Heartbreak Hill (band)

Last updated

Heartbreak Hill was a Canadian bluegrass music band based in Toronto, Ontario. [1] Members of the band were lead singer/bassist Jenny Whiteley, her brother Dan Whiteley on mandolin and guitar, banjoist Chris Quinn, and singer/guitarist Dottie Cormier. [2]

History

The Whiteleys, Quinn and Cormier performed in local venues and travelled together to a number of bluegrass festivals in 1994 and 1995. They formed Heartbreak Hill in 1996. [3] By 1998 the band was performing weekly at the Silver Dollar Club in Toronto. [4] [5] [6] That year they performed at the Stardust Picnic festival at Historic Fort York, Toronto, and independently released a self-titled album, produced by Chris Whitely. [3] The album was nominated for a 1999 Juno Award. [7] [8]

Heartbreak Hill performed again at the Stardust Picnic in 1999, this time on the main stage, [9] and also performed at the Tulip Festival in Ottawa. [10]

Related Research Articles

Ivana Santilli

Ivana Daniela Santilli is a Canadian R&B singer and multi-instrumentalist, who has recorded as a solo artist and as a member of the 1990s R&B/pop trio Bass is Base.

Julie Doiron

Julie Doiron is a Canadian singer-songwriter of Acadian heritage. She has been the bass guitarist and co-vocalist for the Canadian indie rock band Eric's Trip since its formation in 1990. She has released ten solo albums, beginning with 1996's Broken Girl, and is also the lead singer for the band Julie and the Wrong Guys.

Grievous Angels are a Canadian alternative country band, active since 1986. The band's name is a reference to the Gram Parsons album Grievous Angel. Their primary leader is singer-songwriter Charlie Angus, who entered electoral politics in 2004 as the New Democratic Party Member of Parliament for Timmins—James Bay.

Northern Lights Festival Boréal

Northern Lights Festival Boréal is an annual music festival in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. It is one of Canada's oldest music festivals in continuous operation, having been staged every year since 1972; although the Mariposa Folk Festival is nominally older, that festival was not staged in 1980 or 1981.

The Inbreds

The Inbreds were a Canadian alternative rock band formed in 1992. Originally from Kingston, Ontario, the band relocated to Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1996 and remained based there until breaking up in 1998. The band was a duo, consisting of vocalist/bassist Mike O'Neill and drummer Dave Ullrich.

Howie Beck is a Canadian musician, mixer and producer based in Toronto. He has been nominated for three Juno Awards in Canada on three occasions for Adult Alternative Album, Engineer of the Year and Producer of the Year (2017).

Eve Goldberg

Eve Goldberg is a Canadian folk musician, singer and songwriter from Toronto, Ontario. Musically, she draws from a number of different traditions and influences such as blues, country, bluegrass, jazz, swing, and contemporary and traditional folk music.

J. P. Cormier

John Paul "J.P." Cormier, is a Canadian bluegrass/folk/Celtic singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. To date he was won thirteen East Coast Music Awards and one Canadian Folk Music Award.

Canadian blues

Canadian blues is the blues and blues-related music performed by blues bands and performers in Canada. Canadian blues artists include singers, players of the main blues instruments: guitar, harmonica, keyboards, bass and drums, songwriters and music producers. In many cases, blues artists take on multiple roles. For example, the Canadian blues artist Steve Marriner is a singer, harmonica player, guitarist, songwriter and record producer.

Metalwood is a Canadian jazz band from Toronto, Ontario. the band was active in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and reunited in 2016. The members are saxophonist Mike Murley, pianist Brad Turner, bassist Chris Tarry and drummer Ian Froman.

Jenny Whiteley is a Canadian country and folk singer-songwriter. She was a member of the band Heartbreak Hill, and released several solo albums of folk music. She has won two Juno Awards for her music.

Gary Kendall Canadian bassist, vocalist and band leader

Gary Kendall is a Canadian bassist, vocalist and band leader, best known for his longstanding association with the Downchild Blues Band and co-creator of the Kendall Wall Band.

Tryin' To Start Out Clean was the debut album released by Canadian singer-songwriter Willie P. Bennett and was released as an LP album by his own label, Woodshed Records in 1975 (WS-004). The album was recorded and mixed at Thunder Sound, Toronto, January–February, 1975, after Bennett had been playing for some time with his bluegrass group, the Bone China Band. He promoted the songs from the album during his solo performances.

Steve Dawson is a Canadian guitarist, singer and music producer. Dawson has produced albums by Jim Byrnes, Kelly Joe Phelps, Old Man Luedecke, The Sojourners, and The Deep Dark Woods. He has won two Juno Awards. He frequently collaborates with keyboardist Chris Gestrin, bassist Keith Lowe and drummer Georr Hicks. He has been a member of the duo Zubot & Dawson, and of the group The Great Uncles of the Revolution.

The Angstones were a Canadian band based in Ottawa, Ontario. Their music combines European and American folk music with humorous lyrics and jazz rhythms. The last lineup for this group consisted of Peter Kiesewalter on reeds and accordion, Kurt Walther on guitar, Rob Frayne on sax, John Geggie on bass, and Ian Mackie on drums. Members of this band also performed with Fat Man Waving.

Diana Braithwaite

Diana Braithwaite is a Canadian electric blues singer, songwriter and screenwriter. She is a multiple Maple Blues Award winner. More recently she has teamed up with Chris Whiteley and they have been acclaimed as "blues icons" by the Toronto Star, and collectively have won nine Maple Blues Awards and had six Juno Award nominations. Although they are little known in the United States, Diana Braithwaite and Chris Whiteley are mainstays of the Canadian blues scene.

Handsome Ned was the stage name of Robin David Masyk, a Canadian country singer and songwriter. Although he only released a small number of singles and was never widely known outside of Toronto during his lifetime, he has been credited as the catalyst for an early-1980s country music and roots rock revival in Toronto which paved the way for acts such as Blue Rodeo, Prairie Oyster, Skydiggers and Cowboy Junkies to break through to greater fame, and as one of the key figures in the transformation of the city's Queen Street West district into a cultural hotspot.

Caitlin Hanford is an American and Canadian country and bluegrass singer and a music teacher. She is a member of the group Quartette and also the band The Marigolds. She is the ex-wife of musician Chris Whiteley.

Kenneth Whiteley is a multi-instrumentalist, producer and composer. He began performing folk music in the early 1970s, making frequent appearances at the Mariposa Folk Festival and recording and touring with acclaimed children's performer Raffi. Whiteley frequently performed with his brother Chris Whiteley and later with his niece and nephew Jenny Whiteley and Daniel Whiteley. Whiteley has been honoured with numerous awards, including a Genie Award in 2004, and he was inducted into the Mariposa Festival Hall of Fame in 2008.

The Slocan Ramblers are a Canadian bluegrass music group from Toronto, Ontario. They are most noted for their 2018 album Queen City Jubilee, which received a Juno Award nomination for Traditional Roots Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2019.

References

  1. "O Brother, Where Art Thou Sister?". Maclean's Magazine, May 22 2006.
  2. "Over Heartbreak: Dottie Cormier's country recovery". NOW Toronto, by Tim Perlich, November 15, 2001
  3. 1 2 Larry LeBlanc (11 April 1998). Bluegrass Thrives in Northern Niche. Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 72. ISSN   0006-2510.
  4. "In harmony with your family roots". The Globe and Mail, Carl Wilson, TORONTO, December 14, 2000
  5. "Heartbreak Hill paints grass blue". Medicine Hat News, Medicine Hat, Alberta, January 15, 1999
  6. "Heartbreak Hill". NOW Magazone, Dec 10, 1998
  7. "JunoFest preview: 'Doesn't everybody's mom have two Junos?' Jenny Whiteley's daughters say". Lynn Saxberg, Ottawa Citizen, March 23, 2017
  8. "Jennny Whiteley - Following family footsteps". No Depression, December 31, 2006
  9. "Live Reviews: The Stardust Picnic". Chart Attack, July 11, 1999, Howard Druckman
  10. "CONCERT REVIEW Toronto band heats up Tulip audience". The Ottawa Citizen, Ottawa, Canada, May 23, 1999, Page 15