As some of you may know, I have been heavily involved in Skate4Cancer over the past couple of years. I have done so both in a volunteer capacity, and also by helping Rob to manage his personal speaking engagements.

We have recently been made aware of allegations that are being made against Ashley Kirilow, founder of another not-for-profit organization called “Change For A Cure”. Please visit the Skate4Cancer or Rob Dyer Facebook Pages to read our official statement on the issue. The statement will also be available at skate4cancer.com later this evening.

Ian

As promised in our last update, The Wooden Sky have a major tour announcement to make! They’ll be heading across Canada with friends and special guests, Yukon Blonde for a 28-date National tour presented by AUX! All the details can be found either at EXCLAIM.CA or AUX.TV.

Dates can also be found in the tours section of our website!

Okay, sorry for the lapse between updates here folks. There’s been a lot going on, which you’d think would inspire me to update more often - but it has the exact opposite affect. “I’ll wait to update on this until THIS happens, then it’ll be an even BETTER update!” Anyway, here’s the goods -

SHAD
After killing it on Hillside’s main stage last night…and recently being named to the 2010 Polaris Music Prize Short List…and announcing a Canadian tour with K’Naan…we have two NEW announcements to make! 1) Shad’s record will be coming out in the US on October 5th through Black Box/Decon/Fontana North. This is a huge step for us internationally, especially with all the love the TSOL is getting around the world. 2) In support of the release, you can catch Shad on a 20+ date tour with K-os throughout the US starting on October 8th. All the information can be found at shadk.com. Look out Europe, you’re next!

THE WOODEN SKY
Speaking of Europe, The Wooden Sky’s album “If I Don’t Come Home You’ll Know I’m Gone” is being released on August 13th through Dine Alone Records in the UK (Essential Music) and Germany (Soulfood)! This is another big step for us internationally. So spread the word! The band will also be announcing their Canadian tour plans for the fall! Some of you may have caught the sneak-announcement after their set at Hillside - we’ll make the official announcement this week - lets say…Wednesday.

TEN SECOND EPIC
Also, speaking of Europe, Ten Second Epic have confirmed tours in Europe and the UK for October. Europe is with two little bands you may have heard of called You Me At Six & Kids In Glass Houses, while the UK dates are alongside a band called Twenty-Twenty. These shows are going to be big, so spread the word there too!

LIVING WITH LIONS
Living With Lions have announced a Canadian tour supporting Comeback Kid! This tour will be in support of CBK’s new album out on Distort at the end of August. The tour also features Madball, A Wilhelm Scream and a band from Europe called Devil In Me. LWL will also be playing songs from their forthcoming album. When is the album coming out you ask? Well, there’s a bit of an update there too. I’ll wait for the band to give a full update, but for now, suffice it to say, the band will have a new record and be all systems go for early 2011. Stay tuned.

Classified played with Black Eyed Peas and Weezer this weekend (no big deal…); Crash Parallel continue to fine tune their new album (it’s coming, we swear…); Brighter Brightest is hard at work writing before heading into studio in October - more news to come on that soon; Lisa Scinta played her first show in Las Vegas a couple of weeks ago, and continues to play her weekly UStream concerts - visit lisascinta.com for more info on how to check those out; Northcote played Sled Island, and is prepping for studio in October and November…That’s about it for now. There’s probably more that I’ll remember after I hit “publish”, but I’ll save them for future updates.

Check out the tours section for all the most current details!

Ian

The good news just keeps on coming to the Black Box family these days! Yesterday the 2010 Polaris Music Prize Long List was announced, and we’re ecstatic to say that both The Wooden Sky and Shad were included! The Wooden Sky has been nominated for 2009’s “If I Don’t Come Home, You’ll Know I’m Gone”, and Shad has been nominated for the recently released “TSOL”. You can check out the full Polaris Long List here.

In other news, Shad has announced a national tour supporting K’Naan across Canada in the Fall. The dates are as follows:
Sept 25 - Vancouver, BC @ Malkin Bowl
Sept 27 - Calgary, BC @ MacEwan Hall
Sept 28 - Edmonton, AB @ Edmonton Events Centre
Sept 29 - Winnipeg, MB @ Burton Cummings Theatre
Oct 1 - Toronto, ON @ The Koolhaus

A little birdie told me there may be some more dates coming, no promises but stay tuned. Don’t forget to tune into the 2010 MMVA’s this Sunday where Classified is up for 3 awards, and Ten Second Epic is up for one!

Ian

Hey all -

In case you’ve missed it, Shad’s on the cover of the June issue of Exclaim! Huge opportunity, I hope some of you have taken the time to read the article. For those of you that haven’t, check out

On another note, the applications process for the two open positions here at Black Box is now closed. Thanks to everyone that applied, we’ll be contacting those we wish to speak to.

Hey all -

The day is finally upon us! SHAD’s new record, TSOL is available in stores and online. The album should be readily available at HMV, WalMart, CD Plus, Sunrise and some Future Shop and Best Buy locations. Also make sure to check your favourite indie stores first.

Or you can purchase the record on iTunes right now without even moving from your seat. The iTunes version comes with a bonus track and a digital booklet as well.

If you missed out on the in-store performance at Sonic Boom last night, thats too bad - but Shad’s on the road for the next month, so please go check him out live if he’s in your area! Tickets are on sale now.

5/27 - Winnipeg, MB @ Pyramid Cabaret w/Grand Analog
5/28 - Saskatoon, SK @ Amigo’s w/Grand Analog
6/2 - Whistler, BC @ Garfinkels w/Grand Analog
6/3 - Vancouver, BC @ The Biltmore w/Grand Analog
6/4 - Victoria, BC @ Sugar Nightclub w/Grand Analog
6/5 - Kelowna, BC @ Habitat w/Grand Analog
6/6 - Calgary, AB @ Republik w/Grand Analog
6/7 - Edmonton, AB @ The Brixx w/Grand Analog
6/8 - Regina, SK @ The Exchange w/Grand Analog
6/12 - Toronto, ON @ The Opera House w/D-Sisive
6/15 - Hamilton, ON @ The Casbah w/D-Sisive
6/16 - Peterborough, ON @ The Red Dog w/D-Sisive
6/17 - London, ON @ Call The Office w/D-Sisive
6/18 - London, ON @ Call The Office w/D-Sisive
6/25 - Montreal, QC @ Montreal Jazz Festival
6/27 - St. Catherines, ON @ SCENE Music Festival
7/1 - Ottawa, ON @ Ottawa Jazz Festival
7/25 - Guelph, ON @ Hillside Festival

http://shadk.com
http://twitter.com/shadkmusic

The MMVA nominations have been announced, and Black Box is happy to share our four nominations with you! Classified is up for 3 awards - Post Production of the Year for “Quit While You’re Ahead” (Ft. Maestro, Choclair & Moka Only), Director of the Year (Cazhmere) for “Oh, Canada…” and MuchVibe Rap Video of the Year also for “Oh, Canada…”. Ten Second Epic is nominated for MuchFACT video of the year for “Every Day” (Ft. LIGHTS). Congrats to Classified and Ten Second Epic, as well as all of the other nominees (especially our friends over at Dine Alone for their 3 Alexisonfire and 1 Arkells’ nominations!). Check out the full list of nominees at muchmusic.com.

On another note, Shad’s track “Yaa I Get It” needs your support on two fronts. Firstly, it’s been picked as iTunes free Single Of The Week for this week, so even if you already have the track, go pick it up (it comes with a sweet cover image!). Secondly, the video for “Yaa I Get It” is pitted against Holy Fuck’s “Latin America” on AUX’s Throwdown - the winner gets to say in Power Rotation - so we need your votes! Head to AUX.tv now to cast your vote, and keep voting all week!

That’s all for now, don’t forget to join us at Sonic Boom on Monday for Shad’s exclusive in-store performance - your first chance to get your hands on TSOL only hours before the street date.

Hey all!

Just a quick update on some tour announcements, and a reminder about some Shad stuff that was announced this week…

SHAD
Lots of stuff going on, so rather than write it all into a flowery paragraph, deal with these links!
IN STORE PERFORMANCE: Monday, May 24th @ Sonic Boom, 7PM
ALBUM PREVIEW: exclaim.ca - Shad’s video was #1 on Exclaim’s Click Hear in April, lets make him #1 again in May!
“YAA I GET IT” SINGLE: Available now on iTunes!
PRE ORDER: maplemusic.com (comes with an exclusive hand-screened poster)
TOUR: Edmonton show rescheduled to June 7th at The Brixx (full dates in the shows section)
ALBUM RELEASE: May 25th!!

LIVING WITH LIONS
LWL just launched their new MySpace last night, which features an in-studio video blog (stay tuned for more coming soon!), tour announcements with Polar Bear Club and Sights & Sounds (full dates in the shows section), and a note about Shayne leaving the band and Bill Crook from A Textbook Tragedy joining. Go to http://myspace.com/livingwithlions for all the info, and make sure to follow the band on twitter - @lwlband.

THE WOODEN SKY
The Wooden Sky have announced a run of dates in the US - some headline dates, and some alongside Indiana’s Austin Lucas (full dates in the shows section). We’ve also announced several festivals for the summer, so pack a blanket and come hang out. More news about some fall headline touring is coming, as well as the European/UK release of ‘If I Don’t Come Home You’ll Know I’m Gone”.

The wait is over! If you haven’t already previewed the whole record on SPINNER.CA, or seen the video for “YAA I GET IT” on MUCH OR YOUTUBE, go do so now.

When you’re done having your mind blown, use what’s left of your cranium to go pre-order the album from MAPLEMUSIC.COM! The first 100 pre-orders will also receive an exclusive, hand-screened poster and also be entered into a grand prize draw for an iPod and tickets to an upcoming Shad show.

Spread the word!

Hey all!

You can preview Shad’s entire new album, TSOL at http://www.spinner.ca/2010/05/04/shad-tsol-new-album/. It includes an interview with Shad discussing each track, and streams of all songs in their entirety. If you can’t wait until May 23rd, check it out on Spinner.ca now!

Ian