Hey all. It’s opening day for our Toronto Blue Jays, and hopefully that along with another Maple Leafs (and soon to be Raptors) elimination from the play-offs, the SUMMER is almost here! Here’s the latest…

SHAD
If you were living under a rock last week, you missed our big announcement via Exclaim that Shad’s new record, TSOL will be hitting shelves on May 25th. In support of the record, Shad also announced tour dates with Grand Analog and D-Sisive, as follows:
w/Grand Analog
5/27 Winnipeg, MB - Pyramid Cabaret
5/28 Saskatoon, SK - Amigo’s
5/29 Edmonton, AB - Starlite Room
6/3 Vancouver, BC - The Biltmore Cabaret
6/4 Victoria, BC - Sugar Nightclub
6/5 Kelowna, BC - Habitat
6/6 Calgary, AB - Republik
w/D-Sisive
6/12 Toronto, ON - The Opera House
6/15 Hamilton, ON - Casbah
6/16 Peterborough, ON - The Red Dog
6/17 London, ON - Call The Office
6/18 London, ON - Call The Office
Keep your eyes peeled this week - we’ll be launching the new video for the first single off of TSOL, “Yaa I Get It”, directed by HotDogGarbage. You can see a quick teaser HERE- just TRY not to watch it more than once!

JUNOS
Black Box is heading to St. John’s later this week for the 2010 Juno Awards! Ten Second Epic and Classified are nominated for awards, and both have very busy weekends scheduled. Classified, and Ten Second Epic’s Andrew Usenik and Patrick Birtles will be taking part in the Juno Cup (musicians vs. NHL alumni). Check out Andrew and Pat training HERE.

Beyond that, both artists are playing shows as part of Junofest on Friday night - visit the JUNO FEST WEBSITE for details, and make sure to tune in on Sunday night for the red carpet and award ceremony!

AND IN OTHER NEWS…
- The Wooden Sky have launched part 9 of their “Documentary In Parts” series from last summers Bedrooms & Backstreets tour on their VIMEO CHANNEL. The band is home for now after 2 solid months on the road. We’ll be announcing some summer festival appearances in the coming days…

- Living With Lions is now confirmed to be in studio with Dan Weston in May to record the follow up to 2008’s Make Your Mark. Expect the record out this fall on Black Box in Canada and Adeline in the US. We’ll be announcing some tour dates for June in the next week or so as well!

- Northcote continues across Canada with Dave Hause from The Loved Ones this week, culminating in a show with Frank Turner at the Media Club in Vancouver. Visit his MYSPACE for all the details. Northcote is also confirmed for Sled Island Festival in Calgary this summer - hit up SLEDISLAND.COM for the full lineup.

- Crash Parallel is back in studio recording some new tracks for their forthcoming release. More info is coming, so stay tuned or visit CRASHPARALLEL.COM for more details.

As always, make sure you’re following Skate4Cancer’s skate through Australia. They have a lot of exciting stuff happening, including C1rca’s commitment to donate $1 toward a S4C drop-in centre in Toronto for every time THIS VIDEO is viewed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rg_zrN9_W5c
Check it out and please pass it along!

That’s all for now!
Ian

Hey friends,

So when The Wooden Sky embarked on the “Bedrooms & Backstreets” tour last month, they brought along our good friend and world famous (or soon to be) director Scott Cudmore to capture the trip on film. The result is “If I Don’t Come Home, You’ll Know I’m Gone - A Documentary In Pieces”. It’s a dark, weird and beautiful look at some of the unique spaces the band found themselves in, performing songs from the new album as well as “When Lost At Sea”. Part one has just been released. You can view it here, or visit our Vimeo Channel.

Part 2 in the ongoing series will be released on October 14th. Stay tuned, and let us know what you think! The band has also announced their first headline show in Toronto since the release of their album - Friday, November 13th @ Lee’s Palace w/Hooded Fang and Brian Borcherdt. Tickets are available at Rotate This, SoundScapes, The Horseshow and online at ticketmaster.ca. You never know what The Wooden Sky have in store, so make sure you pick up your ticket’s early.

In other news, Ten Second Epic will be on Much On Demand tomorrow prior to their show at Sound Academy with Silverstein! Make sure to check it out. Also tomorrow, Skate4Cancer’s Rob Dyer will appear on LA Ink on TLC - check your local listings for air times.

Finally, we’re stoked to confirm that Crash Parallel has announced tour dates in October with none other than Collective Soul. The dates run across the country, so make sure you check crashparallel.com for more info.

That’s about all the news for now. One love!

Ian

THE WOODEN SKY
The Wooden Sky have posted two songs from their upcoming full length, “If I Don’t Come Home You’ll Know I’m Gone” on their MySpace. The record is out August 25th and is already getting really great reviews. In preparation for the release, the band hits the road on July 19th to make there way across Canada on their “Bedrooms and Backstreets Tour”. This is no normal tour; shows will be taking place in some very interesting and unconventional settings including rooftops, campfires, gondolas and even in a canoe!

For dates and show information check -
www.myspace.com/thewoodensky

SHAD
Have you had a chance to check out the new video for “Compromise” ? Shad remains the man, this video is definitely rad! You can view it @ www.shadk.com where you can also follow his Warped Tour “Bloggy-Blog” and check out exclusive pictures and videos from shows and tour life!

CLASSIFIED
Only a few days left until Classified departs on his Australian tour with The Hilltop Hoods starting July 17th!

He returns to Canada just in time to perform at this years Wakestock taking place in Collingwood Ontario. Lineup includes Social Distortion, USS, Closet Monster and more! www.wakestock.com

For tour dates and show information visit -
www.myspace.com/hiphopclassified

CRASH PARALLEL
If you haven’t listened to their new single “Changing The Weather” head over to www.myspace.com/crashparallel right now where you can stream the full track!

The guys also have shows in the very near future. They play Lakefest in Belle River on Saturday the 25th! Follow us at www.twitter.com/crashparallel for all of the latest show releases and updates direct from the band.

VALERY GORE
Valery is now on her East Coast tour! She will be playing shows at the Halifax Jazz Festival and Evolve Festival to name only a few dates. You can find the rest here -
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=139983706320&ref=ts

TEN SECOND EPIC
Ten Second Epic’s new video for “Every Day” featuring our buddy, Lights, will be hitting the airwaves sometime next week. Keep it tuned to our twitter to find out where the video will be posted first! Also, as you may have heard during Silverstein’s interview on MuchOnDemand, Ten Second Epic have been added to their fall tour! We’ll have dates and details in the coming weeks so stay tuned to weareblackbox.com and twitter.com/weareblackbox for all the latest.

Cheers for now

Hey everyone,

Just a quick reminder that this week is bonkers in southern Ontario, especially for us here at Black Box. Valery Gore & The Wooden Sky highlight a great NXNE schedule, while Shad, Classified & Ten Second Epic descend upon the MuchMusic Video Awards on Sunday night trying to take home some hardware. Crash Parallel make their return to the stage at Burlington’s ‘Sound of Music Festival’ as well this weekend. Lots to do, lots to see! Hope to see you out!

Hey all!

Happy warm weather to you all. It’s been a bit since our last update, so here’s a quick note on what everyone is up to.

We’re extremely excited to announce that Black Box will be releasing Shad’s record, “The Old Prince” in the United States on June 30th! We recently inked a distribution deal with Caroline, and we’re honoured to have Shad as our first Black Box release in the US. The record will be out just in time for Warped Tour. Make sure you check out Shad’s brand new MySpace profile at myspace.com/shad, and stay tuned for clips from his forthcoming video for the song, “Compromise”!

Ten Second Epic’s video for “Welcome To Wherever You Are” continues to climb the MuchMusic Countdown, and has found itself atop the MOD Daily 10 on a number of occasions this month. Thanks for the ongoing support. The band is shooting their next video for the song “Every Day” on June 2nd, so stay tuned! Also, heads up to Southern Ontario - London, Guelph, Hamilton, Toronto - TSE is coming your way this week!

Living With Lions continue their assault on the US, having just announced a run of dates in June with our friends in The Swellers from Detroit, MI. They’ll also be announcing some select Western Canadian dates in the coming days. If you haven’t checked it out already, Adeline has released the Dude Manor EP on 10″ Vinyl - click HERE to order.

The Wooden Sky sold out The Music Gallery in Toronto last Friday in what can only be described as a breathtaking and inspiring performance. Joined by Evening Hymns and The Silver Line, this was a very special night for us. The band is finishing the mix of their new record, which we can now tell you will hit shelves on August 25th! More tour news and new music coming in the next couple of weeks!

Valery Gore has been confirmed on handful of summer festivals, including Ottawa Bluesfest, The Atlantic Jazz Festival, and the Evolve Music Festival. She’s also confirmed a performance at NXNE on June 19th as part of the Now Magazine showcase, and a slot opening for Sea & Cake at Supermarket on June 27th! Also, the winner and runners up have been announced in the Valery Gore Remix Competition. The winner is Kidstreet from Toronto - you can download their mix of “Shoes Of Glass”, along with the mixes of the 3 runners up HERE. Make sure you check them out and pass them along to your friends.

Classified is off for a couple of days before finishing the final 3 dates of his national tour. Hopefully you caught one of the shows, as it has been epic from coast to coast. The sold out show at the Phoenix in Toronto was a strong indicator that the new record is really connecting with people. We should have some exciting news regarding the MMVA’s to announce in the coming weeks as well, so stay tuned!

Crash Parallel is finishing up mixing their new record in LA with Matt Wallace. Keep an eye out for some select summer tour dates, and an album release date announcement coming soon!

Thats all for now from camp Black Box. Don’t forget to visit us online at the links below!
Website: weareblackbox.com”
Facebook: Fan Page
MySpace: myspace.com/blackboxmusic
Twitter: twitter.com/weareblackbox

Hey guys,

Real quick update. SXSW was awesome - keep an eye out for a bit of a photo journal which I hope to finish up this weekend. Thanks to everyone that came out to our artists’ showcases and made Texas so fun for yet another year.

BIG TSE NEWS — TOUR DATES ANNOUNCED AND NEW VIDEO!

Ten Second Epic has announced the “Welcome To Your Hometown” Tour with special guests The New Cities and The Februarys. The tour is 29 dates starting in Vancouver. For all the details, hit up the tour facebook event here.

To support the tour, the band has also released a NEW video for the song “Welcome To Wherever You Are” which was shot in Vancouver at the end of January. To view it, head over to the band’s
myspace.

We can use all your support voting for it on the MuchOnDemand Top 10, by hitting the following link to
muchmusic.com.

In other news, I F#%KED up on our last post-CMW update, completely forgetting to mention that Crash Parallel won a Canadian Radio Music Award for CHR Single of the Year, for the song “World We Know”! Congrats to our boys. They head into studio with Matt Wallace (Maroon 5, Faith No More…) in April to record their new album. My sincere apologies to the band for allowing that exciting news to slip my mind on the last update.

Finally, Classified’s record “Self Explanatory” hits shelves in 2 weeks. If you haven’t had a chance to check out the single, “Anybody Listening”, do it up. It’s cracked top 10 in Canada! You can also check out the Half Life Crew’s most recent video blog from SXSW here

Keep an eye out for more tour blogs from their European dates with D-12 and Royce Da 5′9 coming soon.

That’s about it for now. Best of luck to all our friends who are nominated for Juno’s this weekend - Lights, Cancer Bats, Protest The Hero, Saint Alvia Cartel, Moneen, City & Colour and everyone else. Wish we could be in Vancouver to celebrate with you!

xxxIan

Hey guys,

It’s been a bit since our last update, so check out the hotness!

Classified has announced a national tour starting in Vancouver, BC on April 23rd. The tour is in support of the new record, “Self Explanatory”, which drops April 7th. Classified will be appearing with his HalfLife crew, including Mic Boyd, Chad Hatcher, J Bru and DJ IV. Check the tours section for all the dirty details and stay tuned for contests and other fun junk associated with the upcoming dates.

Ten Second Epic plan to announce national dates for May as well in the next week or so, in conjunction with the launch of their new video for “Welcome To Wherever You Are”. MuchMusic is planning some excusive behind-the-scenes coverage, so keep an eye out for that up on MuchAXS.

It’s CMW this week, and we’re stoked to have Crash Parallel, Ten Second Epic and Valery Gore all playing showcases. Check the tours section for all the details. Shad is also up for Urban Artist of the Year at this year’s Indie Awards. The award will be presented as part of the CMW festivities.

Also, keep an eye out for Valery on CBC’s “Here and Now” with Matt Galloway this Friday. Check valerygore.com for all the info. Shad is also appearing on AUX.tv’s Alt. Sessions program on March 23rd. The program runs from 9-11pm, and can be seen on the Bite TV digital channel - available for free during the month of March (Rogers 322, Bell 530, Cogeco 123).

Other than that, The Wooden Sky is mixing their record this week, Crash Parallel is preparing to go into studio and Living With Lions are on tour in the US. SXSW is coming up, so we’re jazzed about that. Come visit us at the Indie Village if you’re around.

On another note, if you’re not cheering for Canada in the World Baseball Classic…shame on you. GO CANADA GO!

What’s up everyone,

Just a quick update on a number of things going on over here. First off, I’m starting to do these updates in video-blog form, so if you like watching instead of reading, here you go:

It’s a little longer than anticipated - future blogs will be shorter, I promise. On with the update!

1) We’re extremely proud to welcome a new member to the Black Box family on the management side. Her name is Valery Gore, and she’s from right here in Toronto. Her new record, “Avalanche To Wandering Bear” was released in November on Do Right Music and has been getting some very positive feedback. Exclaim calls it “One of the best written and produced records of the year that should establish Valery Gore among the strongest female voices currently writing music.” Make sure you check her out at:
valerygore.com
myspace.com/valerygore
facebook fan page

2) Living With Lions have a couple of sweet announcements. Firstly, their video for “A Bottle Of Charades” is being played on MuchMusic now. To encourage their fans to get requesting, the band has set up a contest to be entered into a draw for some great prizes including tickets to a show, and LWL vinyl courtesy of our friends at Adeline Records. To check that out, hit up their blog!

The band has also been confirmed on this year’s Bamboozle Left happening April 4th and 5th in California. They’re playing on the Sunday, along headliners like Taking Back Sunday, Deftones, Thrice and 50 Cent…yes, actually 50 Cent. More info at:
thebamboozle.com

3) Ten Second Epic’s record “Hometown” is in stores now! Released on January 27th, the album debuted at #16 on the Canadian charts, the 4th highest debut of the week. We’re going to have some behind the scenes footage from their new video for ‘Welcome To Wherever You Are” up in the next week or so, so keep your eyes peeled for that.

4) It’s conference season, and we’re lucky to have almost all of our artists representing! Canadian Music Week is in Toronto from March 11th-14th. Two of our artists have showcases, so if you have a CMW wristband, come check them out:
Ten Second Epic - March 13th @ The Kathedral
Valery Gore - March 14th @ The Supermarket

South By Southwest happens the following week, and we have no less than FOUR artists performing this year!
The Wooden Sky - March 20th @ Volume
Classified - March 20th @ Music Gym Patio
Living With Lions - March 20th @ Buffalo Billiards
Shad - Date/Venue TBA, but he will be there!

If you’re at either CMW or SXSW, come say whats up!

5) Random notes:
Shad - Hitting up some Western Canadian dates this week. Check them out if you can! shadk.com for more info.

The Wooden Sky - Are finishing up vocals on their new record before heading to SXSW. We’re REALLY excited for the album, hopefully you are too. They’re also playing some shows in Quebec and Ontario in the next couple of weeks. thewoodensky.com for more info!

Crash Parallel - Just finished up some East Coast dates, and will finish off this album touring cycle this Saturday, February 14th @ The Mod Club. They’re heading to LA to record with Matt Wallace (Maroon 5, Deftones, REM) this Spring, so stay tuned for more updates there.

Classified - “Self Explanatory” is out April 7th across Canada. The single, “Anybody Listening” is in the top 40 on radio in Canada, and the video should be hitting the airwaves before March. Following SXSW, he’s headed to Europe with D-12, then back to do a tour across Canada following the album release. For more info, visit his myspace!

That’s about all for now. I feel like I’m out of breathe. Remember to visit us online:
Ian

Hey Everyone, just a couple of quick bits of info –

1) Ten Second Epic will be appearing on MuchOnDemand tomorrow (Friday) at 5pm on MuchMusic! They’ll be talking about the release of their new record “Hometown”, and their current tour with Theory Of A Deadman. For all of you in the Toronto area, that show comes to the Kool Haus tomorrow night. For all the rest of the dates, visit myspace.com/TENSECONDEPIC. Don’t forget to go pre-order “Hometown” at maplemusic.com, and keep an eye out for a streaming album preview on mtv.ca starting Monday!

2) Shad got some love from KevinNottingham.com which is a pretty high-profile hip hop blog from the US. Check it out here:
kevinnottingham.com.

Don’t forget about Shad’s upcoming shows - Toronto, Guelph, Peterborough, Kelowna, Golden, Calgary, Vancouver and more…check them out at myspace.com/SHAD.

Happy New Year Everyone!

Just a quick update to ring in the new year. We have some tour updates and other news as well to pass along.

TOURS:
Check out the tours section for all the details, but here’s whats new…
Ten Second Epic - National tour announced supporting Theory Of A Deadman, Jan 12th-25th
Shad - Ontario & BC/AB dates announced, as well as SXSW and Warped Tour.
Crash Parallel - Eastern Canada headline dates announced, including Toronto at Mod Club on V-Day.
Classified - European tour dates with D12 and Royce 5′9, as well as SXSW and more to come!
Matt Goud - Western Canadian dates with fellow Saskatchewanians, Library Voices.

On top of that, Living With Lions are currently in the midst of booking a US tour (see www.myspace.com/livingwithlions if you think you can help), and The Wooden Sky are hard at work in the studio working on their album. Busy times, and we’re off to a great start in ‘09.

More to come!

Black Box.