18 March 2026 - Carly Rae Jepsen - Tug Of War

You thought you were getting away with no Carly Rae Jepsen this March?

Nope.  

But we went OLD.  We went to her debut album, from the pre-"Call Me Maybe" times. This was the title song and main single off that album - written by Jepsen and her producer, Ryan Stewart. It was her first Canadian hit - and second single overall - peaking at #36 on the Canadian Top 100 and doing better on adult contemporary radio.

This album and single were released in 2008, a year after her third place Canadian Idol finish.  Bonus points if you can name the top 2. 

It's a song about her begging a guy to stay in with her tonight.  

I love these "before they were really famous" performances, because you can see her excitement, even back then.

17 March 2026 - The Tragically Hip - At The Hundredth Meridian

 I find myself coming back to the Hip more the older I get.   

And why wouldn't I?  They're clear Canadian music royalty. And this song - from their 1993 album Fully Completely - is quintessentially Canadian - named for the line that separates the East from the prairies, running somewhere between Winnipeg and Regina, really close to the western shores of Lake Winnipeg. 

Yep.  I looked it up. 

But it was more than that.  It was a song about being at the edge - the brink - and pressing forward. 

Written by the band, it was a top 20 hit in Canada and a top 40 hit at US rock radio - further cementing their legendary status. 

I think my Canadian fans know and by now my worldwide fans know as well that lead vocalist Gord Downie passed away in 2017, and the 2016 tour was their farewell.  Their last shows, in their hometown of Kingston, Ontario, were nationally televised and watched by 1/3 of the Canadian population. 

Of course they played a spirited performance of this song. Note the faster tempo and extended jam break.

Also, we really miss Gord Downie and we're not afraid to say it. 

16 March 2026 - Daniel Caesar - Japanese Denim

Daniel Caesar is a great up-and-coming R&B singer who happens to be from Toronto.  

And by "up-and-coming", I mean multiple Grammy-nominated and Grammy-and-Juno-winning, #1-hit-singing singer/songwriter.

He's a big deal, who has had some big collaborations with other hitmakers like Justin Bieber, Kali Uchis, and H.E.R.

This song - a non-album single that was the b-side to his mega hit "Get You" - ended up being his first charting hit, reaching high on the Adult R&B charts in the US and running up some pretty impressive streaming numbers. 

So, when he first appeared on the NPR Tiny Desk in 2018, it makes sense that he'd lead off with this song.  

His band - Canadian musicians (he's known to work with a lot of Toronto locals) - also received a lot of acclaim. You've met that bassist recently as a fingerpicking guitarist with her own Tiny Desk Concert.

But we're here to talk about Daniel Caesar.  And his voice and style are a true throwback to 90's slow jams.  

Also, stick around, because H.E.R. shows up. 

15 March 2026 - Sophie Powers - Lonely Army

Well, here we go.  It's everyone's favorite Canadian cringecore queen, Sophie Powers. 

What else do you want me to say here? 

That she's releasing music slowly but virally and it seems to be working?

That she's got an alter ego for her goofy stuff (yeah, I'm pretty sure now) and her main stage name (because Powers is not her real last name) is getting more serious?

That this song is an early, old single, released in 2021, and it's really strong? And leans serious?

That she designs her own outfits?

That her mom is proud of her?

It's nice to see a mom so proud. 

That she's clearly Canadian? And that I'm pretty sure this video was filmed in Toronto because the CN Tower makes an appearance?

OK, I guess we can say all that.  

But can we say we have a strong live performance of the song?

Yep, we can.

OK, but a cringecore artist like this can't duplicate that, right?

Sure she can.

14 March 2026 - Emmanuelle Querry - TANDEM

Emmanuelle Querry's website says the following about her:

"Emmanuelle Querry est une autrice-compositrice-interprète émergente de la scène francophone, qui se distingue par une pop assumée et sensible, nourrie d’influences R&B et électroniques."

I don't know.  I don't speak French.

I'm kidding.  It calls her confident yet sensitive, and infused with electronic and R&B influences.

Her debut album, Au 10ᵉ étage, was released in early February, and I encourage you to give it a listen.  It's really good. 

Did I mention she was from Quebec?  Yeah.  She's big in the Montreal club scene.

13 March 2026 - Rheostatics ft. Gord Downie - The Drop Off

It was important to me that I start this post like I have started no other in this blog's history - leading with the music. 

In his life, Gord Downie, leader of the Tragically Hip, was a board member and vocal supporter of Lake Ontario Waterkeeper - which is now known as Swim Drink Fish after merging with other like-minded organizations - who are concerned with preserving the water and the culture of the lakes and waterways surrounding the Great Lakes and Lake Ontario specifically. 

He was a great public speaker - which a lot of people did not know - and he once told a story at one of the LOW events, in April 2015 - about the drop off.  Alex Lifeson heard this beautiful spoken word piece, and it stuck with him.... so when Rheostatics put together The Great Lakes Suite, they took Gord's beautiful words, and put them to music. 

Gord Downie passed away in 2017, but his words from that Waterkeeper Gala are still with us.  And below, they are without music. 

Learn more about Swim Drink Fish at www.swimdrinkfish.ca - and donate in Gord's memory if you are able .

13 March 2026 - Rheostatics - The Inland Sea

I did not have a new Rheostatics album on my 2025 bingo card. 

I didn't have a GREAT Rheostatics album on it, at all. 

You see, I wasn't really a big fan of Rheostatics before 2025.

And then they released The Great Lakes Suite, a concept album around the Great Lakes.  And critics were kind to the album, such as this great one quoted below:

"I was not a Rheostatics person, which is exactly why it shocked me how hard The Great Lakes Suite landed: a sprawling, mostly improvised love letter to the lakes that turns geography into this wild, shifting soundscape. Alex Lifeson and Hugh Marsh are here, but the moment that really broke me is “The Drop Off,” built around a haunting spoken‑word recording from the late Gord Downie about Lake Ontario and water stewardship – it’s like having a ghost of Canadian music history standing in the middle of the suite, reminding you why this landscape matters.

So now I'm a Rheostatics guy." - literally me.

I don't really have a lot more to say about that. 

This song, written by Kevin Hearn, closes the album, and it is a beautiful, sweeping piece about the Lakes and their status as an inland sea. Alex Lifeson of Rush joined the band on guitar. 

Have they had a chance to perform the song live yet?

Of course they have, and Alex Lifeson joined them for that, too!