Free show with Betty and Brian Joseph Davis at This Aint The Rosedale Library

On Wednesday, April 29th at 8pm there will be a special FREE show with Betty Burke and author/artist Brian Joseph Davis at This Ain't The Rosedale Library. This Ain't The Rosedale Library is a Toronto institution, run by father and son team Charlie and Jesse Huisken. Now in a new location in Canada's flaneur capital, Kensington Market, the UK's Guardian newspaper listed This Ain't as one of the top ten best bookstores in the world!

Brian Joseph Davis is an author and artist we admire for his work on paper, on stage, and at the DJ booth. He is involved in the venerable Blocks Recording Club, and ran a Parkdale gallery out of his home with Emily Shultz. One of our more memorable encounters with Brian was at a Republic of Safety show, at which he read from his book Portable Altamont, delighting us with a comedy poem constructed entirely from Canadian band names. This indulged the band's latent MC5 fantasies, hearkening back to the days when oratory and rock and roll went hand in hand to drive people to a frenzy.

Not long ago, Brian released an album version of Theodor Adorno's Minima Moralia (Reflections from Damaged Life). While the album is not easy to find, many Frankfurt School titles are available at This Ain't The Rosedale Library, along with independent books, art books, GLBT books, poetry collections, magazines (including some fun hard-to-find art magazines), and an amazing selection of books on music.

We hope to see you there on April 29th. Doors are at 8pm, thought the shop is open all day at 86 Nassau Street, next to Ideal Coffee.

XoXo,
BB

PS Today is Holly Andruchuk's birthday! Happy Birthday, Holly!

Shaun touring with A.C. Newman, hitting Letterman in April

Where oh where is Shaun Brodie? Since late February, Betty's darling multi-instrumentalist-- that chap with the puckish twinkle in his eye-- has been galavanting up and down the coasts with A.C. Newman. We had the good fortune to catch the A.C. Newman show in Toronto at Lee's Palace and it was fantastic. They band is incredibly tight, which is amazing since the musicians hail from far-flung corners of North America. They will be appearing on David Letterman in mid-April. I hope they feature many close-ups of the trumpet player ;)

Betty will be playing gigs again when Shaun returns from the voyage. Our next show will take place at a super special spot in Kensington Market, Toronto, the details of which will be announced soon.

Until then, look for Shaun in various North American venues with Newman. And check out Holly Andruchuk's blog about the Monster at: http://fencepostsandplainfolks.blogspot.com/
She will be playing at Lee's Palace on April 11th, so don't be a hermit, get out there and hear those prairie pipes- featuring East Toronto's Elliot Brothers on rhythm (by East Toronto, I mean the city of several million that starts at Yonge Street and ends at Scarborough, not an industrial zone in Toronto, Ohio).

xoxo,
B.B.

Talkin' bout last night

We had a great time at the Tranzac last night. I want to extend special thanks to Magali for organizing the show, and to Gentleman Reg, the Metal Kites and The Youngest for being great.

The Youngest is Amy, solo on her guitar, singing tender songs. She has a great voice.

The Metal Kites are harder to describe, and that is a complement. Mysterious lyrics, haunted guitars, creature harmonies and Magali on bass- if that's not enough to make you listen, you are immune to persuasion.

We are planning to do a show soon at a very special spot in Toronto, so I will post more information about that when we firm up details.

Thanks for reading, and have a happy Thursday.

xoxo
Betty