Thanks to everyone who came out last Thursday night. Thanks to Judith and Ron for being such great hosts. Thanks to Amber Edgar, Scott Cooper, Kirk Starkey, and Ian Smith for some great performances. And thanks to the weather for some lightening, thunder and rain to make things a little more exciting.

The next show is in the works. Kori Pop, Jay Macedo, Jonny Debt, and Darryl Webster will be taking the stage in June. More details will be posted soon.

May 5 is coming up quickly and we are very excited to present the line-up for our next “Lost & Found” showcase. The music starts at 8pm.

Where: Artword Artbar, 15 Colbourne St, Hamilton (map)
When: Thursday, May 3, 2012 (music starts at 8pm)
Cover: PWYC

Amber Edgar — 8:00pm

Amber Edgar hails from a small town, in the boom and bust province of Alberta. Restless for a variation on her rural origins, she headed east with a couple bags packed and her guitar and headed to the other side of Canada. Amber now lives and works in downtown Hamilton, Ontario out of a refurbished hotel built at the turn of the 19th century. Her mix of poetic ballads and driving uptempo tunes are punctuated by a percussive lyric delivery and rhythmic guitar riffs. Her themes often play with the tensions and paradoxes that exist in life. Amber writes songs from an array of perspectives, and delivers them with a dose of dark humour and a twinkle in her eye.

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Scott Cooper — 8:45pm

Scott Cooper writes and plays simple, laid-back-to-basics acoustic folk-pop that has found its place with melody lovers of all kinds. Little kids, indie hipsters, vintage purists, hippies, metalheads, and Grandma’s, to name a few. The Penetanguishene-based Cooper is currently working with respected indie musician and producer Rob Szabo, to complete his fourth full length album, which will be released this summer. For track samples and more details, visit www.scottcoopermusic.com OR facebook.com/scottcoopermusic OR twitter.com/scoopermusic

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Kirk Starkey — 9:30pm

“One of Canada’s most inventive Cellists today”
— CBC Radio 2

No stranger to collaborations outside of classical music, Hamilton based cellist Kirk Starkey has recently performed with Peter Gabriel, Josh Groban and Justin Hines. A featured performer/composer at the International Cello Festival of Canada (Winnipeg 2011), Kirk’s live performance of his composition Four Quartets was broadcast nationwide on CBC’s The Signal.

Active locally and abroad as a string arranger and producer, Kirk works in many genres and enjoys discovering new tones and approaches for his collaborations. Kirk’s work with Tonmeisters Daniel Dettwiler and Ramon de Marco (Basel, Switzerland) can be heard in permanent installation at the new BMW Museum in Munich, Germany. His collaborations with Amin Bhatia on the popular TV show Flashpoint have been heard in over a hundred countries worldwide.

Kirk’s recently released solo record Little Gidding showcases a combination of conventional and extended cello techniques, real-time sampling and digital signal processing. Kirk performs on a cello by Masa Inokuchi (1999).

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Ian Smith — 10:15pm

Ian Smith is a published songwriter based in Kitchener, Ontario. Ian has ventured all over North America and the UK writing and touring with his former bands, Spirits and The Miniatures. His current project Animal Heart is a collaboration with Todd Clark of Pilot Speed.

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Jacob Moon recorded Landing here at Catherine North back in 2002. To celebrate the albums’ 10th anniversary he’s coming back to do it again. But it’s not just to relive the past, as he explains on his Rockethub page:

10 years ago I recorded what many would say is my most seminal and timeless CD: a little twelve song cycle called Landing. Recorded live over three nights, it represented the culmination of my songwriting style, my approach to the guitar, my live looping aesthetic and my relationship to my amazing fans…

What I would like to a) Celebrate the 10th anniversary of this CD with a pair of shows and also b) go back to those songs — back to Catherine North Studio in Hamilton — to re-record the CD. Not so we can achieve some kind of forensic note-for-note duplicate, but rather to document how the songs have changed over the last 10 years. To reveal new layers of depth that the years have overlaid on each song’s meaning and delivery.

To to find out more about Jacob’s project visit his Rockethub page.

A big thank you to everyone who came out to our first “Lost & Found” showcase on April 5. Thanks to Ron and Judith at the Artword Artbar for being such great hosts. Thanks to our performers: David James Martinez, Deanna Wells, Paul Federici and Adam Michael. It was a great night.

Performers for the May 3 show have been confirmed. Updates coming soon!

We are very excited to present the line-up for our first “Lost & Found” showcase. The music starts at 8pm.

Where: Artword Artbar, 15 Colbourne St, Hamilton (map)
When: Thursday, April 5, 2012 (music starts at 8pm)
Cover: PWYC

David James Martinez — 8:00pm

David James Martinez is a Mississauga-based singer/songwriter who burst onto the music scene in late 2007. He began to draw industry attention when his acoustic pop single “Second Chance” was featured in two episodes of The Best Years TV series. David’s songs combine musical influences from old school crooners like Frank Sinatra to the modern pop sounds of Jason Mraz, Paolo Nutini and John Mayer.

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Deanna Wells — 8:45pm

Deanna Wells is the lead singer and keyboardist for Ophelia Syndrome, an experimental five piece hailing from Hamilton. The band layers cello, lap steel, vintage keyboards, and male and female vocal harmonies over a foundation of guitar, bass and drums. The result is Ophelia Syndrome’s own unique brand of rock, folk, and jazz. Deanna will be performing an intimate solo set of Ophedlia Syndrome songs.

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Paul Federici — 9:30pm

St. Catharines native Paul Federici is a singer/songwriter who creates melodic acoustic tracks based around his soft voice and intricate use of harmonies. “Paul Federici’s first release has all of the highlights we might expect from a City and Colour record — a blend of emotive lyrics, vivid harmonies, authentic instrumentation — but Federici’s voice is an instrument of its own power. His singing possesses an ability to be soft-spoken and gripping at the same time. It’s, dare I say, beautiful.” soundsthatmatter.com. “Relative Importance” is receiving regular rotation on college and university stations like 88.3FM CJIQ in Kitchener, 107.1FM WRFN Nashville, Tennessee, and 103.7FM CFBU in St. Catharines where on February 21, “Relative Importance” reached #1.

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Adam Michael — 10:15pm

Adam Michael is a multi-instrumentalist from Hamilton. Playing in a number of bands in his youth, Adam’s interests sent him to Mohawk College for the Classical Guitar program. Although there for four years, Adam never limited his interests to one style or ceased to be creative and continued writing songs. Being an important part of many bands including The Next Best Thing and Snakes and Ladders, Adam has toured and played for years in every style of music imaginable. Adam will be releasing an EP of new material later this summer.

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Trina Nadeau, cellist for Ophelia Syndrome, is featured in the current issue of Canadian Musician magazine. The article examines the importance of music education, and the positive impact it can have in a person’s life. Congratulations Trina!

In related news, Ophelia Syndrome is raising funds to promote their latest release, All Things Forgotten. The band will be recording and filming an intimate concert at Catherine North in March. The full-length video will be shared exclusively with fans who support this fund raising effort. The band is also in the process of booking a European tour this summer.

Big Wreck’s video for “Albatross” is out now. The video was shot here at Catherine North during the week between Christmas and New Year’s. That meant we had to take down all our holiday decorations (including the tree) on Boxing Day. Apparently, the Christmas theme wasn’t right for “Albatross.” I will admit, the mirrors are much cooler than the fake holly, garland and multi-coloured lights we had around the studio.

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Our very own Michael Chambers (aka moon:and:6) received the 2011 Studio Engineer of the Year awards at the Hamilton Music Awards.

We’ve had a great year at Catherine North recording and mixing records with Whitehorse, The Coppertone, Ophelia Syndrome, Mike Vial, and more. It feels great to have our work recognized by the music community here in Hamilton.

Congratulations to all the other winners and nominees at this year’s Hamilton Music Awards. Thank you to the organizers and all the volunteers who helped make this year’s event a success.

Mike Vial was back at Catherine North this fall to record a new four song EP. Where the Sand Meets the Tide is now available as a free download from mikevial.com/free.

I had over 100 downloads in the first few hours of my Facebook announcement Tuesday, and I’m excited to get this music out there! —Mike Vial

We’re excited to get this music out there too! Marcone and I had a great time working on this one.

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Count to Fire recorded their album In Another Life at Catherine North Studios with Colin Cripps, Michael Chambers (me) and Dan Hosh. “I’m The Man You Need” was my favourite song during the tracking sessions. There was just something about the feel or the melody or the combination that made this track stand out. Enjoy.