At CJSW, it’s always a thrill to host an incredible band that’s on the rise and to introduce them to folks who may have been otherwise hesitant to go to a venue and take a chance on the unfamiliar. Today, you will be hearing a live set from The Diet. The Diet played an utterly mesmerizing set at Local 510 during March’s MTT Fest. The crowd was silently hanging on to the band’s every note and, when they finished, the room was full of smiles and cheers. Find out why on today’s episode of Shindig!. See The Diet in person when they play the Commonwealth on Tuesday, May 1st – all four bands on the bill are must-see bands. The show starts at 9pm and one Sir Wilfrid Laurier will get you through the door.

The Diet

Hello friends!

While I’m a couple months away from beginning Sled Island artist spotlights, I’m kicking off MTT Festival spotlights on Monday. In case you haven’t heard, Dean & Britta, Sonic Boom, Sun Araw, Mammoth Cave recording artists, and tons of other bands will be performing during the MTT Festival (March 24-25). I’ve been spinning Dean Wareham and Sonic Boom’s music since I was a young pup at CJSW. It’s going to be otherworldly to see them perform live.

Not only will I be interviewing MTT Festival artists every Monday, but the profiled artists will be personally giving away hand-selected and signed items to very lucky CJSW listeners each week. That’s right. Dean Wareham, Peter Kember (Sonic Boom) and Cameron Stallones (Sun Araw) have all poked around their homes and selected something meaningful and special to share with you. This is exactly the sort of prize I would want if I happened to be on your side of the radio. Are you excited? There are more surprises to come this month, so make sure you’re tuned in.

On Monday’s episode of Shindig!, it’ll be my supreme pleasure to introduce you to the folks behind my favourite little record right now. The cold wave synth punks in Teledrome will be performing tracks off their Double Vision 7-inch on the show. Some of you may recognize the members of Teledrome from other spectacular Calgary groups like Thee Thems, The Shrapnelles, and The Sublinguals. Tune in to hear about Ryan Sadler’s Spectratone magic touch and how this local outfit snagged the attention of Chicago’s HoZac Records.

Teledrome

Next, I’ll be welcoming Michael Tucker – the co-director of Fightville. The next installment in the Calgary International Film Festival’s Doc Soup series, Fightville is the story of the gladiatorial billion-dollar sport of Mixed Martial Arts. We will be having a giveaway via telephone and email, so make sure you click around and locate the Shindig! e-address.

To finish the show, Long Beach psychonaut Cameron Stallones (Sun Araw) will be calling in to speak about his tunes, Magic Lantern, Spacemen 3, and gigging at the MTT Festival. A couple years ago, I had the pleasure of seeing Sun Araw participate in an incredible sonic art installation. He bent brains that night. Those of you with MTT Festival tickets are certainly in for an epic journey to the centre of your minds. We will be concluding our chat with a special giveaway hand selected by Cameron.

Cameron Stallones of Sun Araw

Come on back for exciting announcements and many more surprises. I’ll be rolling ‘em out every Monday for all of March on Shindig!.

First off, friends, are you ready to snap up your Bon Iver tickets? They’ll be performing an all-ages gig at MacEwan Hall on Tuesday, May 22 and tickets are on sale on Saturday, March 3 at 10am. There’s no doubt that this concert is going to sell out faster than our Programming Director Joe Burima can sprint to the food court during Roll Up the Rim to Win time. Make sure you’re ready, Calgary. You know how many out of towners will be flooding the gig just to hear “Calgary” performed in our home city.

Speaking of good music and coffee….

On top of all the best songs from this week’s stack of new music, on today’s Shindig!, I’m proud to feature one of the two latest Awesome Calgary $1000 award winners – Tim Barber from Timmy’s Only. His story is sweeping Calgary and beyond (hello, Florida!). Timmy’s Only is a delivery service that saves time for Calgarians working in the downtown core. Proprietor Tim Barber will line up for you and bring your coffee or lunch straight to your desk, so you can spend less time in line and more time avoiding the cold, doing work, or enjoying your free time on your lunch break. But Tim Barber’s story goes deeper than your typical story about a savvy Calgarian entrepreneur. Tim was one of Calgary’s homeless before making a conscious decision to wholly embrace positivity and run with a cool business idea. He has astutely capitalized on his detailed knowledge of the downtown core and the caffeine needs of its daytime dwellers. He has one of the most inspiring stories of 2012. Meet him at 4pm on CJSW.

If you work downtown, become a new regular of Timmy’s Only! Call Tim for your coffee or snack needs 403-465-5232 or tweet him @TimmysOnly.

Tim’s recommended reading – How to Curb Homelessness in Calgary and Walking with the Homeless.

See you next week, everyone. I have tons planned for Shindig! in March – live bands, exclusive world premieres of music videos, prizes, and spotlights on the MTT Fest. There are incredible things happening in our city right now and it’s my supreme pleasure to bring ‘em to your attention on Mondays. Until next time, I’ll be shooting to repeat last year’s luck below….

On Monday night, the Calgary music scene lost a dear brother after Christopher Reimer tragically passed away in his sleep. Chris was known to the world as a deeply artistically driven musician, who helped create the defining sound of critically acclaimed bands Women and Azeda Booth. While Women remained on indefinite hiatus, Chris continued creating imaginative sonic wonderlands by beginning the band, Gold, and touring with The Dodos.

In this difficult time, Chris’s sister Nikki Reimer has generously created a gathering place on the web for fans and friends to join hands, grieve together, and share their sentiments and love.

We are so thankful to have had such a bright light in our local scene. While fond memories comfort us, Chris Reimer’s music will live on and continue to be celebrated through the airwaves of CJSW and on record players everywhere.

Well, Blow Me Down! King Features and dBpm Records (Wilco’s spankin’ new imprint) combined forces to produce this excellent video for Wilco’s “Dawned On Me” starring the band along with Popeye and pals.