Spring Music Festival 2011

Spring Music Festival 2012 - Celebrating 10 years of music: more bands, more headliners, more opportunities!

The Spring Music Festival is currently undergoing some great transformations, please check back for updates soon, or sign up to for a chance to play our 10th Anniversary celebration.

Thanks to everyone who came out and enjoyed this year's festival!

Congratulations to the Mercy Now on becoming the Y108 Rock and Roll Champions!

Jonas and the Massive Attraction by Carrie Humphries

Montreal rockers, Jonas and the Massive Attraction, have their eyes set on Burlington this coming weekend. The four–piece behind hockey’s rock anthem ‘Big Slice’ (thanks, Don Cherry), are looking forward to performing for fans at Friday’s 9th Annual Spring Music Festival.

On the phone with Jonas Tomalty, the lead singer and ...

Read on via ViewMag.ca

Spring Music Fest brings rock to local clubs

The ninth annual Spring Music Festival is taking over several night clubs in Burlington and Hamilton this weekend with performances by some 70 rock acts, including Die Mannequin, Sweet Thing and Jonas.

The festival, organized by local promoter Rob Rapiti and sponsored by Hamilton’s Y108 radio station, kicked off Wednesday with a performance by progressive metal band Protest the Hero in The Studio at Hamilton Place. It continues Thursday, May 12, with a free Indie Showcase at This Ain’t Hollywood (345 James St. N.), featuring local singer-songwriter Max Wray, Toronto’s Meredith Shaw and The Speakeasies, a band from Guelph.

Read on via TheSpec.com

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Filming starts Sept 2011

By signing you can compete for a chance to win $5000 in Cash, and a $25,000 development package.

Hamilton's Premier New Music Festival

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Only applicants will be accepted

• unprecedented number of headliners
• more clubs
• more artists
• more musician
• initiatives and opportunities that you don't want to miss

Roadrunner Recording artist Bleeker Ridge confirmed for Saturday May 14 at Boston Manor

Orillia, Ontario’s Bleeker Ridge had a good seven years of dedicated rehearsals, songwriting and gigs before landing a dream record deal with Roadrunner Records Canada and cutting an album, Small Town Dead, with legendary producer Bob Marlette (Shinedown, Default, Seether, Airbourne), chockfull of hooky hard rock anthems. That kind of woodshedding might not seem unusual, except the band formed when they were kids.

The melodic hard rock quartet is comprised of two sets of brothers — lead singer Taylor Perkins 21; guitarist Cole Perkins, 19; guitarist Dan Steinke, 19; and drummer Dustin Steinke, 20 — who met in 2003 at a local jam night in Lagoon City (pop. 3000). They went from playing Joe Walsh and Jimi Hendrix covers to writing originals, which they released on two independent CDs. More Info...

Jonas & The Massive Attraction confirmed for Friday May 13 at Boston Manor

Juno-nominated rock singer Jonas is thrilled to introduce his new band Jonas & The Massive Attraction, featuring long time guitarist/band leader Corey Diabo, J.S. Baciu (Bass) and Martin Lavallee (Drums). Their highly anticipated new album Big Slice was released in Canada on September 14, 2010 on Big Slice Records/Select Distribution and cracked the Top 15 nationally on Soundscan in the first week of sales. The title track and first single “Big Slice” went out to rock radio in June

and hit Top 10 nationally in December on the Mediabase Active Rock Charts. The song peaked at # 7 in January 2011 alongside some of the biggest international names in rock (Ozzy Osbourne, Kings of Leon, Three Days Grace). More Info...

Die Mannequin confirmed for Friday May 13 at Club Absinthe

Dynamic Die Mannequin vocalist and guitarist Care Failure -- who somewhat sounds like a Courtney Love for a new generation -- left home when she was 16, only to weather run-ins with drugs and homelessness. She met Pat M. (aka Ghostwolf), who let her crash at his place, even offering his room to allow her space from the half dozen or so guys staying in the house. Failure wound up staying for over a year, and as the two became friends, they inevitably began

collaborating musically as well. The Toronto-based singer's luck further ran her into an encounter with Death from Above 1979's Jesse Keeler, who wound up producing Failure's EP How to Kill under the MSTRKRFT moniker with his partner, Al-P. On the EP, Failure did not yet have a permanent band around her, so she played everything except drums, which Keeler handled himself. Following the album's recording, Failure turned to friends to round out her Die Mannequin; old pal and drummer Ghostwolf and bassist Anthony Useless eventually completed the trashy rock crew. In 2006, Die Mannequin snagged opening spots on tours for Guns N' Roses and Buckcherry, and also signed a deal with EMI Publishing. The How to Kill EP appeared in January 2007 via Cordless Recordings. The band performed at Toronto's NXNE that same year, while summer was spent on the road with Vancouver's Pride Tiger before opening up Canadian dates for the Deftones. More Info...

EMI recording artists Sweet Thing confirmed for Friday May 13 at Underground

Meet Sweet Thing, a five-piece Toronto band that play infectious pop tunes. Sometimes they get pretty rocking, in that dramatic way that feels best when you clench your fist and raise it to the sky. Charged with dueling guitars, Fleetwood Mac-y harmonies, and energy up the wazoo, Sweet Thing are the musical equivalent of drinking a milkshake at a 50s diner where the waiter keeps jumping on the table (and you like it). Let’s call it ‘music to dance like a dork to’. More Info...

EDGEFEST Performers Gentlemen Husbands confirmed for Saturday May 14 at Underground

You’ve heard this story before. Best friends grow restless and feel suffocated by the confines of their small town, write music in basements at ungodly hours about leaving home behind and never coming back. Songs fueled by ambition and frustration, echoed by the youth of the city that kindly latch on to the band as hometown heroes. The band plays the local pub monthly and ends three years later due to too much alcohol consumption and giving up on the idea they’re ever going to make it out alive.

Well, in the case of Cobourg, Ontario’s Gentlemen Husbands the story is only half true. Instead of rotting away in the suburban wasteland they call home, the four big hearted musicians took their king size anthems to the road, where they quickly learned that their take on Rock n’ Roll was more than welcomed! Comprised of singer Rick Ballard, guitarist Ryan Hutcheson, bassist Jed Atkinson and drummer Dan Farrell, three of the four members were formerly in a hardcore band together before trading in their Norma Jean records for The Boss, sliding on their cowboy boots, and stomping out into the terrain of the cutthroat music industry. In their short time as a band, Gentlemen Husbands have played alongside Lucero, Murder by Death, Attack in Black, Saint Alvia and The Arkells. They have been hand picked to play festivals such as Cutting Edge Music Festival, SCENE Fest, NXNE, and CMW. Their spastic and lively sets have sent audience members into a daze! More Info...

Protest The Hero confirmed for Spring Music Festival kick-off, May 11th 2011

Protest The Hero’s well-deserved title as one of the most forward-thinking bands in the metal world today is showcased on their latest album, Scurrilous. Comprised of vocalist/lyricist Rody Walker, guitarist Tim Millar, guitarist/pianist Luke Hoskin, bassist/lyricist Arif Mirabdolbaghi, and drummer Moe Carlson, the quintet formed nearly a decade ago in their hometown of Whitby, Ontario. With friendships dating back as early as elementary school, it’s safe to say the guys of

Protest The Hero have grown together both musically and personally, and such progression is evident throughout Scurrilous. “I wouldn’t really call us a family,” says Rody, “but we’re definitely more than friends. I’ve slept in a bed next to Luke more times than I’ve slept next to my own girlfriend.” Named after a painting created by Arif’s grandfather (which is also the album’s cover image), Scurrilous is the band’s third full-length album and boasts ten tracks of soaring guitar riffs, bone-chilling operatic vocals, and some of the most personal lyrics Protest The Hero has written to date. More Info...

Low Level Flight feat. Ryan Malcolm confirmed for Friday May 13 at Corktown

Low Level Flight are a five piece alternative-rock band from Toronto, Canada. They spent much of 2009/2010 writing and recording their sophomore album "Through These Walls" in New York City and Montreal with influential producer Gus Van Go (The Stills, Priestess, The Trews). The new album comes from a more mature and artful direction than the band's debut "Urgency" (2007) and was released on May 3. Their first video for "Cash Machine is in heavy rotation on Much Music, Much

More Music and MTV2. 2011 has already produced exciting results for the band, including direct support for Interpol at Toronto's Sound Academy, and their first tour of the UK.

Shawn Brush confirmed to play The Spring Music Festival

Shawn Brush is one of those rare musicians who's able to combine highly technical musicianship with memorable and impactful songwriting. He's won two Canadian Bluegrass Awards.

Shawn's music is passionate, heartfelt and has a unique ability to touch pretty much anyone listening.

Early on in life Shawn was inspired by such greats as Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, John Prine and bluegrass legend Bill Monroe. He began playing the guitar at the age 14 and after attending a bluegrass jam in Hamilton Ont. Shawn felt something had changed in him forever. He became devotely focused and entirely serious about his passion for music. As his music developed shawn spent the summers traveling from one bluegrass festival to another, from Northern Ontario to Nashville Tennessee.

One of the finest performers of roots music you will ever have the good fortune to hear. A superb solo artist who writes songs full of passion and truth. There's a sincere, bittersweet quality to his voice that reaches the listener deep within. His talent on the guitar astounds all from casual fans to seasoned musicians. He possesses a rare vision and has meticulously crafted his skills.

You can't help but be moved by the presence, depth and remarkable talent of his music, either live or in his recordings. The music, the words and the man are real. More Info...