Canadian music genres
Encyclopedia
Canadian music genres identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other types of music made by Canadians. The music of Canada
has reflected the multi-cultural
influences that have shaped the country. First Nations people
, the French, the British, the Americans and many others nationalities have all made unique contributions to the musical genres of Canada.
was formed. This band later changed their name to Steppenwolf
and featured Canadians John Kay
, Goldy McJohn
and Jerry Edmonton
. Steppenwolf's 1968 single "Born to be Wild
" was the first use of the words 'heavy metal' in a song's lyric. In 1970, Woodstock, Ontario
based Warpig
released their metal music debut, which, although never reaching mainstream success like fellow heavy metal bands Black Sabbath
and Blue Cheer
, has become a cult favorite within the Doom metal scene.
Some of Canada's most successful metal bands opted to change their style from the early 80s roots metal sound to the growing glam metal
style that became mainstream in the late 80's. Bands like Helix
, Kick Axe
, Brighton Rock
, Killer Dwarfs
, Annihilator
, and Slik Toxik
saw growing popularity in the mid 1980s thanks in part to Much Music and MTV
playing their videos in regular rotation.
Canada's death metal
scene has produced artists most of whom are based out of Quebec
. Bands like Kataklysm
, Cryptopsy
, Quo Vadis
, Gorguts
, Augury, Voivod
, Martyr
, and Neuraxis have a strong underground following and are signed to major independent metal labels. In the 2000s, Canadian extreme metal has been put on the map by Vancouver band Strapping Young Lad
(featuring Devin Townsend
), 3 Inches of Blood
, Ottawa grindcore quartet Fuck The Facts
and Regina band Into Eternity. James Labrie
lead singer of Dream Theater
is Canadian born. Some notable black metal
bands have come from Ontario, including Woods of Ypres
, Wolven Ancestry, Zogroth and Eclipse Eternal. The cult black/death metal band Blasphemy
, formed in 1984 in British Columbia
, are still touring despite not having released a studio album since 1993. Canada has a very strong underground metal scene in cities such as Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg, and Quebec City.
In the early 1980s, Vancouver gained itself the reputation of being called the "Metal Central of Canada". To the present day, Vancouver still holds the reputation and has become a favorite city for many touring bands across the world.
In Canada, classical music includes a range of musical styles rooted in the traditions of Western
or European classical music that European settlers brought to the country from the 17th century and onwards. As well, it includes musical styles brought by other ethnic communities from the 19th century and onwards, such as Indian classical music
(Hindustani and Carnatic music) and Chinese classical music.
Canada has produced a number of respected ensembles, including the Montreal Symphony Orchestra
and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra
, as well as a number of well-known Baroque orchestras and chamber ensembles, such as the
I Musici de Montréal Chamber Orchestra
and the Tafelmusik
Baroque Orchestra and Chamber Choir. Major Canadian opera companies such as the Canadian Opera Company
have nurtured the talents of Canadian opera singers such as Maureen Forrester
, Ben Heppner
, and Jon Vickers
. Well-known Canadian musicians include pianist Glenn Gould
; violinist James Ehnes
; flautist Timothy Hutchins
; and composers R. Murray Schafer
and Harry Somers
. Well-known music schools include the Royal Conservatory of Music (Canada) in Toronto and the Schulich School of Music
at McGill University
in Montréal
.
Canadian rock
describes a wide and diverse variety of music produced by Canadians, starting with American style Rock and roll
in the mid 20th century. Since then Canada has had a considerable impact on the development of the modern popular music
called rock. Canada has produced many of the genre's most significant groups and performers, while contributing significantly to the development of the most popular sub-genres, which include pop rock
, progressive rock
, country rock
, folk rock
, hard rock
, punk rock
, metal
and indie rock
.
Canada has been a source of rock and roll music for decades, beginning with "The Mocking Bird
" originally recorded by The Four Lads
in 1952 reaching #23 on the Billboard chart
that year. It was re-released four years later reaching #67 on the 1956 chart.
The first Canadian with a No. 1
American Billboard
hit was 16 year old Paul Anka
. In 1957 he went to New York City where he recorded his own composition, "Diana
". The song brought him instant stardom selling more than nine million copies in sixteen countries, reaching No. 1
on the U.S. and Canadian charts. Since then, Canada has produced many internationally-popular rock and roll artists.
Perhaps the most notable Canadian rock band is Rush
, who currently place fifth behind The Beatles
, The Rolling Stones
, KISS
and Aerosmith
for the most consecutive gold and platinum albums by a rock band. Other notable musicians; The Guess Who
, BTO, Nickelback
, Three Days Grace
, The Tragically Hip
, Our Lady Peace
, Sum 41
, Alanis Morissette
, Billy Talent
, Simple Plan
, Finger 11 and Metric
.
The blues
is a vocal and instrumental form of music based on the use of the blue notes, often with a repetitive twelve-bar structure, which evolved in the United States in the communities of former African slaves. Canadian blues refers to the blues and blues-related music (e.g. blues-rock, folk blues, etc.) performed by blues bands and performers in Canada.
In Canada, there are hundreds of local and regionally-based Canadian blues bands and performers. As well, there is a smaller number of bands or performers that have achieved national or international prominence. These bands and performers are part of a broader Canadian "blues scene" that also includes city or regional blues societies, blues radio shows, and blues festivals.
A small number of Canadian blues bands and artists have achieved national or international prominence by touring across Canada, the US, or Europe, and releasing recordings that have received critical or audience acclaim in Canada and abroad. The performers below are listed according to the decade during which they first achieved national or international prominence:
phenomenon until the early 2000s.
Canada had hip hop
artists right from the early days of the scene — the first known Canadian rap single, Singing Fools
' "The Bum Rap", was released in 1982. For the most part, however, the infrastructure simply wasn't there to get most artists' music to the record-buying public. Even Toronto
– Canada's largest city and one of its most multicultural– had difficulty getting an urban music
station on the radio airwaves until 2000. As a result, if a Canadian hip-hop artist could get signed, it was very difficult for them to get exposure — even if their music videos were played on MuchMusic
, many artists simply couldn't get their records into stores or played on the radio.
As a result, through much of the 1990s, Canadian hip hop experienced a slowdown without any significant artists bursting into the scene. However, beginning in 1998, a sequence of events spurred by the anthemic collaborative single "Northern Touch
" finally brought hip hop back into the mainstream of Canadian music.
Allmusic has stated that Canadian hip hop is the "best-kept secret in hip-hop."
Some of the most well know Canadian rappers and hip-hop artists include Drake
, who is the only non-American who is signed into Young Money
. Classified
, K'Naan
, Kardinal Offishall
, Belly
and K-os
are the other significant rappers and hip-hop artists from Canada.
Jazz
is a genre of African American music
present in Canada since at least the 1910s. In 1919-1920 in Vancouver
, Jelly Roll Morton
, a legendary New Orleans pianist
, played with his band. During this period, Canadian groups such as the Winnipeg Jazz Babies and the Westmount Jazz Band of Montreal
also found regional acclaim.
During the swing boom of the late 1930s and early 1940s, Canada produced such notable bandleaders as Ellis McLintock, Bert Niosi
, Jimmy Davidson
, Mart Kenney
, Stan Wood, and Sandy De Santis. In the 1940s, Bert Niosi
and Oscar Peterson
became widely known. Peterson became internationally acclaimed, and is a widely-respected Canadian jazz musician.
During the 1970s and 80s, the jazz fusion
band Uzeb
was a well known domestic and international jazz group. Since 2000, a brand new list of Canadian jazz artists have rose to prominence including Diana Krall
, Michael Bublé
, Matt Dusk
, and Molly Johnson
- often attracting international acclaim and success. Other highly notable Canadian Jazz artists: Ed Bickert
, Lenny Breau
(born in Maine but lived in Canada), Gil Evans
Country music
evolved out of the diverse musical practices of the Appalachia
n region of the United States. Appalachian folk music was largely Scottish and Irish, with an important influence also being the African American country blues
. Parts of Ontario, British Columbia and the Maritime provinces shared a tradition with the Appalachian region, and country music became popular quite quickly in these places. Fiddle
rs like George Wade
and Don Messer
helped to popularize the style, beginning in the late 1920s. Wade was not signed until the 1930s, when Victor Record's, inspired by the success of Wilf Carter
the year before, signed him, Hank Snow
and Hank LaRivière.
Canadian country as developed by Otto Wilke, Carter, Snow and Earl Heywood, used a less nasal and more distinctly pronounced vocal style than American music, and stuck with more traditional ballads and narratives while American country began to use more songs about bars and lovers' quarrels. This style of country music became very popular in Canada over the next couple of decades. Later popular Canadian country stars range from Stompin' Tom Connors
to Shania Twain
to Rick Tippe
.
Radio and television stations in Canada which play country music, however, are often more flexible in how they define the genre than their counterparts in the United States. Canadian country stations frequently play artists more commonly associated with folk music
, such as Bruce Cockburn
, Leahy
and The Rankin Family
.
include Métis
Cape Breton Fiddle
, Métis Fiddle and Canadian Old time fiddle
.
, Ferron
, Wade Hemsworth
, Murray McLauchlan
, and Kate and Anna McGarrigle
.
In the 1970s, chansonniers grew steadily less popular with the encroachment of popular rock bands and other artists. Some performers did emerge, however, including Jacques Michel, Claude Dubois
, and Robert Charlebois
.Modern folk music is very much present in Canada, being home to successful folk artists such as Great Lake Swimmers
, City & Colour
, Basia Bulat
, and Old Man Luedecke
. There is also a growing scene of underground folk emerging across Canada. This movement can be represented by artists like Andy Shauf, Matthew Joel, Tyler Gilbert
, and Two Bycicles.
Saskatchewan
-native Joni Mitchell
, one of the most influential folk and popular music singer songwriters of the 20th century. Michael Mitchell
is a well-known Canadian children's folk singer, having performed at 4,000 elementary schools and communities.
, the cultural locus of the goth subculture
in Toronto and the associated music and fashion scene, has distinct origins from goth scenes of other goth subcultural centres, such as the UK or Germany. Originally known as the "freaks", the term "goth" appeared only after 1988, when it was applied to the pre-existent subculture. Distinctive features included internationally recognized gothic and vampiric fashion store 'Siren', a goth-industrial bar named 'Sanctuary: The Vampire Sex Bar', and Forever Knight
, a television series about an 800-year-old vampire living in Toronto. In Toronto, the goths did not seek to reject mainstream status, and achieved partial acceptance throughout the mid to late '90s, and in 1998 Toronto was reported to have a higher concentration of goths than any other city in the world. The goth subculture
faced public suspicion and the local goth scene declined after allegedly goth-related acts of violence, the Columbine High School massacre
in particular.
singer-songwriters from the 1950s and 60s. They sang simple, poetic songs with a social conscience. The first chansonniers were La Bolduc
, Raymond Lévesque and Félix Leclerc
. It was not until the 60s, however, that chansonniers became such a major part of the Québécois music scene. This was largely due to the formation of Les Bozos in 1959. Les Bozos was an informal collective of chansonniers, including Lévesque, Jean-Pierre Ferland
, Claude Léveillée, Clémence Desrochers, Talon Starsdawn, and Jacques Blanchet.
With the first stars popularizing the chansonnier format, a new generation of popular singers emerged in the 1960s. These included Gilles Vigneault
, Pierre Létourneau, Pierre Calvé, Hervé Brousseau, Georges Dor
, Monique Miville-Deschênes, and Claude Gauthier
. The boîtes à chansons, a kind of performance place for chansonniers (akin to coffee houses in the United States), also appeared during the 1960s, spread across Quebec.
The Chansonnier tradition has continued with artists who have been carrying on since the 1970s to the present. One good example is Diane Dufresne
who also is prolific in the area of cabaret
or theatre-rock.
Internationally-renowned electronic artists from Canada include pioneering Winnipeg
-based breakcore
artist Aaron Funk a.k.a. Venetian Snares
, minimal techno artist and DJ Richie Hawtin
, dub techno producer Deadbeat, lo-fi electronica band Holy Fuck, whose music has been featured in commercials for General Motors
, Montreal-based electrofunk duo Chromeo
, Toronto-formed Crystal Castles
, whose music is considered electro-punk, the duo's front woman Alice Glass
topped the 2008 cool list for a British music magazine NME
, indie-electronica group Junior Boys
& quirky sound-artist Vitaminsforyou
. Albertan electronica musicians include Mark Templeton
, Escapist Opportunities, and organizers Electronic Music Calgary, creating venues throughout the province, though mainly in Calgary.
worldwide, and Canada is considered by many to be one of the birthplaces of modern industrial.
The first wave of Canadian industrial was born out of the Juno Award
winning New Wave
act, Images in Vogue
. From this Vancouver
-based band, guitarist Don Gordon went on to found Numb
, and percussionist Kevin Crompton left in 1985 to focus on his side project, Skinny Puppy
. Quickly signed to Nettwerk
Records, Skinny Puppy is still an influential industrial act. Skinny Puppy has spawned numerous sideprojects over the years, including Hilt, Download, The Tear Garden
, Doubting Thomas, ohGr
, Cyberaktif
, and others.
Out of this environment also came Front Line Assembly
, formed by former Skinny Puppy member Bill Leeb
in 1986. Joined by Rhys Fulber
(and later by Chris Peterson
), FLA became one of the most commercially successful electro-industrial acts of the 90s, and spawned a host of sideprojects, including (but not limited to) Conjure One
, Pro-Tech, Synæsthesia, Will, Intermix
, Noise Unit
, Equinox
, Cyberaktif
, Mutual Mortuary, and the vastly successful Delerium
, which began life as an ambient
project.
And on the distaff side, also from Vancouver's early electronic/industrial scene; Madelaine Morris, the fab front women in Mark Jowett's early electronica project, Moeve. And Myra Davies, who built her reputation in the Euro Underground, notably in collaborations with Berliner Gudrun Gut, but entered the scene through her association in Vancouver with Skinny Puppy. The Pups connected her to Neubauten who invited her to Berlin where she met Gudrun Gut (ex Neubauten, Malaria, and many other projects). In 1991, Davies and Gut formed MIASMA; a wide ranging project with a fantasy 'dark cabaret' vibre. Davies and Gutare still working together with Davies recording under her own name on Gut's label and Gut producing and programming. The latest Myra Davies cd (Cities and Girls) includes a track with Alexander Hacke(Neubauten)and one with Beate Bartel (orig Neubuaten, Malaria, Liaisons Dangereuse).
Toronto-based band The Birthday Massacre
has established a very faithful fanbase spreading across the globe.
and hardcore scenes. D.O.A.
of Vancouver founded hardcore punk along with their American counterparts. Comeback Kid
of Winnipeg is a leader in the current Hardcore scene and many bands from Distort Entertainment
have been gaining prominence through extensive touring and Much Music video rotation, include Alexisonfire
and Cancer Bats
. Others include Daggermouth
, Dayglo Abortions
, The 3tards
, Propagandhi
, Silverstein
, Fucked Up
, Cursed
, Subhumans
and SNFU
.
Music of Canada
The music of Canada has influences that have shaped the country. Aboriginals, the British, and the French have all made unique contributions to the musical heritage of Canada. The music has subsequently been heavily influenced by American culture because of its proximity and migration between...
has reflected the multi-cultural
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...
influences that have shaped the country. First Nations people
First Nations
First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...
, the French, the British, the Americans and many others nationalities have all made unique contributions to the musical genres of Canada.
Metal
Going back to the late 1960s, Canada has produced metal bands that have and continue to influence metal bands to this day. In 1964, Toronto-based band The SparrowsThe Sparrows
The Sparrow was a Canadian blues-rock band that existed in the 1960s, and which evolved out of Jack London & The Sparrow and later morphed into heavy rock group, Steppenwolf.-Early years:...
was formed. This band later changed their name to Steppenwolf
Steppenwolf (band)
Steppenwolf are a Canadian-American rock group that was prominent in the late 1960s. The group was formed in 1967 in Los Angeles by vocalist John Kay, guitarist Michael Monarch, bassist Rushton Moreve, keyboardist Goldy McJohn and drummer Jerry Edmonton after the dissolution of Toronto group The...
and featured Canadians John Kay
John Kay (musician)
John Kay is a German-Canadian singer, songwriter and guitarist known as the frontman of Steppenwolf...
, Goldy McJohn
Goldy McJohn
Goldy McJohn is a Canadian keyboard player best known as the original keyboardist for rock group Steppenwolf. Originally a classically trained pianist, he was a pioneer in the early use of the electronic organ in heavy metal...
and Jerry Edmonton
Jerry Edmonton
Jerry Edmonton was the drummer for the rock band, Steppenwolf.He was born Gerald McCrohan in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. Both he and his brother Dennis, also known as Mars Bonfire, changed their surnames to Edmonton during the 1960s, when they performed in a group called The Sparrows...
. Steppenwolf's 1968 single "Born to be Wild
Born to Be Wild
"Born to Be Wild" is a rock song written by Mars Bonfire and made famous by the Canadian-American rock band Steppenwolf. It is often used in popular culture to denote a biker appearance or attitude...
" was the first use of the words 'heavy metal' in a song's lyric. In 1970, Woodstock, Ontario
Woodstock, Ontario
Woodstock is a city and the county seat of Oxford County in Southern Ontario, Canada. Woodstock is located 128 km southwest of Toronto, north of Highway 401 along the historic Thames River...
based Warpig
Warpig (band)
Warpig is a Canadian rock band who had gained a fan following in the Ontario club circuit in the 1970s and performed shows with such acts as Wishbone Ash, Savoy Brown, Manfred Mann, and Mahogany Rush...
released their metal music debut, which, although never reaching mainstream success like fellow heavy metal bands Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...
and Blue Cheer
Blue Cheer
Blue Cheer was an American psychedelic blues-rock band that initially performed and recorded in the late 1960s and early 1970s and was sporadically active until 2009...
, has become a cult favorite within the Doom metal scene.
Some of Canada's most successful metal bands opted to change their style from the early 80s roots metal sound to the growing glam metal
Glam metal
Glam metal is a subgenre of hard rock and heavy metal that arose in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the United States, particularly on the Los Angeles Sunset Strip music scene...
style that became mainstream in the late 80's. Bands like Helix
Helix (band)
Helix are a Canadian hard rock/heavy metal band. They formed in 1974, and are best known for their 1984 single "Rock You". The original lineup was formed by drummer Bruce Arnold, and consisted of lead vocalist Brian Vollmer, guitarists Ron Watson and Rick "Minstrel" Trembley, keyboardist Don...
, Kick Axe
Kick Axe
Kick Axe is the name of a heavy metal band from Canada that reached its climax in the 1980s. They produced four albums during their career, with the longest gap between albums being 18 years...
, Brighton Rock
Brighton Rock (band)
Brighton Rock are a Canadian glam metal band who released three albums in their home country during the 1980s and 90s. They broke up in 1991 before reuniting and releasing a live album in 2002.-Biography:...
, Killer Dwarfs
Killer Dwarfs
Killer Dwarfs were a heavy metal band who formed in late 1981 in Oshawa, Ontario. Though they were known for their off beat sense of humor , they were nominated for two Juno Awards....
, Annihilator
Annihilator (band)
Annihilator is a Canadian heavy metal band hailing from Ottawa, Ontario, also from Vancouver, British Columbia between 1987-2002 by founding member, vocalist, guitarist and bassist Jeff Waters. The band has been around since 1984 and is the biggest selling heavy metal artist from Canada in history,...
, and Slik Toxik
Slik Toxik
-Biography:Slik Toxik was formed from several different members of Toronto's hard rock/glam metal scene in the late 1980s. Glam metal band Virgin Angel was made up of singer/guitarist Nick Walsh, guitarist Rob Bruce, rhythm guitarist Kevin Gale, bassist Frank Currell, and drummer Alex Munro...
saw growing popularity in the mid 1980s thanks in part to Much Music and MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
playing their videos in regular rotation.
Canada's death metal
Death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....
scene has produced artists most of whom are based out of Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
. Bands like Kataklysm
Kataklysm
Kataklysm is a Canadian death metal band. They call their musical style "northern hyperblast" after an advertisement in M.E.A.T. magazine describing another band, Fear Factory, as "hyperblast". The term refers to the extremely fast blast beats that Kataklysm's drummer, Max Duhamel, fuses into the...
, Cryptopsy
Cryptopsy
Cryptopsy is a Canadian technical death metal band from Montreal, Quebec, formed in 1988. The band has sold over 300,000 records.-Necrosis :...
, Quo Vadis
Quo Vadis (band)
Quo Vadis is a technical melodic death metal band from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, formed in 1992 by Bart Frydrychowicz, Yanic Bercier, and Arie Itman and is named after the novel by Polish writer Henryk Sienkiewicz...
, Gorguts
Gorguts
Gorguts is a technical death metal band from Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. The band's only constant member is Luc Lemay.-History:Gorguts were formed in 1989 by Luc Lemay , Sylvain Marcoux , Éric Giguère and Stephane Provencher...
, Augury, Voivod
Voivod (band)
Voivod are a Canadian heavy metal band from Jonquière, Quebec, Canada. Their musical style has changed several times since the band's origin in the early 1980s...
, Martyr
Martyr (band)
Martyr is a Canadian death metal band from Trois-Rivières, Québec, founded in 1994 by brothers Daniel and François Mongrain.- History :Formed in 1994 by brothers Daniel and François Mongrain , along with Pier-Luc Lampron and François Richard , Martyr recorded a demo tape in September 1995...
, and Neuraxis have a strong underground following and are signed to major independent metal labels. In the 2000s, Canadian extreme metal has been put on the map by Vancouver band Strapping Young Lad
Strapping Young Lad
Strapping Young Lad was a Canadian extreme metal band formed by Devin Townsend in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1994. The band started as a one-man studio project; Townsend played most of the instruments on the 1995 debut album, Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing...
(featuring Devin Townsend
Devin Townsend
Devin Garret Townsend is a Canadian musician and record producer. He was the founder, songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist in extreme metal band Strapping Young Lad from 1994 to 2007 and has had an extensive career as a solo artist....
), 3 Inches of Blood
3 Inches of Blood
3 Inches of Blood is a Canadian heavy metal band formed in 2000 in Vancouver, British Columbia, currently consisting of Cam Pipes, Justin Hagberg, Shane Clark, and Ash Pearson...
, Ottawa grindcore quartet Fuck The Facts
Fuck the Facts
Fuck the Facts is a Canadian grindcore band from Ottawa, Ontario, formed in 1998. They began in the late nineties as a solo recording project constructed by musician Topon Das. After many early recordings, including split tapes with groups from around the world, Fuck the Facts began developing a...
and Regina band Into Eternity. James Labrie
James LaBrie
Kevin James LaBrie is a Canadian vocalist who is best known as the lead singer of the American progressive metal band Dream Theater.-Early life:...
lead singer of Dream Theater
Dream Theater
Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by John Petrucci, John Myung, and Mike Portnoy while they attended Berklee College of Music in Massachusetts. They subsequently dropped out of their studies to further concentrate on the band that would...
is Canadian born. Some notable black metal
Black metal
Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, shrieked vocals, highly distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, blast beat drumming, raw recording, and unconventional song structure....
bands have come from Ontario, including Woods of Ypres
Woods of Ypres
-Biography:Woods of Ypres was formed in 2002 by David Gold, Aaron Palmer and Brian McManus. The trio released the first Woods Of Ypres demo, Against the Seasons: Cold Winter Songs from the Dead Summer Heat, the same year. In 2003, David Gold moved to Toronto to begin working on a full-length album...
, Wolven Ancestry, Zogroth and Eclipse Eternal. The cult black/death metal band Blasphemy
Blasphemy (band)
Blasphemy are a black/death metal band formed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 1984. The band released a demo titled Blood Upon the Altar in 1989 and their debut album, Fallen Angel of Doom, the following year through Wild Rags, a record label they had signed to while touring the United...
, formed in 1984 in British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, are still touring despite not having released a studio album since 1993. Canada has a very strong underground metal scene in cities such as Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg, and Quebec City.
In the early 1980s, Vancouver gained itself the reputation of being called the "Metal Central of Canada". To the present day, Vancouver still holds the reputation and has become a favorite city for many touring bands across the world.
Classical
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...
or European classical music that European settlers brought to the country from the 17th century and onwards. As well, it includes musical styles brought by other ethnic communities from the 19th century and onwards, such as Indian classical music
Indian classical music
The origins of Indian classical music can be found in the Vedas, which are the oldest scriptures in the Hindu tradition. Indian classical music has also been significantly influenced by, or syncretised with, Indian folk music and Persian music. The Samaveda, one of the four Vedas, describes music...
(Hindustani and Carnatic music) and Chinese classical music.
Canada has produced a number of respected ensembles, including the Montreal Symphony Orchestra
Montreal Symphony Orchestra
Orchestre symphonique de Montréal is a symphony orchestra based in Montréal, Québec, Canada, with Montréal's Place des Arts as its home.-History:...
and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra
Toronto Symphony Orchestra
The Toronto Symphony Orchestra is a Canadian orchestra based in Toronto, Ontario.-History:The TSO was founded in 1922 as the New Symphony Orchestra, and gave its first concert at Massey Hall in April 1923. The orchestra changed its name to the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in 1927. The TSO...
, as well as a number of well-known Baroque orchestras and chamber ensembles, such as the
I Musici de Montréal Chamber Orchestra
I Musici de Montréal Chamber Orchestra
I Musici de Montréal is a Canadian chamber orchestra.Founded by cellist and conductor Yuli Turovsky, I Musici de Montréal is a chamber orchestra of 15 musicians that performs a vast repertoire extending from the baroque to the contemporary. The orchestra presents a busy schedule of over 100...
and the Tafelmusik
Tafelmusik
The Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra is a Canadian baroque orchestra specializing in early music. They often perform with choir and play on period instruments....
Baroque Orchestra and Chamber Choir. Major Canadian opera companies such as the Canadian Opera Company
Canadian Opera Company
The Canadian Opera Company is an opera company in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the largest opera company in Canada and the third largest producer of opera in North America. The COC performs in its own opera house, the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts.-History:For 40 years until...
have nurtured the talents of Canadian opera singers such as Maureen Forrester
Maureen Forrester
Maureen Kathleen Stewart Forrester, was a Canadian operatic contralto.-Life and career:Maureen Forrester was born and grew up in a poor section of Montreal, Quebec. She was one of four children to Thomas Forrester, a Scottish cabinetmaker, and his Irish-born wife, the former May Arnold. She...
, Ben Heppner
Ben Heppner
Ben Heppner, CC is a Canadian tenor, specializing in opera and other classical works for voice.Heppner was born in Murrayville, British Columbia, and lived in Dawson Creek...
, and Jon Vickers
Jon Vickers
Jonathan Stewart Vickers, CC , known professionally as Jon Vickers, is a retired Canadian heldentenor.Born in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, he was the sixth in a family of eight children. In 1950, he was awarded a scholarship to study opera at The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto...
. Well-known Canadian musicians include pianist Glenn Gould
Glenn Gould
Glenn Herbert Gould was a Canadian pianist who became one of the best-known and most celebrated classical pianists of the 20th century. He was particularly renowned as an interpreter of the keyboard music of Johann Sebastian Bach...
; violinist James Ehnes
James Ehnes
James Ehnes, CM is a Canadian concert violinist.The son of Alan Ehnes, trumpet professor at Brandon University and Barbara Ehnes, former director of the Brandon School of Dance, James Ehnes began his violin studies at the age of four...
; flautist Timothy Hutchins
Timothy Hutchins
Timothy Hutchins is a Canadian classical flute player.Principal flute of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra since 1978, Timothy Hutchins has received international critical acclaim for his work as a concerto soloist, as a duo recitalist with his wife, pianist Janet Creaser Hutchins, and as a chamber...
; and composers R. Murray Schafer
R. Murray Schafer
Raymond Murray Schafer is a Canadian composer, writer, music educator and environmentalist perhaps best known for his World Soundscape Project, concern for acoustic ecology, and his book The Tuning of the World...
and Harry Somers
Harry Somers
Harry Stewart Somers, CC was the foremost English-Canadian composer of his period.He was born in middle-class Toronto in 1925 but did not become interested in music until his early teenage years, when he met a doctor and his wife, both pianists, who introduced him to classical music...
. Well-known music schools include the Royal Conservatory of Music (Canada) in Toronto and the Schulich School of Music
Schulich School of Music
The Schulich School of Music is one of the constituent faculties of McGill University in Montréal, Canada. The faculty was named after benefactor Seymour Schulich.-History:Music at McGill – The Beginning...
at McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
in Montréal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
.
Rock
Canadian rock
Canadian rock describes a wide and diverse variety of music produced by Canadians, beginning with American style rock 'n' roll in the mid-20th century. Since then Canada has had a considerable impact on the development of the modern popular music called rock...
describes a wide and diverse variety of music produced by Canadians, starting with American style Rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
in the mid 20th century. Since then Canada has had a considerable impact on the development of the modern popular music
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
called rock. Canada has produced many of the genre's most significant groups and performers, while contributing significantly to the development of the most popular sub-genres, which include pop rock
Pop rock
Pop rock is a music genre which mixes a catchy pop style and light lyrics in its guitar-based rock songs. There are varying definitions of the term, ranging from a slower and mellower form of rock music to a subgenre of pop music...
, progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
, country rock
Country rock
Country rock is sub-genre of popular music, formed from the fusion of rock with country. The term is generally used to refer to the wave of rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s, beginning with Bob Dylan and The Byrds; reaching its greatest...
, folk rock
Folk rock
Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...
, hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
, punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
, metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
and indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
.
Canada has been a source of rock and roll music for decades, beginning with "The Mocking Bird
The Mocking Bird
"The Mocking Bird" is a popular song.It was recorded twice by The Four Lads. The first version, made April 16, 1952, was released on Columbia's Okeh label in 1952 and re-released four years later on Columbia A new recording was made in 1958, entering the Billboard Hot 100 list on November 24,...
" originally recorded by The Four Lads
The Four Lads
The Four Lads is a popular Canadian male singing quartet. In the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, the group earned many gold singles and albums. Its million-selling signature tunes include "Moments to Remember," "Standin' on the Corner," "No, Not Much," "Who Needs You," and "Istanbul."The Four Lads makes...
in 1952 reaching #23 on the Billboard chart
Billboard charts
The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine...
that year. It was re-released four years later reaching #67 on the 1956 chart.
The first Canadian with a No. 1
Number-one hits of 1957 (USA)
This is a list of number-one songs in the United States during the year 1957 according to Billboard magazine. Prior to the creation of the Hot 100, Billboard published multiple singles charts each week...
American Billboard
Billboard charts
The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine...
hit was 16 year old Paul Anka
Paul Anka
Paul Albert Anka, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and actor.Anka first became famous as a teen idol in the late 1950s and 1960s with hit songs like "Diana'", "Lonely Boy", and "Put Your Head on My Shoulder"...
. In 1957 he went to New York City where he recorded his own composition, "Diana
Diana (song)
"Diana" is a song written and made famous by Paul Anka in 1957. It was inspired by a high school friend named Diana Ayoub. The original Paul Anka 1957 recording reached number one on the Billboard "Best Sellers In Stores" chart and has reportedly sold over 9 million copies...
". The song brought him instant stardom selling more than nine million copies in sixteen countries, reaching No. 1
Number-one hits of 1957 (USA)
This is a list of number-one songs in the United States during the year 1957 according to Billboard magazine. Prior to the creation of the Hot 100, Billboard published multiple singles charts each week...
on the U.S. and Canadian charts. Since then, Canada has produced many internationally-popular rock and roll artists.
Perhaps the most notable Canadian rock band is Rush
Rush (band)
Rush is a Canadian rock band formed in August 1968, in the Willowdale neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario. The band is composed of bassist, keyboardist, and lead vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart...
, who currently place fifth behind The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
, KISS
KISS (band)
Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Well-known for its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting,...
and Aerosmith
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many...
for the most consecutive gold and platinum albums by a rock band. Other notable musicians; The Guess Who
The Guess Who
The Guess Who are a Canadian rock band from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Initially gaining recognition in Canada, they also found international success from the late 1960s through the mid-1970s with numerous hit singles, including "American Woman", "These Eyes" and "Share the Land"...
, BTO, Nickelback
Nickelback
Nickelback is a Canadian rock band from Hanna, Alberta. Since 1995 the band has included guitarist and lead vocalist Chad Kroeger, guitarist and back-up vocalist Ryan Peake and bassist Mike Kroeger.. The band's current drummer and percussionist is Daniel Adair who has been with the band since 2005....
, Three Days Grace
Three Days Grace
Three Days Grace is a Canadian rock band, formed in Norwood, Ontario, Canada in 1992, originally under the name Groundswell. After a breakup in late 1997, the band regrouped in the same year under its current name and with a line-up consisting of guitarist and lead vocalist Adam Gontier, drummer...
, The Tragically Hip
The Tragically Hip
The Tragically Hip, often referred to simply as The Hip, is a Canadian rock band from Kingston, Ontario, consisting of Gordon Downie , Paul Langlois , Rob Baker , Gord Sinclair and Johnny Fay . Since their formation in 1983 they have released 12 studio albums, two live albums, and 46 singles...
, Our Lady Peace
Our Lady Peace
Our Lady Peace is a Canadian alternative rock band that formed in Toronto, Ontario in 1992. Headed by lead vocalist Raine Maida since its formation, the band additionally consists of Jeremy Taggart on percussion, Duncan Coutts on bass, and Steve Mazur as lead guitarist...
, Sum 41
Sum 41
Sum 41 is a Canadian rock band from Ajax, Ontario. The band was formed in 1996 and currently consists of members Deryck Whibley , Tom Thacker , Jason McCaslin and Steve Jocz .In 1999, the band signed an international record deal with Island Records...
, Alanis Morissette
Alanis Morissette
Alanis Nadine Morissette is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, record producer, and actress. She has won 16 Juno Awards and seven Grammy Awards, was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards and also shortlisted for an Academy Award nomination...
, Billy Talent
Billy Talent
Billy Talent is a Canadian post-hardcore band from Streetsville, Ontario. They formed in 1993 with Ben Kowalewicz as the lead vocalist, Ian D'Sa on lead guitar, bassist Jon Gallant and drummer Aaron Solowoniuk ....
, Simple Plan
Simple Plan
Simple Plan is a Canadian pop punk band from Montréal, Québec. The band has had no line up changes since its inception in 1999. Members are Pierre Bouvier , Jeff Stinco , Sébastien Lefebvre , David Desrosiers and Chuck Comeau...
, Finger 11 and Metric
Metric (band)
Metric is a Canadian indie rock and New Wave band founded in 1998 in Toronto. The band has also at various times been based in Montreal, London, New York City and Los Angeles...
.
Blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
is a vocal and instrumental form of music based on the use of the blue notes, often with a repetitive twelve-bar structure, which evolved in the United States in the communities of former African slaves. Canadian blues refers to the blues and blues-related music (e.g. blues-rock, folk blues, etc.) performed by blues bands and performers in Canada.
In Canada, there are hundreds of local and regionally-based Canadian blues bands and performers. As well, there is a smaller number of bands or performers that have achieved national or international prominence. These bands and performers are part of a broader Canadian "blues scene" that also includes city or regional blues societies, blues radio shows, and blues festivals.
A small number of Canadian blues bands and artists have achieved national or international prominence by touring across Canada, the US, or Europe, and releasing recordings that have received critical or audience acclaim in Canada and abroad. The performers below are listed according to the decade during which they first achieved national or international prominence:
- 1960s: Ronnie HawkinsRonnie HawkinsRonald "Ronnie" Hawkins is a Juno Award-winning rockabilly musician whose career has spanned more than half a century. Though his career began in Arkansas, USA, where he'd been born and raised, it was in Ontario, Canada where he found success and settled for most of his life...
- 1970s: The Downchild Blues Band, Norman "Dutch" MasonDutch MasonDutch Mason, CM was a Canadian musician from Halifax, Nova Scotia. He was inducted into the Canadian Jazz and Blues Hall of Fame, and was inducted into the Order of Canada in 2005.-Career:...
, Back Alley JohnBack Alley JohnBack Alley John , was a Canadian blues singer, songwriter and harmonica player.-Beginnings, 1969-1971: Ottawa to Venice, California:... - 1980s: David WilcoxDavid Wilcox (Canadian musician)David Wilcox is a Canadian rock musician.-History:Montreal native, David Wilcox drew inspiration from musician Elvis Presley at the early age of six...
, The Powder Blues, Jeff HealeyJeff HealeyNorman Jeffrey "Jeff" Healey was a blind Canadian jazz and blues-rock vocalist and guitarist who attained musical and personal popularity, particularly in the 1980s and 1990s.-Early life:... - 1990s: Colin JamesColin JamesColin James is a Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer, who plays in the blues, rock, and neo-swing genres. He grew up as a Quaker.-Early years:...
- 2000s: Jack de KeyzerJack de KeyzerJack de Keyzer is a two-time Juno Award winner and a seven-time Maple Blues award winning artist, blues guitarist, singer, song writer and producer. Jack has received numerous awards including Maple Blues Awards for Best Blues Album, and the 2001 Lifetime Achievement Award...
, Sue FoleySue FoleySue Foley is a Canadian blues singer and guitarist.-Career:Foley has been writing and playing professionally since 1984. She has recorded ten albums, for both Antone's Records and Shanachie Records. She has spent over fourteen years on the road as a bandleader, lead vocalist, guitarist and...
, Tony DTony DTony D, born Anthony Depula , was a hip hop legend from Trenton, New Jersey. Although he was a hip hop artist & DJ, he was most famous for being an influential producer in hip hop music. He was the producer behind Poor Righteous Teachers and YZ...
Hip hop
The Canadian hip hop scene was first established in the 1980s. Through a variety of factors, however, it developed much more slowly than Canada's popular rock music scene, and apart from a short-lived burst of mainstream popularity from 1989 to 1991, it remained largely an undergroundUnderground hip hop
Underground hip hop is an umbrella term for hip hop music outside the general commercial canon. It is typically associated with independent artists, signed toindependent labels or no label at all....
phenomenon until the early 2000s.
Canada had hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
artists right from the early days of the scene — the first known Canadian rap single, Singing Fools
Singing Fools
Singing Fools was a short-lived non-performing music group established in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, in November 1982 by musicians Tim Dunlop and Kevin Murphy....
' "The Bum Rap", was released in 1982. For the most part, however, the infrastructure simply wasn't there to get most artists' music to the record-buying public. Even Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
– Canada's largest city and one of its most multicultural– had difficulty getting an urban music
Urban contemporary
Urban contemporary is a music radio format. The term was coined by the late New York DJ Frankie Crocker in the mid 1970s. Urban contemporary radio stations feature a playlist made up entirely of hip hop/rap, contemporary R&B, pop, electronica such as dubstep and drum and bass and Caribbean music...
station on the radio airwaves until 2000. As a result, if a Canadian hip-hop artist could get signed, it was very difficult for them to get exposure — even if their music videos were played on MuchMusic
MuchMusic
MuchMusic is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel owned by Bell Media. MuchMusic is dedicated to music-related programs, pop and youth culture.-History:...
, many artists simply couldn't get their records into stores or played on the radio.
As a result, through much of the 1990s, Canadian hip hop experienced a slowdown without any significant artists bursting into the scene. However, beginning in 1998, a sequence of events spurred by the anthemic collaborative single "Northern Touch
Northern Touch
"Northern Touch" is a Canadian hip hop single, which was released in 1998 by Rascalz in collaboration with Checkmate, Kardinal Offishall, Thrust and Choclair...
" finally brought hip hop back into the mainstream of Canadian music.
Allmusic has stated that Canadian hip hop is the "best-kept secret in hip-hop."
Some of the most well know Canadian rappers and hip-hop artists include Drake
Drake (entertainer)
Aubrey Drake Graham , who records under the mononym Drake, is a Canadian recording artist and actor. He originally became known for playing Jimmy Brooks on the television series Degrassi: The Next Generation....
, who is the only non-American who is signed into Young Money
Young Money Entertainment
Young Money Entertainment is an American record label founded by rapper Lil Wayne. Young Money's president is Lil Wayne's lifelong friend Mack Maine. The label is an imprint of Cash Money Records and is distributed by Universal Republic Records...
. Classified
Classified (rapper)
Luke Boyd , professionally known as Classified, is a Canadian rapper and producer from Enfield, Nova Scotia.-Career:...
, K'Naan
K'naan
K'naan , born Keinan Abdi Warsame in 1978, is a Somali Canadian poet, rapper, singer, songwriter and instrumentalist.-Biography:Born in Somalia, K'naan spent his childhood in Mogadishu and lived there during the Somali Civil War, which began in 1991. His aunt, Magool, was one of Somalia's most...
, Kardinal Offishall
Kardinal Offishall
Jason D. Harrow , better known by his stage name Kardinal Offishall , is a Canadian rapper and record producer. He is often credited as Canada's "hip-hop ambassador", and is best known for his distinctive reggae and dancehall-influenced style of hip-hop.-Life and career:Harrow was born in...
, Belly
Belly (rapper)
Ahmed Balshe , better known by his stage name Belly, is a Palestinian-Canadian Juno Award-winning rapper....
and K-os
K-os
Kevin Brereton , better known by his stage name k-os , is a Canadian rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer...
are the other significant rappers and hip-hop artists from Canada.
Jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
is a genre of African American music
African American music
African-American music is an umbrella term given to a range of musics and musical genres emerging from or influenced by the culture of African Americans, who have long constituted a large and significant ethnic minority of the population of the United States...
present in Canada since at least the 1910s. In 1919-1920 in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, Jelly Roll Morton
Jelly Roll Morton
Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe , known professionally as Jelly Roll Morton, was an American ragtime and early jazz pianist, bandleader and composer....
, a legendary New Orleans pianist
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, played with his band. During this period, Canadian groups such as the Winnipeg Jazz Babies and the Westmount Jazz Band of Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
also found regional acclaim.
During the swing boom of the late 1930s and early 1940s, Canada produced such notable bandleaders as Ellis McLintock, Bert Niosi
Bert Niosi
Bert Niosi was a Canadian bandleader, known as "Canada's King of Swing".-Biography:...
, Jimmy Davidson
Jimmy Davidson
James "Jimmy" Anderson Davidson was a Scottish footballer who played for Partick Thistle, Inverness Caledonian and the Scotland national team....
, Mart Kenney
Mart Kenney
Herbert Martin "Mart" Kenney was a Canadian jazz musician and bandleader whose big band Mart Kenney and His Western Gentlemen was Canada's premier dance band during the 1930s and 1940s.-Musical career:...
, Stan Wood, and Sandy De Santis. In the 1940s, Bert Niosi
Bert Niosi
Bert Niosi was a Canadian bandleader, known as "Canada's King of Swing".-Biography:...
and Oscar Peterson
Oscar Peterson
Oscar Emmanuel Peterson was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. He was called the "Maharaja of the keyboard" by Duke Ellington, "O.P." by his friends. He released over 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, and received other numerous awards and honours over the course of his career...
became widely known. Peterson became internationally acclaimed, and is a widely-respected Canadian jazz musician.
During the 1970s and 80s, the jazz fusion
Jazz fusion
Jazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...
band Uzeb
Uzeb
UZEB was a Canadian jazz fusion band from Montreal, Quebec, who were active from 1976 to 1992. The members were Alain Caron , Michel Cusson , and Paul Brochu . UZEB had a blend of skilled playing and modern synthesized timbres, along with an emphasis on original compositions...
was a well known domestic and international jazz group. Since 2000, a brand new list of Canadian jazz artists have rose to prominence including Diana Krall
Diana Krall
Diana Jean Krall, OC, OBC is a Canadian jazz pianist and singer, known for her contralto vocals. She has sold more than 6 million albums in the US and over 15 million worldwide; altogether, she has sold more albums than any other female jazz artist during the 1990s and 2000s...
, Michael Bublé
Michael Bublé
Michael Steven Bublé is a Canadian singer. He has won several awards, including three Grammy Awards and multiple Juno Awards. His first album reached the top ten in Canada and the UK. He found worldwide commercial success with his 2005 album It's Time, and his 2007 album Call Me Irresponsible was...
, Matt Dusk
Matt Dusk
Matthew-Aaron Dusk is a Canadian jazz musician / vocalist. He currently has two certified gold albums: Two Shots and Good News, and three number one radio hits: "Back in Town," "All About Me", and "Good News."-Biography:From an early age, Matt Dusk wanted to become a performer. At the age of...
, and Molly Johnson
Molly Johnson
Molly Johnson, OC is a Canadian Juno Award-winning singer-songwriter of pop and jazz.-Biography:Johnson began as a child performer, receiving formal training from the National Ballet School and the Banff School of Fine Arts...
- often attracting international acclaim and success. Other highly notable Canadian Jazz artists: Ed Bickert
Ed Bickert
Edward Isaac "Ed" Bickert, CM is a Canadian jazz guitarist.-Early life:Second youngest of his family, Bickert was born in Hochfeld, Manitoba; his family moved shortly after he was born to Vernon, British Columbia...
, Lenny Breau
Lenny Breau
Leonard Harold "Lenny" Breau was a musician, guitar player, and music educator. He was known for blending many styles of music including: jazz, country, classical and flamenco guitar...
(born in Maine but lived in Canada), Gil Evans
Gil Evans
Gil Evans was a jazz pianist, arranger, composer and bandleader, active in the United States...
Country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
evolved out of the diverse musical practices of the Appalachia
Appalachia
Appalachia is a term used to describe a cultural region in the eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York state to northern Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Canada to Cheaha Mountain in the U.S...
n region of the United States. Appalachian folk music was largely Scottish and Irish, with an important influence also being the African American country blues
Country blues
Country blues is a general term that refers to all the acoustic, mainly guitar-driven forms of the blues. It often incorporated elements of rural gospel, ragtime, hillbilly, and dixieland jazz...
. Parts of Ontario, British Columbia and the Maritime provinces shared a tradition with the Appalachian region, and country music became popular quite quickly in these places. Fiddle
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
rs like George Wade
George Wade
Field Marshal George Wade served as a British military commander and Commander-in-Chief of the Forces.-Early career:Wade, born in Kilavally, Westmeath in Ireland, was commissioned into the Earl of Bath's Regiment in 1690 and served in Flanders in 1692, during the Nine Years War, earning a...
and Don Messer
Donald Charles Frederick Messer
Donald Charles Frederick Messer was a Canadian musician and defining icon of folk music during the 1960s....
helped to popularize the style, beginning in the late 1920s. Wade was not signed until the 1930s, when Victor Record's, inspired by the success of Wilf Carter
Wilf Carter
Wilf Carter , also known as Montana Slim, was a Canadian country music singer, songwriter, guitarist, and yodeller...
the year before, signed him, Hank Snow
Hank Snow
Clarence Eugene "Hank" Snow was a Canadian-American country music artist. He charted more than 70 singles on the Billboard country charts from 1950 until 1980...
and Hank LaRivière.
Canadian country as developed by Otto Wilke, Carter, Snow and Earl Heywood, used a less nasal and more distinctly pronounced vocal style than American music, and stuck with more traditional ballads and narratives while American country began to use more songs about bars and lovers' quarrels. This style of country music became very popular in Canada over the next couple of decades. Later popular Canadian country stars range from Stompin' Tom Connors
Stompin' Tom Connors
Charles Thomas "Stompin' Tom" Connors, OC is one of Canada's most prolific and well-known country and folk singers.He lives in Wellington County, Ontario.- Early life :...
to Shania Twain
Shania Twain
Shania Twain, OC is a Canadian country pop singer-songwriter. Her album The Woman in Me , brought her fame and her 1997 album Come On Over, became the best-selling album of all time by a female musician in any genre, and the best-selling country album of all time. It has sold over 40 million...
to Rick Tippe
Rick Tippe
Rick Tippe is a Canadian country music artist. Tippe has released seven albums on Moon Tan Records, including a greatest hits collection in 2000. His highest charting single, "The Craziest Thing," peaked at #9 in 1996...
.
Radio and television stations in Canada which play country music, however, are often more flexible in how they define the genre than their counterparts in the United States. Canadian country stations frequently play artists more commonly associated with folk music
Traditional music
Traditional music is the term increasingly used for folk music that is not contemporary folk music. More on this is at the terminology section of the World music article...
, such as Bruce Cockburn
Bruce Cockburn
Bruce Douglas Cockburn OC is a Canadian folk/rock guitarist and singer-songwriter. His most recent album was released in March 2011. He has written songs in styles ranging from folk to jazz-influenced rock to rock and roll.-Biography:...
, Leahy
Leahy
Leahy is the name of a Canadian folk music group. The eight band members, all from the Leahy family of eleven siblings, are from Lakefield, Ontario and have been actively touring Canada and internationally since the early 1980s when they were known as The Leahy Family...
and The Rankin Family
The Rankin Family
The Rankin Family is a Canadian musical family group from Mabou, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. The group has won many Canadian music awards, including 15 East Coast Music Awards, six Juno Awards, four SOCAN Awards, three Canadian Country Music Awards and two Big Country Music Awards.- Career...
.
Traditional
Old time and fiddle music are well represented by such Canadian exponents as Jerry Holland, Natalie MacMaster and Sierra Noble. These Canadian Old Time/ Fiddle Music subgenresCanadian fiddle
Canadian fiddle is the aggregate body of tunes, styles and musicians engaging the traditional folk music of Canada on the fiddle. It is an integral extension of the Anglo-Celtic and Québécois Frenchfolk music tradition but has distinct features found only in the Western hemisphere Due to...
include Métis
Métis fiddle
Métis fiddle is the style with which the Métis of Canada and Métis in the northern parts of the US have developed to play the violin in folk ensemble and solo. It is marked by percussive use of the bow and percussive accompaniment such as spoon percussion. The Meti people themselves blend First...
Cape Breton Fiddle
Cape Breton fiddling
Cape Breton fiddling is a regional violin style which falls within the Celtic music idiom. Cape Breton Island's fiddle music was brought to North America by Scottish immigrants during the Highland Clearances. These Scottish immigrants were primarily from Gaelic-speaking regions in the Scottish...
, Métis Fiddle and Canadian Old time fiddle
Old time fiddle
Old time fiddle is a genre of American folk music. "Old time fiddle tunes" may be played on fiddle, banjo or other instruments but are nevertheless called "fiddle tunes". The genre has European origins and traces from the colonization of North America by immigrants from England, France, Germany,...
.
Folk
Some of Canada's most influential folk artists also emerged in this era, notably Stan RogersStan Rogers
Stanley Allison "Stan" Rogers was a Canadian folk musician and songwriter.Rogers was noted for his rich, baritone voice and his finely crafted, traditional-sounding songs which were frequently inspired by Canadian history and the daily lives of working people, especially those from the fishing...
, Ferron
Ferron
Ferron, born Debby Foisy on , is a Canadian folk singer/songwriter and poet. In addition to being one of Canada's most famous folk musicians, she is one of the most influential writers and performers of women's music, and an important influence on later musicians such as Ani DiFranco, Mary Gauthier...
, Wade Hemsworth
Wade Hemsworth
Albert Wade Hemsworth was a Canadian folk singer and songwriter. Although he was not a prolific composer, having written only about 20 songs during his entire career, several of his songs — most notably "The Wild Goose", "The Black Fly Song" and "The Log Driver's Waltz" — are among the most...
, Murray McLauchlan
Murray McLauchlan
Murray McLauchlan, CM is a Canadian singer, songwriter, guitarist, pianist, and harmonica player.-Biography:Born in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland, he emigrated to Canada with his family when he was five years old...
, and Kate and Anna McGarrigle
Kate and Anna McGarrigle
Kate and Anna McGarrigle, were a pair of Canadian singer-songwriters from Quebec, who performed as a duo until Kate McGarrigle's death on January 18, 2010.-Profile:...
.
In the 1970s, chansonniers grew steadily less popular with the encroachment of popular rock bands and other artists. Some performers did emerge, however, including Jacques Michel, Claude Dubois
Claude Dubois
Claude André Dubois is a Canadian singer-songwriter.Dubois was an early star of the francophone musical Starmania...
, and Robert Charlebois
Robert Charlebois
Robert Charlebois, OC, OQ is a Quebec author, composer, musician, performer and actor. He is an important figure in French language song....
.Modern folk music is very much present in Canada, being home to successful folk artists such as Great Lake Swimmers
Great Lake Swimmers
Great Lake Swimmers is a Canadian band built around the melodic folk rock songs of singer-songwriter Tony Dekker. Originally from Wainfleet, Ontario, the band is currently based in Toronto....
, City & Colour
City and Colour
City and Colour is the recording alias for Juno Award-winning Canadian singer-songwriter Dallas Green, who was also the guitarist and vocalist of the post-hardcore band Alexisonfire. He plays melodic acoustic and folk music and is often accompanied by a rotating number of Canadian indie rock...
, Basia Bulat
Basia Bulat
- External links :*...
, and Old Man Luedecke
Old Man Luedecke
Old Man Luedecke is the recording name of Juno Award-winning Canadian singer-songwriter and banjo player, Chris Luedecke, of Chester, Nova Scotia...
. There is also a growing scene of underground folk emerging across Canada. This movement can be represented by artists like Andy Shauf, Matthew Joel, Tyler Gilbert
Tyler Gilbert
Tyler Gilbert is a Regina, Saskatchewan based folk guitarist.In 2010 he released “The Re-Session, and stays busy with appearances in the folk circuit. In 2011 Gilbert released his latest album “Tyler’s World” In 2011 Gilbert released his latest album “Tyler’s World”. Gilbert’s influences include...
, and Two Bycicles.
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
-native Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto...
, one of the most influential folk and popular music singer songwriters of the 20th century. Michael Mitchell
Michael mitchell (singer)
Michael Mitchell was born in Montreal, Quebec in 1954. He is commonly known as a singer and a performer for kids. With pre-recorded musical accompaniment, Michael performs solo. He performs about 250 shows in different schools all throughout Canada. Michael Mitchell tours about 200 days a year. The...
is a well-known Canadian children's folk singer, having performed at 4,000 elementary schools and communities.
Toronto goth scene
The Toronto goth sceneToronto goth scene
The Toronto goth scene, the cultural locus of the goth subculture in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and the associated music and fashion scene, has distinct origins from goth scenes of other goth subcultural centres, such as the UK or Germany. Originally known as the "Batcavers", the term "goth" appeared...
, the cultural locus of the goth subculture
Goth subculture
The goth subculture is a contemporary subculture found in many countries. It began in England during the early 1980s in the gothic rock scene, an offshoot of the post-punk genre. The goth subculture has survived much longer than others of the same era, and has continued to diversify...
in Toronto and the associated music and fashion scene, has distinct origins from goth scenes of other goth subcultural centres, such as the UK or Germany. Originally known as the "freaks", the term "goth" appeared only after 1988, when it was applied to the pre-existent subculture. Distinctive features included internationally recognized gothic and vampiric fashion store 'Siren', a goth-industrial bar named 'Sanctuary: The Vampire Sex Bar', and Forever Knight
Forever Knight
Forever Knight was a Canadian television series about Nick Knight, an 800-year-old vampire working as a police detective in modern day Toronto. Wracked with guilt for centuries of killing others, he seeks redemption by working as a homicide detective on the night shift while struggling to find a...
, a television series about an 800-year-old vampire living in Toronto. In Toronto, the goths did not seek to reject mainstream status, and achieved partial acceptance throughout the mid to late '90s, and in 1998 Toronto was reported to have a higher concentration of goths than any other city in the world. The goth subculture
Goth subculture
The goth subculture is a contemporary subculture found in many countries. It began in England during the early 1980s in the gothic rock scene, an offshoot of the post-punk genre. The goth subculture has survived much longer than others of the same era, and has continued to diversify...
faced public suspicion and the local goth scene declined after allegedly goth-related acts of violence, the Columbine High School massacre
Columbine High School massacre
The Columbine High School massacre occurred on Tuesday, April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School in Columbine, an unincorporated area of Jefferson County, Colorado, United States, near Denver and Littleton. Two senior students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, embarked on a massacre, killing 12...
in particular.
Chansonniers
Chansonniers were French CanadianFrench Canadian
French Canadian or Francophone Canadian, , generally refers to the descendents of French colonists who arrived in New France in the 17th and 18th centuries...
singer-songwriters from the 1950s and 60s. They sang simple, poetic songs with a social conscience. The first chansonniers were La Bolduc
La Bolduc
Mary Rose-Anna Travers, was a French Canadian singer and musician. She was known as Madame Bolduc or La Bolduc. During the peak of her popularity in the 1930s, she was known as the Queen of Canadian Folksingers. Bolduc is often considered to be Quebec's first singer/songwriter...
, Raymond Lévesque and Félix Leclerc
Félix Leclerc
Félix Leclerc, was a French-Canadian singer-songwriter, poet, writer, actor and Québécois political activist. He was made an Officer of the Order of Canada on December 20, 1968...
. It was not until the 60s, however, that chansonniers became such a major part of the Québécois music scene. This was largely due to the formation of Les Bozos in 1959. Les Bozos was an informal collective of chansonniers, including Lévesque, Jean-Pierre Ferland
Jean-Pierre Ferland
Jean-Pierre Ferland, OC, CQ is a Canadian singer and songwriter.-Life and career:Ferland began work with Radio-Canada in 1956 as an accountant, but his career there was short lived. Shortly after, he began taking guitar lessons with Stephen Fentock and began to fall in love with music, writing his...
, Claude Léveillée, Clémence Desrochers, Talon Starsdawn, and Jacques Blanchet.
With the first stars popularizing the chansonnier format, a new generation of popular singers emerged in the 1960s. These included Gilles Vigneault
Gilles Vigneault
Gilles Vigneault, is a Canadian poet, publisher and singer-songwriter, and well-known Quebec nationalist and sovereigntist.A poet deeply rooted in his native Quebec, Vigneault has become an icon at home and Quebec ambassador abroad...
, Pierre Létourneau, Pierre Calvé, Hervé Brousseau, Georges Dor
Georges Dor
Georges Dor was a Québécois author, composer, playwright, singer, poet, translator, and theatrical producer and director....
, Monique Miville-Deschênes, and Claude Gauthier
Claude Gauthier (singer)
Claude Gauthier is a Quebec singer-songwriter and actor.-Biography:Gauthier grew up in a family that enjoyed and performed music. His father sang Sundays in the Catholic Mass and his mother played piano. Listening to the classic French singers of the time on radio, such as Edith Piaf and Charles...
. The boîtes à chansons, a kind of performance place for chansonniers (akin to coffee houses in the United States), also appeared during the 1960s, spread across Quebec.
The Chansonnier tradition has continued with artists who have been carrying on since the 1970s to the present. One good example is Diane Dufresne
Diane Dufresne
Diane Dufresne, CQ is a singer and painter, and has sung a number of classics of Quebec repertoire of popular songs....
who also is prolific in the area of cabaret
Cabaret
Cabaret is a form, or place, of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue: a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables watching the performance, as introduced by a master of ceremonies or...
or theatre-rock.
Electronic music
Gaining speed in the west of Canada, the electronic music scene grows rapidly within most major centres.Internationally-renowned electronic artists from Canada include pioneering Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
-based breakcore
Breakcore
Breakcore is a style of electronic music largely influenced by hardcore techno, drum and bass and Intelligent dance music. Its sound is largely characterized by a high-tempo, well-timed mingling of distorted kick drums , break beats arranged from samples of the Amen break, and audio samples from a...
artist Aaron Funk a.k.a. Venetian Snares
Venetian Snares
Venetian Snares is the main performing alias of Canadian electronic musician Aaron Funk .From Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, Funk is known for making electronic music often in odd numbered time signatures...
, minimal techno artist and DJ Richie Hawtin
Richie Hawtin
Richard Hawtin is an English-Canadian electronic musician and DJ who was an influential part of Detroit techno's second wave of artists in the early 1990s and a leading exponent of Minimal techno since the mid 1990s...
, dub techno producer Deadbeat, lo-fi electronica band Holy Fuck, whose music has been featured in commercials for General Motors
General Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
, Montreal-based electrofunk duo Chromeo
Chromeo
Chromeo is an electrofunk duo formed in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in 2004.-History:Chromeo is composed of P-Thugg on keyboards, synthesizers, and talk box, and Dave 1 on guitar and lead vocals...
, Toronto-formed Crystal Castles
Crystal Castles (band)
Crystal Castles are an experimental electronic band from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, consisting of producer Ethan Kath and lyricist and vocalist Alice Glass. Crystal Castles are known for their chaotic live shows and their lo-fi home productions. The duo released many limited EPs between 2006 and...
, whose music is considered electro-punk, the duo's front woman Alice Glass
Alice Glass
Alice Glass is the lead vocalist and lyricist of Crystal Castles.-Biography:Alice Glass was born in 1988, in Toronto, Ontario. At the age of 14 she ran away to live in a squat community of punks and drug addicts. A week after she turned 15, she was approached by Ethan Kath who had just seen her...
topped the 2008 cool list for a British music magazine NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
, indie-electronica group Junior Boys
Junior Boys
-History:Junior Boys formed in 1999 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada as a duo of Jeremy Greenspan and Johnny Dark. Years of collaboration followed and a demo was produced, but after many rejections and near-misses, they were resigned to being bedroom beat constructors. Soon after, Johnny Dark left the...
& quirky sound-artist Vitaminsforyou
Vitaminsforyou
Vitaminsforyou is a Canadian electronic music project led by Bryce Kushnier, a pioneer of the “lo-fi bedroom electronics” genre of music. Originally based in Winnipeg, the band currently operates from Toronto....
. Albertan electronica musicians include Mark Templeton
Mark Templeton (electronic artist)
Mark Templeton is a Canadian experimental electronic artist. Templeton's works are released by New York City record label Anticipate Recordings.-Background:...
, Escapist Opportunities, and organizers Electronic Music Calgary, creating venues throughout the province, though mainly in Calgary.
Industrial
Canadian artists have had a significant impact on industrial musicIndustrial music
Industrial music is a style of experimental music that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by the band Throbbing Gristle, and the creation of the slogan "industrial music for industrial people". In general, the...
worldwide, and Canada is considered by many to be one of the birthplaces of modern industrial.
The first wave of Canadian industrial was born out of the Juno Award
Juno Award
The Juno Awards are presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music...
winning New Wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
act, Images in Vogue
Images in Vogue
Images in Vogue was a Canadian New Wave group in the 1980s.The band was formed in 1981 in Vancouver, and originally consisted of vocalist Dale Martindale, guitarist Don Gordon , synth players Joe Vizvary and Glen Nelson, bassist Gary Smith and percussionist Kevin Crompton...
. From this Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
-based band, guitarist Don Gordon went on to found Numb
Numb (band)
Numb is an electro-industrial band that was based in Vancouver, Canada. It was founded by Don Gordon, David Hall and Sean Stubbs in 1986. Following his Suspended single, Gordon retired the project and moved to Vietnam to live with his wife.-Past members:...
, and percussionist Kevin Crompton left in 1985 to focus on his side project, Skinny Puppy
Skinny Puppy
Skinny Puppy is a Canadian industrial musical group, formed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 1982. The group is widely considered to be the founders of the electro-industrial genre....
. Quickly signed to Nettwerk
Nettwerk
The Nettwerk Music Group is the umbrella company for Nettwerk Management, Nettwerk Records, Nettwerk One Publishing, Nutone Records, and Artwerk. With over 150 employees, the Vancouver-based company has offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, Boston, Nashville, and Hamburg...
Records, Skinny Puppy is still an influential industrial act. Skinny Puppy has spawned numerous sideprojects over the years, including Hilt, Download, The Tear Garden
The Tear Garden
The Tear Garden is a psychedelic/gothic/electronic band, formed by Edward Ka-Spel of The Legendary Pink Dots and cEvin Key of Skinny Puppy in 1985 after Key served as a sound engineer on tour in Canada for Ka-Spel...
, Doubting Thomas, ohGr
OhGr
ohGr is a band formed by Nivek Ogre, of Skinny Puppy, and musician/engineer Mark Walk. Although the pedigree of the group's members might suggest otherwise, early ohGr releases differed in sound to its related industrial bands, drawing more on hip-hop and electro-pop influences, incorporating more...
, Cyberaktif
Cyberaktif
Cyberaktif was a one-time musical collaboration project between Bill Leeb of the band Front Line Assembly, and cEvin Key and Dwayne Goettel of Skinny Puppy...
, and others.
Out of this environment also came Front Line Assembly
Front Line Assembly
Front Line Assembly is a Canadian electro-industrial band formed by Bill Leeb in 1986 after leaving Skinny Puppy. Influenced by early Industrial acts such as Cabaret Voltaire, Portion Control, D.A.F., Test Dept, SPK, and Severed Heads, FLA has developed its own unique sound while combining...
, formed by former Skinny Puppy member Bill Leeb
Bill Leeb
Bill Leeb is an electronic musician.He moved to Kitimat, British Columbia, Canada with his family when he was 13...
in 1986. Joined by Rhys Fulber
Rhys Fulber
Nowell Rhys Fulber is a Canadian electronic musician and producer. He was a member of Front Line Assembly and Delerium along with Bill Leeb, and now records on his own under the name Conjure One.- Biography :...
(and later by Chris Peterson
Chris Peterson (producer)
Chris Peterson is a Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada based producer and keyboard player and works for Front Line Assembly, Noise Unit and Decree...
), FLA became one of the most commercially successful electro-industrial acts of the 90s, and spawned a host of sideprojects, including (but not limited to) Conjure One
Conjure One
Conjure One is a Canadian electronic music project, headed by Rhys Fulber, better known as a member of Front Line Assembly and Delerium, as well as other musical groups alongside Bill Leeb.-History:...
, Pro-Tech, Synæsthesia, Will, Intermix
Intermix (band)
Intermix was a musical band in the 1990s, made of Bill Leeb and Rhys Fulber.Unlike their other projects , Intermix showed somewhat more of a techno music influence, while Delerium was more mellow like ambient music, and FLA had a very industrial music style.On the first two albums Intermix sounded...
, Noise Unit
Noise Unit
Noise Unit is a musical band, a side-project of the prolific Bill Leeb and Rhys Fulber, of Front Line Assembly. Its members have included Marc Verhaeghen and Chris Peterson...
, Equinox
Equinox
An equinox occurs twice a year, when the tilt of the Earth's axis is inclined neither away from nor towards the Sun, the center of the Sun being in the same plane as the Earth's equator...
, Cyberaktif
Cyberaktif
Cyberaktif was a one-time musical collaboration project between Bill Leeb of the band Front Line Assembly, and cEvin Key and Dwayne Goettel of Skinny Puppy...
, Mutual Mortuary, and the vastly successful Delerium
Delerium
Delerium is a band from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, formed in 1987, originally as a side project of the influential industrial music act, Front Line Assembly...
, which began life as an ambient
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
project.
And on the distaff side, also from Vancouver's early electronic/industrial scene; Madelaine Morris, the fab front women in Mark Jowett's early electronica project, Moeve. And Myra Davies, who built her reputation in the Euro Underground, notably in collaborations with Berliner Gudrun Gut, but entered the scene through her association in Vancouver with Skinny Puppy. The Pups connected her to Neubauten who invited her to Berlin where she met Gudrun Gut (ex Neubauten, Malaria, and many other projects). In 1991, Davies and Gut formed MIASMA; a wide ranging project with a fantasy 'dark cabaret' vibre. Davies and Gutare still working together with Davies recording under her own name on Gut's label and Gut producing and programming. The latest Myra Davies cd (Cities and Girls) includes a track with Alexander Hacke(Neubauten)and one with Beate Bartel (orig Neubuaten, Malaria, Liaisons Dangereuse).
Toronto-based band The Birthday Massacre
The Birthday Massacre
The Birthday Massacre is a synthrock band, based in Toronto, Canada. The band formed in 1999, known then as Imagica...
has established a very faithful fanbase spreading across the globe.
Hardcore punk
Bands from across Canada contribute to the hardcore punkHardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
and hardcore scenes. D.O.A.
D.O.A. (band)
D.O.A. is a hardcore punk band from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. They are often referred to as the "founders" of hardcore punk, along with Black Flag, Bad Brains, Teen Idles, and Minor Threat. Their second album Hardcore '81 was thought by many to have been the first actual reference to...
of Vancouver founded hardcore punk along with their American counterparts. Comeback Kid
Comeback Kid
Comeback Kid is a Canadian hardcore band from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Formed in 2002, the band is currently signed to Facedown Records. Their name comes from a headline in a newspaper about hockey player, Mario Lemieux coming back to the NHL. The band was formed in 2002 by Andrew Neufeld and Jeremy...
of Winnipeg is a leader in the current Hardcore scene and many bands from Distort Entertainment
Distort Entertainment
Distort Entertainment is a Canadian independent record label based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The label specializes in hardcore punk bands such as Alexisonfire and Cancer Bats and metal bands such as Johnny Truant, but also represents lighter music with its sister division such as Bend...
have been gaining prominence through extensive touring and Much Music video rotation, include Alexisonfire
Alexisonfire
Alexisonfire was a five-piece, Juno-nominated post-hardcore band that formed in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada in 2001. The band consisted of George Pettit , Dallas Green , Wade MacNeil , Chris Steele , and Jordan Hastings .They describe their music as "the sound of two Catholic high-school girls...
and Cancer Bats
Cancer Bats
Cancer Bats are a hardcore punk/sludge metal band from Toronto, Ontario, Canada.-Background:Cancer Bats originated in May 2004 with singer Liam Cormier and guitarist Scott Middleton, former member of Toronto heavy metal band At the Mercy of Inspiration...
. Others include Daggermouth
Daggermouth
Daggermouth was a Canadian pop punk/Hardcore Punk band originating from Vancouver, British Columbia. They started around early 2004 quickly building a solid reputation by touring with bands such as Moneen and SNFU. They were signed to Smallman Records and in late-2005 released their debut album...
, Dayglo Abortions
Dayglo Abortions
The Dayglo Abortions are a Canadian punk band from Victoria, British Columbia. Their lyrics are informed by a complete disregard for societal norms. They formed in 1979 and released their first album in 1981...
, The 3tards
The 3tards
The 3tards are a Canadian punk rock band that was formed in Brampton, Ontario , in 2001.The band was formed by vocalist , guitarist Mike Tard , bassist Rich Tard and drummer Rob Tard...
, Propagandhi
Propagandhi
Propagandhi is a Canadian punk band formed in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba in 1986 by Chris Hannah and Jord Samolesky. The band is currently located in Winnipeg, Manitoba....
, Silverstein
Silverstein (band)
Silverstein is a Canadian post-hardcore band from Burlington, Ontario, formed in 2000. Their band name is a reference to the famous children's author Shel Silverstein, whom the band had admired and read the stories of as children. They have released a total of five studio albums, three EP's, a...
, Fucked Up
Fucked Up
Fucked Up is a hardcore punk band from Toronto, Canada. The band won the 2009 Polaris Music Prize for the album The Chemistry of Common Life.-History:The band formed and played their first shows in early 2001...
, Cursed
Cursed (band)
Cursed was a hardcore punk band featuring former and current members of numerous other Canadian DIY bands spanning from the early 1990s to the present, such as Haymaker, Left for Dead, The Swarm aka Knee Deep in the Dead, Acrid, Ruination, The Black Hand, Countdown to Oblivion, At the Mercy of...
, Subhumans
Subhumans (Canadian band)
The Subhumans are a punk band from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada that formed in 1978.Known by pejorative, punk rock nicknames, original members were known simply as "Useless" , "Dimwit" , "Wimpy" and "Normal" .-History:Dimwit quit the band shortly after their first 7" was released to join...
and SNFU
SNFU
SNFU is a Canadian punk rock band formed in 1981 in Edmonton, Alberta and later relocated to Vancouver, British Columbia. They have released nine full-length albums and are cited as a formative influence on the skate punk sub-genre....
.
See also
- Music of CanadaMusic of CanadaThe music of Canada has influences that have shaped the country. Aboriginals, the British, and the French have all made unique contributions to the musical heritage of Canada. The music has subsequently been heavily influenced by American culture because of its proximity and migration between...
- Music of Canadian CulturesMusic of Canadian culturesMusic of Canadian Cultures is a wide and divers accumulation of music from many different individual communities all across Canada. With Canada being vast in size, the country throughout its history has had regional music scenes. The music of Canada has reflected the multi-cultural influences...
- Juno AwardJuno AwardThe Juno Awards are presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music...
- Western Canadian Music AwardsWestern Canadian Music AwardsThe Western Canadian Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony for music in the western portion of Canada, that originated in its current form in 2003...
- Polaris Music PrizePolaris Music PrizeThe Polaris Music Prize is a music award annually given to the best full-length Canadian album based on artistic merit, regardless of genre, sales, or record label...
- East Coast Music AssociationEast Coast Music AssociationThe East Coast Music Association is a non-profit association that hosts an annual awards ceremony based in Atlantic Canada for music appreciation on the East Coast of Canada...
- Canadian Music Hall of FameCanadian Music Hall of FameThe Canadian Music Hall of Fame honors Canadian musicians for their lifetime achievements in music. The ceremony is held each year as part of the Juno Award ceremonies. Members of the Canadian Music Hall of Fame represent many of the world's great talents...
- Canada's Walk of FameCanada's Walk of FameCanada's Walk of Fame , located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is a walk of fame that acknowledges the achievements and accomplishments of successful Canadians...
- List of number-one singles (Canada)
- One-hit wonders in CanadaOne-hit wonders in CanadaA one-hit wonder is a Top 40 phenomenon: the combination of artist and song that scores big in the music industry with one hit, but is unable to repeat the achievement with another hit. The term can refer to the artist, the song, or both together...
External links
- Canadian Music Periodical (CMPI) - Library and Archives CanadaLibrary and Archives CanadaLibrary and Archives Canada is a national memory institution dedicated to providing the best possible account of Canadian life through acquiring, preserving and making Canada's documentary heritage accessible for use in the 21st century and beyond...
- Encyclopedia of Music in Canada The Canadian EncyclopediaThe Canadian EncyclopediaThe Canadian Encyclopedia is a source of information on Canada. It is available online, at no cost. The Canadian Encyclopedia is available in both English and French and includes some 14,000 articles in each language on a wide variety of subjects including history, popular culture, events, people,...
- RPM Magazine, 1964-2000 - Library and Archives Canada
- The Junos/Canadian Music Hall of Fame official website
- Canadian Classic Rock
- CanadianBands.com
- Canoe.ca /Jam!—Jam!Jam!Jam! is a Canadian website, which covers entertainment news. It is part of the CANOE online portal, owned and operated by Quebecor through its Sun Media division....
- New Music Canada—By CBC Radio 3CBC Radio 3CBC Radio 3 is a radio station that consists of two parts devoted to Canadian arts and music: a radio service which is available on Sirius Satellite Radio and streaming audio, and several daily and weekly podcasts from the CBC Radio 3 website...
- Shakin' All Over: A History of Canadian Rock and Roll
- Canada's Walk of Fame
- canuckistanmusic- reviews of lesser-known records
- Torontomusicscene.ca Toronto Area Rock