It’s a hit.
Colleen Peterson follows with an excellent lead vocal on the folk selection Holy Christmas Night, a song she co-wrote with Nancy Simmonds.
Sylvia Tyson follows shortly afterward with her beautifully sweet voice on her song The Angels Wept. I am beginning to detect a pattern here.
Caitlin Hanford follows up in grand style with This Year My Christmas Wish Is Mexico, which she co-wrote with Nathan Tinkham. Yes, a pattern is emerging.
Bowing to tradition by including O Come, O Come Emmanuel, What Child Is This, and Silent Night, this qute, qute, qute, qute qountry quartet has brought forth a mostly original cache of catchy Christmas carols. I reserve my highest praise for records like this one, which give something back to the season.
It is worth mentioning that in addition to sharing duties on lead vocals, these women are an excellent blended chorus. And the instrumental accompaniment sounds richer than much of what Nashville has produced in the ’90s. These ladies, each an accomplished artist in her own right, have created an energy and synergy that is extremely effective on this polished and pretty pop country offering.
Band: Salmonblaster CD Release: Salmonblaster Year: 1996 Home: London Ontario Chatham Connection: Bass player Mat Davis is from Wallaceburg and played guitar for the biggest metal/ thrash band to come from Chatham (M.A.D. / The Mad)1988-1993.
Members:
Matt Worm – vocals, guitar, fx
Mat Davis – bass, guitar
Brady Parr – drums, backing vocals
Notes:
Formed in early `94, this intense and adventurous three-piece from London, Ontario recently inked a deal with indie label Liquid Records. Its self-titled debut features 14 songs of dramatic, borderline, schizophrenic stylings from punk sentimentalist rock songs, 80s new wave, trance-like dirges and even experimental noise. “When you dream about being in a band, you dream about being in this band,” wrote ID Magazine.
The band also played on the ‘Tom Green Show’ before it got picked up by MTV.
In 1997, The Janet Theory invited the band down to play the CAW Hall in Chatham with them and a few other local bands. This was the biggest underground indie show to hit Chatham’s vibrant scene that year.
The song ‘Freeway’ took the band to a level most bands would like to sit at. The guys gained heavy rotation and support from Much Music, and mainly college radio. Around this time, Nirvana was on top of the music scene which allowed bands of this genre a chance to get in the door. Discography…
self-titled CD and cassette (1995)
Vroom!!! 7-inch (1995)
Tracks Betrayal, Blast Off, Brian Jones, Drive It, Floating Eyes, Freeway, Justafish, Pulse, Shooting Stars, Skyrockets, Sugar Rush, The Perfect Fit, Transistors and Turbines, Visionblur
Artist: Ian And Sylvia Release: The Beginning of the End Date: 1996 Bear Family Records (BCD 15940-AH)
Made in Germany Sylvia is from Chatham. Born Sylvia Fricker.
This is where is starts to get confusing! This is a re-issue of the album Ian and Sylvia issued on Columbia (30736) in 1971. The notes by Richard Flohil imply that this CD contains their final two albums, and it even mentions songs from the second (last) Columbia album, but actually only the first Columbia album is included.
If that weren’t confusing enough, the title of the CD is taken from one of the songs on the second Columbia album!! All this suggests to me that they must have planned to release both albums on one CD, and that their plans changed, but somehow they never got around to changing the notes. On the plus side, this has four bonus tracks (12-15) that never appeared anywhere before (perhaps they decided to include the extra tracks rather than squeeze the two albums onto one CD?). Another problem is with this CD is that it gives no writing credits. I’ve supplied some of them below.
Credits:
David Wilcox: guitar, mandolin
Joe Renzetti, Stu Scharf: guitar
Lloyd Green, Weldon Myrick: steel guitar
Kirk Hamilton, Norbert Putman: bass
Ken Asher, David Briggs, Ernie Hayes: keyboards
Kenny Buttrey, Herb Lovelle: drums
Charlie McCoy: harmonica
John Hill: string arrangements Produced by John Hill.
Tracks 1 More Often Than Not (David Wiffen) 2 Creators of Rain 3 Summer Wages (Tyson) 4 Midnight 5 Barney (Tyson – words, Fricker – music) 6 Some Kind of Fool 7 Shark and the Cockroach 8 Last Lonely Eagle (John Dawson) 9 Lincoln Freed Me 10 Needle of Death (Bert Jansch) 11 Everybody Has to Say Goodbye 12 Give It to the World 13 Jordan Station 14 Long Beach 15 Love Is Strange
Artist: Ian And Sylvia Release: Live at Newport Date: 1996 Sylvia is from Chatham
Recorded at the Newport Folk Festival in 1963 and 1965. A great CD showing what a solid live act Ian & Sylvia were. All recordings previously unreleased except 3, 11, and 12, which had appeared on various Newport compilations on vinyl back in the sixties.
1 – Introduction by Ed McCurdy :08
2 – Oh Katy Dear (trad) 2:49
3 – Un Canadien Errant (trad) 3:28
4 – V’le Bon Vent (trad) 2:12
5 – The Greenwood Sidie / The Cruel Mother (trad) 2:36
6 – Royal Canal (Brendan Behan) 4:22
7 – C. C. Rider (trad) 3:00
8 – Red Velvet (Tyson) 2:21
9 – Song for Canada (Pete Gzowski, Tyson) 4:25
10 – Travelling Drummer (Fricker) 2:20
11 – Someday Soon (Tyson) 2:44
12 – Play One More (Tyson) 2:49
13 – You Were On My Mind (Fricker) 2:51
14 – Maude’s Blues (Losing is an Easy Game) (Fricker) 4:03
15 – Four Strong Winds (Tyson) 4:26
Credits:
Eric “the doctor” Hord: lead guitar, tracks 1-6
Rick Turner: lead guitar, tracks 7-14
Ronny Schiff: notes
Joe Alper, John Cooke: photos
Produced by Jeff Zaraya
Artist : Tangled Puppet Home : Chatham Ontario Canada What : Area’s Best Cover band Music Style : Alternative / Rock Date : 1993-1997
Musicians :
Dave Oosterhoff – Vocals
Steve Eyres – Guitar
Dave Davidson – Bass
Spence Eyres – Drums
The Scoop :
From 1995 to 1997, Tangled Puppet was simply the best cover band in Ontario showcasing the best musicians in the rock genre. They played every venue in Chatham including the infamous Aberdeen, & filled clubs through out Ontario for 2 years straight.
The band was known for their dead on covers of Pearl Jam, I Mother Earth, Stone Temple Pilots & other leaders of the grunge movement that was happening at this time.
* Oosterhoff left the band in ’97 & was replaced by Aaron.
Steve owns & operates Franks Music Centre & The EyresSpace studio which is home to the best local recordings. He has played in previous bands such as ‘The Rebels’.
Spence has previously played in Tom Lockwoods band ‘Lockwood’. He is the studio drummer on various local recordings including Julie Ross.
Dave was previously in ‘Lyre’ & also played in the Julie Ross band. After Tangled Puppet ended, Dave joined Manpower & continues to perform on a regular basis.
This CD featured a cover by esteemed artist Brian Jones, whose work was also used on “Streamline”
Musicians: Tom Lockwood – Guitars Pat Crone – Drums, congas, keyboards Brent Hunter – 6 string fretless bass Mark Tremblay – Piano and Synthesizer Stephen Fowler – Synth programs and pre-nut guitar (Ascension)
Engineered and produced by: Stephen Fowler
Tracks 01 Smoke and Mirrors 02 Blues for Lenny Breau 03 Waltz for Ken 04 One From The Heart 05 Proctor’s Retreat 06 American Gothic 07. Misty Moon 08. Puddles 09. Monkey Puzzle 10. Duke 11. Feel First 12. Pass it On 13. Common Ground 14. Two Villages 15. Ascension
Artist: Nerve Home : Chatham Ontario Canada CD Release : Super Sucker (cassette only) Music Style : Hard Rock Date : 1996
Musicians : Chris Wright – Vocals, Guitar
Ki Larsen – Drums
Steve O’rourke – Bass (on CD recording)
Mike Dow – Bass ( joined as live bassist around 2002-2003)
Track Listing. 1. Locked & Loaded 2. Superhero 3. Bent 4. Dweeb 5. Empty 6. Shot Down 7. Ignore
The CD : Another great recording by Steve Eyres & his new studio. This CD contains 7 tracks. The most notable being ‘Super Hero’ which saw plenty of air time on the local indie spotlight radio time slot.
The band is notorious for their ‘on again’ ‘off again’ relationship but still manage to appear live when it counts.
This is a solid demo of the extreme true hard-core nature & instantly put Nerve on the radar as a band with promise. Lack of new material slowed things down for the next 5 years, but they re-emerged in 2003 exactly where they left off. Powerful & to the point.
This cassette release came out in a great year where the underground scene championed above all. The CAW Hall was the place to catch bands & the Legendary (now closed) Aberdeen was hosting a new generation of bands spawned from the grunge era.
Supersucker was re-mastered and re-Released on CD in 2002 just before the NMSC (southwestern Ontario’s New Music Showcase) that year where they placed second overall.
Recorded, mixed, and engineered by Steve Eyres (1996) At Steve Eyres Basement Studio.
Click below to play video preview of their 1996 release “Supersucker”.
Artist : Michelle Wright Home : Originally from Merlin/Chatham Release Title : For Me It’s You ( BMG ) Music Style : Country Date : July 1,1996 Canada August 27, 1996 US
Musicians :
Session Artists: Raul Malo, Matt Rollings
Recording credits -
Producers – Jim Scherer, Tim Dubois, Monty Powell, John Guess,Val Garay
Track Listing.
Nobody’s Girl – Gretchen Peters
The Answer Is Yes - Rodney Crowell
We’ve Tried Everything Else – Bob DiPiero, Steve Seskin, Pam Tilliss
I’m Not Afraid - Debi Cochran, Jule Medders, Doug Pincock,Monty Powell, Anna Wilson
What Love Looks Like – Christi Dannemiller, Lisa Drew, Michelle Wright
Crank My Tractor - Steven Dale Jones, Mark Narmore
You Owe Me – Ronnie Samoset, Craig Wiseman
For Me Its You - Trev Bruce, Marilyn Martin, Thom McIugh
Laid Back Stone Cold – Jackson Leap
As Good As It Gets - Chuck Jones, Rafe VanHoy
Love Has No Pride - Eric Kaz, Libby Titus Listen here : http://www.myspace.com/michellewrightmusic http://www.ilike.com/artist/Michelle+Wright
Artist : Foster Child Release Title : Foster Child Home : Chatham Music Style : Rock Date : 1996
Musicians : Shawn Beaulieu- vocals, guitars Mat Drew – Vocals, Percussion Jay Moskaluk – Guitar , bow Jesse Verleye- Vocals, Bass Chuck Young – Drums
The Demo: This is their second demo, Recorded & Produced by Steve Eyres.
The original 3 thrash kids (Shawn,Jesse,Chuck) recruited Jay & Mat from the local cover band ‘Soul Kitchen’.
Due to the lack of venues having original music, the band doubled as a cover band with originals thrown in to keep them playing every weekend. The band found themselves booked endlessly packing venues all over Ontario for the next 2 years including a few Cornstalks, KOA Bash’s, & a handfull of arena shows.
The band did a summer tour of Ontario in support of this demo & heavy playing everywhere & anywhere lead to a good following.
Although the plan was to gain more exposure by playing covers & getting into more clubs from this, they found covers were consuming all their time. by 1997, members started up original projects ‘Janet Theory’ & ‘Whatever’, while keeping Foster Child just a cover band once in a while until 1999 when their original projects took on life.
Track Listing. 01 40 Seconds 02 Fall Away 03 Kevin 04. Baleful Dogma 05 Enemies for Friends 04 Baleful Dogma 06 Two Friends & A Back Pack 07 Seven Layer Jesus 08 The Girl That Couldn’t Spell Her Name 09 Levitate Above This 10 Heart 11 Yahve – Qui
Engineered by Steve Eyres at Eyres Studios, Chatham. Produced by Foster Child and Steve Eyres. Mastered at DB Studios, London, Ontario by Brian Burnes. Photography by Theresa Chartrand.
Summer Tour Dates 1996 Windsor – Rum Runners (2 nights) Amherstburg – Bonkers (2 nights) Sarnia – The Tunnel (two nights) Blenheim – Papa Luigi’s (two nights) Chatham – Aberdeen (three nights) Wallaceburg – Sam’s Hotel (two nights) Blenheim – Arena Toronto – The 360 St. Catherines – The Club Tilbury – Arena Hamilton – X Club Kitchener – Mrs. Robinsons Chatham – Cornstalk Mitchells Bay – Outdoor show Acme Bash – Outdoor show AOK Bash – Outdoor show London – Baha Club Chatham – CAW Hall
Click video preview below to hear samples of the CD
