By Lindsey Rivait
Arts Editor
March 24, 2010

Nothing epitomizes “speed gospel” more than an old fashioned new-fashioned band named after a small town agricultural fair.
The Schomberg Fair is currently based out of Toronto, but two thirds of the members, Nathan Sidon and Matt Bahen, grew up in Schomberg, a town of 15,000 people just north of Toronto.
Schomberg still has their annual Schomberg Fair, which Sidon and Bahen both enjoyed in high school. “Those were sort of the glory years,” explained Sidon.
While the band still remembers the Fair fondly, particularly the demolition derby that kicked it off each year, the actual Fair is rumoured to be not so fond of the band.
“There’s a lot of gossip going through the grapevine working its way to us, so I don’t know how much truth there was to it, but it sounded like they heard our music and checked us out on the Internet and they weren’t too pleased with the way we were representing the Schomberg Fair, which was kind of funny,” said Sidon.
Rumour had it that the Fair was looking at getting their lawyers involved. >>

By Alanna Magri
Lance Writer

March 24, 2010

East Coast band In-Flight Safety has taken a right turn toward success and is gearing up for their sixth cross-Canada tour.
It began about eight years ago at Mount Allison University, in Sackville, New Brunswick, that John Mullane (vocals, guitar), Daniel Ledwell (keyboard), Brad Goodsell (bass), and Glen Nicholson (drums) met.
“I tried to start a band over the years and had almost given up on it. Then I met these guys while in university. The music really caught on and it encouraged us to pursue music,” said Mullane.
Currently based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, In-Flight Safety is an indie rock/pop band with musical influences including Wilco, Radiohead, and Iceland based post-rock band Sigur Rós.
“Sigur Rós really inspired us to create as beautiful music as we could make,” Mullane commented.
Musical themes vary across each record. Their latest album, We Are An Empire, My Dear, Mullane states, “relates to my position in the world and in so far as our relationship with the land and the community in which we as people, live day to day.” >>

By Robert Zuniga
Lance Writer
March 24, 2010

On March 26, The Blind Dog will host Windsor’s own Michou as they perform new songs from their first studio album entitled Cardona. This will be the band’s biggest celebration yet as they prepare for their much anticipated CD release and current tour.
Since releasing their virtual album for iTunes Canada back in February, Michou has gained an increasing number of fans and artists alike.
The video for the first single “Growing Younger” was featured at the top of the MuchMoreMusic’s Countdown chart well before any hardcopy of the record was available to the public.
Even though “Growing Younger” was shot along a stretch path on Concession Road by the outlet mall, it has grown beyond the band’s expectations. The low-budget film was just meant to be put on their blog. Once it was shown to their manager, it spread like wildfire.
Emotions run high for band members these days, especially after playing in Toronto with Dashboard Confessional on their first sold-out show.
“It has been a rollercoaster of emotions jumping between the music production and having the time to enjoy the shows leading up to our release,” affirmed Michael Hargreaves, lead vocalist.>>