Michael Franti & Spearhead: The Sound of Sunshine

If you’ve been looking for an effective and affordable mood stabilizer, here is your prescription. Raised by a Finnish American couple in California, Michael Franti, is an American singer/songwriter of Irish, German, French, African and Native American heritage. His music is as eclectic as his pedigree. Franti and his band Spearhead are known for their genre-bending fusion of funk, reggae, hip-hop, jazz, folk and rock.

On the scene since the 80s, Franti forged a name for himself through his charismatic sound, undeniable sex appeal and his outspoken social activism. Some of his causes include his dedicated advocacy for peace in the Middle East as well as throwing his support behind the 2008 Obama campaign. It was not until his eighth album, Rebel Rocker, did Franti finally experience a hit single with Say Hey, I Love You.

While enjoying success from this chart-topping 2009 album, Franti suddenly found himself in the hospital with a ruptured appendix. It was while in recovery that many of his latest compositions were penned. Taking from both the pain he observed in the world and the internal pain he faced during weeks of hospitalization, Franti transformed darkness into musical sunbeams. Out came lyrics laced with determined optimism like “they can take away my job / but not my friends you see” from the title track and “hey, hey, hey, no matter how life is today / there’s just one thing that I got to say / I won’t let another moment slip away” from his social commentary fueled Hey, Hey, Hey. Three weeks later, Franti was discharged from the hospital with incurable happiness and it’s highly contagious.

Feeling mad, bad or sad?
http://www.myspace.com/michaelfranti

The Once

Once, in 2004, three humble thespians, working at the Tide Theatre in Trinity, Newfoundland, bonded over their mutual love for music. Soon, Geraldine Hollett (vocals, tambourine), Phil Churchill (vocals, guitar, suitcase, mandolin, violin) and Andrew Dale (vocals, bodhran, banjo, bouzouki, organ, accordion...okay we get it you're talented) discovered their mutual love for folk music and came together to form a melodious trio. Five years later their self-titled debut was born.

The Once offers twelve cover tracks that include traditional favorites from Newfoundland, the British Isles, Leonard Cohen and Tom Waits. While The Once may not pen any of the work found on their album (with the exception of Nell’s Waltz, composed by Dale) they do, however, possess enough idiosyncrasies in their arrangements to make a sound for themselves. The Once offers a different take on the Atlantic Standards, abandoning the exuberant foot stomping that is so quintessential to our East Coast bands, The Once offers a far more intimate take on the pastoral ballads. They never compromise the Celtic tinge that is heard throughout the heartbreaking ruggedness of Nell’s Song and the nautical farewell Sail Away to the Sea, a beautifully simplistic version of the Tom Wait’s Briar and the Rose. Most impressive, is their intimate understanding of how each ballad should be presented. This wisdom is especially evident in their a cappella cover of Cohen’s Coming Back To You, one song that easily stands alone.

Their album and performances have already brought them significant success, earning them four Music Newfoundland and Labrador awards in 2009, a nomination for an East Coast Music Award in 2010, as well as a Galaxie Rising Star Award in Ontario. In September 2010, their album was re-released by roots label Borealis Record Company.

The Once roved Toronto's Queen St. this past week to perform at the historic Gladstone Hotel. The band returns to the Rock now to cover a few more shows in their home province before departing for their UK Tour with fellow-musician Amelia Curran.

To listen to more of The Once:

http://www.myspace.com/nowtheonce