Name:

Alex Walsh

Genre:

Covers of indie, rock and folk music

Founded:

First performed on stage in 2024

Favourite musician growing up:

Billy Talent

Favourite musician now:

David Bowie

Guilty pleasure song:

Your Man – Josh Turner

Live show ritual:

Look for a familiar face in the crowd.

Favourite local musician:

Dizzy

EP or LP?

LP

Early bird or night owl?

Early Bird. I’ve never gotten used to night shift. Although waking up at 430 for shift has its challenges.

Road or studio?

Studio (In Station)

Where can we follow you?

Instagram

**

Rapid Fire Local Questions:

What is your favourite local restaurant?

Pho Ngoc Yen 3

What is your favourite street in your city and why?

Queen West. Lots of great shops, food, and parks. Always feels alive.

What is your favourite park in your city and why?

Trinity Bellwoods. Watched a gentleman practice with his katana while he wore a trench coat. In the same view, I got to watch a dog roll in mud, much to the dismay of its owner.

What is your favourite music venue in your city?

Massey Hall on the floor with Danforth Music Hall being a close second. Though if you get a chance to see a band you love play The Garrison it’s always a blast.

What is your favourite music store in your city?

Always grew up with Long and McQuade. Have always been solid.

The post Five Minutes With: Guitarist Alex Walsh appeared first on Toronto Guardian.

Their newest offering, a five-song EP titled “Live In London,” was recorded live off the floor at the Sugar Shack studio in London, Ontario, and traces an atmospheric arc across the band’s sonic landscape, acting as a ceremonial initiation into their immersive sound. “Live In London” will be released May 13, 2026, on the band’s own Organik Rekords.

5th PROJEKT’s previous releases, “The Wolf” (2023) and “The Labyrinth” (2022), both received strong Canadian college radio support, with “The Wolf” debuting on the !earshot National Top 50 and climbing into the Top 25. “The Wolf” was featured in Obscure Sound, Spill Magazine, V13, Canadian Beats, From the Strait, and other local and international publications. The band has received award nominations from the Ontario IMAs, the Toronto IMAs and the Orange County Music Awards in California. Their captivating live performances have led them to showcase at music festivals such as NXNE, Canadian Music Week, Indie Week, Kaleidoscope and Spirits of the Earth Festival, along with two Canadian tours.

Name:

5th PROJEKT

Genre:

Art-Rock

Founded:

2007

# of Albums:

9

Latest Album:

Live In London

Latest Single:

Shapeshifter (Live)

Latest Video: 

Favourite musician growing up:

Bands that span the spectrum from Black Sabbath, Fleetwood Mac, Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Pink Floyd, Tori Amos, INXS and so many more.

Favourite musician now:

There are many. A few would be: Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Radiohead, Portishead, Swans, Pink Floyd

Guilty pleasure song:

No guilt. All pleasure.

Live show ritual:

A little wine, a little weed, a little meditation.

Favourite local musician:

We enjoy Delia Bradbury, Dean Marino, SuperPsyched & Silks

EP or LP?

LP. The more conceptual, the better.

Early bird or night owl?

Both. But morning should be quiet, except for birds.

Road or studio?

No, you can’t make us choose!

Any shows or albums coming up?

We recently recorded a live-off-the-floor EP called “Live In London.” It’s available on 12″ vinyl via our Shop and includes a beautiful, full colour, photo booklet designed by our own Sködt McNalty. It’s also available digitally on all platforms.

Where can we follow you?

Website | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | Spotify

***

Rapid Fire Local Questions:

What is your favourite local restaurant?

Dirty Food

What is your favourite street in your city and why?

We like Elm Grove Ave. It’s just off Queen West, perpendicular to the Milky Way. There’s an amazing mural of aliens at an ice cream shop there.

What is your favourite park in your city and why?

High Park. We’re neighbours and the trees there are very warm and friendly. Plus, there’s a Labyrinth!

What is your favourite music venue in your city?

We really enjoyed playing at The Phoenix. Lee’s Palace and The Horseshoe are great as well. We’re also fans of outdoor stages, or even lawns, hills and wooded areas.

What is your favourite music store in your city?

Paul’s Boutique for the awe factor. Long & McQuade for the practical factor.

The post Five Minutes With: Art-Rock Band 5th PROJEKT appeared first on Toronto Guardian.

This week’s A Quiet Celebration concert at the Ontario Place amphitheatre split the difference between those two shows, with its trifurcated structure – two main acts and a predictably lengthy and Simon & Garfunkel-heavy encore – and balance of quieter entries from his recent acoustic album Seven Psalms (which opens the show) against more familiar classics in the latter part of the evening.

Simon, now eighty-four years old(!), no longer sings like he used to, but then that’s never been his strong suit. Back in the early days, it was Simon’s writing for the angelic-sounding Art Garfunkel which made Simon & Garfunkel such a phenomen. Later, branching out on his own, Simon would continue to lean into collaboration, whether with Ladysmith Black Mambazo on 1986 album Graceland or the Brazilian musicians featured on 1990’s samba-inflected Rhythm of the Saints. Simon’s gift has always been that of the songwriter, which, to be fair, makes sense when he’s one of the, say, top ten songwriters who ever lived.

I, like so many others, prepared for this concert by both familiarizing and refamiliarizing myself with Simon’s extensive output. In the former category, my homework has involved listening to Simon’s 2023 Seven Psalms, a relatively quiet, even meditative, acoustic album with a decidedly religious bent. These seven songs, performed in their entirety, made up the first third of Thursday’s show.

Breaking for Act 2, Simon returned to a roar of applause for a second set of hits, mega-hits, and relative obscurities.

“Graceland”, the title track of that legendary album, opened the second set, which was also dotted with such solo career highlights as “Slip Slidin’ Away” (the woman next to me started crying at this point), “Under African Skies” – rather delightfully performed here with Simon’s wife, Edie Brickell – and, closing out the set, “Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes”.

Of the lesser-known songs, I was most impressed by “The Late Great Johnny Ace”, an ode to three “Johnnys” taken before their time – JFK, John Lennon, and the largely-forgotten R&B singer Johnny Ace, who in 1954 at twenty-five-years-old accidentally shot himself while playing with a loaded gun. It’s a horrible story, one which I was only vaguely familiar with, and which had me racing to track down Ace’s music, including his 1952 hit single “My Song”.

Fooling nobody, Simon ended the second act only to quickly return for a greatest hits encore which brought down the house. Yes, Simon has performed these songs literally thousands of times, but it’s hard not to get emotional encountering them once more, in the hands and the voice of the man who wrote them.

Of the five songs which made up the encore, we were most moved by his renditions of “The Boxer” and, finally, after the rest of the band had left the stage – this time an actual fake-out which had me convinced the show was over – a solo acoustic rendition of “The Sound of Silence”. Just the way Simon likes it.

***
For more musical trips down memory lane, check out our recentish reviews of last year’s Judy Collins (86) concert at Hugh’s Room, or The Who (Pete Townshend – 81, Roger Daltrey – 82)’s sold-out, weirdly AI-infected spectacle) at the Amphitheatre.

The post Paul Simon: A Quiet Celebration (Concert Review) appeared first on Toronto Guardian.

Name:

D Howell

Genre:

Reggae / Dancehall / Caribbean-Latin Fusion

Founded:

Early 2010s

# of Albums:

Currently building toward a major EP release

Latest Album:

Upcoming EP (TBA 2026)

Latest Single:

“In The Air” (feat. Chase) FIFA World Cup theme song

Latest Video:

Favourite musician growing up:

Beenie Man — his stage dominance inspired me early.

Favourite musician now:

Eminem

Guilty pleasure song:

“What goes around” – Justin Timberlake

Live show ritual:

A moment of gratitude and focus. Once I step on stage, it’s full throttle.

Favourite local musician:

Drake

EP or LP?

EP. I prefer focused, impactful projects — no filler, just strong records back-to-back.

Early bird or night owl?

Early bird. I like starting my day with intention – clear mind, focused energy and getting ahead before the world wakes up.

Road or studio?

Studio. That’s where the vision comes alive, and the records are crafted with purpose.

Where can we follow you?

Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | Spotify

***

Rapid Fire Local Questions:

What is your favourite local restaurant?

Mr Big’s Jamaican Restaurant — authentic Jamaican flavour and real island energy.

What is your favourite street in your city and why?

Damien Way — it represents ownership. I believe in carving your own path — and I’m creating mine one record at a time.

What is your favourite park in your city and why?

Humber Bay Park — peaceful space to reset and think clearly.

What is your favourite music venue in your city?

Scotiabank Arena — that’s the big stage. That’s the level.

What is your favourite music store in your city?

Long C McQuade — every serious musician knows the spot.

The post Five Minutes With: Reggae Musician D Howell appeared first on Toronto Guardian.

A Berklee College of Music award-winning songwriter, Don brings a seasoned voice to his music from years of musical collaborations and live performances, including cross-Canada tours as leader and lead singer of The River Street Band.

David Matheson (Moxy Früvous, Ron Sexsmith), Sheila Carabine (Dala) and Jason Fowler (John McDermott) are among the group of rotating vocalists and instrumentalists who bring Don’s songs to life with artistry and heart.

Name:

Don Denaburg

Genre:

Singer-Songwriter, Folk, Adult Contemporary, Americana

Founded:

2021

Latest Single:

Beyond Blue

Latest Video:

Favourite musician growing up:

In my early teens, Canadian band Lighthouse. From 18 on: Bruce Springsteen (after seeing him live)

Favourite musician now:

My current favourites are Sara Bareilles and Al Halliday — and Springsteen continues to put on the most exciting live show I’ve ever seen.

Guilty pleasure song:

Pretty Lady (Lighthouse), Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head, Brave (Sara Bareilles)

Live show ritual:

10-15 minutes of vocal warm-up exercises

Favourite local musician:

Mike Freedman, Blake Papsin, Jason Fowler

EP or LP?

LP for listening; EP for releasing my own music

Early bird or night owl?

Was a night owl for many years until becoming a dog owner/parent, which turned me into an early bird. ☺

Road or studio?

Playing live in a band can be an exhilarating high, but these days—having retired from performing—I get as much enjoyment from creating with other musicians and engineers in a studio.

Any shows or albums coming up?

I’m currently promoting the release of our single, “Beyond Blue,” which can be found on all streaming platforms.

Where can we follow you?

Facebook | Bandcamp | SoundCloud | Instagram

***

Rapid Fire Local Questions:

What is your favourite local restaurant?

For lunch: Emma’s Country Kitchen on St. Clair. For dinner: Nodo — also on St. Clair

What is your favourite street in your city and why?

Briar Hill Avenue: I have many fond memories from growing up there.

What is your favourite park in your city and why?

Cedarvale Park, close to where I live, is a beautiful green space in midtown Toronto. Have had countless walks with my dogs and friends there. And High Park, where I met my partner, Alice.

What is your favourite music venue in your city?

Massey Hall is hard to beat for its acoustics and beauty. Hugh’s Room Live is also a favourite.

What is your favourite music store in your city?

The Twelfth Fret Guitarists Pro Shop on Danforth

The post Five Minutes With: Folk Musician Don Denaburg appeared first on Toronto Guardian.