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SOUTHWESTERN ONTARIO’S ENTERTAINMENT NEWSPAPER
519
Where the Stars Hang Out in Southwestern Ontario
Justin
Latam
Barefoot & Lovin’ It!
BEHIND LOCKE & KEY
Issue 22: Apr./May 2020
519magazine.com $1.75
BRUCE LECKY WAY | DAWN TYLER WATSON
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by tony gray
As the fates line up against the conduit
there is yet another who joins with white
plastic, the government, and the cosmos
themselves. preston todd, the conduit’s
first and oldest foe...
to be continued next month...
what can cast a
shadow over a god?
BRUCE LECKY WAY 4
Photo by Jerry Cadieux
DAWN TYLER WATSON 6
Photo by Lee Millward
WINDSOR PLAYWRITING
CONTEST
14
Issue 22
Apr/May 2020
$1.75 per copy
Dan Savoie
Publisher / Editor
dan@519magazine.com
April Savoie
General Manager & Sales
april@519magazine.com
Melissa Arditti
Assistant Editor
Kim Cushington
Art Director
Writers and Photographers
Whitney South
Dan Boshart
Shawn Logan
Brent Groh
Michael K. Potter
Cover Photo By: Dan Boshart
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519 Magazine is published monthly and available at various locations
around the Southwestern Ontario region.
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3
Tell us about your band/career,
including your history, where you
are from and how you started?
In the musical justice system Bruce
Lecky Way is represented by two
separate yet equally important parts.
The talent and good looks (Kehmak),
that bring in the fans, ladies and
fan ladies, and the other guy (Chet
Williamz)… these are their stories.
DUN DUN.
How did you come up with your
band name?
Years ago, Kehmak and Chet had a
wild group sex experience in Toronto
at an apartment building on Dan Leckie
Way. We both told the participants of
the orgy that our names were both in
fact Bruce. We lied. We even had a
song that basically copied the tune
of “Mickey You’re So Fine”. It went
a little something like “My name is
Bruce CLAP CLAP, CLAP CLAP, My
name is Bruce CLAP CLAP, CLAP
CLAP. That night/morning, a legend
was born. Years later when trying to
think of a name for our group, Bruce
Lecky Way was the obvious choice.
Do you have any recorded music
available for fans?
Yes of course. Our newest song
is mixed by Juno award winning/
Grammy nominated musical lord Dan
Brodbeck and features viral Youtuber
John Nonny (from The Pun Guys).
You can find Bruce’s hits on all
streaming platforms (Spotify, Apple
Music, Deezer etc) and you can find
our amazingly hilarious skits all over
YouTube and Facebook. We have a
new bang bang coming out in April
titled “Makes Me Strong”.
How would you describe your
music?
Bruce is what the world has been
waiting for, it just didn’t know it
yet. We make music that makes you
happy, and music that makes you think
about being happy. Bruce’s style is
versatile. We take what we loved as
kids and tried to recreate that feeling
with our own twist. With influences
like Prince, Outkast, Michael Jackson,
Cee Lo Green, Eminem, Earth Wind
& Fire, Nelly, Joe Cocker, and Tom
Waits, Bruce is truly a mixed bag.
When the world famous DJ Seizure
first heard Bruce’s song “Down The
Middle” he was quoted by saying
“Yooooooooooooooooooooooooooo”
What makes your band/music
stand out from the others?
With looks that could kill,
undeniable killer voices, and the
comedy chops that kill the audience
every time, it was either this or become
hitmen. Chet doesn’t believe in
violence, so we went the music route.
Bruce doesn’t care about what people
think of him or if he stands out or not.
He just “is”. Bruce is here to spread the
love in all directions. He’s gotta big ol’
bag of love and not afraid to share it.
You get some love! He going to get
a bitta love! Hey lady…you want
519 Indie Profile: Bruce Lecky Way from London, Ontario
this love? Yeeaaah she’s getting the
love too. This questions getting love.
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, Love Bruce.
What do you like to do outside of
music that contributes to the music?
10,000 push ups a day, read one book
an hour, shower, and work on our jokes
that come effortlessly, so really we
don’t work on them at all. Not only are
we world class musicians, in our spare
time we are also professional athletes,
industry leading business experts,
Canada’s top models (unofficially) and
comedians at the top of our game. We
shoot hilarious skits that captivate 10’s
of 10’s of people all across the Globe.
Name your two biggest musical
influences and why?
Can you name yourself? No. Then
probably Kevin Ferderline and Lou
Bega. RIP to both of these legends.
Just two well endowed soldiers ahead
of their time. Remind you of anyone?
Yeah, BRUCE! One day we plan to all
meet at those pearly gates up in heaven
for the ultimate cypher. Lou on vocals,
Chet on drums, while me (Kehmak)
and Kevin just crush beers and watch
the ladies flock. Can’t wait.
Who writes your songs? What are
the main themes or topics for most of
your songs?
Bruce does everything in house from
the lyrics, to vocals, to production.
Most of our songs are about how cool
we are. Other topics range from how
dope we are, to how lit we can get.
What has been your biggest
challenge as a band/artist? Have
you been able to overcome that
challenge? If so, how?
Our biggest challenge has been
being overly talented. Most stations,
playlists, and blog publications won’t
accept interviews or songs because
they say we are just too good and it’s
going to make all the other bands and
artists feel self conscious. We’ve also
faced a lot of discrimination for our
incredible good looks. It’s something
that we have come to accept and just
have to deal with on a day-to-day
basis. It’s not easy but we get by.
What current projects are you
working on at the moment?
We are currently working on an
EP and a few music videos including
the Toy Story Rap, following our
success of The Lion King Rap which
is approaching 75k views across our
social media platforms. We have a
lot of content in the vault and will be
releasing these goodies incrementally
throughout 2021. Kehmak &
Chet Williamz share all musical
responsibilities including writing,
producing, recording, directing, acting,
and mixing. If you’re an aspiring
musician or already a pro like Bruce
and are reading this, check out our
instrumental store where we are selling
the most fire emoji beats you’ve ever
heard. We know the struggle so the
price is on point for your broke ass.
Bruce out!
www.beatstars.com/brucebeatsstore
IG/Facebook/Twitter:
@BruceLeckyWay
CMAOntario Country Music Awards
Rescheduled for October
The Country Music Association of Ontario
(CMAOntario) has rescheduled the 2020
CMAOntario Awards for Sunday, October 4,
2020 at Centennial Hall in London. Presented by
Slaight Music with support from Ontario Creates,
the 8th Annual CMAOntario Awards will close out
the CMAOntario Festival & Awards Weekend in
London October 1 - 4, 2020, previously scheduled
for May 28 - 31.
It’s uncertain if CCMA Award winner Jason
McCoy, creator and front man of multiple CCMA
and JUNO Award-winning The Road Hammers,
will return as host for the 2020 CMAOntario
Awards ceremonies.
Following the recommendations from
government officials regarding COVID-19,
CMAOntario took the steps to reschedule the
festivities to ensure that the health and well-being
of artists and audiences is protected. CMAOntario
is committed to presenting and promoting the work
of Ontario’s country music industry and looks
forward to celebrating in the Fall.
Nominees for the 2020 CMAOntario Awards
will be announced this Spring. Performers will be
announced in the coming weeks.
Tickets will be honoured for the rescheduled
date and more detailed information will be sent to
all ticket buyers directly by the venue.
For those that have confirmed reservations at the
Delta Armouries hotel for the May event, starting
March 31st you can contact the hotel directly at
519.679.6111 to cancel or change your reservation
to the new dates.
The CMAOntario Awards are presented by
Slaight Music with support from Ontario Creates.
In 2007, Rob MacArthur and founding patron
Linda Wright together with a number of key
industry professionals founded the Country Music
Association of Ontario. The Association’s mandate
is to foster the growth and development of Ontario’s
country music and its industry, provincially,
nationally and internationally. The CMAOntario
has hosted seven annual Awards Shows and six twoday
Road to Independence educational conferences
with the generous assistance of presenting sponsor
Slaight Music and support of Ontario Creates.
London’s Loud Luxury Return
With New Single “Gummy”
Few first-time collabs have been as
monumentally impactful as Loud Luxury
and Brando’s multi-million-stream smash
hit “Body,” and both acts are set to build on
that milestone record with their next creative
collision. The Canadian duo and L.A.
singer-songwriter emerges with their second
link-up: “Gummy.”
Included on Loud Luxury’s upcoming
‘Nights Like This EP’ (due March 27),
“Gummy” sees its creators take the next
step toward power play status. Combining
emotive piano chords with thought-provoking
lyrics before unleashing its beefed-up
club appeal, “Gummy” marks the next
high-magnitude collab between the Canadian
hotshot duo and the L.A. multi-talent,
raising the bar higher and higher as they go.
“This song is very special to us. ‘Gummy’
is the first song we made with Brando
after releasing ‘Body’ and feels like we’re
picking up exactly where we left off,” Loud
Luxury said in a press release.
It’s been an amazing ride for university
friends Andrew Fedyk and Joe De Pace,
better known as Canadian duo Loud Luxury.
With their now worldwide smash hit ‘Body’
(feat. Brando), the Toronto boys are certified
Diamond in Canada and platinum in a
range of other countries (3x in Australia, 2x
in Switzerland and 1x in the U.K., the Netherlands,
Austria and more), held the #1 spot
in the U.S. Mediabase Dance Airplay chart
for two weeks, charted in the Top 40 of U.S.
Pop radio and the U.K.’s Official Singles
Chart (#4) and accumulated hundreds of
millions of plays across the most popular
streaming services. Its follow-up single,
“Love No More” (with anders), garnered
12 million streams on Spotify alone in its
first month and currently sits at an impressive
122 million plays on the streaming
platform, whilst last summer’s “I’m Not
Alright” (with Bryce Vine) adds to the tally
with over 45 million streams. Earlier this
year, the duo scooped up three 2020 JUNO
Awards nominations for ‘Dance Recording
Of The Year’, ‘Fan Choice Award’ and
‘Group Of The Year’, following four nominations
(including one win) in 2019 as well
as iHeart Music Awards.
Drawing inspiration from the numerous
musical influences he indulged in throughout
his formative years, L.A. singer-songwriter
Brando was a major force behind
Canadian duo Loud Luxury’s multi-millionstream
hit “Body” (well over 650 million
streams on Spotify) and Don Diablo’s
“Congratulations,” the latter of which shot
up the U.S. Mediabase Dance Chart through
a surge of radio plays.
For the full interview and more
photos, visit 519magazine.com
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Juno Nominated Montreal Singer Shares London Ontario Roots
By Dan and April Savoie
Montreal-based (bilingual) blues
singer/songwriter Dawn Tyler Watson’s
latest album Mad Love recently earned
her a 2020 JUNO Award nomination in
the Blues Album of the Year category.
Most may not realize the captivating
singer actually has roots in London.
We spoke with the singer before
COVID-19 broke out and before the
Juno Awards were cancelled.
What was it like growing up in
London?
Boring, I couldn’t wait to get out.
Now when I go back to visit London,
it’s kind of a nice vibe, not like before
with a Colgate Kmart feel, which you
probably are too young to know what
that is. I can describe it as a Giant Tiger
mentality, there was a store called
Kmart and it was very white blue collar
place with a lot of white people and I
just never felt like I fit in there. Even
when I went back to visit London, I
heard somebody told me once it had
more millionaires per capita than any
city in Canada at one point I’m like,
where were they when I was growing
up?
Could have found me one of them. I
got out pretty quickly and now when I
go back, I’m thinking, what a beautiful
city. It’s got some lovely homes and a
multicultural kind of scene. Good music
comes out of there, I still have some
family in the area too. It wasn’t the
same when I grew up. In London, I was
in an all white community. Seriously,
we’d see another black family on the
street and wave. It was hey, look with
me. It was seriously like that. And now
it’s really quite epic.
Did living in London inspire you to
be singing the Blues?
Well, no, not in so many ways except
that I was groomed. My parents sent my
brother and myself to a music school
called St. Peter’s in elementary school
and we were competitive. We played at
the Kiwanis Music Festival and there
was a choir. I learned violin. I think my
brother played viola and we were nurtured
in the music that we had in us. My
parents were not particularly musical,
but they saw that we had that and so
they sent us there and we also sang in
the church choir. So it was a good, basic
foundation for me to build upon.
I always remember as a kid just singing
all the time, I must have drove my
folks nuts singing around the house all
the time. I wasn’t singing the blues
during that time, I was singing whatever
was on the top 40 radio charts and
just repeating the song over and over
and mimicking everyone because that’s
what I did. Right? That’s what you do
as a young singer. You mimic your artists,
your heroes, but I would mimic
everybody from Anne Murray to Barbra
Streisand, the Eagles, Michael Jackson,
whatever was on the radio at that point.
It gave me a good foundation for music
Photo by Jerry Cadieux
and wasn’t until I moved away and had
a crazy teen hood.
In young adulthood, I started working
in bars and restaurants and drinking
and drugging too much and I came
full circle. When I came to Montreal to
study and I got accepted into the jazz
program at Concordia University. So
that was the beginning of really any
formal training and performance. I had
a couple bands before that, but nothing
really ever took. And that’s more
or less in Concordia where I started in
networking. And I started a career, I did
some acting and I had a band. So when
I was Montreal and that started me in
jazz. I learned more about jazz and the
family of blues.
Of course, jazz comes out of the blue.
So I’m the history and more of some of
the early forerunners. And then when
I graduated, I started gigging. I was
also doing some acting, and I was approached
by a record label here in Montreal,
she put a couple tunes on a compilation,
that was the record label was
called Preservation Music. They put
together the preservation blues review,
and there were people on there like Rob
Lutes and some pretty well known people
at the time. It was a compilation record
and it did really well. And the next
thing when it came out, we did a couple
of showcases.
I was on the blues stage in Montreal
at the Montreal Jazz bash, which is
8,000 to 10,000 screaming blues fans.
And I was like, Oh my god, I guess I’m
a blues singer now, it was literally a
moment that I remember very clearly,
where I go Oh Shit, they’ll think I’m a
blues singer, I better do this thing and it
took off from there.
So I always say, Blues chose me, I
didn’t really go out and say I’m going to
be a blues singer, I just wanted to sing.
I’m still very influenced by all kinds of
styles I’m likely to put on jazz as quickly
as I’ll put on blues or I’ll put on songwriter,
singer songwriter stuff and Adult
Contemporary. I’ll put up with hip hop
or soul, R&B, old school, I love all of it.
Anytime someone gets a Juno
nomination, it’s always exciting. So
what are your feelings about yours?
Excited, extremely excited. I was
floored. It’s actually funny because
Steve Strongmen, who is a wonderful
Juno Award winner and has been nominated
in this category three times, one
of which one in the same category. We
were putting together a little tour we
had right after the Maple Blues Awards,
that beginning of February, and talking
on the phone.
We hung up and within about 15/20
minutes later, he called me back saying
asking if I was watching the nominations
live, because online they do the
nominations. And I said, No, I’m not,
he goes, well, you’ve been nominated
for a Juno. I screamed literally, in his
ear. I was so excited as you can tell, I’m
still really, really excited about this. Super,
super thrilled and surprised actually.
I didn’t expect that. I guess you put
yourself into these things that I know
it’s always an amazing feeling to get
nominated in something you’ve never
been nominated in.
What do you think makes Mad
Love the album that got you nominated?
Good question. All I can say is it’s
a real album. A lot of heart went into
it. A lot of pain went into that record
to the writing of the songs into the
performances. After having heart surgery,
I hadn’t even realized that it had
been affecting my voice. So it was very
strange. It wasn’t like I was getting
winded walking upstairs. That was just
the symptoms of it. It was very subtle,
and I found out about two weeks after
the operation when I picked up my guitar
and started just gently singing that
there were nuances in my voice that
returned. And I actually started crying
because I was so grateful.
This was like the platinum, diamond
studded lining to this whole thing that I
got my voice back. In my voice, I had
to shift my technique over the last year
or so, in fact I have allergists looking
into it. I had my ENT looking into it,
gone for tests and they were all trying
to figure out why I was having this issue
with my voice. So that was a real gift
getting that back to me and getting my
voice back. When we went into record
this one, my performance and my voice
was stronger when we went into record
Mad Love.
So I think it’s coming from a stronger
place and then Jawbreaker was with the
same producers. It’s self produced, and
it’s the same team that did the last album
Jawbreaker, but with more heart in
it. There’s a lot of heartbreak that went
into writing the song. It’s basically a
breakup album that spawned a lot of the
music from some very painful stuff and
a very short, short lived abruptly ended
marriage. As I say, every time I perform
these songs, I heal a little bit more. And
I think that the album is really coming
from a really strong, emotional place
and that’s possibly what people are
sensing energetically to the music
Are emotional songs harder to
write and sing?
No, I find them easier. I think easier
in that usually those emotional songs
are written themselves. They usually
come through me, while some of the
other songs can be less intense, but still
good. A lot of my songs have humor in
them, but the ones that are more painful
and deal with more painful topics are
the ones that are closest and dearest to
me.
There was a time as a songwriter
where the more personal the subject
was, the more I would try to hide it from
people, I would think they wouldn’t be
interested in hearing that. I was like, oh
no, that’s way too personal, they’re not
gonna relate to that or they’re not going
to get it for the longest time. And I’ve
learned that in songwriting as in any art,
the, the impression and what you feel
from observing that piece of art either
listening to it as a piece of music or
looking at it as a painting, the person
who was viewing or experiencing the
art is going to have their own experience
of it no matter what. And that is the
beauty of art.
If we all felt the same way about it
would be a very dull world. I don’t
think it’s any more difficult to write, I
think it’s all very healing. I’m so blessed
I feel to do what I love for a living
to be able to have a place and a medium
of which to process my feelings
and to have a channel for my feelings.
I work with a lot of young kids now,
I’m teaching voice at high schools and
coaching kids as well as working with
at-risk youth. I’m always telling them to
write in their journals, do poetry, photography,
draw, sing and find an outlet
for dance. It’s so important.
How did you approach the album
when you went to make it?
Differently than the first one, as this
was planned out. You have to take my
hand and lead me through the process.
I’m not the kind of person who loves
to go into the studio. Not yet. I’m starting
to enjoy it because of the last two
experiences with these last two albums
Jawbreaker and Mad Love.
Kudos and huge gratitude to my
producer Frankie Thiffault because he
took my hand literally and walked me
through the process. He’s the one that
gave me the confidence that we can
do this. Dawn, it’s not as complicated
as you think. Just do this, here is what
we’re going to do and he had a way of
making it look achievable and for me.
It was overwhelming and I also can’t
stand going over and over stuff under
the microscope of getting it perfect.
I’m alive, but I love audiences, I need
the energy of the listener. And I need
to connect and have that energy going
between us. It’s a loop, it’s like a high
that I get from giving to the audience
and they give it back to me and I need
to connect.
So in the studio, when you’re alone,
and you’re singing into a microphone
with the earphones on and there’s
somebody behind glass, I find it so
much harder to find that energy, but on
the other hand, I’m starting to enjoy
that it’s more personal and it’s a different
experience. You have to find that
energy and find the performance somewhere
else within you. So it’s not an
easy process for me, thank God I have
the team around me, Ben Racine band,
and Francois Thiffault, because of them
is the why we have this album, this album
is really because these guys, these
are angels that the universe put in my
path to, guide me through this process.
And the result is we’ve got this album
that everybody seems to love and be really
happy with.
How did the Ben Racine Band enter
your life?
Well, when Paul Deloria and I started,
we did an album in 2013 and we
were touring 2013 -2014 and starting to
drift apart. It was still fun, but we felt
that we were both looking for other different
musical things. And we’ve been
touring 14 years at this point together
and it was really great with acoustic
shows just Paul’s guitar, myself and his
voice so it was like a trio because the
three pieces were really important.
It wasn’t an awesome show that was
so well received though and so he started
to do a little bit more of his band, he
had the Paul Deloria band, and I started
doing a little bit more jazz and so we
just kind of drifted apart. And my agent
Brian Flex said to me at the time, I got
some of these blue shows for you but
you have to put a band together. I’ve
got this band for you, and he introduced
me to Ben’s music. And when I heard it
it was so refreshing.
He’s such an amazing songwriter
and these guys are just truly professional
and committed musicians. I wanted
to meet them first so I listened to the
album and I loved it. And then I went
to go meet them and listen to them live.
I got on stage and I jammed with them
and kind of started from there.
We felt the energy and they were just
so eager and gung ho to, to back me up.
Yeah, that was it and that was about six
years ago now. I love these guys and
they’ve taken my music to a whole other
level.
They were already a unit and because
Frankie is such a good producer.
You could take the songs that I wrote,
first of all, it was just from doing Jawbreaker
it was just so affirming. I never
felt that my songs weren’t any good. I
always felt they would take my songs
and he would, just automatically affirm
me in my songwriting.
And that worth is gold to me and truly
so important for my fragile ego when
it comes to putting my stuff out there
and I really appreciate that. The band
has been nothing but supportive since
and we’ve toured, and done a lot of
stuff together.
Local Entertainment Headlines from South Western Ontario
Windsor Country Singer
Releases New Album and
Goes Viral on TikTok
Windsor-born, Toronto-based country
sensation Kelsi Mayne says she made
decisions on the fly when it comes to this,
her newest single “As I Go” — and the
results could not be better.
“The hook states, ‘I’m gonna make it up
As I Go…’ which is precisely what we did
when we wrote this song!” Mayne says,
recalling the process. “My two brilliant
Nashville co-writers, Brett Sheroky and
Drew Powell, met with me at the end
of my long-winded, five month writing
trip in the ‘Music City,’ but we were all
drained of ideas.
“We started vibing out on chords and
an ‘Eric Church’ feel. Once we came up
with the hook. we had a lot of fun coming
up with different ways to get revenge. We
even managed to pay homage to Carrie
Underwood in the chorus” she continues.
“But what also makes this song different
than most ‘cheatin’ hearts’ country songs
is she admittedly doesn’t know what she’s
going to do and — much like myself —
has a hard time deciding!”
“The music video was also much of the
same,” she says of the video for which a
quick preview of quickly hurtled Mayne
into viral fame on TikTok, with more
than 1.5 million views in 24 hours. “We
decided to go with a ‘Mad Max’ inspired
look and whatever resources we knew we
had together between all of our friends —
gasoline, trucks, dirt bikes, ATVs, a drone,
monster truck, smoke bombs, fireworks,
and two scrap cars.”
As one of three top finalists in
SiriusXM’s national ‘Top of the Country’
contest, Mayne continues to stack the stats
in her favour. Her previous single “Takin’
U Home” currently has more than 440,000
spins on Spotify alone, and was the #1
independent download on DMDS. The
track captured the attention of national
audiences on Rogers Hometown Hockey
Tour, and the Canadian Sports Hall of
Fame ceremony on CTV. Dearest to
Mayne’s heart, “Takin’ U Home” was also
used to promote the Humane Society’s
adoption programs.
Originally from Windsor, Ontario
— and fun fact: ranked third in Canada
for varsity women’s 60m hurdles —
Mayne has taken the stage at some of
the country’s most celebrated festivals,
including Havelock Jamboree, Boots &
Hearts, and the Big Valley Jamboree. Last
year, she took to the silver screen as the
lead in Willa, a Stephen King adaptation
which is still making its rounds on the
International film festival circuit.
Her debut FACTOR-funded album was
released March 27th.
Forest City Film Festival
Announces 2020 Film
Submission Dates
Do you know any aspiring filmmakers?
Tell them about the 5th edition of the Forest
City Film Festival! We accept short films,
features, animations, short documentaries,
feature documentaries, screenplays, and
an exciting new category -- music videos!
Watch this space for more on Season
2020 of the Forest City Film Festival.
Regular Deadline June 15.
Final Deadline July 15.
Joel Plaskett Releasing
Box Set and Planning
London Tour Stop
Juno-award winning musician and
songwriter Joel Plaskett releases a new
box set this month and plans to visit
London’s Aeolian Hall on Oct. 26 and 29.
Singles from the four 11-song albums
in the new box set, titled 44, are being
slowly revealed in advance of the project’s
full release on April 17, the day before
Plaskett’s 45th birthday.
44’s first two singles, “Head Over Heels
Into Heaven”and “Just Passing Through”
have already become favourites on
playlists like Spotify’s New Music Friday,
earning both regional spins and national
rotation on CBC and other stations.
In the new single, the Juno-award
winning musician and songwriter takes us
on a slow nighttime ramble, reflecting on
where we’ve come from and wondering
what awaits around the corner.
“’If There’s Another Road’ is one of my
favorites from the project,” says Plaskett.
“It’s mood seemed to thematically sum up
the third record in the set so it became the
title track. It was the first song I wrote on
an old, 1930’s mandolin. We tracked it at
Memphis Magnetic Recording in April
2019 on a session put together by Doug
Easley, who recorded Thrush Hermit’s
Sweet Homewrecker back in 1996. Doug
and George Sluppick were the laid back
rhythm section and Rick Steff played some
beautiful piano. Dave Shouse, whose work
with The Grifters and Those Bastard Souls
have influenced me considerably, added
some great tension on Hammond organ
to the last part of the song. The chorus’
powerful backing vocals by Reeny,
Mahalia and Micah Smith were later
tracked at my New Scotland Yard studio
with three of them around one mic. They
really lifted the song to a higher place.”
Bluesfest Windsor
Continues Advance Ticket
Sales for July Festival
There will be plenty of Apple Bottom
Jeans roaming around Bluesfest Windsor
this year. As if the previously announced
Bluesfest lineup wasn’t enough to get the
party started, the festival announced a
couple of its two Friday headliners this
morning. American rapper/singer Flo
Rida will be whistling tunes of boots
and fur with SonReal on Friday, July 10
at Festival Plaza in Windsor and Loud
Luxury will be one of the acts for Friday,
July 17.
Flo Rida joins an already impressive
lineup of rock, r&b and blues artists
including TLC, Jenny from Ace of Base,
The Trews, Billy Raffoul and family, the
Saints and Sinner Tour with Big Wreck,
Headstones, Moist and The Tea Party,
as well as blues artists Cash Box Kings,
Carolyn Wonderland and others.
Over the last several years, Flo Rida
has pulled off a pretty neat trick. Not
only has the Florida-born rapper become
a chart fixture thanks to the blockbuster
singles “Low (feat. T-Pain),” “Right
Round,” “Club Can’t Handle Me,” and
his most recent chart-topping hits, “Good
Feeling” and “Wild Ones (feat. Sia),”
he’s also broken-down barriers by uniting
millions of fans of pop, hip-hop, and club
music around the world and establishing
himself as an international, genre-busting
superstar in the process. Flo Rida brings
his experiences traveling the globe to his
fourth album, Wild Ones.
Award-winning Canadian hip hop artist
known for his free online albums and
mixtapes The Stroll, One Long Day, and
For the Town. He went on to be nominated
for Juno Awards in 2013, 2015 ad 2019.
It’s been an amazing ride for university
friends Andrew Fedyk and Joe De Pace,
better known as London output Loud
Luxury. With their now worldwide smash
hit “Body” (feat. Brando), the boys, who
now call Los Angeles home, are certified
Diamond in Canada and platinum in a
range of other countries, held the #1 spot
in the U.S. Mediabase Dance Airplay
chart for two weeks, charted in the Top 40
of U.S. Pop radio and the U.K.’s Official
Singles Chart (#4) and accumulated
hundreds of millions of plays across
the most popular streaming services. Its
follow-up single, “Love No More” (with
anders), garnered 12 million streams
on Spotify alone in its first month and
currently sits at an impressive 120 million
plays on the streaming platform, while last
summer’s “I’m Not Alright” (with Bryce
Vine) adds to the tally with over 45 million
streams. Earlier this year, the duo scooped
up three 2020 JUNO Award nominations
for ‘Dance Recording Of The Year’, ‘Fan
Choice Award’ and ‘Group Of The Year’,
following four nominations (including
one win) in 2019 as well as iHeart Music
Awards nominations for ‘Dance Song Of
The Year’ and ‘Dance Artist Of The Year’.
Depending on the day, single passes
for one-night start at $40, three- and sixday
weekend passes come in at $125 and
$250, with VIP passes starting at $100,
three- and six-day VIP at $300 and $500.
There’s also a new Ultra 6-Day pass for
the entire festival that gets fans hanging
out with the performers in a protected and
isolated area, priced at $750.
Visit www.bluesfestwindsor.com for
more.
STORY AND PHOTOS BY
DAN BOSHART
Justin
Latam
Barefoot & Lovin’ It!
He’s known as the barefoot musician
and Leamington son, Justin Latam, is
about as down home as anyone can
be. The affable singer/songwriter and
father of five talked with us about
being a working musician and family
man and what motivates his art.
First off, how are you as a working
musician and father of five dealing
with the current crisis?
As a working musician and father
of 5, this current crisis is hitting
hard. Gigging is the main source of
my music income, so with all gigs
cancelled indefinitely, it’s uncharted
territory for me. I’ve been as a working
musician for the last 14 years and this
situation has me re-thinking what that
will look like moving forward.
You’re a self proclaimed porch
sitter and sing about it in your song
“Life’s Better on the Porch”. Are
you a homebody at heart and has
this helped you adapt to the current
situation of home isolation?
I do enjoy sitting on the porch when
I can! For sure, I am a homebody
at heart. One up-side of this selfisolation/social-distancing
situation
is that it’s an opportunity for me to
spend time with my wife and children
and get caught up on house cleaning.
There’s really no excuse for a mess
right now.
Have you joined the throng of
performers who are performing
from home via social media?
In trying to adapt to this shift
in what it means to be a working
musician without gigs, I’m going to
be re-evaluating my online presence.
Something new will be coming out
of this for sure. You can stay tuned
for updates on my website http://
justinlatam.ca/index.html.
Your latest release, Justin Latam
and The Stride was released March
1st with a show at Leamington’s
Bank Theatre. How was the CD
release show and how has the
response been to the new album? Is
this new album a departure in any
way from your previous work?
It was a blast to have my CD
release show in my hometown, at The
Bank Theatre. There is a wonderful
community of people that support the
arts here, and The Bank Theatre has
become a hub for that.
Primarily, I play as a solo-acoustic
act or with my dad as an acoustic duo.
On my new record, “Justin Latam &
the Stride”, I decided to explore my
rock n roll side. I don’t feel that my
writing has really changed much, just
the way I’m presenting the songs.
Playing electric guitar with a band
is a totally different experience for
me than playing solo acoustic. When
we get into the groove and start
feeding off what each other is doing,
it’s energizing. I was very thankful to
have excellent musicians help bring
this record to life (Benny Pallottopercussion,
James Staley-bass, Brett
Humber-electric guitar). Brett Humber
is also the one who recorded, mixed
and mastered the record at Sound
Foundry Studios in Kingsville. He’s so
great to work with.
Response to the new record has
been positive. I’ve had people say it
was great to listen to while cleaning
their house and others say it was good
music to paint their house too. I take
that as a huge compliment. When I
clean the house, I’ll put on records
and jam out, it makes it fun. If I can
be that for other people (be part of
the soundtrack to cleaning, painting,
driving, whatever), that is a pretty cool
and a rewarding feeling.
Typically, I would sell a majority of
CDs at live shows. With no live shows
at the moment, I’ve turned to getting
my music to my fans and supporters
across Canada with my “CD Mailing
Tour”. Over the years, I’ve had the
privilege of meeting folks from all
over Canada. My new record has been
heard from Halifax N.S. to Duncan
B.C., and orders are still coming in.
While everyone is physically isolated,
music is something that we can share;
that keeps us connected. If you’d like
to order my new CD, you can send a
message to Justin Latam on Facebook
OR send an e-mail to justin_latam@
hotmail.com and I can get it to you!
I read that you collected empties
to fund your latest album and you
held house concerts to help fund the
album “Barefoot” a few years ago.
This seems to be a more personal
way to raise money than online
crowd funding. Has it helped you
connect to fans and increase your
fan base?
For sure it is a great way to connect
with fans and increase my fan base. I
try to come up with ways to engage
fans that goes beyond just asking for
monetary support. The empties thing
took off and was more successful than
I anticipated. It was also easier asking
people for their empties than asking
for money, and the process allowed
for real-life interactions, connecting
with people, which is what this whole
music thing is about.
You’re known as the barefoot
musician due to your performing
barefoot. When did this start and
what motivated this? I’m aware of
some other musicians who do this,
does it ground you?
I’ve loved being barefoot for as
long as I can remember. Growing up,
my mom was always barefoot at home
with us, and I guess that was instilled
in me. I started performing barefoot
pretty early on. I think it happened
naturally. I played many summer patios
and it just felt better to be barefoot. It
does help me feel grounded.
You’re a great story teller like
a good folk musician should be.
Your style of story telling reminds
me of another local musician, Max
Marshall. He has said songs have
come to him while experiencing
things on tour. Have you toured or
travelled much of Canada and is this
a similar experience for you?
I know Max. He’s great!
Yes, over the past couple years I’ve
done a few Ontario Tours (playing
places like Kingston, Hamilton,
London, Toronto, North Bay etc.),
played several festivals like The
Gathering Festival in N.L., Kingsville
Folk Fest, Tomato Fest, several Pride
Festivals etc., as well as played writers
rounds and showcases in Nashville.
Travelling has definitely influenced
my writing, picking up stories here and
there. In addition to being influenced
by my music travels, as a family, my
wife and I enjoying travelling with our
kids and also on our own. Sometimes
a little change can inspire things. For
example, a few years ago my wife
and I were coming home from the
Dominican and our plane was delayed.
While we were waiting, I was starting
to really miss my guitar (which is also
named Heather). That was how my
song “Late Night Lady on the Side”
was born. I had this bluesy tune stuck
in my head, and then the lyrics came
out in one shot.
The first time I played it was for a
crowd at Dale’s Friday Coffee House.
My wife Heather and our children
were also there, and everyone knew
I was happily married with children.
I didn’t tell the song’s story and just
played it. When I finished, there was
an awkward silence as people weren’t
sure what to think about this Late
Night Lady. They thought the song
was about another woman, when it’s
about my guitar! Ironically, it’s my
wife’s favourite song of mine.
A lot of great folk songs have been
written about historical events. Gordon
Lightfoot has The Edmund Fitzgerald
and you have Oh Geronimo. Was
Geronimo more a result of your love
of beer and simple curiosity or do you
have a love of history?
“Oh Geronimo” was a result of both
my love for local beer and my interest
in local history. On the Walkerville
Brewery Geronimo IPA can, it has a
little blurb about the story of the ship,
The Geronimo. When I read it, it just
felt like a song waiting to be written.
Looking at where we are in Southwestern
Ontario, there is a wealth of
stories waiting to be shared. I explore
that sometimes in my writing, songs
like “Still Tomato Town” written
about the Heinz closure in Leamington
or off my new record, “You Don’t
Know Jack”, written about the story
of Kingsville resident Jack Kungel’s
healing journey with cannabis. There
is so much to share in this area. As a
folk-artist, I do feel a responsibility to
distill these stories into song.
Speaking of beer and incidentally,
your song “Beer Beer”, I love
that your percussionist created a
homemade instrument for the song
called a lagerphone. It seems very
folk inspired, finding instruments in
every day things.
That’s Benny (my percussionist) for
you, definitely a folk-inspired idea.
He really is open to finding unique
ways to approach percussion in the
songs I write. Benny can pick up on
my strumming patterns, or the way I
may tap the guitar with my hand at
certain times, and he translates and
extrapolates from it to his percussion
parts.
You’ve performed at Kingsville
Folk Festival. How was your
experience there in relation to
exposing yourself to a larger
audience and connecting with other
musicians? What do you think
of the job John and Michele Law
have done with the festival and now
forming a type of partnership with
Mariposa?
Playing the Kingsville Folk Fest
was an amazing experience. It was
fun and inspirational to share the
stage with all of the talented folks
who played at Folk Fest. They really
know how to make the musicians feel
welcome and foster a community vibe.
As much as I enjoyed playing at the
folk fest, I also enjoyed the down time
just hanging out and talking with the
other musicians. A highlight for me
was playing a few tunes on the main
stage.
It’s been great to watch it grow
every year. I haven’t heard of the
partnership with Mariposa, but it
sounds cool. John and Michele know
what they’re doing.
“A Safe Place for your Pride” is a
beautiful song. What inspired you to
write that?
In 2015, my wife was at a teacher’s
workshop in Toronto. The themes
surrounded LGBTQ+ youth. She
shared some of what they were
learning with me on the ride home to
Leamington. Reflecting on what she
shared, I thought about our 5 children,
and how I love them, no matter who
they become or who they love. The
song is one of acceptance, not just to
my own children, but to everyone.
Who are some of the musicians
who’ve inspired you? You wrote a
tribute to Gord Downie with August
Twenty. He was a great poet, was he
one of those you found inspiration
in?
So many musicians have inspired
me over the years. My parents had a
great record collection (Led Zeppelin,
Pink Floyd, Neil Young, The Beatles,
Simon and Garfunkel etc.). As a
teenager I discovered Nirvana and
Leonard Cohen, both huge influences
on me.
Gord Downie and the Hip are also
an influence on my music. I dig how
their songs are saturated with Canadian
themes and delivered in a rock n roll
sound. Like the rest of Canada, I
watched their final concert on the CBC.
The day after I left for Newfoundland
to play a festival. I wrote my song,
“August Twenty”, in the airport and
hotel rooms on the trip. For me, that
song is the meeting of folk-spirit with
rock n roll sound. In Newfoundland,
there is this profound sense of lovefor-home.
Newfoundland had a big
impact on my writing from that point
onward.
On a more local level, an important
influence on my musical journey has
been my friend and mentor, Dale
Butler. He’s a fellow folk musician
from Leamington and is a huge
supporter of songwriters. He has been
running “Dale’s Friday Coffee House”
for years, creating a safe and accepting
space for songwriters (both seasoned
and new) to share their songs. Thanks
Dale!
When did you first pick up a
guitar and start writing songs?
Have you always played and created
in a folk/blues genre or did you go
through phases growing up?
I started playing guitar at age 10
at Dale’s Music Room and started
writing music soon after. One of the
first songs I remember learning was
the riff to The Beatles “Day Tripper”.
Growing up, I enjoyed listening
(and eventually writing) in a variety of
genres, like rock, jazz, classical, folk,
pop. I try to keep an open ear.
The folk/blues songs I write seem to
be the ones that feel the best to play
live, so naturally, I write in that style
the most often. I guess my folk/blues
writing came about when I was 19 or
20 years old and started playing patios
and pubs. Folk music connects with
listeners through stories and bluesrock
can get people’s toes tapping and
heads bobbing and people moving! I
guess I just enjoy putting those things
together.
When did you realize music was
going to be your profession in life?
Was there ever any question of
that? Was there a moment when
you decided this is it for me; I’m
committed to making this work?
Music has been my passion in life
long before I realized it was. I’m a
believer that you can work on the craft
of song writing (and it definitely has
helped me to do so), but the songs
really have a life of their own and
you have to balance working the craft
side of song writing with letting the
songs come to you and becoming what
they’re meant to be. Sometimes it feels
as if the songs are unfolding on their
own and if I can find the right distance
to watch it happen (maybe encourage
it a little), it’s a beautiful thing.
If I had to pick one moment though
that encapsulates me deciding to
commit my all to music, it would be
back in 2015 when I left my day job
(and shoes) behind to follow my path
as a working singer-songwriter and
performer. At the end of my last shift
as a barista, the shoes came off and I
walked out of the coffee shop barefoot
and haven’t looked back since.
I am so thankful to have the
amazing and constant support of my
wife, Heather, and our 5 children.
Heather helps me keep my feet on the
ground when my head is in the clouds
(which is often). She’s my muse, my
focus, my advocate, my everything.
My children are a great support too,
often giving me honest, unfiltered
feedback on my songs (which is so
important). An example is recently,
I showed them a song from my new
record “Two Wheels”, written about
teaching them to ride a bike. In the
bridge, I repeat the same line 8 times.
I’m sitting there, wondering what they
think, when one pipes up with, “Did
you just not think of anything else to
say? Is that why you keep repeating
that line? Sometimes I hear my kids
across the house humming or singing
one of my songs. To me, that’s what
success is.
Many of your songs are very
relatable with simple every day
themes like We All Shovel Snow
and Bubble Bath Time. Snow
is pure Canadian with all the
Canadian cultural and geographical
references. How do your audiences
react to these songs when you
perform? Does it create a stronger
connection between you and your
fans?
I often like to look at everyday things
for inspiration; things that connect us
in our human experience. I feel that
songs in that vein (like “We All Shovel
Snow”) go over well with audiences.
Living in Canada, the experience of
snow shovelling is definitely relatable,
and I think relatable songs create
connections with the listener.
“Bubble Bath Time” was probably
the first blues-rock song I was proud
of. I remember the first time I played
it (also at Dale’s Friday Coffee House
in Leamington). The song is often
assumed to be a kid’s song based on the
title, but it is far from it. The crowd at
the coffee house was mostly 60+, and
they loved it! It’s become one of my
most requested songs. I think beyond
the content, the feeling of listening to
blues-based music is something many
can connect with.
Are any of your children carrying
on the musical performer DNA?
There is a love for music and the arts
in our home. All of the kids can carry a
tune and have excellent rhythm. We’ve
got some into musical theatre, some in
school bands, some with a great ear for
sound. Not all of them may be destined
for a stage, but the love is there.
Music is something I haven’t
pushed on my children. If it had been
pushed on me when I was young, I’m
not sure if I would have developed the
same drive or love to be a working
musician and songwriter.
My dad has probably been the
biggest influence on how I view myself
as an artist. As a child, I remember
discovering my dad’s old sketches and
silk screens in our shed. To provide for
us, my dad boxed-up his artistic dreams
when he had kids and got a steady job.
Then, when I was 10 years old, dad
lost his job. He turned this obstacle
into an opportunity to rediscover his
art and turned art into his job as a
silk-screener, photographer and signmaker.
This really instilled in me the
drive to pursue creative expression
through music, with hopes to inspire
my children to follow their own paths,
whatever they may be.
For more about Justin, visit his
website: justinlatam.ca.
A Peek Behind The Scenes With Hollywood Visual Effects Pro From Locke & Key
By Dan Savoie
It’s always fascinating to dive into the
inner workings of Hollywood, but during
the COVD-19 pandemic, things are a little
more tense as the movie industry sits and
waits.
One such Hollywood creator is visual
effects guru and producer Richard J.
Cook, who just wrapped up visual effects
on season one of the Netflix smash series
Locke & Key. He’s also gearing up for the
release of Gold Dust, his latest venture as
a producer.
Movie fans might have noticed his name
in credits for films like Independence Day,
Star Trek: First Contact and Men In Black.
Cook called from Hollywood to chat
about Gold Dust, Locke & Key and
everything Hollywood.
How are you making out during the
COVID-19 pandemic?
Well, I am actually currently in between
gigs because when we wrapped our last
show, which was January 31st, I was put
in a holding pattern for season two of this
show as well as some other Netflix shows
I was lined up for. So now because of the
pandemic, everything’s on hold and I’m
basically living off of savings and seeing
what the market does, what the industry’s
going to do here as things pan out, and then
jump back in when the timing’s right. So
basically in a holding pattern.
It sounds like a lot of us. So what’s the
actual vibe in Hollywood like right now?
Oh, it’s very tense. Most people are
scrambling to figure out how to do work
from home jobs if they’re not already taken
care of through some sort of bridge, whether
that be employment that continues to pay
them for consulting, or if it’s some type of
long term contract arrangement where they
get paid regardless of the productions that
are going on. But outside of that, people are
scrambling to figure out how to set up home
offices, work remotely, and it’s a scary time.
Do you do a lot of work from home or
do you have to go on set and travel?
Travel. I’m on set a lot. I’m on my last
show for Netflix, Locke and Key season
one. I was in the post-production office, so
I had to report to an office for that specific
show. But in the past I’ve traveled for,
whether it be a TV or film project, that one
in particular, the one I just wrapped, did not.
I think I traveled twice once to Vancouver,
once to Montreal just visiting visual effects
houses. So that was not a job that required a
lot of travel for me, which is good. I like to
stay in my home base of Los Angeles.
Interestingly, you worked on the film
Virus. Tell me about that film.
Many, many years ago. It’s coming back
full circle and was a little bit more sci-fi. At
the time, those types of films were something
that were far off from our reality and we
really weren’t all that concerned about
something like that actually happening. So
it felt very much in the fantasy world at the
time. But circling back, I’ve noticed that
Outbreak is a very popular film on Netflix
right now, which is funny that people would
be interested in watching doom and gloom
while we’re experiencing a bit of that. But I
guess that’s just human nature.
Hollywood has been fortelling stories
for a long time.
It’s interesting because we as a human
race, like to see pandemics, we like to see
Richard J. Cook (left) and Mark
Landre Gould at an event for
Gone Are the Days
things played out on screen. We don’t like
to experience them, but we like to watch
them happen for some reason. The end of
the world, we’ve got a lot of those movies,
right? But when things manifest into reality,
it gets a little scary.
Was there a movie or a TV show that
you’ve worked on that felt very real?
Well, I mean most of the projects
I’ve worked on have been heavily sci-fi
films. There was a film I worked on, it
was based on the book of Esther, the Old
Testament book where Esther is a young
orphan Jewish girl who saves her people
from annihilation. That one felt real, I
think more than any of the others because
it was an actual historical piece. So it was
a biblical, epic historical time period. That
was a true story that we brought to life, so
that felt real because of that. When you’re
in visual effects, especially during the ‘90s
most movies, or TV shows, or scifi, or end
of the world, or something fantastical where
images were not commonplace, you’d see
things that were far removed from reality.
Independence Day, aliens invading earth, so
we did a lot of space shifts, and explosions,
and war scenes with an alien race.
Is stuff like that easier than reality?
Well sometimes, I mean it depends
on the type of effect it is. If you’re doing
some type of a creature effect, it’s always
going to be harder than if you’re doing
just a hard, shiny spaceship or something
that’s a little bit easier to marry into the
plate. Because the realism is harder on an
anatomical level where you’re dealing with
a body and structure in terms of you have
skin and bone, and dealing with eyes and
various things like that, it’s always going to
be a lot harder than doing something that is
inanimate.
Like many in Hollywood, you’re
multifaceted. Tell me some of the things
that you do.
I actually started in visual effects back in
the early ‘90s out of a vendor called Vision
Art that was based in Santa Monica and
that’s where I cut my piece. I got into the
industry, really learned how it worked from
a post-production standpoint, because we
had to deal with film editors, and getting
the picture locked, sound lock, picture lock,
all that stuff was important for a visual
effects house to get right. So I learned a
lot, worked on a lot of big pictures, $100
million features. So I got to see the large
scale production. And then in 2000 I went
to work for a small independent feature film
company called Generation Entertainment,
and actually moved into more of the
creative where I could produce, be a named
producer on the project and have a lot more
say in what was going on, where we were
shooting, who we would hire, stuff like that.
So that’s where I learned movie making
from the ground up. Learned a little bit
of that in college, but that really pales in
comparison to experience. So when you
go through scripting a project all the way
to final finishing and then delivering it to a
theater, I saw the entire process and it was
fascinating and I really enjoyed it. So I was
able to be a producer on many independent
features from 2000 up until even just a
couple of years ago when we finished our
small indie project called Gold Dust, which
is actually releasing in a couple of weeks on
digital. So still very much in that world. But
last year dove back into visual effects when
I had an opportunity to work for Netflix on
a show called Locke and Key. I went back
into the visual effects world briefly last year,
it was multi fold. I wanted to sharpen my
skills in the visual effects industry as well
as it was a really nice, well paying gig for a
year. So, hard to turn those types of things
down.
The visual effects world must be
changing all the time. I mean, technology
changes, right?
Yeah, absolutely. So, it’s one of those
industries where the change from when
I got into it to now is so vastly different.
Filmmaking as a whole isn’t that much
different, but the technology’s a little
different where, for instance, you’re
shooting on digital cameras instead of film,
but that doesn’t change the art of it. Whereas
visual effects has changed so dramatically
Publicity Photo from Locke & Key
technologically that it does change the art
of it. It changes whether we’re doing key
frame animation, or motion capture, or
ultimately, now we’re looking at literally
capturing the movement of an actor and
changing their face to be somebody else,
creating digital characters. That is a vastly
different piece of the visual effects world
that never existed before.
Visual effects can be very different
film to film. Is there something you’d
have to do to prepare for each film that’s
different?
It depends on the type of film it is. A
lot of times if we’re doing a sci-fi, you’re
going to use a lot more of the compositing
tricks, set extensions, things like that where
you read about Star Wars for instance, their
original feature films were shot basically
all on camera and then visual effects were
applied later and minimally at that, it was a
lot of different compositing of models and
scale explosions. Whereas nowadays when
we prepare for something, we really start
more with what the effect is, what we’re
trying to achieve, how to shoot it for that
effect. And a lot of times we will change the
sets based on what the cost is. For instance,
on Locke and Key, this show that just came
out on Netflix, there’s a mansion called Key
House, and instead of building the entire
exterior of the building, they built only the
first two floors and the rest was a green
screen or a blue screen.
It was actually green and they would
paint just the top of it, so that we had some
clean edges to drop our CG top of the house
on it. And it was deemed to be cheaper that
way. So they didn’t have to build the whole
thing. So we just did it in the computer and
that changes dramatically the setup for all
those shots, every time the camera catches a
glimpse of that green at the top of the set, we
know we got to make that a visual effect and
drop the house on top of that. The planning
is very important, and the cinematographer
and the director have to coordinate which
way the camera’s pointing and how high it’s
tilted up and all of that matters. So if they
catch a little bit of that green, we either have
to push in or we have to make that a visual
effects shot and the cost goes up. So that’s
just an example of how the steps can change
and how the prep changes based on what
we deem we can do in the computer later
on. And it works, it amortizes nicely over
multiple seasons.
Is there one defining effect that you
would say is your ultimate effect that
people would recognize in a film?
Oh gosh. I often go back to Independence
Day because that’s a show that won an
Oscar for best visual effects. And one of
the reasons is because the visual effects
house we were particularly working with
at the time, or I was working for, had a lot
of brand new technology and one of which
was what we now call a flocking software,
where you have multiple characters doing
something on screen, CG characters, in this
case those characters were planes, F18s, or
alien fighters, and they were dog fighting
in the air. And for the longest time, Roland
Emmerich was pushing for as many planes
and just an epic battle in the sky as he could
get, and a lot of these visual effects houses
just couldn’t handle it. Because back then
it was a lot of key frame animation. It just
took too much and time is money in visual
effects.
So we had a technology, it was actually
called Sparky, and it was a particle
generator, and some of the smart guys at
our facility were able to figure out ways
to make those planes and alien attackers
basically take on the movement of those
particles and then they wrote scripts and
figured out how to have certain planes fire
at others, and certain planes blow up, and
others evade or dodge fire power. It ended
up becoming such an amazing effect that I
think that’s what tipped the film in the favor
of winning that Academy Award. So I would
say those dog fight scenes in Independence
Day are probably the most memorable
and something I’m really proud of. I was
at the time working with that company as
a digital coordinator, but working my way
into the visual effects producing role on
that film. So it was a really neat time to rise
the ranks and be on a big picture like that,
and get rewarded the way we did with that
Academy Award.
Funny enough, Independence Day
and the Star Trek films are on my selfquarantine
list to watch. So now I have
something to look forward to when I
watch Independence Day again. A lot of
people would be jealous because you got
to work on a Star Trek film. I mean scifi,
Comic-Con people, they would just be
like, “You are my hero.”
Yeah. It was a neat experience. There’s a
lot of Trekkies out there, trekkers, however
you say it, that it was great to be able to
interact with the crew, and we got to work
with Jonathan Frakes who’s very popular
on the Generations Star Trek, Star Trek
Generations series back in the ‘80s, ‘90s,
but he directed that film, actually. He’s one
of the stars but did a fantastic job, really
sweet guy to work with, and that was cool
to be immersed in that show. We only did
a few shots on the show, but we were very
involved and it was a lot of fun because we
get to interact with a lot of the crew and we
were able to take a lot of their models and
things back then they were still building
models like physical miniatures that we
would then extend into the CG world,
whether that would be a set extension,
or create a ship flying up into the sky, or
whatever the effect was.
So it was a fun experience and really
enjoyed working on it. And I also worked
on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine for a while.
And I personally was an animator on many
episodes as a 2D animator taking the Odo
character, who was a shape shifter, he would
turn into this gold goo, and that gold goo
would flow into a different shape, and then
it would morph into some other creature, or
a thing. We were able to take that, bring goo
from our CG department and then morph it
back into whether it was taking it from the
actor to the goo or to the goo back to the
actor. We got to do a lot of different cool
effects. And that was back when that effect
was a new thing. So that was fun to see and
be a part of.
Now let’s talk about your new film
Gold Dust. Firstly, tell me about the
movie.
It’s a fun film. It’s great for kids and
adults. I think it’s got that dual demographic
that adults can enjoy, but kids will just get a
really good solid laugh out of, because it is
silly, but at the same time it’s got a strong
moral message. And I think it’s a solid film.
David Wall did an amazing job directing,
well he wrote it, he directed it, starred in it,
and he produced with me. So it was a just
an honor to work with him again. I had
worked with him on a project a few years
before that and I’m also working with him
on developing some new screenplays as
well. But it was an honor to work with him.
He scoured the desert for two years before
production to find locations. And when he
did, they were just fantastic.
So we’ve got amazing locations. We got
really good talent, young, fresh, new talent,
some veterans, some brand new. So it was
a real interesting mix. But the way David
leads a production and pulls out the best out
of these actors is just amazing to watch. And
then when you see it on the screen when it’s
all done, it’s like, “Wow.” Because that’s
a real tough, you read the script and you
laugh, but it’s, “Wow, this is crazy. Where’s
the story going?” And then he pulls it all
together in the end, literally the last scene of
the movie. And it’s just fun to just see all that
craziness come and coalesce into a really
solid moral message. It’s neat to see that.
And so he’s very talented. I loved the film,
I loved the script and that’s why I helped
him make it, and really, really think he did a
fantastic job with what he had to work with
it. It’s a fairly low budget, but you wouldn’t
know that necessarily watching the finished
product. So very proud of that project.
Well I hear there’s a guy that does
visual effects that’s involved with the
film, right?
Well we got it. We actually had a few
guys that I pulled from past projects and
some that were new young guys that
knocked out quite a few shots in just a very
little time. I mean I was used to digital sky
replacements taking weeks and these guys
on their laptops will just take these shots
and change them into, for day for night for
instance, where we shot during the day, we
darken it down and then we replace the sky
to put stars in there. They would do these
shots several times a day. They just kick
them out and they look fantastic. The film
has a real magical quality because of the
way we shot it and the quality of the visual
effects. It just really came together. The
young talent out there today is amazing.
They grab their laptops and do this stuff
and it’s just second nature to them. The
older I get, the harder it is for me to navigate
from one part of the screen to the other.
And these guys are racing all over the place
with their mouse and keyboards and it’s
neat to see that. But yeah, we had a lot of
great talent and the visual effects turned out
fantastic. It’s what we would call invisible
visual effects because there isn’t a whole lot
of explosions, or there’s no sci-fi element
to it. So you’re not really going to see any
visual effects that you could point out. But
the film overall has a lot of visual effects in
it where we’re changing the skies out, or
we’re painting something out, or creating
just a certain mood based on how it looks
as opposed to digitally inserting something.
So it’s one of those films where you look at
it and you’re like, “Yeah, it was pretty much
shot all on camera,” except for the exception
of one shot at the very beginning where you
see this old shit off in the desert. We didn’t
have the budget to build a giant ship like
that. So it’s a CG implementation on that
one and it’s pretty obvious, but everything
else looks like it’s just shot in camera.
You talked a little bit about the humor
in the movie. You could probably sit there
and do science fiction all day without
thinking about it. But humor, I bet it’s a
little bit harder.
Humor is difficult because it translates
differently for the audience. For instance,
American humor doesn’t always work
overseas or vice versa. I think comedy is,
in a lot of ways, more challenging than
drama or other, obviously action flares and
things like that where the acting is second
place to the effects or the action. Whereas
comedy, you got to get it right and it’s all
about delivery, and you can write something
down on a script and you can laugh, but you
get that to the screen and sometimes it just
doesn’t translate, doesn’t work for a number
of factors. So you have to have someone
who’s very strong in their convictions
about the comedy that they see it through
all the way and are able to maintain that
integrity of the joke. It’s very difficult to
do that. David does it brilliantly. I like the
dry humor he has, so I get it, I watch it and
I laughed my head off. Other people may
not, but I do think that if you understand the
movie going into it and the type of humor it
is, you’re going to really enjoy it. And it’s
something that I think David did a brilliant
job executing.
I saw on IMDb that it might’ve had a
different name, but you stuck with it.
Well it was Pixie Dust at the very, very
beginning. And that was something that we
thought we’d run into some trouble with
Disney on. We changed it to Gold Dust and
ultimately had no trouble there. But yeah,
every now and then you run into issues like
that where you may have the right to do it,
it doesn’t mean you should. You never want
to fool the audience into thinking that this
is something that’s not. So, pixie’s just too
associated with Disney. So we wanted to
steer clear of that. But that was the original
screen play naming.
In your career, you’ve only been on
camera in one production according to
IMDb, Gone Are The Days. Do you like
being on camera?
I enjoy it for the novelty. I am not an
actor, wouldn’t want to be, but I enjoyed
sitting on a horse in a Western just to do
it because it was fun. It was a one day
experience. My daughter owns horses so I
was able to just practice on one of hers and
then getting to set and jumping on a horse,
I felt pretty comfortable. But yeah, it was
a three seconds scene in the movie. Just
because it was fun and the director’s like,
“Yeah, you should get in there.” And I’m
like, “Okay.” So it wasn’t any career change
or move on my part, just having fun.
I totally get that. I was an extra in 2012
in Vancouver when they were filming it
and you know, just to be onscreen for a
couple seconds was fun enough. Right?
Right, right. And well in a film like that,
it’s fascinating to watch everybody work.
And Roland Emmerich is a great director. I
really enjoy working with him. And there’s
just a lot of cool stuff you can experience as
an extra on a big movie set.
Of all the films you’ve worked on, is
there one that you would have loved to
have had that little three second piece in?
Well, I probably would have been
interested in being in One Night with
the King, which was that biblical epic
I was telling you about earlier, which
was shot in Rajasthan India. There was
1,500 extras, there was animals, we had
camels and elephants, and I mean it was
just a fascinating, the costumes were
amazing. The locations were phenomenal.
I unfortunately was not able to be a part
of that production. I was really a producer,
producing from the US though at that time,
managing the money in the budgets, and
then post-production as we got the dailies
back. But I was actually pretty ill at the
time so I couldn’t travel. So I do regret
not being able to be more involved in the
production on that or even being an extra in
it. Because I heard it was just a phenomenal
experience for everybody involved. So that
was probably one I was like, “Oh shucks,
wish I could have been involved on that one
a little bit more,” but I was very involved
overall on the entire project from budgeting
all the way to final delivery and pretty proud
of that one. It’s an epic movie so if you have
time, check it out, it’s called One Night with
the King.
I wanted to talk about Locke and Key
before I let you go. What do you think
makes that show work so well? Because it
became a Netflix hit right away.
Oh well it was originally a Joe Hill
graphic novel, and Joe Hill’s got quite
a following. I mean Locke and Key is no
unknown IT, people know about it. It’s got
a lot of fan base built in. So we had that
going into it. But I got to tell you when I
first started and when I read the script, I
thought it was phenomenal. So this was
very well written. Carlton Cuse, the show
runner, is incredible at pulling a team
together to get the scripts to a place where
they’re just, they hit all the right beats, they
hit the right points, everything is understood
clearly. The execution of the screenplay
was phenomenal. The directing, the
acting was really strong, and of course the
cinematography, and I’m biased, but I think
the visual effects are outstanding.
So it all came together. We had a perfect
team of people both on production and post
production to really make that what it was,
because it could have taken a sour turn and
not been nearly as good if one of those links
in that chain broke. And I felt like we really
had a solid standard for all departments
on that show. And it just came together
beautifully. So, and we did extend our
schedule so that we could allow the visual
effects houses to really shine and finish the
project. Ran into some trouble, some of
the visual effects group really difficult to
pull off. And we were able to solve that by
extending a little bit. So I was actually going
to originally wrap on the show in November
and I went all the way to the end of January,
literally seven days before its release I was
working on it.
It was fun to actually have the reviews
come out because we had sent it to the
press already. So we were reading reviews
while we were still working on it, which
is a unique experience. Usually you wrap
a show and months later you hear how
it does. I liked to hear positive reactions
to it even before I was off it. The quality,
I think ultimately is what’s going to cause
that thing to just keep going and going.
They’re already green lighting season two.
Once everything calms down with what’s
going on right now, they’re going to jump
right in. I may or may not be a part of that,
just depending on whether I’m on another
project at time. But they actually need a
visual effects producer. But a great show
to work on with great people and really
enjoyed working with Netflix.
Netflix has really changed things
a lot. Are you in the Netflix world? Is
that a different entity from Hollywood
altogether? They must coexist together,
but are they separate?
Well, it’s just like any other studio,
as they get more and more into content
creation, which they are heavily into, I
mean, they’re running at a loss just to create
content to compete with the other, Disney+,
Hulu, Amazon, now Apple, lot of these
mega companies are pouring billions into
content each year. So Netflix has to keep up
with that. The landscape’s changed, but the
business hasn’t, it’s really just the same. It’s
just different players. So before you’d have
Fox, and Paramount, and Universal, and
Sony, and all these major studios, which still
exist and they’re still there, but now we’ve
got new players like Netflix and Amazon.
What would be considered streaming
platforms are now actual studios in and of
themselves. They hire studio executives,
they manage like studios.
They allocate budgets, spend money on
production, and then instead of dropping
them in the theater, they just put them on
their website and rock and roll. So from
that perspective, the industry’s completely
different because now they don’t have to
spend millions on advertising theatrically,
and creating the prints, and doing all that
you had to do to get a movie into a theater,
which is very expensive. Now they just have
put a banner ad on the top of their website,
make it available for streaming, and rock
and roll. So they really changed the industry
from that perspective.
I bet as an industry guy though, there’s
nothing better than seeing your work on
a big screen.
Actually, yes, it really does change it for
us. It’s sad to think, and we do this now even
in this day and age where we’re delivering
for two audiences. And when I worked on
Locke and Key, some people have big home
theaters or projectors, and so we want it
to look amazing in 4K for them, so we’re
doing it to that quality. But it’s disheartening
in a way to know a majority of the viewers
are going to watch this on a tiny little screen,
whether it be their phone, or their laptop, or
their iPad because they’re going to miss so
much the detail that we painstakingly put
into the project. But that’s just life.
We do all this work to get color just
right. And then it compresses down when it
streams and you lose all that and it’s like,
Publicity Photo from Gold Dust
“Ah, this was a beautiful shot on, in the
color bay when we were tweaking it for
hours on end,” and now they’re looking at it
and it just looks like any other shot. They’re
like, “Oh, that’s painful.” But that’s the way
of the world. That’s how consumers are
consuming. We have to just be prepared for
that and understand that. But we still do it
to a very high standard 4K HDR that has all
the resolution and color space of any film
going to a theater.
With that theater in mind, my last
question, What was your reaction the
first time you saw your work on a screen?
Yeah, it’s going to be in those early days.
Back in the early ‘90s, there was a few films
I remember specifically I worked on a film
called Cliffhanger, didn’t do a whole lot
for it, but it was just a Sylvester Stallone
film. And I remember seeing that for the
first time on the big screen and thinking,
“Wow, I get to be a part of that.” Or I was
a part of that, and then saw my name in the
credits and I think it was career altering for
me since back then you didn’t have that
many credits. Now you have Star Wars or
Marvel movies and you’re sitting there for
10 minutes with 10 rows of names you have
to squint to see. But back then, the names
weren’t quite as many. So your name’s a
little more real estate on the screen, but it
was fun to see that one, it was one of the
first ones I got to be a part of. So that was a
neat experience.
Screen capture of air battle from Independence Day
Playwriting Contest Provides Opportunities to Windsor-Essex Writers
By Michael K Potter
There’s a lot of talent in Windsor-Essex,
scattered across all fields, all industries,
and all arts. One thing Post Productions
recognized early in its existence was:
there are a lot of talented writers in our
community. So we asked ourselves …
how can we help them get their work
noticed? How can we help them make a
bit of money from their talents and maybe
provide a gentle nudge toward the next
level of their careers?
The answer had to involve collaboration,
because that’s the Post Productions way.
And it had to involve playwriting because,
well, that’s the company’s bread-andbutter:
producing plays.
And so the Windsor-Essex Playwriting
Contest was born. The idea was simple
at first: create a contest that gave writers
who were either born in Windsor-Essex or
live in Windsor-Essex a chance to submit
their work to a panel of judges who would
select the best entry, which would be
produced as part of Post Productions’ next
season alongside legendary playwrights
like David Mamet, Sam Shepard, Peter
Schaffer, and Diana Son. We decided we
wouldn’t discriminate between people
based on their prior experience or success;
the contest would be open to writers both
established and aspiring.
But Post Productions also had an ethical
issue with contests in general – namely,
only the winners tend to benefit. That
seemed unfair and counterproductive.
Couldn’t there be a contest that aimed
James Stone in A Haunting on
E Flat by Joey Ouellette
to help everyone succeed eventually,
whether they won or lost? Couldn’t there
be a contest that benefitted everyone who
entered?
So in addition to ensuring that clear
criteria were created for judges to apply
– thus ensuring fair decisions – Post
Productions decided to treat the entire
contest as a developmental opportunity
with the long-term goal of helping
playwrights develop their craft over time.
Every writer who submits receives
detailed constructive feedback from the
entire panel of judges, each member of
which has read their work closely using
the contest criteria. Any writer who makes
it to the second round of the contest is
encouraged to use the feedback they’ve
received and resubmit within a few weeks
– whereupon they receive a second round
of notes regardless of the decision. And
everyone – whether they made it to round
two or not -- is encouraged to apply the
feedback and resubmit their work the
following year. It’s basically a way to get
your work read by multiple people who are
invested in your long-term success. The
worst thing that can happen to a writer who
submits to the contest is that 4-5 people read
their work carefully, make detailed notes
about its strengths and weaknesses, provide
ample suggestions to help them build on
the strengths and address the weaknesses,
and receive genuine encouragement to try
again.
With the deadline for the 2020 contest
coming up soon (April 30th), 519
Magazine and Post Productions thought
Davod DuCjene in Autopsy by
Alex Monk
it might be helpful to call attention to the
characteristics that helped previous years’
winners succeed – and provide some
advice to writers to help them refine their
work before they submit.
Two plays won the 2018 contest – Alex
Monk’s Autopsy and Joey Ouellette’s
A Haunting in E Flat. Why two? Well,
none of the finalists were long enough
to be produced alone and these two had
common themes, which meant they could
work together effectively as a doublebill.
But, of course, they wouldn’t have
won without their individual merits. Both
scripts featured well-realized characters,
an effective balance of drama and humour
(not strictly necessary, but definitely a
plus), intriguing premises, and their themes
fit the Post Productions brand.
(A side note: the winning playwrights
also had vastly different levels of
experience. Whereas Ouellette had written
many plays before, and had them produced
across North America, Autopsy was the
first play Monk had ever written.)
The 2019 winner – Edele Winnie’s Pry
It From My Cold Dead Hands – still wasn’t
quite long enough, but it was such a strong
script that the judges couldn’t turn it down.
It had all the strengths of the previous year’s
winners, plus it had one characteristic that
made it stand out immediately: a strong,
unique, personal authorial style – a voice.
Winnie didn’t write quite like anyone else.
There was a “voice” that shone through
the script from the first page to the last,
which made the story distinctly hers. This
is a difficult characteristic to explain and
understand. Think of it this way: if you
compare a book by Stephen King to one by
Anne Rice they don’t sound remotely alike
when you read them aloud. Even though
those authors are contemporaries writing in
the same time period, and they’re from the
same country, and they work in the same
genre, their writing styles – their voices –
are distinct. You’ll notice it in the words
they choose, the rhythms of their sentences,
the details they focus on when describing
people and places, their preoccupations.
A writer’s voice comes through in their
choices – and it develops over time, with
practice. The more you write and revise
your own work, the more your choices
become yours instead of imitations of
choices made by writers you admire.
The judges focus on these kinds of
characteristics because they’re captured
in the contest criteria: character, plot and
structure, dialogue, theme and genre,
craft, and brand compatibility. The
judges’ scoring rubrics contain detailed
breakdowns of each of these criteria.
For those writers wanting to know more
about what the judges are looking for, Matt
St. Amand and I wrote a detailed guide
called “So You’re Writing a Play”, which
you can find on the Post Productions blog
(http://www.postproductionswindsor.ca/
blog/so-youre-writing-a-play).
In the contest’s first year, we realized
we’d made some errors in our eligibility
criteria. Then, in the second year, we
found errors we’d missed the previous
year. At this point we’ve come to expect
that we’ll find new things to fix every
year. We’re only human after all! For
example, in 2018 we didn’t specify that
entries had to be plays – so we received
several musicals. And all of those musicals
had some merit, something interesting
or admirable that could be developed
into a fascinating production. But we
don’t consider ourselves capable of fairly
judging musicals. We enjoy musicals,
certainly, but we don’t think it’s fair for us
to evaluate them. And besides, musicals
tend to be big – big scale, large casts, just
not the right sort of thing for an intimate
environment like The Shadowbox Theatre.
But there was one musical submitted in
2018 that we thought seemed pretty much
perfect for Korda Artistic Productions, so
we advised the writer to send it to them.
If Korda produced it, we’d definitely go
see the show. And now, Arts Collective
Theatre has created a contest for new
musicals. We’re excited by that!
Honestly, the best thing any writer can
do to win the contest is pay close attention
to the contest criteria, especially as detailed
in that blog post. The second best thing:
watch a lot of plays – especially the kinds
of plays that fit the Post Productions brand:
intimate, intense, provocative. Watching
plays will give you a sense of what’s
realistic and even possible onstage, a sense
of pacing, an understanding of what sorts
of scenes work in an intimate environment.
But, okay, the THIRD best thing you can
do (and maybe this is the most important)?
Read play scripts. Read a lot of play scripts
– especially good ones by well-regarded
playwrights. They earned their reputations.
Analyze what makes their scripts work and
think about what lessons you could draw
from their work for yourself.
It’s important to have a firm
understanding of what a play script is,
because it isn’t the same as a film or
television script – they’re different media.
And a play script is very, very different
from a novel. Experience writing for other
media will help you – absolutely – but
you want to make sure you understand the
conventions of this particular medium.
But there are two elements important to
all forms of storytelling that we often find
missing in the submissions we receive:
conflict and stakes. Let’s look at conflict
first. Without conflict there’s no drama
– or comedy. Conflict creates purpose,
momentum, suspense and, well, interest.
There really isn’t much of a story at all
unless there’s conflict. That doesn’t mean
that a script needs to contain fights or
quarrels. At minimum, it means either a
character wants something but has trouble
obtaining it, or that different characters
have incompatible desires. If Sarah
wants to go to the movies tonight but her
boyfriend Billy wants them to stay home
and play checkers – that’s conflict. Smallscale
conflict, sure. Conflict nonetheless.
Now, if this conflict is the initiating event
of the story, that means the next step will
probably involve one of those characters
attempting to either circumvent, solve, or
overpower the other character’s desire.
It’s possible for a skilled writer to turn
a minor conflict like this into a compelling
story, but usually higher stakes are needed.
When it comes to any conflict, we should
ask, “What’s at stake here?” And the
answer is always connected to something
the characters care about. Consider Sarah
and Billy again. What’s at stake in this
conflict? Not much on the surface. So
add a detail. Maybe this conflict is the last
straw for their relationship; they’ve been
disagreeing about all sorts of little things
for days, or one character takes this conflict
as a symbol of everything that’s wrong
with their relationship. Now there’s a lot
more potential drama to be mined from
this conflict because there’s something at
stake: a relationship that matters to each
character. If neither character cared about
the relationship, nothing would really be at
stake.
Depending on how the writer decides to
use this conflict, this scenario could play
out as a straightforward drama, a poignant
tragedy, a farcical comedy, a horror, a
science fiction story – anything. A skilled
writer can turn this into any kind of story
just by making different choices. Think
of every story you love and ask yourself
what the conflicts are in those stories, and
what’s at stake. Odds are you’ll find a lot
of variety across all genres.
We’re coming up on one of the
most exciting times of the year for Post
Productions. This is when we get to
discover what people have written this
year; at least, what they’re willing to share
with us. We never know what to expect,
and each year we’ve been surprised by the
kinds of stories people are telling, by the
quirks of their characters, their twists and
themes and conflicts.
This year’s winning script will be
produced as part of Post Productions’
2021 season (assuming we all survive
the pandemic!). Its author will be invited
to take part in the audition process and
attend rehearsals, if they wish. And most
importantly, the winning author will
receive 10% of gross ticket revenue from
the production of their play. That’s gross
ticket revenue, not profit – we aren’t
playing games, here!
To learn more about the eligibility
requirements, deadlines, and process of the
2020 Windsor-Essex Playwriting Contest,
please visit the Post Productions website:
http://www.postproductionswindsor.ca/
playwriting-contest.html
Cast of Pry It From My Cold
Dead Hands by Edwle Winnie.
Photo by Kieran Potter and
Fay Lynn.
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BLUESFEST
2020
WINDSOR
JULy 10−12 ★ JULy 17 − 19
RIVERFRONT
FEsTIVal Plaza
WE’RE ExcITED TO ANNOuNcE OuR 2020 LINEup AND WINDSOR’S BIggEST pARTY ON ThE WATERfRONT!
WEEK ONE
ARTISTS BY DAY
WEEK TWO
FRIday July 10
FLO RIDA
SOnReAL
saTuRday July 11
The TReWS
BILLY RAFFOUL
ft JODY RAFFOUL
AnD PeTeR RAFFOUL
The STAnDSTILLS
ReD WAnTIng BLUe
suNday July 12
SAInTS AnD SInneRS TOUR
BIg WReCk
heADSTOneS
MOIST
The TeA PARTY
FRIday July 17
LOUD LUXURY
DVBBS
saTuRday July 18
TLC
JennY
FROM ACe OF BASe
suNday July 19
CASh BOX kIngS
CAROLYn WOnDeRLAnD
ALBeRT CASTIgLIA
MIke ZITO
PAUL DeSLAURIeRS BAnD
AnnIkA ChAMBeRS
SCOTT hOLT
LAURA RAIn AnD The CAeSARS
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