SHOW
CASE
If you are an unsigned Canadian artist and would like to be featured in Showcase, visit www.applyforshowcase.com. Submissions
are free - all you need is a Reverbnation account with a high-res photo. You can check out tracks from our Showcase artists at
www.canadianmusician.com/showcase.
By Andrew King
What:
Alternative Pop
Where:
Toronto, ON
Visit:
www.aarysmusic.com
Shy Harry is a rock and roll band in the purest sense – one
with a passion and penchant for raw, organic, and gimmick-
free performances in the studio and on the stage. Boasting an
undeniable chemistry, tight grooves, and seemingly effortless
multi-part harmonies, the band borrows the best aspects of
various eras of rock and blends them together for a sound
that’s sure to appease the purists while welcoming new ears
to the party.
The band dropped a pair of new singles – “She Never Sleeps”
and “Wild One” – in 2019, setting the stage for a big 2020 that
promises plenty of new material and a packed show schedule.
The tracks represent Shy Harry at their best, both as individual
players and as a collective. The aforementioned penchant for
vibe-loaded, live-off-the-floor swagger is palpable on both, and
ultimately, they build anticipation for what’s to come from Shy
Harry in the (hopefully) not-so-distant future.
HAVS
What:
R&B/Pop
Where:
Winnipeg, MB
Visit:
www.manitobamusic.com/
havs
78 C A N A D I A N M U S I C I A N
Do what you do to relax, slide into some good head-
phones, and spin this. Hailing from Winnipeg, HAVS
weaves threads of modern pop, R&B, soul, and even
trip-hop into a sometimes hypnotic, always hooky
sonic tapestry. Think SZA, Kali Uchis, and mixtape-
era Weeknd. And somehow, you also catch clear
hints of her self-professed love for Mac Miller in a
lot of the material.
There’s a clear reason people keep knocking on
her door to collaborate. In a catalogue compiled
over just a few years, we hear flashes of brilliance
from an artist coming into her own as a potent writer
and compelling performer; all the while, she’s log-
ging impressive time on increasingly bigger and
more important stages.
Now that she’s got a solid foundation to build
on, HAVS is on her way up; might as well get into it and go along for the ride.
And check out EZ Clique, too.
SHY HARRY
What:
Rock
Where:
Cambridge, ON
Visit:
www.shyharry.com
STUDIOS
AARYS
It hasn’t taken long for AARYS to establish herself
as one of the more intriguing and engaging artists
in Toronto’s crowded alt-pop scene. But while her
breakout single, “Echo,” dropped in 2018 to much ac-
claim, the artist behind the moniker has been busily
composing and performing for over a decade.
Her 2019 debut LP, Secrets, showcases a signature
hybrid of dark and eerie alternative sounds foiled with
shimmering electro-pop. AARYS further refines that
compelling formula on her latest single, “Talk,” confi-
dently and unapologetically delving into her personal
experiences with anxiety and depression atop an ethe-
real, undeniably catchy production.
Considering how quickly she’s generated this level
of buzz, if AARYS can maintain the momentum, there’s
no telling where she’ll be in another couple of years.