The Matadors
Who: The Matadors
What: hail to the devil
Where: London, ON
To Contact: Stumble Records, 57 Leaside Dr., St. Catharines, ON L2M 4G1 (905) 934-6901, www.thematadors.net, .

They describe their rock 'n' roll as "the devil's music," even title their CD as such. They go into a little tale of how, after toiling in the "Z circuit" for some time, they were approached by The Lucifarian Brotherhood of Baphomet to sell their soul. If vocalist/guitarist Joel "Hooch" Parkins, bassist "Creepin'" Jeff Sheppard and drummer Jay Westman would just incorporate "Lucifarian gospel music" into their rockabilly style, they would be given "super-human" musical skill and preside over their audience. Well, it takes more than guts to play rockabilly in this day of pop, hip-hop and punk, so why not? Entering into the fiery depths of Dark Art Studios in London, ON, with producer Alistair Hay ("who never accepted a half-assed take or weak performance") and engineer Darren Morrison (who fixed the unfixable), The Matadors emerged with the igniting nine tracks on The Devil's Music. If Elvis or even Chris Isaak had gone over to the dark side, they may have come up with such gems as the barbarian booty call "Devil's Mistress" and truly seductive ballad "Burning Desire."

Ryan Thomas
Who: Ryan Thomas
What: face up rock
Where: Newmarket, ON
To Contact: Ryan Thomas, (905) 868-4985.

Former Serial Joe frontman Ryan Thomas (aka Ryan Dennis) took a break after the demise of his rock band, which was signed when he was just 15 and made four albums, including the gold-selling Face Down and 2001's swan song, (Last Chance) At The Romance Dance. Going through some personal development and soul searching, Thomas was hit by a flood of ideas, and ended up writing 15 songs in a month. For the next year, while attending the University Of Toronto, he was distracted by music and wrote another 20 songs. He then knew for certain that music was what he wanted to pursue. This collection of songs is his first venture as a solo artist. The music is a lot heavier than Serial Joe's and lyrically it's more autobiographical, covering everything from the pressure to conform to a so-called normal career ("Through Me") to appreciating your surroundings ("Taken In") to society's dark path and superficial obsessions ("One Hundred Thousand Miles"). Produced by Last Chance producer Corey MacFadyen at his Groundloop Studios in Niagara Falls, Thomas wrote all the songs himself and played guitar, bass, and sang. Drums were handled by Tim Oxford. He will continue to record a few more tracks, while searching for a label and management.

James McKenty And The Spades
Who: James McKenty And The Spades
What: dig this rock
Where: Peterborough, ON
To Contact: Karl Lawson, (705) 876 6340, www.thespades.ca.

James McKenty And The Spades' album, Burning On Fumes, was co-produced by The Tragically Hip's Gord Sinclair, who knew McKenty from his native Kingston, ON and took in a show. The trio's weekly gigs reportedly pull in a regular 100 strong fans, who stay after the show to get autographs and buy a ton of CDs. Recording the Peterborough-based band - McKenty (guitar, piano, vocals), Winchester Street (drums), and Chachi Robichaud (bass) - at The Hip's studio The Bathouse, in Bath, ON, the 10 tracks have a casual, but rockin' vibe that gives nods to vintage rock 'n' roll like the Animals and Yardbird, and current mainstays Blue Rodeo and Neil Young. There's even something vaguely reminiscent of Gord Downie in McKenty's voice. About half the songs are co-pros between Sinclair and McKenty, and the rest by McKenty alone, who also writes all the band's material. The Spades came together in 1998 after McKenty took an engineering job at Sound On Sound Studios, where his first project was recording the legendary Rompin' Ronnie Hawkins, who apparently imparted this piece of advice: "It'll be a long road son, but the big time is always right around the corner." The band has since opened for The Hip, Blind Boys Of Alabama, Jim Cuddy and April Wine.

Credit: Toronto-based music journalist Karen Bliss is the Canadian news correspondent for Rollingstone.com, and operates a Canadian music industry news column, Lowdown, at http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Lowdown. She also edits Gasoline, and contributes to Elle Canada, Audience, Tribute, Words & Music and others.

| Contents | Showcase | Music On-Line | Studio Guide | Canadian Artists |