Backstage Pass

This week, THE PLANET SMASHERS - On the Dancefloor

After more than three decades of two-tone swagger, punk attitude, and brass-blasted joy, Montreal’s beloved ska lifers The Planet Smashers return with “Meet Me On The Dancefloor,” the first single from their forthcoming tenth studio album, On the Dancefloor lands August 22,2025 on Stomp Records. It’s a summery, anthemic invitation back into the band’s world of groove-driven rebellion, self-deprecating humour, and dancefloor catharsis.

Formed in 1994 and still going strong, The Planet Smashers have carved out an impressive and enduring legacy in the global ska-punk movement. With over 30 million streams on Spotify, countless sold-out shows, and a catalogue that soundtracked everything from MTV’s Undergrads to Japan’s cult animation series Catman, the band has remained a fixture through every wave and reinvention of the genre. They've toured extensively across North America, Europe, and Japan, and shared stages with icons while remaining staunchly DIY and true to their fans. Founding frontman Matt Collyer also co-founded Stomp Records, a label that helped launch some of Canada's most celebrated alternative acts.

“Meet Me On The Dancefloor” is pure Planet Smashers—hooky, high-energy, and deeply fun. It channels their signature up(off)beat sound with a sharp rhythm section, cheeky lyrics, and that unmistakable horn section that still hits like a confetti cannon. The track also teases the range and spirit of the full-length album: On the Dancefloor features 13 tracks spanning love songs, breakup anthems, protest tunes, and party bangers, all threaded with the band’s infectious optimism and biting wit. And they’ve brought reinforcements: ska legends Neville Staple (The Specials), Charley “Aitch” Bembridge (The Selecter), and Sara Johnston (Bran Van 3000) all contribute to the record, bringing extra depth and pedigree to the chaos.

The band’s live show is still a thing of sweaty, horn-laced legend—equal parts punk rock and carnival—and the new material was crafted with that experience in mind. “On the Dancefloor was the funnest of our 10 albums to record,” says Collyer. “I can’t wait to play these songs live! The process was rad from start to finish. All of my bandmates got their hands in there. Plus we had the pleasure of teaming up with ska legends and longtime friends. Fun times!” That spirit of collective joy and resistance runs throughout the record, offering a little light in a world that sorely needs it. Whether you’re a lifelong skanker or just discovering the band through a playlist rabbit hole, The Planet Smashers deliver exactly what the name promises: fun, energy, and total sonic uplift. With new music, new videos, and new tour dates on the horizon, “Meet Me On The Dancefloor” isn’t just a single—it’s a reminder that no matter how weird or bleak things get, there’s always room to move your feet and turn up the volume.

https://youtu.be/iaYiFSefQ6A?si=mrZciEm7fKdXrkbg

https://planetsmashers.ca/

https://www.facebook.com/ThePlanetSmashers/

LISTEN TO THE MUSIC:

This podcast is hosted by Canoe FM. https://backstage-pass.zencast.website/

This week, ELLEN BRAUN – The Doldrums

Indie-folk singer-songwriter Ellen Braun shares her debut solo album, The Doldrums, on August 22,2025 (Independent). Ellen’s musical journey has taken many turns — from growing up in Ottawa to studying Biology at the University of Guelph, earning a Master’s in Environmental Science at the University of Calgary, and eventually settling in Canmore, AB.

Produced by Grammy-nominated Howard Bilerman at Montreal’s Hotel2Tango, the 10-track LP is a deeply personal collection written over five years - a time marked by co-parenting, creative delays, and Ellen’s journey back to herself. Inspired by the likes of Brandi Carlile, Sarah Harmer, Indigo Girls, and Kim Richey, Ellen’s songwriting is rich with emotional clarity and poetic honesty.

From the slow burn of recent single “You Had My Love” to the powerful title track and the soaring album focus single “Nashville” - a triumphant anthem of artistic reclamation - The Doldrums reflects on love, loss, identity, and the courage to be authentic. With contributions from a trusted circle of collaborators, the album is as much about healing as it is about craft. “I only wanted to work with people I loved and who loved me back,” says Ellen. The result is a stunning, full-band debut that’s both intimate and expansive.

https://www.ellenbraunmusic.com/

https://youtu.be/CLIIxE_hP-A?si=fiFbBpTMF55xg7ZR

LISTEN TO THE MUSIC:

This podcast is hosted by Canoe FM. https://backstage-pass.zencast.website/

This week, THE HEAVYWEIGHTS BRASS BAND - Knockout

Trombonist, RJ Satchithananthan, joins Backstage Pass in an informative conversation.

After 15 years of bringing the party wherever they play, The Heavyweights Brass Band are ready to make you dance, strut, and testify with their fifth full-length album, Knockout, dropping June 27, 2025. With a sound steeped in New Orleans brass traditions, Toronto’s reigning brass band champions fuse jazz, funk, and soul into a heady, horn-heavy celebration of everything that makes music joyful and alive.

Knockout was recorded over two days at Taurus Studios, with the entire band playing together in one room. That energy — that sweat-on-the-walls, live-off-the-floor magic — is the soul of the album. With 11 songs and contributions from a new generation of jazz trailblazers like Kae Murphy (trumpet) and Nolan Murphy (tuba), the album is both a celebration and a passing of the torch. “The Toronto brass scene has grown so much,” the band says. “Including younger musicians who are pushing boundaries was vital for this project.”

In their own words, “The Heavyweights Brass Band is a flag planted in the middle of the dancefloor. We hit hard with groove, energy, and originality. We’ve always believed in putting our personalities in the music, from gritty funk to bold soul to pure brass band joy. This record shows where we’ve been — and where we’re going.”

Formed in 2010, HWBB has carved out a unique place in Canadian music. From sweaty club gigs to festival stages, they've opened for The Roots, jammed with Trombone Shorty, and recorded with everyone from Giovanni Hidalgo to Joe Lastie of Preservation Hall.

https://heavyweightsbrassband.com/

LISTEN TO THE MUSIC:

This podcast is hosted by Canoe FM. https://backstage-pass.zencast.website/

This week, KATE MAKI – Returns with Impossible Knot

Recorded on tape at Little Bullhorn in Ottawa and co-produced by Maki and Dave Draves, the acclaimed Sudbury songwriter has created a powerful, emotional chapter in her musical saga.

In an open and long ranging conversation, Kate shares the inspirations and process that produced this extraordinary set of songs and their deep felt meaning. Impossible Knot is an album that sneaks up on you and then stays in rivetted in your thoughts for a good long while. Take the time to listen for yourself. https://katemaki.bandcamp.com/album/impossible-knot

Born and raised in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, Kate Maki’s voice and musical style are as wide and expansive as her hometown’s moon-like terrain. She began writing songs during her first-year of teaching as a way to deal with the sudden death of a friend, and recorded her first record, Confusion Unlimited, in 2003 with Dave Draves. Originally intended to be a Christmas gift for her family, the record received international attention and quickly sold out of its initial pressing. Finding it impossible to maintain the teacher-by-day, musician-by-night lifestyle, Maki quit her day job and began crisscrossing the country on self-booked, self- promoted tours.

Fast forward to today, six records, two kids, and countless tours and collaborations later, Maki returns with Impossible Knot. “I suppose I have come full circle, teaching high school and writing songs to help deal with life-changing circumstances. After a long period of grief, it was a relief to be reunited with the songwriting process, and of course, reunited with Draves and his trusty tape machine.”

During the summer and fall of 2024, Maki travelled back and forth from Sudbury to Ottawa to work with Draves in his backyard, analogue studio where she recorded her first three records in the early 2000s. Little Bullhorn’s familiar, creative environment combined with her longtime friendship with Draves and his family, provided Maki with the comfortable space needed to share her first new material since 2016’s Head In The Sand. With Maki on guitars and Draves on keys, they formed a core band with Peter Von Althen on drums, Jon Hynes on bass, Dale Murray on pedal steel, guitars, and background vocals, Dan Levecque on guitars, and Anne Boulton on background vocals. Celebrated songwriters, Jim Bryson, Ruth Minnikin (The Guthries), and Ryan Levecque (Ox), also make guest appearances. The result is a warm, eclectic collection of “beautiful hurt” as described by Draves, and Maki sounds confident and hopeful despite the heavy subject matter.

"All I Get" by Kate Maki

LISTEN TO THE MUSIC:

This podcast is hosted by Canoe FM. https://backstage-pass.zencast.website/

This week, RUSHFEST CANADA – IN CONVERSATION with Steve Brown and Paul Beaulieu

Taking place Friday, August 1 at Massey Hall and Saturday, August 2 at TD Music Hall, this two-day event marks 10 years to the day since Rush played their final concert in Los Angeles on August 1, 2015—and brings together fans, friends, collaborators, and tribute artists.

Curated by RUSHfest Scotland founder Steve Brown and Canadian superfan and music journalist Paul Beaulieu, RUSHfest Canada is more than a fan convention—it’s a legacy event with heart, history, and an extraordinary mission: all profits will be donated to Brain Cancer Research at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto in honour of Neil Peart.

Steve Brown is a lifelong musician from Scotland who launched RUSHfest Scotland in 2014, inspired by his late songwriting partner Angie Townsend, who passed away from cancer in 2016. To date, the events and albums have raised over $265,000 CAD for cancer charities. His tribute band, Moving Pictures, will perform. https://www.movingpicturesuk.com/

Paul Beaulieu is the founder of The Canadian Music Scene and a longtime Rush historian. He has interviewed band members, road crew, and chronicled Rush’s rise through Canadian and international media. https://thecanadianmusicscene.com/

Limited tickets remain and can be purchased here:

LISTEN TO THE MUSIC:

This podcast is hosted by Canoe FM. https://backstage-pass.zencast.website/

This week, LENNIE GALLANT - Shelter From the Storms

Sit down to a relaxed conversation with legendary songwriter and performer Lennie Gallant, speaking about his newest album and some of his adventures such as a working with Jimmy Buffet and others, and particularly his inspirations for this powerful new set of songs.

“In the song, ‘Shelter From the Storms’, I kind of took the voice of one of a particular character and his partner and, you know, she's a bit drawn by conspiracy theories, and they're off on a journey. They feel, like many people, very disenfranchised, very outside of what is happening in the world that seems to have passed them by and they're looking for some answers to their questions and so they're taking off to a journey made perhaps to some mountain what they see they expect to find some answers there that they heard about perhaps online and so it's a bit vague fill in the dots you know in a way but at the same time as you say it is kind of specific to some things that are happening in the world right now. And I think the way so many people are, you know, just searching and trying to reach out for something to latch on to and believe in, whether it's real or imagined.”

Lennie Gallant, from Rustico, PEI, an acclaimed East Coast singer-songwriter with 16 albums and numerous awards, returns this June with Shelter From the Storms, his first English album in seven years. The album reflects on the turbulent times we live in, while celebrating the human ability to navigate through hardship with community, love, and laughter.

"One of my favourite Canadian songwriters" Jimmy Buffett

East Coast musical icon and masterful storyteller Lennie Gallant releases his first English-language album in seven years. Shelter From the Storms released was June 6th. The accompanying lyric video of his acclaimed first single, “Counting on Angels” is available on YouTube. https://youtu.be/UHDgJZ30fn8?si=yzPyQDlP-dcOyxkc

https://lenniegallant.com

LISTEN TO THE MUSIC:

This podcast is hosted by Canoe FM. https://backstage-pass.zencast.website/

This week, MATTHEW HOLTBY

Matthew Holtby, Canadian singer-songwriter, is a delightful conversationalist. Affable, immediately likeable, with a trademark smile and an easy-going, relaxed charm, Matthew shares some of the inspiration and approach he takes to writing and producing his growing collection of heartfelt and quietly hopeful songs.

On Episode 64 of Backstage Pass, Matthew discusses the geneses of ‘This Old Heart’, ‘A Certain Place in Time’, and his newest single, ‘This is Bliss’.

“Matthew Holtby has been slowly adding to his collection of singles, one song at a time for the past two years. Working with Peterborough Producer, Michael Phillips, the pair have been digging out the sounds Holtby creates on his acoustic guitar with the help of his bandmates, best friends and even his father. Last year saw the release of two independent singles which caught the ear of the CBC, and also helped to land him a few festival spots. He also had the pleasure of opening for legendary blues rocker David Wilcox to a sold-out crowd in his hometown of Oshawa. He's just released a brand-new EP, and is looking forward to a very busy and exciting year ahead.

https://www.matthewholtbymusic.com/

https://www.facebook.com/officialmatthewholtbymusic

This podcast is hosted by CANOE FM https://backstage-pass.zencast.website/

This week, SUZIE UNGERLEIDER, SHARES SOME INSIGHTS INTO AMONG THE EVERGREENS.

"I love origin stories,” says Vancouver musician Suzie Ungerleider. “I love finding out where people are and how they got there, so I'm constantly thinking about that. Everybody's carrying around their own narrative.” Among the Evergreens is the latest chapter in the revered Americana singer-songwriter's own story. The thrice JUNO nominated artist continues her tradition of storytelling on her eleventh release, due out on June 6, 2025, via MVKA.

“At the beginning of my musical journey, I was afraid to show myself, so I took on a persona, and I wrote songs in a fictionalised way," Suzie reflects of her lifelong journey towards becoming more comfortable with the vulnerability of revealing herself. “It is this idea of trying to merge the musical person and the human being that I am, and get closer to what is important to me. And it's interesting, because the more specific I get, the more universal it is.”

Indeed, Suzie’s beautifully evocative and atmospheric songs may draw the listener into her world but they are universally relatable, traversing the typical chapters of a person’s life. These are tales about teenagehood, the loss of innocence, the breakdown of relationships, young love, marriage, motherhood, survival and second chances, fights and forgiveness. And they are utterly captivating.

Among The Evergreens is divided into two parts: “Then” and “Now” – songs inspired by the past and by the present. Suzie reflects on what it means to be in the middle of life, seeking answers to who she was and who she is now. “It’s about being like a tree with all those rings around you, the layers of your life telling you who you were and where you've been,” she says.

Imagery of the outdoors, of green valleys and trees shedding their leaves, infuses this new collection. It was written in America-born, Canada-raised Suzie’s hometown of Vancouver, a city among the evergreens – the cherished place to which she returned after being lured by the thrill and promise of Toronto.

Her long-time collaborator Jim Bryson produced the record, augmenting the atmospheric intimacy of Suzie's evocative songs. Suzie credits him with pushing her out of her sonic box when he stepped in to produce her 2014 album Namedropper. He was also the one who encouraged her to tell her own stories instead of hiding behind a character.

What makes this album so compelling, and ultimately one to long treasure, is the delicate poetic lyrics that Suzie spills into these alluring melodies. Sung and played with an intuitive simplicity that lays the foundation for the sorcery, the alchemy, that producer Bryson wands through each. Moreover, Suzie creates the space and depth for these fine musicians to explore and propel these memories and the heart-rending questions that Ungerleider poses to herself and the listener.

https://suzieungerleider.com

This podcast is hosted by CANOE FM : https://backstage-pass.zencast.website/

This week, TWO WOLF - Lance Lopez

In a relaxed, informative and generous conversation, guitarist Lance Lopez joins Backstage Pass to discuss his impressive background and extensive history as a lead guitarist for Two Wolf and their new album, along with anecdotes about legends Johnny Winter, Jeff Beck and his own prodigious output as a stellar rock and roll and southern blues guitarist.

This is a band not to be missed.

Born from the raw spirit of American hard rock, Greg T. Walker’s Two Wolf is a high-voltage powerhouse straight out of Florida, setting stages ablaze with their electrifying fusion of Southern grit and thunderous rock energy.

Two Wolf released on June 6 on Los Angeles-based Cleopatra Records their self-titled debut album; a hellacious, blistering, absolutely kickass new album that is rife with energetic Southern rock and hard rock/hard blues influences.

Lance Lopez and Kris Bell lead the charge, while Greg T. Walker’s legendary bass lines and Rusty Valentine’s seismic drumming drive the band’s relentless groove.

The band’s two leading lights are founding member bassist/songwriter Greg T. Walker, who was also a co-founder of the classic Southern Rock/hard rock band Blackfoot and an early member of Lynyrd Skynyrd, and original member Lance Lopez, a blues rock/ singer, guitarist, and songwriter whose primary influences are Jimi Hendrix, B.B. King, Johnny Winter, Billy Gibbons and Stevie Ray Vaughan. The band also includes Kris Bell (vocals/guitar) and drummer Rusty Valentine.

With a twin-guitar attack that cuts like lightning and vocals that roar with untamed intensity, Lopez and Bell lead the charge on guitars, while Walker’s legendary bass lines and Valentine’s seismic drumming drive the band’s relentless groove.

https://www.twowolfrocks.com

This podcast is hosted by Canoe FM : https://backstage-pass.zencast.website/

This week, Episode 61, Skydiggers on their incredible new album 'Dreams & Second Chances'

Andy Maize and Josh Finlayson join me to discuss their new album and more. For my part, this is a powerful new set of songs perfectly in tune with the times and the creative energies of this legendary band.

Iconic songwriter Harlan Howard believed that songs exist in the air all around us. That’s how these new Skydiggers songs began — in the air. There were no charts given in advance. There were no tunes that were road-tested.

This studio, a heritage home transformed into one of the unique recording rooms in the world, is not just part of Skydiggers history, but is also part of our Canadian Music DNA.Surrounded by trees on three sides, and water on the fourth, it is a setting without distraction. The silence of the vast lake provided the perfect tone for what was to occur.

The creation would begin when each song was first played in the studio’s kitchen by Josh with a guitar and Andy’s voice — many of these songs heard by the larger group for the first time.

Led by original band mates Andy Maize and Josh Finlayson, and featuring Noel Webb on drums, Derrick Brady on bass, Jessy Bell Smith on vocals, Aaron Comeau on guitars, and Michael Johnston on keyboards, Dreams & Second Chances reveals these Skydiggers at the peak of their ability - a collective with the intrinsic ability of finish each other’s musical sentences and weave a sound that is uniquely their own.

https://www.facebook.com/skydiggers

This podcast is hosted by https://backstage-pass.zencast.website/