Destiny then brought Rommel to Canada in 2006. Fate couldn’t have played a better trick. By bringing the young musician to a multicultural environment, life exponentially increased Rommel’s amazing artistic skills. The first musical encounter, with the People Project band,an inter-cultural, multi-lingual international musical collective exploring music from around the world, turned out to become an even greater synergic reunion. Formed by young artists from different parts of the Americas (Canada, Mexico, Brazil), the gathering resulted in an explosion of talents in which each one of the musicians greatly influenced each other. People Project and Rommel’s performances at Café Nostálgica (a cultural hot-spot in Ottawa known for its diversity, its warmth and its ongoing support for the arts) became legendary among the Ottawa’s musical scene. By mesmerizing the audience week after week, the artists succeeded in creating a small legion of fans who religiously attended the group’s performances. Rommel also has participated in People Project on a number of occasions and continues to do so. Among the more prominent performances, he was featured with the group at “FESTIVAL INTERNATIONAL DE JAZZ DE MONTREAL“, “OTTAWA INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL“, “GLOBAL GROOVES-TORONTO” and “OTTAWA BLUESFEST” among other festivals, where he collaborated on a mix of People Project and Rommel’s original material.

Rommel has just completed his month tour back home and is preparing to start at school in Montreal. He is gracing Ottawa’s Mercury Lounge stage for his return performance!

Friday September 19th 22:00 Mercury Lounge Ottawa

The bar room prophet himself, Neville Quinlan is clever and modest. You could become his drinking buddy simply by showing up at one of his haunts and sidling next to him for a few pints, a cigarette and easy conversation. Mark Kesper is easygoing and maintains the wheel of the N.Q. touring vehicle. Pete Kesper on guitar is a Leo, likes surprises and is quick to admit he’s only in it because he likes the music. No illusions of fame and glory. John Dinsmore, on bass, is the definition of calm but he carries a big stick.

The lyrics take you from lamp lit Toronto streets to your local bar where the regulars are waiting. Neville’s voice acts as sandpaper making rough things smooth and smooth things rough. Brief love affairs are epic and a road trip with pals lasts three minutes. The loping rhythms are drenched in tasty cowboy guitar licks and create an urban wild west sound. The songs are lyrical and gritty and are snapshots of sweetness and loss seen through a few bottles of beer.

If you’re in the Ottawa area for the Bluesfest, pencil these guys into your schedule. Absolutely worth seeing, trust us.

Just two days after writing Tony D’s name down on a TCR profile to-do list, I ran into him on a local Ottawa OC Transpo bus! Freshly frozen from dental surgery, I couldn’t miss my opportunity to present Tony with a fancy blue TransCanadaRadio business card! So, armed with a card and covering my swollen, drooling mouth with one hand, I stumbled towards him and told him about my plans to profile him on the site. He was super friendly and joked with me about my drool-shielding hand. Card in hand, I made an impression, there’s no doubt about it! So you, my readers, can look forward to an upcoming interview with Mr. Tony D himself in the very near future! For now, here’s a profile on this amazing musician. Do yourself a favour – check him out live. Pick up an album or two. You can hear some samples of them on his Myspace and on his official website. I promise you, you won’t be disappointed.

Along with nine European tours, national status in Canada and now seven albums under his belt, Tony D has established himself as a player and performer who really delivers the goods. At just 19 years of age, Tony had the pleasure of performing with the legendary Buddy Guy, starting a trend that would see him share the stage with such greats as Luther Allison, Bryan Adams and Michelle Shocked. A consummate performer, Tony D has supported the likes of both Stevie Ray and Jimmie Vaughan, Albert Collins, Robin Ford, Robert Cray, Koko Taylor and The Doobie Brothers. Tony has also toured throughout Europe with Jeff Healey in Denmark to rave reviews, including an outstanding performance in front of 20,000 crazed fans at the Skanderborg Festival. Another side of Tony that is not well known is his contribution to entertaining the Canadian troops for eight memorable days in war torn Bosnia and, in February 2003, in the Persian Gulf. These experiences changed his life. Tony has become so well respected in his home town by the blues community that when Gladys Knight cancelled out at Cisco Ottawa Blues Festival 2000, organizers turned to Tony who not only filled in but engaged the audience with a dynamic performance that drew the first standing ovation of the weekend. Since then, he’s held a main stage spot every year in support of the festival’s closing headliner. In 2001, Tony D performed a string of sold out theatre dates in Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton opening for Buddy Guy. Also that year, Tony D released his first full blown acoustic album, “The Size of Your Shoes’, which features songs co-written with Anders Osborne and duet performances with both acoustic blues artist Ken Hamm and New Orleans favourite son John Mooney on slide guitar. In 2004, Tony D returned to his maniacal brand of blues by releasing his 6th recording, a full band album titled ‘The Jook Joint’. Heavily influenced by the haunting sounds of the Mississippi delta, The Jook Joint is a blues cocktail part Muddy Waters, Jimi Hendrix and Argentinean Surf Tango. From the raw slide drenched My Baby’s So Far cradled by a hip hop beat to the feed back caresses of Hendrix’s If Six Was Nine and the instrumental Asstango. Tony describes this as a ”montage homage to all the great artists who paved the way before us. We raise the dead with respect and order another round”. In 2007, Tony D released a compilation cd of the last 15 years of his recordings titled “Shake For Me…Again”. Remastered selections and outtakes to previously unreleased material. If you want to know what the Tony D Band is all about, this has it all.

23 May 2008 20:00 The Fat Cat St. Johns, Newfoundland
24 May 2008 20:00 The Fat Cat St. Johns, Newfoundland
30 May 2008 20:00 La Basoche Alymer, Quebec