Kevin Kane (Grapes of Wrath)

  In almost every town – even the backward ones – there are urban legends, stories, myths circling around about the special ones; the ones who’ve made it, the ones who have broken free of the bonds of earth and risen to stratospheric levels. Some of the stories are true, or mostly true. Sometimes they’re not.
  In Kelowna, home of Streaming Café, one of the special ones the stories are told about is Kevin Kane. Kane and his friends Chris and Tom left Kelowna to build a successful career in Vancouver and beyond with their band Grapes of Wrath. Every musician and songwriter wants to have a gold or platinum album in their repertoire; Kevin’s got one of each. Every kid growing up in Kelowna, it seemed, tried to find the connection between themselves and the Hooper brothers or Kane. There was a bit of a kafuffle when Grapes released their song Backward Town, with the lyrics and video dissing Kelowna, but forgiveness had to eventually granted if the connection to the special ones was to be maintained.
  Now Kane is leaving town again. This time he’s off to Toronto in order to more intentionally pursue his solo career. His last few years have been spent more as a producer than a performing artist, but his heart has always been in singing his own songs. Kevin Kane will be at Streaming Café August 21st for his ‘farewell to Kelowna’
show, and he’ll be answering questions from both in-house and online viewers. Check it out – it’s your chance to say goodbye.

Jon Bryant & Gabrielle Papillon

Jon Bryant stirred up a great deal of interactive traffic when he and Gabrielle Papillon blitzed through Streaming Café the last weekend in June. So did Gabrielle.

The online posts aimed at Jon seemed to be from a lot of his family and friends; it’s obvious he’s got a lot of support from folks who like teasing him and poking a bit of good-natured humour his way – and who were excited to get a chance to see their Jon online, live, in real-time. Comments came in from before the show started until right at the very end – there were even some that came in once the replay had started.

Gabrielle’s posts were focused on her wonderful voice and songwriting ability. It was abundantly clear that she had made an excellent impact on online viewers, and they felt compelled to comment on it.

After a live show we webcast the replay for at least 24 hours. At 9:00 the next morning, during the rebroadcast of The Bryant/Papillon show, there was a comment from “cb” – ‘listening to the replay of Bryant and Papillon. Both are awesome!’; even at 5:45 the next evening “choni” added, “Just tuned in for the first time and am really enjoying this. His voice is nurturing.”

It’s great when artists make an impact beyond their fan base. We like to think that Streaming Café can help make that happen, so it was encouraging to see the amount of on-site interactive comments from people who liked the show.

Here are a couple of videos from the show… hope you like ‘em as much as the online commentators did!

Jon Bryant "Deaf"

Gabrielle Papillion "One Small Frame"

The Floorbyrds @ Streaming!

Seven accomplished musicians in their own right, the Floorbyrds came together and played to a full house at the Streaming Cafe on June 19th.  

Andrew Smith, Norm Strauss, Kim McMechan, Graham Ord, Scott Gamble, Corey Janz, and Dean Clark are known in town and beyond for their individual musical and songwriting skills – and when they come together to perform as the Floorbyrds that skill shines even brighter due to the support of their fellow bandmates.

 

Although the band could almost be described as a project formed to highlight some of the songs Strauss and Smith have written, McMechan and others contribute songs to the mix as well. And the band itself probably owes its existence more to the persistence of Dean Clark than to anything else.

Clark has a long history of organizing and promoting folk music festivals. He first met Smith and Strauss in relation to a large annual folk fest he headed up in Alberta. After moving to the Okanagan and playing bass in different configurations of this band for various one-off projects, Dean kept saying to Strauss and Smith that they should form a band with more consistency, one that would play regularly together. And (at long last, Dean would say) the Floorbyrds were born.

Fans of Kim McMechan can find lots to like about the Floorbyrds, too; in this grouping Kim sings songs she has written with the support of a six-person band – the multi-layered guitars and underlying rhythm section add a wonderful fullness to her strongly-written songs.

The Floorbyrds: seven stand-alone musicians coming together to make it 'even better' – check out the show highlights in the 'Previous Shows' section of www.streamingcafe.net

Enjoy the clip below "Black Bird Sitting on the Line", fronted by Kim McMechan.

Vancouver based band Prairie Dance Club joined us this last Saturday and didn't disappoint!
PDC's self titled album at first listen sticks out as a smooth, moody, well written album.  The 2009 release has launched this relatively new band into the forefront of up and coming Canadian acts.  Reflecting this strong sounding album is the radio success it has found, being heard on airwaves across Canada, US and Europe.
These guys are definitely worth a listen!
Be sure to check them out @ http://www.myspace.com/prairiedanceclub and listen to a clip from their performance at the Streaming Cafe!        


 Check out more music from Prairie Dance Club's performance @ http://www.streamingcafe.net/

From the UK pavement comes...

    Saturday brought us United Kingdom artist, now residing in Victoria, BC, Kid on the Pavement to the Streaming Cafe.  From the moment Chris Llyod ( Kid on the Pavement being his stage alter ego) pulled up to the cafe in a 70's brown Camaro, it was quite clear there's a retro feel about him.  This retro approach not only resided in KOTP's personal style but also came through strong in his music. Much like his influences, Neil Young and Simon & Garfunkel, his strong melodies and guitar work communicated well the reflective and sometimes dark stories he had to tell.

    Kid on the pavement is relatively new to the Canadian scene but look to hear great things from him in the future.  His debut album is being wrapped up and will be coming soon. Until then have a listen to a live clip "Paris Rain", one of my favorites, from the show. Enjoy!
Michael



Check out more music from this show @ http://www.streamingcafe.net