spring: the season where i finally leave the house

May 14, 2013

Winter is lovely, but spring is the thing, and with that in mind I would like to introduce an idea that we’ve been batting around here at Young Novelists HQ. We’re going to start telling folks about the music we’re listening to, bands we’ve played with, bands we love, and we’re going to start today. Without further ado, let me introduce:

THE BAND OF THE WEEK: Rachael Cardiello. The first installment is apropos because Rachael and her band are releasing an album this Thursday (at the Tranzac) titled “Warm Electric Winter”. Laura & I had a chance to play a short opening set for them during their Sunday residency (6-8pm) at Cameron House and then watch them tear through a sweet set of songs. Rachael is a fantastic songwriter and plays a mean viola. Her band consisted of upright bass, keys, guitar, and drums (from a fill-in drummer, who was still quite impressive) and the arrangements were tight. Any band that can slide into waltz-time from straight 4/4 gets a high-five.

Rachael Cardiello and James Burrows
Rachael Cardiello and James Burrows

 

A SUMMER OF FESTIVALS. We are vastly excited to announce we’ll be playing at the Mariposa Folk Festival (July 5-7) this summer! It’s one of the most fantastic folk festivals out there, so grab tickets from their website and join us in Orillia for a weekend of amazing music. We’ll also be playing at the Burlington Sound of Music Festival (Saturday June 15th at 8:15PM), which is a free festival in (guess where) Burlington! Besides that we’ll be hunkering down for a hometown festival: NXNE, where we’ll be playing on Thursday June 13th at the sweet sweet Dakota Tavern at 1AM.

We’re also really really happy to be playing again at the Blacksheep Inn on Friday June 14th, opening for the Mike Plume Band. It should be the kind of show where people dance until their shirts disappear and things get real awesome. Hope we see you there!

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graydon’s debut novel: “The Mall of Small Frustrations” is now available!

April 19, 2013

In case you hadn’t heard, I’ve been working hard to make the band name slightly less ironic. That means: I’ve finally finished my first full-on novel, “The Mall of Small Frustrations”, and it’s now out in the world! I’m a young novelist…if you consider that the median age for novelists is 53.

The book launch is less than two weeks away at Hugh’s Room on Thursday, May 2nd! Call (416-531-6604) and get tickets now, make a dinner reservation, and join us for a night of literature, folk music, and tea.

For those who can’t make it to Hugh’s Room for May 2nd, you can buy the book right now in our Store.

Today is also the first day of our Small Frustrations tour to the east coast, so just a reminder to join us for a show if you can, or spread the word. Here are the quick & dirty details in the Shows page!

the mall of small frustrations

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novels & novelists…on tour!

March 26, 2013

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Remember taking road trips back in the days before portable DVD players? I went on a family trip to the east coast when I was twelve. We went for two weeks. I believe I brought about a dozen books. My parents got mad at me and my brother for missing all the beautiful scenery. What can I tell you, we were full-on book-loving nerds.

Well this time, Laura & I are heading to the east coast and it will be slightly more surreal, because the books we will be bringing along are books that I wrote! By this Thursday (March 28th) I will have the first physical review copy of my debut literary novel, “The Mall of Small Frustrations” in my hands. Hopefully it will be error-free and ready to be printed by the bushel! The cover design was done by Adam Therrien, and he did a fantastic job. Here’s what that cover looks like!

the mall of small frustrations
The tour will be a whirlwind, but we’re looking forward to seeing old friends and making new ones as we cruise through the ridiculously beautiful landscape. This time, I will see the sights, I promise! The tour culminates in a big full-band show at Hugh’s Room in Toronto — the official book launch for the novel. It will be a huge show, hosted by David Newland and featuring a songwriter circle with Ron Hawkins, Stephen Stanley, and Andrea Ramolo!

I am excited, to say the least. Here are the tour dates, please spread the word and join us where you can:

Thu April 11 – KITCHENER, ON – Cafe Pyrus (16 Charles St W)
FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/573246702693634/

Sun April 14 – TORONTO, ON – Campbell House Museum: The Listening Party Series (160 Queen St W)
FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/308981772563998/

Thu April 18 – HAMILTON, ON – The Pearl Company (16 Steven St) w/Ben Somer
FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/500152000047648/

Fri April 19 – KINGSTON, ON – The Mansion (506 Princess St) w/Little Stella and Highs
FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/519740441410521/

Sat April 20 – TROIS-RIVIÉRES, QC – Café-Bar Le Zénob (171 Rue Bonaventure)
FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/436239086459828/

Sun April 21 – QUEBEC CITY, QC – Café Babylone (181 Saint-Vallier Est), matinee 4-7PM
FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/318251818300796/

Mon April 22 – SACKVILLE, NB – Bridge Street Cafe (8 Bridge St), matinee 3-6PM
FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/107576852769763/

Tue April 23 – FREDERICTON, NB – House Concert
Contact info@theyoungnovelists.com for more details
FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/128375234016603/

Wed April 24 – MONCTON, NB – Plan B (212 St.George St)
FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/322767147846818/

Thu April 25 – HALIFAX, NS – The Carleton (1685 Argyle Street) w/Belle Starr
FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/362118070568901/

Fri April 26 – ST. ANDREWS, NB – Red Herring Pub (211 Water St)
FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/446219005452623/

Sat April 27 – BREADALBANE, PEI – The Dunk (3864 Dixon Rd [Rte 246])
FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/496542677049372/

Thu May 2 (BOOK RELEASE) – TORONTO – Hugh’s Room (2261 Dundas St W)
Doors at 7pm // Show at 8:30pm // $15 adv or $20 door
Hosted by writer/musician David Newland
Featuring a songwriter-in-the-round with Ron Hawkins, Stephen Stanley (Lowest of the Low), and Andrea Ramolo (Scarlett Jane)
FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/130690903780845/

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what’s the noise?

March 5, 2013

What disparate and random acts of creative whatchamacallit are we working on these days? Graydon has been putting the finishing touches on his novel, titled “The Mall of Small Frustrations”, which will be launched at Hugh’s Room on Thursday May 2nd! The night will be hosted by David Newland and will feature a songwriter-in-the-round with Ron Hawkins, Stephen Stanley, and Andrea Ramolo as well as a performance by the now-ironically-named band in one of the best listening rooms in the country.  We’re very excited about this show, and hope that you’ll be able to join us!

But before that happens, we are doing a few out-of-town shows and we’ll be part of Canadian Music Week here in Toronto. We’re quite highly jazzed to be playing two shows with The Allens, they’re a London-based band that sounds like $10 billion dollars worth of awesome, and their new album is an actual explosion of good times. We’ll be with them in Windsor at The Phog Lounge on Friday March 8th, and in Sarnia at the Trinity Lounge on Saturday March 9th. We’ll also be doing an in-store performance at The Cheeky Monkey record store Saturday afternoon, so if you love Sarnia and vinyl and human beings and hot cocoa then come on by. At least two of those things will be readily available at The Cheeky Monkey!

Our CMW show is at The Dakota Tavern on Tuesday March 19th at the crack of midnight! CMW is one of the craziest music festivals this city has to offer. But speaking of crazy: we also recently took part in the Folk Alliance music conference, which took place over five days at the Delta Chelsea in Toronto. Ever wondered what it’s like to go to a folk music conference? Well, here’s a short video taken at 1:30AM (yes…AM!) in the hallway of the 9th floor of the hotel:

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february cameron house duo residency

February 7, 2013

Starting on Monday February 11th, Graydon and Laura will be playing the front room of the Cameron House as a duo every Monday in February at 10pm as a prelude to their upcoming east coast tour in April and VIA Rail west coast tour in May. They’ll be joined by special guests Shawna Caspi (Feb 11th), Joel Battle (Feb 18th), and Scoop Trumbull & the Wrong Notes (Feb 25th). Check out the Facebook event here!

fancy poster for graydon and laura's february cameron house residency

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big smoke music festival

January 24, 2013

We’re excited to be playing as part of the The Big Smoke Music Festival on Thursday January 24th at 9pm.   It’s a three day music festival happening at Tallboys – Craft Beer House (838 bloor St W, just East of Ossington) in Toronto, and it features some pretty great bands like Sorry Ok Yes, DIANA, [...]

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egg nog, merriment, and thank yous

January 2, 2013

The only way 2012 could have been better is if we had played a concert on Mars.  What a year!  We traveled to the east coast a couple of times, made many new friends, recorded and released an album, played more shows, grew funkadelic mustaches, and also managed to play with a few of our musical idols (check [...]

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sharing stages & mustachioed glory

November 22, 2012

We have a few shows before the holiday season sweeps down and eclipses us all with hectic merriment, and we’re very proud to be sharing the stage with several fantastic bands, new and old. It’s a rare honour to open for a band that has influenced the way we make music, and it’s happening twice [...]

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we love to hit the boards

October 29, 2012

We’ve had a residency at the Cameron House — every Wednesday through the month of October — and it has been a whiskey-fueled onslaught of good times, hanging out, and occasionally making music. We’ve had two special guests at each show, and it has been a truly amazing time hosting some of our good friends [...]

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someday we hope to achieve kardashian-level publicity…

October 1, 2012

With our official album release only a few scant weeks behind us, we’ve been rolling in sweet sweet album reviews and chortling in the same fashion as Scrooge McDuck swimming through his vault of gold coins. It’s been a great autumn so far! Our very heartfelt thanks to any and all folks who review albums [...]

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