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_______________________________ John Allaire "Up Hill" video
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is a Member of the NEWS ARCHIVE Oct.-Dec. 2008
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Latest News... Feb. 1, 2010 - Latest video from "Up Hill ... Both Ways" released - Michel Poirier and John Allaire have today released the lates video for John's 2009 album "Up Hill ... Both Ways". While the original concept was abandoned in part, here is the result of the latest release from the Allaire camp! Stay tuned for a full-lemgth DVD with this and many other features, live shows and documentaries coming soon!
Dec. 17, 2009 - John wins Toronto Independent Music Award in "Best Live" category - It's been quite a year and the train keeps a' rollin'. John walked away from a showcase for the Toronto Independent Music Award with the hardware for the "Best Live-Acoustic" act. John was joined on stage by his "Toronto" Campistas and took the award with a 17/20 score. Dec. 8, 2009 - Sony BMG (Acidpro software) produces and hosts the "John Allaire Remix Contest" - John's song "Magnets" off his latest album has been supported by Sony BMG through their AcidPro recording software website ACIDplanet.com. According to their site: "ACIDplanet.com® is excited about teaming up with American Songwriter magazine and offering John Allaire’s “Magnets” for remixing. “Magnets” recently won first place in American Songwriter’s lyric award." Would-be recording engineers and producers are encouraged to remix John's song "Magnets" and enter it into the contest for prizes! Go here to see what this is all about!
Dec. 8, 2009 - John playing showcase at the Toronto Independent Music Awards - After being nominated in the "Best Live" category, John and his "Toronto Campistas" (led by T.O. alt-country guitarist Greg Klein) will be playing The Central on 603 Markham Street (beside Honest Eds!), as part of the award selection. The show will be Wednesday, December 16th at 8:00 pm and the cover is $7.00. Come on out and cheer him on! Oct. 30, 2009 - John wins American Songwriter "Best Lyrics" Award - It has just been announced out of Nashville that John has won the "Best Lyrics" category of the American Songwriter Awards. The song submitted for the award was "Magnets", a song from John's latest album "Up Hill ... Both Ways". The American Songwriter Awards holds quarterly awards announcements. "Magnets" will go up against the other three winners for a chance at a trip to Nashville to write and record with some big Nashville names. See the award anouncement and artice in this month's issue of American Songwriter Magazine. Oct. 13, 2009 - Songwriters Assoc. of Canada "Bluebird North" Showcase at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa - Tuesday November 3rd, 2009,
Bluebird North Ottawa,
Presented by the Songwriters Association of Canada, National Arts Centre's Fourth Stage Featuring: Tickets: Tickets Available Online though the NAC Box Office: Oct. 9, 2009 - Award Nominations! - The American Songwriter Awards has informed John that one of his songs (Magnets) finished in the top 4 out of 2,500 entries in the "best lyrics award" section. Final placement is pending, but a first place finish will award John a Martin guitar and a shot at the grand prize, which is a week in Nashville recording with some pretty big stars. At the very minimum, at this point John is going to be published in "American Songwriter Magazine", which has a very large worldwide circulation. As well, the Toronto Independent Music Awards (TIMA) informed John that he has been nominated for an award there too in "Best Live acoustic act" category. A concert will take place in Toronto some time in the new year for a shot at the $15,000 top prize in the qualifying round and a chance to compete for $60,000.
Aug 3, 2009 - "Up Hill" review from Denver!. "He has the lyrical sense of Dylan, the chops of Neil Young, and his backing group reminds me of The Band..." See the whole review here.
June 22, 2009 - US TOUR a great success ... Ontario and Quebec dates up next - John's recent flurry of shows took him across two provinces, 11 states, 7,000 kms, 75 driving hours, $57 in highway tolls, 19 shows in 21 days, two time zones and approximately 450 Egg McMuffins between John and Gilles (not really by choice). John played about 380 songs in that time period in places such as Cleveland, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Nashville, Virginia Beach, West Virginia, Manhattan, Connecticut, and many points in between. Hundreds of pictures and 8 hours of video were shot. We will be uploading new pictures and a blog in short order. Stay tuned for that! In the meantime, check out the shows page to see if/when John's playing in a town near you. And don't forget to show up early at Ottawa Bluesfest on July 18th, as John and the Campistas' set is at 1:30 pm on the "Subway Stage". May 19, 2009 - First "Up Hill" review is in .. from David Yazbeck at NxEW. "I sure hope we'll hear plenty from this new release. Here are my first impressions: this is a great record. Excellent production, great sound, nice contributions from Tara Holloway and Amanda Rheaume. And a showcase for an evolving singer-songwriter pushing the envelope a bit but also doing what he does best: heartfelt troubadour songs about real people." See it here! May 16, 2009 - John Allaire is Peter Simpson's "Critic's Pick of the week" in the Ottawa Citizen. Apr. 22, 2009 - John to play Ottawa Bluesfest again this year - This just in... John and his band will be playing the Ottawa Bluesfest for his thrid consecutive year. He will be playing on Saturday, July 18th at 1:30 pm on the Subway Stage. Go here for more details. Mar. 31, 2009 - Tickets for Ottawa CD Launch on sale NOW! - Tickets for John's May 22nd CD launch for "Up Hill ... Both Ways" are on sale now on this web site and will be available starting Friday, April 3, 2009 at Quinn's Ale House (Bank near Sunnyside) and Compact Music, Bank and Third Ave.) Buy them online securely here now!
Mar. 24, 2009 - Article in new Canadian music blog "North by East West" - David Yazbeck of CKCU FM Thursday Morning Special Blend fame has taken to print journalism and wrote a nice piece on John's upcoming new album "Up Hill ... Both Ways". See it here. Mar. 9, 2009 - New album almost ready for mixing. US Tour dates, Blues in the Schools showcase and more... Recording for the next album is all but done and mixing will commence next week. Twelve new tracks have been recorded with many special guests, including the Campistas -- Jeff Tanguay on bass, Tony Dunn on keys and sax and Breeze Smith on drums and percussion. Anders Drerup (Silver Creek) has contributed some banjo, guitar, upright bass and pedal steel, and Nathan Smith has put down some pretty darn sweet fiddle tracks. Tara Holloway sings a couple of songs with John including an AWESOME folkie duet on Swing the Hammer Down. (Think Lucinda Williams and Graham Parker, with a dash of Pete Seeger!). Glenn Torresan has put down some slide guitar, and now that she has returned from singing for the troops in Afghanistan, Amanda Rheaume will be singing a duet or two with John! We're aiming at a May 2009 release, and in the meantime, look for some "teasers" in the days ahead on John's Facebook and Myspace pages. The US Tour dates are coming together nicely for May-June 2009. Check the schedule often! But before all this touring stuff, John's playing a showcase show for all musicians participating in the "Blues in the Schools" program. The show is in Ottawa at the Bronson Centre and is free! 7 pm start featuring TJ Wheeler, Tony D, Steve Marriner, and many others.
And let's not forget John's last "regional show" before the US tour -- May 24th at the Black Sheep Inn in Wakefield. It's a Sunday matinee at 4pm with JP Ranger in support of breast cancer research.
Jan. 8/09 - Ottawa Citizen keeping tabs on the studio work - This appeared in the Ottawa Citizen today... "Troubadour John Allaire will spend the rest of the winter in studio with producer/engineer Chad Nesrallah, finishing up the final tracks for his next release, scheduled for May. Allaire's backing band of Jeff Tanguay (bass), Tony Dunn (keys/sax) and Kevin Smith (drums) -- a.k.a. The Campistas -- returns, along with Anders Drerup, who guests on a few tracks playing banjo, guitar and pedal steel." |
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