Canadian Musician - May/June 2018 | Page 78

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 via Canadian Musician on SoundCloud. Visit www.canadianmusician.com/soundcloud for these and many more fresh sounds! By Ken Kelley RACHEL BECK What: Folk/Pop Where: Stratford, PE Visit: www.rachelbeckmusic.com After building a respectable following with her sister Amy in the award-nominated duo The Beck Sisters, Rachel Beck found herself contemplating her next move after her sibling expressed a desire to stay closer to home. Not surprisingly, Beck chose to keep following her muse with the making of a solo album that saw a formal release in March 2018. The record perfectly captures Beck’s impressive songwriting skills, powerful voice, and knack for catchy but substantial vocal melodies. The album’s first single, “Reckless Heart,” quickly hit number one on the CBC Music Top 20 earlier in the year, so expect to be hearing a lot more from one of the East Coast’s most promising artists in the very near future! The past five years have been a blur of sorts for alterna- tive rock trio Stuck on Planet Earth. The Vaughan, ON- based band was hand-picked by the CFL to represent the Toronto Argonauts in the Rock the Grey Cup contest in 2013 and topped CBC’s R-30 countdown for eight weeks straight not long after. More recently, the group has landed high-profile sup- port slots for bands like Danko Jones while watching their latest single, “Permanent,” climb the charts. Eschewing bells and whistles in favour of a basic yet timeless rock sound, Stuck on Planet Earth just cemented a deal with Anthem Records – the label’s first signing since 2011 – with a new album expected in the fall. TODD STEWART What: Alternative Country Where: Calgary, AB Visit: www.reverbnation.com/ toddstewart1 78 • C A N A D I A N M U S I C I A N While Todd Stewart may be new to the solo arena, he’s certainly no spring chicken, having spent the last six years as a founding member of award-winning Alberta band The Northern Beauties, with whom he still performs. On his latest release, the six-song EP Every- thing You Want, Stewart travels intensely per- sonal paths, intertwining his stark, heart-on- the-sleeve lyrical approach with beautifully desolate, pedal steel-infused melodies that captivate the listener. Although comparisons to his work with The Northern Beauties may be seen as inevitable, Stewart’s solo output of- fers a mellower and more delicate approach to songwriting that’s still every bit as satisfying. STUCK ON PLANET EARTH What: Alternative Rock Where: Vaughan, ON Visit: www.stuckonplanetearth. com