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Thursday, January 19, 2006

Peter Gabriel, Black Eyed Peas, Cheb Khaled and Jessye Norman to perform at soccer's World Cup

GABRIEL TO DIRECT WORLD CUP MUSIC

British singer PETER GABRIEL has promised to "make some noise" after being named as musical director of next year's (06) soccer World Cup in Germany.

The excited musician will oversee the tournament's Berlin opening ceremony on 7 June (06), performing alongside pop act BLACK EYED PEAS, soprano JESSYE NORMAN and world music star CHEB KHALED.

The two-hour extravaganza will be staged two days before the competition's first match and will feature past World Cup heroes including Argentina's DIEGO MARADONA and Brazil's PELE.

Gabriel jokes that he signed up for the project for identical reason as the players: "It's the same attraction for a musician as for a footballer - money, sex and drugs."


NOTES:

Songs from Blue Pie recording artists are available on the HurricaneHealing.us cd, available by download, which via Salvation Army benefits New Orleans, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Haiti, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and more.


Yuya has released his new album Give U Everything to music fans globally, check out this new Canadian rock reggae recording artist:


Download Yuya songs from StayAround.com


Find Yuya CD Give U Everything at Music.MSN.com



Buy Yuya songs from Music.Yahoo.com


Buy songs from the Yuya CD, Give U Everything, at Rhapsody.com



ErikSimins.com




Erik Simins, writer / performer of Parent's House and The Way I See It, Click Here for songs and photos of Canada's Erik Simins



Buy Yuya songs at Emusic.com Yuya page





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Pursuit of Happiness, Parachute Club join DOA and Martha and the Muffins in Canadian Indie Music Hall Hall of Fame

TPOH And The Parachute Club Join Indie Hall Of Fame

The Pursuit Of Happiness and The Parachute Club will be inducted into the Indies Hall Of Fame during the Canadian Independent Music Awards as part of Canadian Music Week on March 1.

The Indies Hall Of Fame was established last year to acknowledge individuals and bands who've made significant contributions to the Canadian music industry and to the advancement of Canadian artists. The first two inductees were Martha & The Muffins and D.O.A..

The Pursuit Of Happiness, who just released their When We Ruled greatest hits package, formed back in the mid-'80s. Their biggest hit was the independently produced �I�m An Adult Now,� which was selected as one of Chart�s top 50 Canadian songs of all time. After that indie breakthrough, the band signed deals with Chrysalis Records and EMI Music Publishing. The Moe Berg-fronted group released five albums before taking an extended hiatus. They reunited this year and have been touring to support When We Ruled.

The Parachute Club released their three albums on Canadian indie label, Current Records, starting with their 1983 self-titled debut. The four-time Juno Award winners are best known for their smash �Rise Up.� The group reformed this year and have been performing and writing new material.

The nominees for the 25 Indie awards haven't yet been announced.

—Allegra Shepherd, ChartAttack.com




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If you love rock/reggae a la The Clash, songwriters like Elvis Costello and Lenny Kravitz, and new bands like Deathcab for Cutie, then check Yuya’s tunes sometime:


Download Yuya songs at the UK music site StayAround.com

Yuya songs for sale via download at Music.MSN.com






Scratch & Dent Specials at Musician's Friend



Find Yuya CD Give U Everything at Music.MSN.com



Buy Yuya songs from Music.Yahoo.com


Buy songs from the Yuya CD, Give U Everything, at Rhapsody.com



ErikSimins.com




Erik Simins, writer / performer of Parent's House and The Way I See It, Click Here for songs and photos of Canada's Erik Simins





Top Australian model Imogen Bailey part of Hurricane Healing music for charity CD

Supanova Expo is brought to present, Imogen Bailey!!!

from supanova.com.au

The beautiful and talented Imogen Bailey has become a household name in Australia. In the last few years she has been billed by the media as "Australia¹s Sexiest Model", and it¹s not only the Australian media that has taken a liking to Imogen. With an ever-growing profile in the international market place, she was recently touted by the British and German media as the "the next Kylie Minogue".

Imogen's profile began to build when she released the first of three self published calendars in 2000. With the success of her calendars and a swag of fans Imogen went on to be crowned "Australia¹s Sexiest model" by leading Australian Men¹s publication "Ralph Magazine". This label was re-confirmed this month when Imogen was voted in the top ten of FHM Magazine¹s 100 Sexiest Women in the World. Imogen has maintained a top ten position for the last three years here in Australia and has made the list in at least ten other countries. Her latest photo shoot is currently being featured on the cover of FHM in 28 countries worldwide!!! Standing at a tiny 5ft 3 inches she had successfully broken the mould of the 5ft 11 inches industry standard model.

From "Celebrity Big Brother" for Charity, to her smash hit "If You Want Me", all of this was nothing but preparation for what Supanova fans find most interesting, Imogen's acting debut, as southern girl "Sarah" in the Marvel comics film "Manthing", which was directed by Hollywood film director Brett Leonard ("Virtuosity", "Lawnmower Man", "Hideaway" and "T.Rex").

Brett Leonard saw great talent in Imogen when he first met her on the set of a music clip for Russell Crowe's 30 Odd Foot of Grunt with "Memorial Day". His strong beliefs saw him volunteer to direct Imogen¹s music clip for "If You Want Me". He then put Imogen through the casting process for "Manthing". She won the role of Sarah with flying colours and has since been approached with many scripts for upcoming film projects. "Manthing" also features a sassy rock chic version of "Tainted Love" performed by Imogen.

As Imogen continues to hit magazine covers, television screens and her publicity profile reaching front pages and features as far as Germany, France, Scotland, the UK, India, America and Asia, her personal website - www.imogenbailey.com - continues to attract 6 million hits a year.

As far as we here at Supanova are concerned we already know she's a hit with us and we look forward to seeing her here to meet as many of her fans as possible.


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Blue Pie / Hurricane Healing artist Yuya has songs featured on StayAround.com:

StayAround.com Yuya Music



Listen and watch the musicians and bands from the HurricaneHealing.us music for charity cd describe why they participate in this noble effort, at the hot video site YouTube.com


Sample and download songs from the Yuya CD, Give U Everything, at Rhapsody.com


Additional Blue Pie singers and bands with songs available for download:

Canadian producer / songwriter / guitarist Michael St. Clair has released his first solo album, Blues Beach World. Amazing smooth jazz / world music tracks available from Yahoo and other leading online music retailers.




Download Michael St. Clair tracks from Blues Beach World at Music.Yahoo.com


Jazz reggae singer Bob E. Ruglass is now distributed globally by Blue Pie Productions of Sydney, Australia, and his CDs are available by download via Yahoo, emusic, msn and all top online music stores.





Buy songs from Clear The Tracks by Bob E. Ruglass, register at Music.Yahoo.com



Scoldees.com


SouthpawMuzik.com


TommeeMusic.com


Also coming soon to Blue Pie is St. Kitts’ pride and Toronto’s own rockin' reggae artist Trevor Jones:



Trevor Jones !!!



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If you love alternative rock music songs available for download, check Yuya’s tunes sometime:


Download Yuya songs at the UK music site StayAround.com


Buy Yuya CD Give U Everything, download songs at German website Musicload.de


Music for charity benefit CD the victims of the Katrina hurricane damage affecting Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and region. One half of all proceeds goes to the Salvation Army efforts in New Orleans and Caribbean / Central American region:

HurricaneHealing.us




Shop Musicians Friend, the World’s Largest Music Gear Company





Musicians Network for Good, release Hurricane Healing music for charity cd to benefit the victims of the hurricane damage affecting Louisiana and region:

HurricaneHealing.us

Avril Lavigne, Fefe Dobson, Keshia Chante and Skye Sweetnam next wave of Canadian female singers

U.S. labels give Canadian singers wider fame
By: David Hiltbrand / Knight Ridder

Turns out Avril Lavigne isn't just an inscrutable pop Smurf. The singer, in the midst of a North American tour, is also a modern-day pioneer for Canada.

The extraordinary success of the 20-year-old sk8er girl from tiny Napanee, Ontario, opened the borders for a raft of precocious female talent from up north, including Fefe Dobson, 19, Skye Sweetnam, 16, and Keshia Chante, 16.

Actually, Chante hasn't managed to cross over with the rest. Though the impressive young soul singer from Ottawa may well be the most talented of the bunch _ she ran the table at the Canadian Urban Music Awards two weeks ago, she is the only one who hasn't landed on Billboard's Heatseekers chart, the only one who hasn't been on MTV's video countdown, "TRL," or featured on AOL's influential music programming.

She is, most tellingly, the only one of the four signed to a Canadian, rather than U.S., record label.

The disproportionate musical influence of the U.S. recording industry makes it difficult for purely Canadian acts to turn a profit, says Jennifer Hyland, artist-and-repertoire manager for Chante's label, BMG Canada.

"Even if we're platinum in Canada (100,000 units sold), it doesn't mean we're recovering the money we spent," Hyland says. "We need the international sales to start making money. And the first question they ask when we pitch an artist to Germany or Australia is, `What is the U.S. doing with it?'"

Our northern neighbor is not only less populous _ 32 million compared with 295 million here _ its musical tastes are unusually balkanized.

Nova Scotia and other eastern provinces nurture a distinctive, rather rural, often fiddle-based folk music. Quebec fiercely maintains its Gallic identity.

"After last year's `Canadian Idol,'" Hyland says, "we signed the winner and the fourth runner-up who spoke no English at all, only French."

Tipping the trade imbalance even further is the cultural hegemony we enjoy over Canada.

"The media in Canada, 80 percent are American _ the fashion magazines, the TV, and teen magazines, all of it," Hyland says. "Even Much Music, our music channel, is importing (MTV's) `Newlyweds' and `Making the Band.'"

Radio gives Canadian artists their only home-field advantage with a rule that at least 40 percent of all music played must be homegrown.

As a consequence, Canadian musicians, from the time of their first talent showcases, are eager to attract the attention of U.S. labels.

Ken Krongard, the music executive who discovered Lavigne for the Arista label, recalls the mindset of her first manager.

"Cliff (Fabri) was all about the American labels," Krongard notes. " ... The deals are much bigger and the (promotional) power of the American labels is far superior. They can break artists on a worldwide level. There aren't many Canadian artists signed to Canadian labels who have broken worldwide."

Without Arista's influence, Lavigne's bratty-punk 2002 debut, "Let Go," would not have sold 14 million copies. The young singers in her wake may not reach such sales heights, but thanks to her, it's cool to be Canadian.

Back in 2000, Krongard was one of few Americans actively scouting for talent in Canada.

"I wanted to look in virgin territory and Canada was being undersearched," he says. "People were intimidated to travel to what they perceived as overseas, but it's a short flight to Toronto and they speak English."

Still, it took a discerning ear. When he first heard Lavigne, she was a raw 15-year-old, warbling her way through a derivative brand of country karaoke.

"A lot of young Canadian singers come from the country scene," Krongard says. "It's the only place for them to perform and hone their skills."

With her latest album, "Under My Skin," Lavigne's style has evolved into to a sophisticated and personal brand of power pop. Curiously, though, her next single, due Nov. 9, is the theme song from the "SpongeBob SquarePants" movie.

At this point, all four artists have had a chance to experience life on both sides of the border, especially the pop-oriented Sweetnam, who traded places with a teenager in Lexington, Ky., for a week for the ABC Family series "Switched!"

"It's totally different down there," Sweetnam says from her home in Bolton, Ontario. "Everything revolves around the school and the cheerleaders. Up here, everything is hanging out and chilling. A lot of our activities are outside school."

All remark on the more relaxed pace and civility of their native country.

"In Canada, people on the streets seem to talk to each other and hold the door open for one another," Lavigne says via e-mail. "They'll even say hi to strangers on the sidewalk. It's more laid-back than America."

Yet, all are vigilant for any signs of their own Canadian provincialism.

"I call beenies `toques' and I call soda `pop,'" Lavigne says. "In fact, I can't use the words `beenie' or `soda' because they're just too weird for me."

Sweetnam recalls: "When I was recording (the song) `Tangled Up in Me,' there's a lyric that goes, `Do you want to know more/More about me?' And the producer stopped me and said, `You went a little too Canadian on that line.'" In other words, "about" came out as "aboot."

Accents aside, what is most noticeable about this freshet of talent from the north is its diversity.

"My mom is white," she says on the phone as she is being driven to an appearance in Montreal. "She's Canadian, (native) Indian and Irish. My dad is black. He's Jamaican and Asian. I think of myself as a rainbow child."

"Canada is at a crossroads right now," says Rebecca Sullivan, an assistant professor of communications at the University of Calgary. "What's great about this emerging group of female artists is it shows that Canada is finally growing up and recognizing itself as an urban nation with many subcultures coexisting in large cities."



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Download rock’n’reggae music in the style of The Clash, Elvis Costello!!! Are you a fan of Lenny Kravitz or Deathcab for Cutie or Canadian rock band Sloan? Check out Yuya:


Yuya songs for sale via download at Music.MSN.com


Find Yuya tunes for sale from cd Give U Everything, at music.yahoo.com

Scratch & Dent Specials at Musician's Friend

Salif Keita an enduring African music star with a conscience

By Yaroslav Trofimov, The Wall Street Journal

BAMAKO, Mali -- Salif Keita says that when he was born in a village south of here, his father recoiled in horror and expelled both Salif and his mother. "What is this thing?" the father wondered aloud.

The reason: Mr. Keita -- now one of the most popular African singers, with several hit albums and a big international audience -- is a black man with white skin.

Like millions of people around the world, Mr. Keita has a genetic condition known as albinism, which deprives skin, hair and sometimes eyes of pigmentation. In North America and Europe, albinos lead relatively normal lives, though many must contend with poor eyesight. But for albinos here in Africa, so starkly diverse in appearance from their neighbors, life is complicated by prejudice and illness. Albinism in parts of Africa is estimated to affect as many as one in a thousand people.

In many traditional African cultures, including Mali's, albinos are seen as bearers of bad luck. Many are abandoned at birth or even slaughtered in ritual sacrifice. "We are different. When people see us on the street, they usually spit on the ground in disgust," Mr. Keita says. "What can be worse than this?"

Then, there is the relentless African sun, from which the albinos' pigment-less skin offers little protection. "Skin cancers among the albinos here usually start in adolescence," Somita Keita, head of the dermatology department at the Mali University clinic, explained as a 9-year-old albino girl, splattered with black sunburn blotches, waited outside. "An albino who survives to the age of 40 or 50 isn't something we often get to see here," he said.

The 56-year-old musician -- who is not related to Dr. Keita -- is one of the rare survivors. He is a world-music star who packs concert halls in Paris and Rome, and who plans to tour the U.S. this year. Mr. Keita is also the best-known albino in Africa. Having suffered so much in his youth, he's using his fame and wealth to improve the fortunes of other albinos.

"My goal is to make sure that albinos are treated like normal people," Mr. Keita says, sipping a tiny glass of sweet Malian tea in Moffou, a culture center that he built on the outskirts of Bamako, the capital of Mali. Returning from a European concert tour before Christmas, he brought 1,500 tubes of sunscreen, a simple treatment helpful in preventing skin cancer but that, because it is expensive, remains well beyond the reach of most Malian albinos.

With his youngest daughter, Natenin, born an albino in late 2005, Mr. Keita -- whose albino sister died of cancer at the age of 24 -- says he feels duty bound to focus his energies on fellow albinos' plight. He already lent his prestige to an association known as SOS Albinos, which has united thousands of albinos in Mali and prompted the creation of similar bodies across Africa. Now, he says he will channel 10 percent of all his royalty income into a new foundation to help albino children.

While the new foundation still awaits approval by Mali's cumbersome bureaucracy, the sheer force of Mr. Keita's example -- and his passionate defense of albino rights -- has already brought change. Ibrahim Djire, one of whose nine children, 13-year-old Djouma, is an albino, says he was struck by how attitudes have improved in recent years in his neighborhood of Lafiabougou, a sprawl of walled cinder-block houses on the edge of Bamako.

"Before, people would be afraid, they would say that albinos' presence makes them vomit. But now my daughter goes to school, she even has friends here in the neighborhood," says Mr. Djire, whose skin is black. "The fact that Salif is an albino influenced people a lot. He's very well-known, and the fact that he's fighting discrimination so hard has transformed mentalities."

Djouma, whose translucent white hair is braided in traditional African style, nodded in agreement. "In school, there is no more difference," she smiled. Among several people interviewed in the area, most said they were fans of Mr. Keita's music and accepted albinos. Only one, 48-year-old Kader Coulibaly, expressed the opinion that albinos are dangerous carriers of disease, and said that he would never let his children come near an albino.

Born into a noble family tracing its lineage to Mali's medieval emperor, Mr. Keita as a young man yearned to be a schoolteacher. But, in 1969, just a day before he was to graduate from teachers' college here, he was taken aside and told that he wouldn't be receiving a diploma. "They said that the children would be too afraid of me because of my skin color," Mr. Keita recalls. "But, at the same time, they were very happy to hire real whites as teachers."

As a result of that setback, music became Mr. Keita's career choice, and he has spent much of his adult life establishing his fame in Europe. For American audiences, his best-known performance is the song "Tomorrow" from the 2001 movie "Ali" about the boxer Muhammad Ali.

"Salif is our ambassador. When people listen to him, they forget that he's an albino -- and then they accept the difference, realizing that we albinos, too, can achieve something," says Thierno Diallo, a university professor here and chairman of the SOS Albinos association.

Bringing albinos out of a ghetto of superstition and shame saves lives. It's not just about access to education, jobs and sunscreen lotions. Albinos in many parts of Africa are in special danger because of animist customs that ascribe magical powers to potions made from sacrificed albinos. Around Africa, parents hide their albino children ahead of elections and important sports competitions, fearing that they will be abducted and killed.

In 2000, during an election campaign, an albino teenager, Mamatou Koita, disappeared from a boarding school in the town of Sanankoroba, just outside Bamako. The main suspects were never arrested. Then, last November, a 4-year-old child, Soumaila Doumbia, was found dead in the same municipality, in the well of the village of Sinsina, a cluster of mud houses. The body appeared to have been mutilated, authorities say.

"What we were told is that his tongue was cut off to sprinkle a fetish with blood that would bring good luck in the land dispute that some of the villagers of Sinsina have with the village nearby," says Cheick Amadou Koita, the district magistrate who is leading the investigation.

"There are atrocious things going on with albinos here, crimes against humanity," says Mr. Keita, the singer. "But it's all hidden from sight, and the government couldn't care less."

While praised by the international community as one of Africa's most democratic, the Malian government is reluctant to acknowledge that its albino citizens face special threats. "The exclusion or discrimination of albinos just doesn't exist in Mali. Maybe the albinos have complexes and they feel that they are excluded, but we are the society, not them, and it's up to us to judge this, not up to them. This is a false problem," says Baba Toumany Kane, spokesman for the Ministry of Social Development, Solidarity and the Elderly, the government agency whose functions include combating discrimination against the disabled and other minorities.



Blue Pie / Hurricane Healing artist Yuya has songs featured on StayAround.com:

StayAround.com Yuya Music




Power your home with solar or wind power, visit the Alternative Energy Store!



For Australian, Canadian and world music news and views, check out the Blue Pie Artists Blog, with digital downloads from hot new recording artists!


Hurricane Relief CD, Come Together Now


Search and buy photovoltaic products at the Alternative Energy Store, find free educational information on renewable energy systems for your home, farm or business; great prices on solar panel kits and home wind turbines.



For Australian, Canadian and world music news and views, check out the Blue Pie Artists Blog, with digital downloads from hot new recording artists!




Musicians Network for Good, release Hurricane Healing music for charity cd to benefit the victims of the hurricane damage affecting Louisiana and region:

HurricaneHealing.us

DECODER Ring offers alternative rock to Australia and beyond

An alternative way to the top, if you rock

by Matthew Westwood, TheAustralian.news.com.au


DECODER Ring combines guitars, electronica, on-stage projections and a pride in setting itself apart from other Australian bands.

The Sydney rock band is part of the biggest Australian contingent to travel to Austin, Texas, for the influential South by Southwest music conference in March.

"While we are proudly Australian, our sound has never been distinctly Australian before," guitarist Matt FitzGerald said yesterday. The 30 Australian acts taking part include The Avalanches and Something for Kate from Melbourne, End of Fashion and Gyroscope from Perth and Sydney's Wolfmother and Sarah Blasko.

The event attracted submissions from more than 8000 bands around the world, including 420 from Australia and New Zealand.

Each band at SxSW is given a one-hour concert slot before an an audience of record company executives, concert promoters and agents. The Australian Trade Commission, which has a music office in Los Angeles, has attended for four years. It runs a promotional stand and hosts a barbecue where 10 acts perform.

The John Butler Trio and Missy Higgins are among Australian acts to have gained a foothold in the US by playing at SxSW. Phil Tripp, a Sydney-based representative for SxSW, said at least 10 major deals had been signed with Australian and New Zealand bands after taking part in the conference.

Local acts had the energy that US agents were looking for, he said, because they were "blooded" by playing in pubs.

"Australian bands play their hearts out before they even get a chance to record," Mr Tripp said.

Bands paid their own way to Texas for the event, but those from Western Australia received a state government grant.

Mr Tripp said Decoder Ring was a "sleeper band" that could capture the interest of US agents. Franz Ferdinand, The Darkness and Norah Jones are among the left-field acts boosted by SxSw appearances in recent years.

Decoder Ring has broadened its audience in Australia through its AFI award-winning score for the film Somersault, and by playing festivals such as Big Day Out and Homebake.

The time was right to head to the US, FitzGerald said, because the band had something "unique and worthy for the world stage".




Songs from Blue Pie recording artists are available on the HurricaneHealing.us cd, available by download, which via Salvation Army benefits New Orleans, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Haiti, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and more.


Purchase solar energy home-based system online through Oksolar.com


Blue Pie / Hurricane Healing artist Yuya has songs featured on StayAround.com:

StayAround.com Yuya Music




Power your home with solar or wind power, visit the Alternative Energy Store!



For Australian, Canadian and world music news and views, check out the Blue Pie Artists Blog, with digital downloads from hot new recording artists!


Hurricane Relief CD, Come Together Now


Search and buy photovoltaic products at the Alternative Energy Store, find free educational information on renewable energy systems for your home, farm or business; great prices on solar panel kits and home wind turbines.



For Australian, Canadian and world music news and views, check out the Blue Pie Artists Blog, with digital downloads from hot new recording artists!

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

Hurricane Healing project turning music into a recovery tool for Katrina victims

Hurricane Healing is all about helping the victims of the Hurricane disasters. Visit www.hurricanehealing.us for all the information on how you can get great music and at the same time help out all the victims of the Hurricane disasters.

Sydney, Australia: Blue Pie Productions and IdeaFarm are pleased to announce the launch of www.hurricanehealing.us Hurricane Healing is a website where you can hear and buy music donated by artists from all over the world. Funds received will aid victims of the 2005 Hurricane Season. 50 cents in every dollar spent on music from Hurricane Healing goes directly to The Salvation Army in the U.S. and will be used in ongoing assistance for those affected by hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Wilma and all the other storms of the 2005 Hurricane Season. 20 cents goes to the rights holders of each track and, if they choose, that too can go to charity. The remaining 30 cents is used for project administration. Hurricane Healing is built on a ‘digital platform” and is a highly efficient way to sell and distribute music. This enables Hurricane Healing to donate half of every dollar of revenue generated to the Salvation Army. While buying music online isn’t new, what is new here is that Hurricane Healing is using the same simple, proven business model to raise much needed funds globally for the Salvation Army. Initially, music will be sold online through the MSN Network with iTunes and other digital distribution retailers coming online in the coming weeks.

The hope is that the gift of music that heals will be a popular one in the U.S. and all over the world this Holiday Season. Major Eda Hokom, Divisional Commander of The Salvation Army in Sacramento, California says “It is a privilege and a blessing to see companies such as Blue Pie Productions and IdeaFarm reach out across the world to help others in need. Hurricane Healing funds will impact many lives, and assist The Salvation Army to continue its ongoing work with the survivors of such devastation. Whether it is a sandwich, a hot meal, clothing, a safe nights rest, a hug, a listening ear, an encouraging word, a prayer, assistance with finding a new job and home - your monetary support is invaluable. Thank You.” Already there are more than 130 artists on board and the list is growing daily. To date artists include: Janice-Marie, Eric Bibb, The Frames, Mundy, Andy Bey, Yuya Joe, Michael St Clair, Carole Pope, The Angels, Tarmac Adam, The Scoldees, Gordon Waller, Peter and Gordon, Mogul, Sahra, and Australia’s Hurricane Healing Ambassador, James Blundell. Hurricane Healing is also in discussions with Keb’ Mo’ and many other U.S., Australian and international artists.

U.S. Ambassador for the project is Grammy Winner, Janice-Marie Johnson. Janice-Marie has a very personal reason for being involved in the Hurricane Healing project, her uncle was one of the poor souls left behind in New Orleans. 85 years of age and blind, he died of dehydration on Highway 10 in the days following Hurricane Katrina. Janice-Marie say’s “I am honoured to be involved with the Hurricane Healing project. My hope is that other artists will join me and the many others already working with Hurricane Healing and together we will build an exciting online community that helps support the very good work being done on the ground by the Salvation Army.” As the huge clean-up effort on Wilma begins, so does the healing process - a global call for artists has gone out, artists are responding and the Hurricane Healing website is now ‘live’ at www.hurricanehealing.us

Songs from Blue Pie recording artists are available on the HurricaneHealing.us cd, available by download, which via Salvation Army benefits New Orleans, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Haiti, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and more.

More Blue Pie independent recording artists:

BarryCrocker.net


Sahra.com.au


SlimeyThings.com


GordonWaller.com


To help out the New Orleans area, buy and download songs from the Hurricane Healing music for charity CD, to benefit the victims of the Katrina hurricane damage affecting Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and region. 50% of all revenue goes to Salvation Army efforts in New Orleans and Caribbean / Central American region:

HurricaneHealing.us



Blue Pie / Hurricane Healing artist Yuya has songs featured on StayAround.com:

StayAround.com Yuya Music


Tuesday, January 17, 2006

Singapore band The Suns in Australian orbit

from ChannelNewsAsia.com

SINGAPORE : These days, Singaporean trio The Suns are the hottest rock act on the Melbourne live music circuit.

Through two years of steady gigs, the band - guitarist/vocalist San Singer, bassist J Boss and drummer Wayne Thunder - has played over 200 live shows while earning rave reviews from Australian music critics.

This week, the trio releases their debut album 2/20 (pronounced two-twenty - an acronym for two years of musical experience condensed into 20 minutes).



On Saturday, The Suns will make an appearance at the Sembawang Music Festival - an event some Singapore music fans are calling the show's highlight.

Homegrown music fans may be applauding The Suns achievements Down Under but, as guitarist and vocalist Singer (aka Sanjeev Veloo) puts it, starting out in Australia was not without hurdles.

"For the first year, we struggled really hard," recalled the 25-year-old.

"There are 5,000 registered bands in Melbourne so it's difficult being No 5,001. In the early days, we stayed at friends' places, lived in a small house and slept with our instruments," he added with a grin.

"Things weren't even easy during our first gigs. We got banned playing at one cafe because it was near a mental hospital and we were too loud," said J Boss (aka Justin Roy) with a laugh.

"It was our first high-profile gig and we got banned. I thought that only happened to us in Singapore!"

He was talking about their previous incarnation as Singapore's most notorious punk band The Boredphucks, who achieved cult status in 1999 with Banned In Da Singapura (the title referencing a show at the Youth Park for which they were banned after Singer used some colourful language in front of fans).

But most of all, the band is remembered for their radio hit Zoe Tay, which poked fun at the Caldecott Queen's purported lack of proficiency in English.

While The Boredphucks had all the makings of Singapore's greatest rock pranksters, studies and National Service commitments eventually put their careers on hold.

It wasn't something the band was happy about, admitted Thunder (aka Wayne Seah).

"It was frustrating that we couldn't go anywhere musically at that time," said the 25-year-old drummer.

"We were studying in Australia then so we talked J Boss (aka Justin Roy) into coming to Melbourne in 2003. At the time, I was studying journalism and Singer was doing multimedia but we decided music was our calling."

The biggest hurdle, they said, was "to convince our parents. Considering the amount of money they invested in our education, for us to go: 'Actually ahh ... I want to play music'. It was a big move for us".

These days, however, their parents should be resting easy - the trio have amassed a huge following in their adopted hometown while scoring high-profile gigs alongside US alternative rockers the Presidents of the United States of America, Canada's Crowned King and US punk veterans The Queers. Fans and critics also welcomed the Melbourne release of 2/20 in October.

"We're grateful to be doing what we do," said Singer. "It's quite shiok to have that number of fans in Australia. Sadly, we'll never get that in Singapore."

Monday, January 16, 2006

Katrina hurricane victimes helped by Sally Ann, Rotarians

Salvation Army, Rotarians aid Katrina family
By Peggy Conrad, Staff Writer, gatewaynewspapers.com
Wednesday, January 11, 2006

The mother, her sister and two teenage boys had practically nothing but the clothes on their backs when they arrived in the area at the end of November.


They had to leave their home in Mississippi following the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina. They ended up in Braddock, where they didn't know anyone.



After a stay in Debra House, a Bridge to Independence housing program for homeless women and their children, the family was able to move into an apartment, which was completely empty, except for a couch.



But the Salvation Army was close by. The family knocked on the door of the Christian charitable organization seeking help to get through winter.



"We supplied them with some warmer clothing and had them fill out applications to see what their needs were," says Capt. Lillita Davis. "We tried to meet some of those needs."



The apartment had a sectional sofa on which they all slept, but no chairs, beds or other furniture and no lights. The adults seemed kind of lost, says Davis, but "the kids just kind of took it in stride."



The Gulf Coast boys, who came to Pittsburgh wearing only jeans and T-shirts, were very happy, however, to receive some warm clothes.



"I've never seen happier faces than those kids when I came out with a bag of extra clothing," says Davis. "You would have thought I had just given them $1 million."



The Salvation Army also supplied the family with food and blankets, bus passes, vouchers for furniture at its thrift store and toys for Christmas.



"That's what we do, all year round," says Davis. But the organization, which helps so many needy people, could not possibly meet all their needs.



So Davis called on a group she knew she could count on to help -- the Rotary. Tom Nunnally of Forest Hills Rotary just happened to be at her office making arrangements for the club to man one of the Army's Christmas kettles.



"We've all got things we don't need," he told Davis, a member of the Braddock Rotary. "We'd be happy to help."



Nunnally e-mailed his Rotary contacts about the family. Members from clubs in Forest Hills, Braddock, Turtle Creek and New Kensington pitched in, as did several club members' churches.



The Rotarians brought the family all the food and clothing they needed, as well as bedding and furniture, even Christmas presents and a tree. The family now has beds, a vacuum cleaner, pots and pans and all the other household items most people take for granted.



They also provided transportation to pick up furniture from the thrift store and get them other places they needed to go. Nunnally even took the boys to get haircuts, which they hadn't had in several months.



The family was very appreciative, but a little shy about asking for help, he says.



"They came up here in the middle of winter with nothing," says Nun-nally.



"The Rotary jumped in and took the bull by the horns ... At least they're not having to go it on their own."



He is quick to point out, however, that there are "all sorts of people" in the area who need assistance, not just disaster victims.



"When you see them, you should help them."



The Salvation Army also put the family in touch with U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle's office, which has been helpful in the effort to get the family's misdirected FEMA aid straightened out.



The family's situation demonstrates why it's so important to donate to the Salvation Army, says Nunnally.



"They're always the first ones called on, and they always respond."



The family didn't know where to go to enroll the boys in school, so Nunnally took them to the Woodland Hills administration building. The Rotarian says he is "just a small part" of the effort to help the family and he just happens to be the one with the time to do that, as he is retired.



Nunnally also says he hasn't been told "no" by anyone he has asked to help in the effort.



"It's always, 'Can I do more?' It's amazing," says Nunnally. "It just shows you how many good-hearted people we have around here."



Those people have been donating to Rotary-sponsored hurricane relief for months. The funds, which were designated for continued assistance after the initial government response was over, are now being applied directly to victims through local Rotary clubs in the disaster area.



The district governor of Rotary clubs in the affected region attended the November banquet of Rotary District 7300, which encompasses the Greater Pittsburgh area.



The local district has raised about $150,000 for the relief effort. Part of that money has been used to purchase a fire truck, an effort spearheaded by the club in Beaver. The truck soon will be shipped to Mississippi.



In about one and a half months, the local Rotaries also will be sending teams for one week each to the Gulf to aid in restoration efforts. They will be taking supplies and laboring with local Rotarians to restore damaged buildings.



Nunnally is going in March, and he can hardly wait.



"That's going to be kind of neat."


To help out the New Orleans area, buy and download songs from the Hurricane Healing music for charity CD, to benefit the victims of the Katrina hurricane damage affecting Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and region. 50% of all revenue goes to Salvation Army efforts in New Orleans and Caribbean / Central American region:

HurricaneHealing.us

Irish-born Canadian gospel singer Warren Parker dies in tragic accident

Gospel musician mourned; Suspect in singer's death expected to turn himself in

BY SCHUYLER KROPF
The Post and Courier, www.Charleston.net


GOOSE CREEK - Canada has only 35 Christian music stations, but chances are that at any given time you'd hear Warren Parker's music playing on at least one of them.



Two days after he was killed in a tragic hit-and-run accident here, Canadian music enthusiasts were mourning the loss of an award-winning gospel musician who had taken his successful ministry south to the United States.

Parker, 34, was struck and killed late Saturday by a driver in a pickup truck while trying to guide his group's tour bus into the tiny parking lot of the Calvary Church of the Nazarene.

A 34-year-old male suspect is expected to turn himself in to authorities today for a Berkeley County bond court appearance, Deputy Solicitor Blair Jennings said Monday.

Charges are still being drafted, and the man has hired an attorney.

Canadian music industry leaders say condolences are coming in from as far away as Korea for the man who was a founding member of the Parker Trio.

"In Canada, they were quite well- known," said Gary Dix, president of the Canadian Gospel Music Association. "Group of the year, song of the year. ... In the Canadian Christian music scene, they would have been considered one of the top groups. It's a big loss."

Parker's group was scheduled to perform Sunday morning at the church on Red Bank Road. He was directing traffic while bus driver Brandt White, who is the band's sound engineer, backed the 40-foot bus. Parker was pinned in the collision and died at the scene.

After the accident, the pickup driver, who was bleeding from his forehead, walked away, leaving his truck behind for authorities to seize.

Witnesses said the bus and the area were well lighted at the time of the collision.

Parker's wife, Shannan, of Ohio, who is also a singer in the group, said she was thrown from her bunk by the force of the impact.

"It was a mess inside," she said Monday before leaving for Nashville, Tenn., where the band is now based. The group's business operations are still being run out of Ontario. The rest of the tour has been canceled, according to the group's Web site.

Warren and Shannan Parker met about 10 years ago while performing in separate Christian-themed bands that were playing at the same church.

Joining forces in music "wasn't planned," she said. "The Lord just kept opening doors."

The couple had no children.

Parker said her husband was filled with religious spirit and he never wore down through a schedule of more than 260 days a year on the road, visiting churches, prisons and drug rehabilitation centers.

"He wasn't afraid to stand up for what he believed in," she said.

Finding his way as a gospel musician was a long-distance journey for Parker. He was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and drifted toward faith-based music by the time he was 7, playing organ and, later, the piano. He was 10 when his family moved to Canada.

He helped form the Parker Trio in 1997, with his wife and the group's third member, Angie White.

In Canada, the group won wide acclaim. In 2005, the band was given a Covenant Award from the CGMA for Southern Gospel Album of the Year for their "Live In Havana" (Illinois) recording. Songs include "Tearin' Down The Walls," "Open Those Pearly Gates" and "I Wanna Walk Like Him."

Shannan Parker said her husband was a natural musician. He also played guitar and harmonica and could play just about anything in a few days, she said.

Dix, who considered Parker a friend, said the band was well-known north of the U.S. border.

"They were established. They had been around for several years."

He added, "They had sort of a wide appeal. It just wasn't the young people who would follow them. It was older, too."

Funeral arrangements are being handled by McEachnie Funeral Home, 28 Old Kingston Road, Pickering Village, Ajax, Ontario, (905) 428-8488. Donations can be made to Parker Outreach International, P.O. Box 296, Pickering, Ontario L1V 2R4.

On the Net

The band's Web site is www.parkertrio.com, where this biography was found:


Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland on July 16, 1971, Warren accepted the Lord into his life at age six and began in music at the age of seven. He began to study organ and music theory at eight years old. In 1982 at the age of ten, his family immigrated to Canada and Warren decided to go along with them (mainly because he was 10 and you really don't have a whole lot of choices at that age). He then switched from the organ to the piano. He studied conservatory music up until he graduated high school and began playing frequently in his home church. Warren always had a heart for missions and has been blessed to travel all throughout various countries of the world singing and playing on mission’s teams. However, he could never imagine the plan that God had for his life…now he looks back and sees the big picture. After graduating from high school, Warren had the opportunity to go on a 6-month missions trip to Belize, Central America with four other guys. There he was actively involved in music with the church in southern Belize as well as leading the youth in sports programs and clearing several miles of dense jungle with machetes. While there he along with the other guys lived in a jungle hut with no running water or electricity. The fact of no electricity didn’t stop Warren from bringing his keyboard with him to the jungle. There was a generator…thank the Lord!!! Upon returning from Belize, Warren developed some serious health problems and a series of tests were done. At the same time, he had been accepted into University to study Criminology. Just weeks prior to leaving home to go off to school, Warren collapsed and went into a lengthy grand mal seizure. After further tests, Warren was advised by his specialist not to attend University due to the distance from home and the ongoing tests he would have to go through. He was devastated and really questioned why God would allow these things to happen. Furthermore, due to the seriousness of the seizure, the DMV (department of motor vehicles) suspended his license for one year. Warren continued to hold onto God’s promises for his life and decided to enroll in a local community college and study law enforcement. From doing this and staying at home, Warren was introduced to Southern Gospel music through a friend he had met while returning from Belize. Warren began to travel with this part-time group from Ontario, Canada for 4 years. Through traveling with this group, Warren met his future wife, Shannan, one night at church where they were booked together. After several months Warren and Shannan lost contact due to distance (Toronto to Ohio) and went their separate ways. In 1995, Warren got the opportunity to audition with a group from South Carolina to go full-time. Warren went for the interview and started two weeks later. Through traveling with this group something amazing happened. Warren and Shannan got back in touch again. After traveling with this group for a year and a half, Warren asked Shannan to marry him and moved to Ohio where they were married on July 27, 1996. About seven months after the wedding, Warren and Shannan both felt the call on their lives to go back on the road in full-time ministry. They obeyed the Call and God has used them to lead thousands of people to Christ over the years.

In 1996, Warren released his first solo piano project titled, GOODBYE WORLD GOODBYE. Currently he is working on his second piano project, due to be released in 2006.

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