New CD Coming from Ottawa's John Allaire!

Ottawa's barroom troubadour, John Allaire, is a veteran of the local music scene, covering folky roots rock, to alt/punk, and back again. His career started in the mid-80s, with now legendary (at least in these circles) The Town Cryers. After that, Allaire formed the alt/punk The Mercy Miners. In 2003, Allaire starting releasing solo records, with three recordings ending with the last, critically aclaimed, "Ghosts of the Royal Hotel". With a fabulous rock 'n roll voice, a great guitar style, and a passion for music that is infectious, John performs heartfelt stories about real people in real places.

One of the things that most impresses me about Allaire is the passion he brings to the stage. It is clear that he has fun - a lot of it - performing live music, and musicians who have fun while performing are obviously in love with music. Even with a small crowd, Allaire's sets are enthusiastic and heartwarming. Of course, Allaire got a big break last year at Ottawa's Bluesfest, where he performed on one of the main stages.

Allaire's latest disc,"Up Hill ... Both Ways", is set to be released May 22, 2009. Here's the tracklist: Highway 105; Lonesome Fiddle; Sundays in June; She Walks on Water; Swing the Hammer Down; St. Eugene; Trails in the Sand; Magnets; Candy Apple Killer; The Sonic Properties of Fire; What it Takes; Reels and Breathes. Allaire performed Candy Apple Killer on my radio show last September, and it was a lyrically fun stomp through a local fair. Allaire has a great sense of humour too...

There's a stellar lineup: Anders Drerup: Vocals, guitars, upright bass, pedal steel, mandolin, organ and banjo; Jeff Tanguay: electric bass; Kevin Smith: Drums; Chad Nesrallah: Congos; Tony Dunn: Keyboards, saxophone; Glenn Torresan: Slide guitar and Nathan Smith: on violin. Judging by the variety of instruments and his past work, this will be a sweet sounding disc for sure. Many of these players are long-time collaborators, and so we can expect this band to be tight.

And the proverbial icing on the cake: guest vocals from Tara Holloway on "Swing the Hammer Down" - a Pete Seeger-type old folk song - and Amanda Rheaume on "Trails in the Sand", an up-tempo song about their days together doing open mics in Ottawa. Rheaume is a local favourite on the blues scene, and her vocal work with Allaire on the last record showed they are a wonderful combo. Thank goodness for open mics!

So: mark your calendars for May and following: Allaire's CD release party is May 22 at Club Saw in Ottawa, followed by a show on the 23rd at live music institution Black Sheep Inn in Wakefield. Then it's off to a short, and I hope successful, US tour. Oh - and Allaire will be live on my radio show, the Thursday Morning Special Blend on CKCU, on May 21st just after eight a.m.