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. 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

Ok - we’ve been slacking on our web updates, but we have some really exciting news to share!

The 2010 Juno Award Nominations have been announced, and we’ve got artists with 4 nominations! Ten Second Epic pop their Juno nom cherry with a New Group of the Year nomination, while Classified is nominated for Single, Video and Rap Recording of the Year. Big day for us here at Black Box - Ten Second Epic’s ‘Hometown’ and Classified’s “Self Explanatory” were huge priorities for us this past year. It’s great to see our artists recognized for their accomplishments. Congrats to Andrew, Dan, Sandy, Pat, Craig & Luke for these well deserved honours. We’ll see you in St. John’s for a party! Congrats also goes out to all the other nominees!

On another note, Shad’s new record, titled “TSOL” is now scheduled for release on May 25th. We’ll have new music for you in the next week or two, so stay tuned here or to our twitter (@weareblackbox) to find out how you can be among the first to hear it.

The Wooden Sky are finishing up their coast-to-coast tour this week, and then preparing for the Chartattack CMW Showcase at The Horseshoe on March 13th. All the details for that showcase can be found HERE.

That’s about all for now! Thanks again for your ongoing support!

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

Hey everyone,

So September is here, and the unofficial summer appears to be upon us. Here’s a real quick run down of what we have going on right now.

1) The Wooden Sky’s new record, “If I Don’t Come Home You’ll Know I’m Gone” is out now. Reviews have been great - if you haven’t checked it out yet, make sure you do. We’ll be launching the first in a series of documentary-style videos from their summer tour in the coming week or so. They’ll be busy this Fall on tour with Elliott Brood, and some headline shows to be announced next week!

2) As school and work are back in full session, we’re getting our Black Box Street team back in order. If you’re into our diverse roster, helping out some great artists and getting some cool stuff in return, e-mail Sarah - street@weareblackbox.com. If you are in college or university, we especially need your help, so get in touch!

3) Shad is home from a long but successful haul on the 2009 Vans Warped Tour. He’s got a few shows this fall but we’re especially excited that he will be settling in to record his next album before the year is out. Expect new Shad music sometime in early 2010.

4) Classified hit the road again this week with his new Australian BFF’s, Hilltop Hoods. Check out the dates and make sure to get your tickets early.

5) Ten Second Epic’s video for “Every Day” continues to climb the MuchMusic countdown. Thanks for your continued support on that front. Check them out on tour w/Silverstein and A Day To Remember this fall!

6) Living With Lions album “Make Your Mark” hit shelves in the US at the end of July through Adeline Records. They’ll be heading down to The Fest 8 in October with our good friends in A Wilhelm Scream.

Make sure to check out our tours section for information on:
Classified w/Hilltop Hoods Sept 9-26
The Wooden Sky w/Elliott Brood Sept 25-Oct 22
Ten Second Epic w/Silverstein Sept 16-Oct 3
Living With Lions w/A Wilhelm Scream Oct 9-Nov 7
Shad headline dates!

Hey friends!

Busy times busy times! A couple of quick things. Firstly, The Wooden Sky’s new album “If I Don’t Come Home You’ll Know I’m Gone” is now available for pre-order at maplemusic.com. The first 50 pre-orders will receive an exclusive copy of the “Bedrooms & Backstreets EP” as well as a copy of “The Lonesome Death of Helen Betty Osborne” 7″ and will be entered into a draw for the grand prize - an 8GB iPod Touch loaded with the new album (including a bonus track), the band’s full catalogue and some of their favourite music that they want to share with you. Follow the link below, and place your order now!

In other news, Ten Second Epic’s new single “Every Day” keeps tearing up the MuchMusic Charts. Thanks for your help requesting. Please keep it coming!
REQUEST
VIEW

Classified’s new video for the song “Up All Night” has just been released as well. You can check that one out HERE.

If you’re heading out to Warped Tour in Calgary or Vancouver next week, make sure to say what’s up to Shad and Rob Dyer/Skate4Cancer!

That’s about all for now!
IAN.

Hey friends!

We’re extremely excited to post the video for Ten Second Epic’s new single, “Every Day”! The song features our good friend LIGHTS, and she was kind enough to join us for the video as well. In my opinion, it’s the best looking TSE video to date - I hope you enjoy it!

Check it out here: myspace.com/tensecondepic

It was just added to rotation on MuchMusic today, so keep an eye out for it there too, and start the request party now! REQUEST!

Don’t forget to catch them on tour with Silverstein & A Day To Remember this fall - all that info is available at the band’s myspace as well.

PS - Thanks for all the support for Shad’s new video, “Compromise” (a href=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TaFqPYLjZw”>HAVENT SEEN IT YET?) - make sure you keep those requests coming as well!

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!

Ok, so our most recent update was…yesterday, and I try to keep them infrequent but we had to share some really exciting news with all of you! The MuchMusic Video Award Nominations were announced this morning, and Black Box artists are repping huge, with 6 nominations!!

They are as follows:

Ten Second Epic
for Life Times; Directors: Colin Minihan & Cody Fennell
MuchLoud Rock Video of the Year
up against Nickelback, Theory of a Deadman, Mariana’s Trench and Inward Eye.

Shad
for The Old Prince Still Lives At Home; Director: HotDogGarbage
MuchVibe HipHop Video of the Year
up against Classified, K-Os, JB & Famous
VideoFACT Indie Video of the Year
up against Bedouin Soundclash, Metric, Sebastien Grainger and The Midway State

Classified
for Anybody Listening; Director: Harv
Post Production of the Year
up against Mobile, Nickelback, The New Cities and The Stills
Director of the Year
up against Bedouin Soundclash, Danny Fernandes, Marianas Trench and Theory of a Deadman
MuchVibe Hip Hop Video of the Year
up against Shad, Famous, JB and K-Os

Congrats to all of the nominees! We will have more exciting news as the awards approach, so stay tuned. Thanks to everyone for your support over the last year, it’s paid off!