Castanet and Streaming Café

by Malcolm Petch

When you’re on a journey, it’s always nice to come across helpful folks along the way. We here at Streaming Café have been pleased at the on-going support we’ve received from Kelowna’s Castanet.net, the online news source for the Okanagan and beyond. They’ve been going since November 2000, and as far as successful online media presence goes, Castanet is a grandfather in the industry (for comparison, though they’re in a different arena, Friendster launched in 2002, MySpace in 2003, and facebook started in 2004).

Today there’s a blurb on Brad Parson’s “offbeat” page with a picture and link right on the front page (on Castanet) about tonight’s Album-Release party with Pat LePoidevin. Big shout-out to Brad and the others there for supporting us yet again! The live show itself will be streamed on our site, as per normal, but Castanet will be showing it on the offbeat page as well. Take that, facebook!

So there are your choices for tonight: watch Pat’s show live on SC, watch it live on Castanet.net (and keep up with the news at the same time), or come on down to the café and watch it in person! You can’t get a beer or a coffee online, of course, but Pat’s music will still be there…

Thanks, Castanet!

Live Album Release Show "Pat LePoidevin Live at Streaming Cafe"

by Joel Thiessen

We are only a few days away from our Pat LePoidevin CD Release Show and we've gotten some great local press! We are very excited that both The Capital News and eVent Magazine have picked up our event to broadcast to the masses. If you haven't already got your ticket (and free CD) for Pat's April 21st show, do not wait - seating is very limited!

If you can't make it out to the show you can still watch the show live online @ http://streamingcafe.net and buy the Pat LePoidevin Live at The Streaming Cafe CD for $10 from the Cafe or get it digital off our website in our new online store!

Don't miss out on another great performance and the Cafe's very first live album!

Art Show a great success!

by Joel Thiessen

Last Saturday we were fortunate to have local artists Leanne Spanza and Christina Leinemann Knittel host  Viewpoints art display at Streaming Cafe. This week we had a chance to sit down with Michelle from the Cafe to get a debrief on the success of the Viewpoints: a contrast of perspectives artshow.

Joel - So what is Viewpoints and how did it come to be?
Michelle - Well, one of the artist involved (Leanne Spanza) participated in our monthly craft sale last fall. We all fell in love with her art immediately so when she approached me and asked about the possibilities about having an art show that would feature her work as well as her friends, Christina Leinemann, here we didn't give it a second thought.


J - What can you tell us about the artists involved with viewpoints?
M - Well there were two artists featured, Leanne's work is focused more on scenery and landscapes. Her style contemporary and simplistic with bold and upbeat colors - reminiscent of Ted Harrison. While Christina's art moves more through different textures with subtle color-play.

J - So how did the night progress?
M - It progressed very well. There were DJ's, beer and wine, pizza and other appies. People even drove in from Summerland and Vancouver to see the art. Even Mayor Sharon Shepard made an appearance! It was packed house all night.

J - What was the general atmosphere in the cafe?
M - Some people compared the night to a birthday party! It as awesome. The vibe was very relaxed and people were mingling like crazy and having a great time. It felt so comfortable - like we were at a friends house...only with a lot of beautiful pictures hung up everywhere!

J - You mentioned there were DJ's? I thought the Cafe featured mostly acoustic based music.
M - The cafe has really branched out and grown. The art show just happened to fall on one of our Groove Lounge nights (2nd & 4th Friday of the month). The DJ's agreed to join in on the event and really helped make the atmosphere awesome with a mixture of jazzy instrumental music. It was really fun!

J - So how was the overall success of the night?
M - The night was a huge success in many ways. Everyone who came down had a really fun time, plus the Artists sold some art and got a ton of exposure from the full house. Some pictures are still up in the cafe and we find our customers being distracted from their drink orders!

J - How long will the art be featured in the Cafe?
M - They'll be up till April 30th.

J - Is there talk of another art show in the future?
M - We are looking into the possibilities of making this a more frequent event, Kelowna is home to so many talented artists whose work deserves a local showcase. We're not to sure when it'll be, but keep your eyes open!


We believe that the Cafe serves as not only a local venue and intimate listening room for live music in Kelowna, but as a social hub for artists of all sorts to perform, display and interact in an un-intimidating environment. Viewpoints: a contrast of perspective was a great success and we appreciate everyone who worked so hard at making it the memorable night that it was!

Leanne Spanza - www.leannespanza.com
Christina Leinemann Knittel - www.clkstudio.com

Web-traveling the North Scene : Northcote

by Michael Donley
I thought i'd write about an artist that I connected with through email last year but haven't been able to connect to perform yet at the cafe....but hopefully soon!

Northcote is the project of Saskatchewan born singer/songwriter Matt Goud.  Matt toured North America for years with influential post-hardcore group Means and with the disbanding of the band in 2008 took on a new path. In the same spirit of Dallas Green's City and Colour, Matt has made a clear change-up in musical direction to the folk/rock genre.
His debut solo EP in 2009 Borrowed Chords, Tired Eyes boosts 8 songs that need to be added to any Canadian Indie music fans collection.
He has now hit road in support of his new full length album Gather No Dust that is available on April 19th. The record was tracked in rural Southern Ontario in November 2010 with Producer Dan Weston (Attack in Black, Classified, Shad, City and Colour).

While you wait for the full release on April 19, be sure to grab his download Free Tonight @ his website http://northcotemusic.com/ and yes it is free!

Cash grabs for your next CD release

by Nico Boesten
Pretty much all of my artistically minded musician buddies are piss poor.

I'm not a huge fan of generalizations but when it comes to talking about all the things the average independent artist needs to do in order to "make it" (or make something) in the sea of digital music pirates, it's a feat of gargantuan proportions.

The average artist that you've seen light up your computer screens via Streamingcafe.net over the past couple of years has to work their little tutus off trying to get well paid gigs, keep their websites / Fbook / Twitter / RN / Bandcamp etc. up to date, send out emails, sell merch, write tunes, practice... Tons of things to do. And unless you've either landed some sweet deal, robbed your brother's piggy bank, or have a plutonium mine hidden in your backyard it's tough to make a living plucking your git-box.

So, people are getting creative in the way they raise money for projects and I've seen a few really cool tools that artists can use to get their fanbase involved in supporting their next album.

This is my buddy Tom Conlon who hails from the east coast of the US of EH and doesn't believe in selling his music. It's always by donation. He tours nonstop in a van and is one of the most generous guys you'll ever meet in your life. Maybe that's why he's penniless. Anyway, he's using a free service called Kickstarter to get people involved in supporting his next album project.

Tom Conlon's project with his brilliant little video explaining the project is here.




The real beauty in this is that you can give different packages to people who donate depending on how much they give.

For example:
Pledge $300 or more and get: digital pre-release, 2 signed copies, signed poster, your name in 'thank you' credits, plus...personalized video blog performance of the TC song of your choice.

The even cooler-er thing about this is that if you don't get enough pledges by the date you set, nobody pays and you're back to the drawing board. Ya, this would be a bit of an emotional sledgehammering to the confidence and ego of the artist, but at least all the donors will be off the hook.

Point being, it's a great tool that could really work for you if you need a slick tool to help raise some money.

Have you heard of any other great tools / websites that could help artists?