Category: Entertainment News

New album release: I’m Not Crying, You’re Crying – Whitehorse

Whitehorse’s new album is available now. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

Award-winning Canadian duo Whitehorse—Melissa McClelland and Luke Doucet—just released their eighth LP, I’m Not Crying, You’re Crying, leaving no emotional, personal, fantastical, or political stone unturned. The new album finds the pair venturing deeper into classic country music touchstones than ever before; a move that is both a homecoming and an evolution of their sound. A twist on the ever-present “pandemic album,” Whitehorse distilled and transcended the gloom and uncertainty of the time with a collection about heartbreak and loyalty; shaking things up and hunkering down. The resulting twelve-song collection is playful yet profound; masterfully simple and timeless—and is out on Six Shooter Records, surprising and charming critics and fans alike. (Whitehorse, 2023)

Stream or purchase I’m Not Crying, You’re Crying, where you can listen to fan favorites like “Division 5,” “If The Loneliness Don’t Kill Me,” and new tracks like “Bet The Farm,” which is a chapel-ready ode to loving love.

I’m Not Crying, You’re Crying track list:
If The Loneliness Don’t Kill Me
I Might Get Over This (But I Won’t Stop Loving You)
The Road
Division 5
Manitoba Bound
Bet The Farm
Leave Me as You Found Me
6 Feet Away
I Miss The City
Sanity, TN
Lock It Down
Scared of Each Other

Catch Whitehorse on tour:
May 18 – Sarnia, ON – Imperial Theatre
May 19 – Highgate, ON – Mary Webb Centre
May 24 – Meaford, ON – Meaford Hall Arts and Cultural Centre
May 25 – London, ON – Aeolian Hall Performing Arts Centre
May 26 – Guelph, ON – Royal City Evangelical Missionary Church
May 28 – Peterborough, ON – Market Hall Performing Arts Centre
May 31 – Ridgeway, ON – The Sanctuary Centre for the Arts
June 1 – Paris, ON – DT Concerts Series
June 2 – Kingston, ON – BLU Martini
June 3 – Ottawa, ON – National Arts Centre
June 4 – Parry Sound, ON – Charles W. Stockey Centre

Whitehorse is the prolific partnership of Melissa McClelland and Luke Doucet. Uninhibited by expectation, boldly adventurous, and categorically talented, Whitehorse’s signature sound is always guitar-heavy, harmony-plentiful, and lyrically deft. With an expansive run of records that freely and thrillingly dip in psychedelic country, pop noir, squalling blues rock, and celestial folk, Whitehorse has pushed their musical identity into new realms and sounds for over a decade and has received five consecutive JUNO Award nominations in many different genre categories.

New book release: ‘Liquid Shades of Blue’ by James Polkinghorn

‘Liquid Shades of Blue’ will be released May 16, 2023. Photo: Amazon

James Polkinghorn is a lawyer and partner in a national law firm specializing in labor and employment law. He has extensive trial and litigation experience accumulated in multiple jurisdictions throughout the country. A Pittsburgh native, Polkinghorn moved with his family to Florida in high school, where he has since stayed. He has a degree in political science as well as a law degree from the University of Florida. In “Liquid Shades of Blue,” his debut novel, Jack Girard searches for the truth behind his family’s tragedies – first his brother, now his mother. It will be released May 16 and is available for pre-order from Amazon. (James Polkinghorn, 2023)

“Liquid Shades of Blue” – When hungover ex-lawyer and Key West bar owner Jack Girard groggily wakes up one morning, he is greeted by a beautiful woman lying next to him and a shrill, ringing telephone. Seeing the call is from his father, Claude “The Duke” Girard, Jack answers. Within seconds, he learns that his mother is dead in an apparent suicide, and Jack hits the road, heading back to his childhood home in Miami to face his tyrannical father. His mother’s death brings up haunting memories from Jack’s past—memories of his brother Bobby’s suicide when they were in college together. Being back in Miami only continues to dredge up his family traumas, but things grow more complicated when The Duke suggests that his estranged wife’s alleged suicide may have been a murder.

As Jack begins to uncover the truth about his mother’s death, including the secret she had revealed to only two people—the same secret Bobby had taken with him to his grave—he finds himself in imminent danger. Can Jack reveal the true story before it is too late? He has to act quickly, or he fears he may be the victim of the next Girard family tragedy.

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New horror movie release: The Welder

The Welder is available now on digital from Terror Films. Photo: Google

In horror movie news today: From co-writer and director David Liz and starring Vincent De Paul, Camila Rodriguez, and Roe Dunkley, comes The Welder. It is available on video on demand and digital, including Tubi, Prime Video, and Apple TV. On a weekend getaway, a young couple comes face to face with the harrowing experiments of a former doctor bent on curing the social blight of racism. (The Welder,  2023)

The Welder takes the very prevalent issue of racism and subtly explores the true horror that is racial division and even offers a solution, albeit a morbid one. Eliza, a young Latina woman is haunted by a traumatic event she experienced while in the military, so her African American boyfriend takes her on a ranch to help relieve her anxiety and panic attacks. But once there, they find themselves in a fight for their lives as they attempt to elude the demented racial experiments of a doctor gone mad.

Written by Liz and Manny Delgadillo, The Welder is out worldwide now from Terror Films.

New album release: Lost Voices – Tim Stafford and Thomm Jutz

Tim Stafford and Thomm Jutz pay tribute to those who ‘Still Had So Much To Say’ on their new album Lost Voices now out via Mountain Fever Records. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

When long-time friends, mutual admirers, and heavily respected bluegrass musicians Tim Stafford and Thomm Jutz started accumulating a catalog of co-written songs during Covid lockdown and beyond, it only made sense to get these inspired, well-crafted stories recorded for the rest of the world to hear and enjoy. Retreating to Jutz’ log cabin studio outside of Nashville with a crew of like-minded greats including Shaun Richardson on mandolin, Ron Block on banjo, Tammy Rogers on fiddle, and Mark Fain on bass, Stafford and Jutz cut fourteen of their songs to create an album of tunes that the beloved, late music writer and historian Peter Cooper called “Songs that bring American history—mountain culture, steam trains, vaudeville, race, baseball, strife, and grace—to technicolor life.” The album is called Lost Voices, and it is out now on Mountain Fever Records. (Tim Stafford/Thomm Jutz, 2023)

From Callie Lou, a song based on a scene from Harriette Arnow’s The Doll Maker that features Dale Ann Bradey on vocals; to the story of Negro League heroes, The Elizabethton Blue Grays, brought to life by the dedicated research of Jacey Augustus and the Cedar Grove Foundation; to the amazing story of the now-recognized Navajo heroes of the battle of Iwo Jima in Code Talkers; to The Queen and Crescent which is full of the alluring jargon from the golden era of America’s railroads; Lost Voices is all in tribute to what the longtime Blue Highway guitarist (Stafford) and the long-respected Nashville songwriter and session man (Jutz) call “the lost voices that still had so much to say.”

After calling both Stafford and Jutz “master guitarists and writers,” the aforementioned Cooper described Lost Voices: “These are new kinds of bluegrass songs, informed by mutual heroes Tony Rice, Norman Blake, John Hartford, and Gordon Lightfoot, yet not beholden to any prior influence, other than the influence of the American experience.”

Fans can stream or purchase Lost Voices.

Lost Voices track list:
Take That Shot
Enough To Keep You Going For A While
The Blue Grays
The Ballad Of Kinnie Wagner
Callie Lou
The Wild Atlantic Way
No Witness In The Laurel But The Leaves
Vaudeville Blues
Code Talker
The Standing People
The Queen And Crescent
High Mountain Rising
Revolutionary Love
Lost Voices

Mountain Fever Records is proud to announce the signing of Tim Stafford and Thomm Jutz; two of the most prominent and prolific songwriters in bluegrass music, for the release of their forthcoming duo project, Lost Voices. Their love for history, vintage guitars, and well-crafted songs brought the two together five years ago. “I’m such an admirer of Tim’s writing, singing, and playing. Making a duo record with Tim was a logical step and a dream come true for me,” notes Jutz. Stafford says, “Thomm is such a great, unique writer, player, and singer – we connected and found so many ideas that spoke to us both. Recording was a breeze!”

New book release: ‘Winds of Adventure On the Barbary Coast’ by Jomini Struthers

‘Winds of Adventure On the Barbary Coast’ is the new historical fiction novel by Jomini Struthers. Photo: Amazon

For fans of historical fiction and action/adventure fiction: Jomini Struthers has a new book out this month. In “Winds of Adventure On the Barbary Coast,” The MacGregor, the captain of the privateers breaks his gunner, Ruben, out of an English prison and presses him into service. They have sailed together before, and Ruben does not want to sail with the MacGregor again. However, he has little choice. It is available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other major booksellers. (Jomini Struthers, 2023)

“Winds of Adventure On the Barbary Coast” – Ruben and the second mate William do not like each other almost at once. Ruben is taken to the privateering ship where he meets two old friends, Mr. Alistair, the first mate, and a teacher nicknamed Archimedes by the crew. They set sail, but because The MacGregor has a convict aboard, they cannot cruise where they had intended. Ruben suggests they attack the corsairs of the Barbary Coast. After much underhanded wrangling, he convinces The MacGregor. 

Their plan is to first attack the chieftain of the corsairs, Ahmed. They intend to steal or sink as many of his ships as possible so as to cripple him. They then plan to attack the Shah of the coast, who is the ally and fence of Ahmed. The Shah, however, lives in dread of the ferocious Ahmed. A storm drives them past the Straits of Gibraltar, and then, soon after they have beaten back north and passed the straits, they are captured by the galleys of Ahmed. Ruben manages their escape, and they succeed in taking two of Ahmed’s ships. They then set sail for the city of the Shah.

Once there, Ruben contacts his cousin Benjamin and an old friend named Abraham. The MacGregor begins to realize Ruben has been here before and has ulterior motives for everything he has been doing, especially when Ruben demands half of any loot they capture. Their plan is to sail boldly into the bay and open fire on the palace of the Shah. They hope that he will see the ships of Ahmed which they have captured and believe Ahmed is attacking him, and so will agree to their demands. They demand he empty his treasury for them. The plan goes remarkably well – until they have the gold.

Then everything begins happening at once. Ruben, with the aid of Abraham, steals a very large share of the loot from The MacGregor. Ahmed arrives and attacks one of the ships. William tries to kill Mr. Alistair, and then steals the rest of the treasure that Ruben had not taken. Abraham double crosses Ruben, and tries to steal Ruben’s treasure. Archimedes is almost killed by the Shah’s men. The end finds Ruben, The MacGregor, Archimedes, and a severely wounded Mr. Alistair with one small ship, and no treasure. They set out in pursuit of the treacherous William and further adventures.  

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Free online book: ‘Details of Reality’ by Peter Laska

‘Details of Reality: True Accounts With An Invisible Individual’ is Peter Laska’s free online book. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

A Ouija board, also known as a spirit board or talking board, is a flat board marked with letters, numbers, the words ‘yes,’ ‘no,’ ‘hello,’ and ‘goodbye’ along with other symbols and graphics. Some people believe that it facilitates communication with the supernatural world. If you are interested in the subject, or curious about how they may work, here is an online book worth exploring. “DETAILS OF REALITY: True Accounts With An Invisible Individual” is a free online book by Peter Laska which gets updated much like a blog might get updated. (Peter Laska, 2023)

That is because the book is about Ouija board communications, and every once and a while, new information comes in from the spirit world. In the book, the author explains how he came to start using the Ouija board, why he thinks the information he gets from it really comes from the spirit world, and most interestingly, he presents the questions he has asked the Ouija board as well as answers he has received. The book was written in a way which aims to satisfy any reader’s quest for esoteric knowledge.

Follow the author: Instagram YouTube

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New book release: ‘LORDOFSPIES’ by Muneefa Abdullah

‘LORDOFSPIES’ by Abdullah. Photo: Amazon

Muneefa Abdullah is the Kuwaiti author of the children’s book “New Fairy Tales.” In her newest ebook “LORDOFSPIES,” she writes about William Shakespeare, the English playwright, poet, and actor who is widely considered as the greatest writer in the English language. (Muneefa Abdullah, 2023)

“LORDOFSPIES” – Shakespeare’s lost years are explained, revealed, the lost queen of England, the fair youth, all in the shadow of one man Robert Poley. The son of Stratford upon Avon who became the spy. The book started as a research and ended with a ghost of three men; two like beacons in the night and one like a shadow. This is an ebook about the famous poet William Shakespeare’s missing seven years, the secret identity, and why he chose to be in shadows. It will explain all the contradictions in his life.

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New horror movie release: Wolf Garden

Wolf Garden was released last month and is available on digital and On Demand. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

In today’s movie news, there is a new horror/thriller movie out: Wolf Garden. Directed by Wayne David, it stars Wayne David, Sian Altman, Grant Masters, and Jake Wood. It is available for streaming on Amazon Video and Vudu on Roku. (October Coast, 2023)

Wolf Garden – William has gone into hiding in the countryside following horrifically violent events. Struggling to come to terms with reality, he flashes between past, present, and fantasies involving the woman he loves, Chantelle. As his sanity crumbles and he continues to feed an unseen creature locked inside a shed in the woods, he begins having apparitions of a ghostly Visitor who pushes him to kill the creature and discover a terrible truth about Chantelle before the next full moon.

Songstress Jessica Medina blends musical genres in new single

Jessica Medina blends merengue and salsa in her new single Locura, available now for streaming. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

Jessica Medina is a singer-songwriter born in New York to a Dominican mother and Puerto Rican father. Their voices were the soundtrack of her formative years. She studied jazz and rights at Hunter College in New York City and she was influenced from a very young age by merengue, specifically the merengue sounds of the 80s. By having the musical wealth of two cultures, her sound is a mixture of both. (Vesper Public Relations, 2023)

Jessica Medina broke barriers with her previous single “Back to Black,” an exemplary song by Amy Winehouse, approached from a completely new style. NPR regards her as “a new artist that you cannot stop listening to.” Constantly taking risks, she breaks barriers that the music industry imposes on language, offering bilingual lyrics and attracting the new generation called “Latinx,” Latinos raised in the United States.

Her new single Locura is now available for streaming. She once again demonstrates her passion for fusions, this time bringing together the rhythms of merengue and electronic synths with samba. Locura is part of her upcoming EP entitled Rosa, which will be released this April. In this EP she dives deeper into her Dominican and Puerto Rican roots and the different types of love from a woman’s perspective. Rosa is a project which includes women in all aspects, such as compositions, musicians, visual arts, musical arrangements, and production. Merengue is having a resurgence and Jessica Medina has decided to celebrate love with this romantic merengue.

Locura depicts an empowered woman with passion, sensuality, and joy. This track will make us all dance and celebrate love. Locura translates as craziness and captures that period of infatuation we all know. “Let’s start the year dancing merengue and being crazy in love.” Award-winning composer Alex Cuba composed Locura with musical arrangements and production by Janina Rosado. It was recorded in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

New single release: En Este Amor – Adriel Favela

Adriel Favela presents his new single En Este Amor. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

Adriel Favela is an internationally celebrated singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist in the northern Mexican Regional genre known as norteño. Adriel Favela gives free reign to his free spirit and does not hold back. Once again, he surprises the musical scene with the release of En Este Amor, a heartbreak song written by Gussy Lau and Tamayo Aguilera, who through their lyrics try to explain what it means to be that special person, who meant everything and takes away your entire life when they leave. (Adriel Favela, 2023)

En Este Amor was recorded in Sonic Ranch and is the first preview of his next album in the mariachi genre, different from his previous releases, and to which he has invited a renown group of industry collaborators, such as Kiko Cibrian (mix and vocal director), Marco Ramírez (Masterization), Daniel Valenzuela (head producer in Esperanto debuting as “Tipo Country Productions”) along with David Valenzuela, Jared Vacapiz and Ervey Vargas in the musical ensemble.

The release of En Este Amor comes with an official video, which through pictures, showcases a beautiful sunset in the desert of Sonora, Mexico. This is the perfect setting to convey the melancholy in the message of the song, while also representing the singer, composer, musician and producer roots, Adriel Favela.

“Everything has been a happy accident because this song was aimed for another person, but at the end of the day, God has a purpose for us all and the song conveyed a lot. I loved it! It has a beautiful essence which I think will differentiate itself from everything we’ve done before and we’ve obviously put a lot of heart into it and we hope the audience receives it the same way.” – Adriel Favela.

“This is one of the most personal songs I’ve ever written. I started composing it while sitting on my bed, before going to sleep, thinking about the two perspectives of this love, it was self-criticism because I gave it everything and the other person didn’t give anything, and when my heart told me that I had to continue trying, I realized that wasn’t a very smart decision.” – Gussy Lau, composer