NXNE Club Land Curator Series: SaskMusic June 13, 2018 in Toronto ON

NXNE Club Land Curator Series: SaskMusic June 13, 2018 in Toronto ON

by SaskMusic

June 6, 2018 in SaskMusic News

SaskMusic is happy to be presenting an official NXNE 2018 showcase event featuring Saskatchewan artists. A call for submission went out to members, with a jury of industry professionals making the selections. Our event will feature Saskatchewan artists Gunner & Smith, Nick Faye & The Deputies, Megan Nash, Surf Dads, and Samurai Champs.

NXNE is an annual summer festival and conference, featuring music, gaming, comedy, and interactive taking place June 8-17, 2018. NXNE is celebrating its 24th year and takes over Toronto with showcases, panels, parties, installations, and more.  In the Club Land Curator Series, top Canadian artists and organizations curate their favourite emerging bands in some of Toronto's top live music venues.

In addition to providing preparation advance for our artists, SaskMusic will be on-site to assist with marketing and promotion of the showcase and to help selected artists network with buyers.

Thursday, June 13, 2018 at The Dakota Tavern

7:00pm Doors Open

7:30pm Gunner & Smith

8:30pm Nick Faye & The Deputies

9:30pm Megan Nash

10:30pm Surf Dads

11:30 Samurai Champs

 

Gunner and Smith

Hope and redemption. Philosophy and folklore. The music of Gunner & Smith has always been a collection of fiery elements, blending searing guitars, brawny rhythms and distinct folk-family vocals to produce tightly-knit rock anthems. But on “Byzantium,” the group’s second full-length album, the songs simmer and seethe with a newfound brooding energy that looks at the darker sides of love, loss and humanity. Anchored by the solid songwriting of front-man Geoff Smith, the ever-shifting nature of the band has once again undergone another evolution, with a talented cadre of musicians joining the front-man at the helm. Featuring an ever-expanding sound that combines indie rock, alt-country and sizzling psych-Americana, Byzantium is borne from a deeper, darker place than the group’s previous material.

 

Nick Faye and The Deputies

Nostalgic and familiar, Nick Faye and The Deputies play a brand of late-‘90’s inspired pop-rock drenched in Canadiana. The band consistently delivers high energy live performances and has become renowned for their comedic and outlandish stage banter. They released their third studio full-length, "Stumbling Distance," produced by JUNO/Polaris Award-winning producer Michael Philip Wojewoda (Barenaked Ladies, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Amelia Curran) on April 17, 2018. In recent years, Nick Faye has toured with rising Canadian stars Megan Nash and Colter Wall and performed alongside Andy Shauf, Arkells, July Talk, Elliot Brood, Library Voices, William Prince, and Northcote, appearing at a number of high profile festivals including Regina Folk Festival (CAN), BreakOut West (CAN), FOCUS Wales (UK), Folk Alliance International (USA), CMW (CAN), NXNE (CAN), and JunoFest (CAN).

"Regina, Sask., has long been a hot spot for indie-rock greatness (think Library Voices, Rah Rah and, way back, Despistado). Now you can add Nick Faye and the Deputies to that list." -Grant Lawrence, CBC Music

"If former tour-mate Colter Wall is a Prairies Johnny Cash, and (Andy) Shauf is their Elliott Smith, then perhaps, given time, Faye could be their Tom Petty." -THE LINE OF BEST FIT (UK)

 

Megan Nash

Megan Nash, whose song “Deer Head” was nominated for a 2016 Western Canadian Music Award, has been described by CBC Radio One’s Tom Allen as having “a powerful voice and an authoritative style.” Her one-of-a-kind voice, deeply personal songs, and unapologetically open personality leave an impression upon everyone who hears her. On her new album “Seeker,” Nash collaborates with ambient/alt-rock unit Bears in Hazenmore with brilliant results. In sharp contrast to the starkness of her previous acclaimed album “Song Harvest Volume One,” Seeker takes Nash’s roots-based songwriting into bold new sonic territory, displaying the undeniable chemistry she has forged with the group over the past year. As the concept of Seeker suggests, Nash is in the midst of her personal quest for spiritual meaning on her own terms. Her chosen path is through music, and as an artistic statement, Seeker displays the breadth of Nash’s talents as a songwriter, vocalist and producer - the culmination of one stage of her journey while simultaneously beginning the next. She’s fresh off acclaimed showcases at Reeperbahn, The Great Escape, and Focus Wales and 2 European tours.

 

Surf Dads

Surf Dads is Canada’s latest up-and-coming independent act. Originally separated by 2800 kilometres and a country apart, it was through iPhone demos that Surf Dads was birthed.

Releasing three EPs over the span of three months, Surf Dads has proved to be nothing short of a workhorse band. Described as “Weezer on speed,” Surf Dads plays fast and loud, often leaving the stage bruised and bleeding with broken guitars to match. Their sound and style is more akin to West Coast acts than that of the Canadian Prairie towns of which they were raised. Currently readying their follow up to acclaimed Full Length “All Day Breakfast,” the Dads are gearing up for more shows, more broken gear, and more loud music.

 

Samurai Champs

Consisting of new-wave rapper Jeah and dark-soul/R&B singer Merv xx Gotti, the duo draws influence from their Southeast Asian heritage while taking pride in their urban-Canadian identity. Blending Jeah’s versatile rap vocal delivery with Merv xx Gotti’s emotional R&B vocals, the duo create a smooth, yet dark coalescence of modern hip-hop/R&B. Samurai Champs have toured across Canada, as well as internationally, sharing the stage with international hip-hop heavyweights such as T.I., Flatbush Zombies, and k-os and showcasing in festivals including Canadian Music Week, BreakOut West, Reeperbahn, The Great Escape Festival, Liverpool Sound City, and Tallinn Music Week.  Following TMW, Gigwise proclaimed “Jeah, who moved to Canada as a Cambodian refugee, has a tone and flow that make him easily one of the country’s most exciting new rappers. Gotti, meanwhile, brings in more neo-soul and R&B sonics with his falsetto, and is perhaps one of the most energetic frontmen on the showcase circuit.” UK’s The Line of Best Fit named the in their 2017 “20 Of The Most Exciting Bands On The Planet to See At The Great Escape,” with Gigwise including them in their “11 New Bands From The Great Escape 2017 That You Need In Your Life.” Samurai Champs also garnered a nomination for Urban Artist of the Year at the 2017 Western Canadian Music Awards.

   

About NXNE

NXNE, presented by Aurora Cannabis, is bringing back the club-hopping wristband with a twist, offering festival-goers the chance to discover the hottest acts brewing in Canada’s music scene. Some of the best up-and-coming bands in the country have been hand-picked by a dream team of Canada’s music leaders.

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