The Juno awards are ruling the Twitterverse this week. In a press conference on Tuesday, some big reveals were made and now you can see for yourself on the Juno website exactly which rockstars will be gracing our fine city come April. What you may not know is that the Junos are much more than just a televised awards show that you can't go to because you're broke. There's a whole weekend of crazy events (some of them free) that you can be a part of! A rundown? Sure. Because there is a lot to remember, and it can get kind of confusing in your starstruck state. 

Indian Handcrafts are heading to Moose Jaw next week, on their tour with Billy Talent. Here's some things you may not know about the band.

Now in its 31st year, CANADIAN MUSIC WEEK is recognized as one of the premier entertainment events in North America focusing on the business of music. Combining informative, intensive conferences and cutting edge trade exhibition it is Canada’s biggest New Music Festival. Canadian Music Fest spans six nights of performances, with 1,000 showcasing bands at more than 60 live music venues in downtown Toronto.  

Some of our own local talent has been accepted to this prestigious festival! We connected with a few of them to talk about their upcoming shows and what they're most excited for this year at CMW. Read on to find out what Blake Berglund, Braindead Romeo, Indigo Joseph, Andy Shauf, Foam Lake, and Fur Eel have to say about the upcoming week.

Blake Berglund

Where Blake Berglund's Performing

We will be performing at the Cadillac Lounge on Friday, March 22 @ 2:00 am.

His Past Experience with CMW

This will be my second year attending Canadian Music Week - I attended the conference last year and will be showcasing this year as part of an Ontario tour we have scheduled.

What he's Most Excited for

I'm most excited for Astral's Radio Star Competition on Saturday - we are there on behalf of Astral Radio and Big Dog 92.7 representing Saskatchewan with our song "High Water or Hell" - for a grand prize of over $10,000.

One Fun Fact about the Band

I toured in a pseudo-metal/hard rock band for ten years across Canada before coming back to my Saskatchewan roots to write and perform Country music.

http://www.blakeberglund.com/ 

The Regina Folk Festival Lineup was unveiled this morning, in a melodramatic moment of blinding brilliance, crashing cymbals, and soaring symphonic scores. At least, that's how it went down in my house. Folk Fest is the biggest deal. 

Much to my complete excitement, this year is going to be a little of this:

A bit of this:

And, yes, this too:

Click through to reginafolkfestival.com to see the full lineup, and then let us know in the comments: Are you going? Who are you most excited to see? 

"Paste, in conjunction with HGTV, present their ninth annual series of day parties in Austin, TX during SXSW.  NoiseTrade is pleased to offer up this sampler of artists who will be appearing at The Stage On Sixth March 13-16, including The Lone Bellow, Josh Ritter, Billy Bragg, Ivan & Alyosha, and City & Colour, to name a few." -Noisetrade

Click HERE to go over to Noisetrade's site and download this 30-song sampler for FREE. I did. 

What can I say? All this talk of Folk Fest and CMW and the like has me in the mood for lots and lots and lots of music. 

This Thursday, March 14, is the third run-off night of the Queen City Rocks Battle of the Bands competition at the Exchange. Indigo Joseph and Prop Planes will be joined in the final round by the winner of Thursday's battle, which will consist of fifteen-minute sets from Magnetic, Iron Bison, In Darkness, Royal Red Brigade, and Whiskey Manner. The evening is $10 and starts at 7pm. 

Also on Thursday: the Regina Folk Festival's 2013 lineup will be announced - making March 14 officially the Fourth Happiest Day of the Year. (The First, Second, and Third happiest days are, of course, the first, second, and third days of Folk Fest which, this year, will fall on August 9, 10, and 11. 

And, because this Thursday's already killing it, it is also the beginning of the second annual Lancaster Music Fest, featuring 22 of Regina's own and best musicians (Coldest Night of the Year, Lonesome Weekends, Danny Goertz, and Fur Eel, just to name a few). The festival runs from March 14 to March 17 at the Lancaster Taphouse. 

The poll for the national long list in CBC'S Searchlight competition closes this Sunday, March 17 at midnight ET. The results will be revealed Monday, March 18 at 3pm ET. Saskatchewan's own Close Talker is on that list - so do the right thing: get over there and get voting!

As always, continue to keep an eye on our events calendar to find out who's playing where this week. There are some great shows coming up and you don't want to miss out.

Happy Tuesday!

It has been like this every single year for as long as I can remember; winter sucks the soul right out of my being, I become an unmotivated, unindustrious slug of a person, I forget how to do everything except eat and mope, and then, when the suns appears to be setting on my miserable, miserable existence, the morning of March 1 rolls around, and everything inside me screams, "YES! IT'S SPRING!" 

It's not really spring though. You and I both know that the vernal equinox is set to fall on Wednesday, March 20. But there's something about being in the right month. It's like being in the same room as a famous person: you're not famous, but you could reach out and punch someone who is famous right in the mouth. And then you would be famous for punching a famous person in the mouth. The situation is so ripe with potential--and sometimes, potential is enough. 

Speaking of potential, and speaking of March, and speaking of spring, here is a potential list of five things that you could do in March while you're waiting for spring:

Happy March everyone! Tomorrow is my birthday so I made a playlist of some songs that I am really liking right now. It's a bit of a different mix this time, but I hope you enjoy :)

1. Rumble and Sway-Jamie Commons

2. Fall Over- Banks