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When Matt Andersen steps on stage, he brings a lifetime of music to every note he plays. His latest album, The Big Bottle of Joy, is all about hard-won celebration; a dozen songs infused with raw blues-rock, rollicking Americana, thoughtful folk, and ecstatic gospel. Andersen’s stage presence, buoyed by his spectacular live band (also called The Big Bottle of Joy), is informed by decades of cutting his teeth in dusty clubs, dim-lit bars, and grand theatres all over the world, delivering soulful performances that run the gamut from intimate to wall-shaking. In the studio, he’s always brought the same attention to detail and commitment to craft as he has to his live show, and the result—a multi-faceted and poignant body of work—has led him to amass over 22 million streams on Spotify and 26 million views on YouTube. In addition to headlining major festivals, clubs and theatres throughout North America, Europe and Australia, he has shared the stage and toured with Marcus King, Beth Hart, Marty Stuart, Greg Allman, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Randy Bachman, Jonny Lang, Serena Ryder, and more. Andersen nabbed the 2013 and 2016 European Blues Awards for Best Solo/Acoustic Act, was the first ever Canadian to take home top honours in the solo category at the 2010 International Blues Challenge in Memphis, won the CIMA Road Gold award in 2015, and has won multiple Maple Blues Awards.
The Hello Darlins is an award winning collective of artists and special guests. Led by Mike Little, Murray Pulver, Candace Lacina and a powerhouse cast, the band combines all of their skills and influences to forge a distinct hybrid of country, gospel and blues like no other. Their work with artists includes a list that ranges from Shania Twain, The Crashtest Dummies, as well as the late B.B. King and more.
The buzz began building almost immediately after the Calgary, Alberta-based Americana collective debuted on the scene in early 2020, with American Songwriter calling the group “the product of a talented pool of session musicians craving more,” while Americana UK stated, “It’s great to see a band put together by the talented folks who would usually be ‘behind the scenes.’” With their debut Album “Go By Feel” released June 2021, The Darlins have quickly risen to international acclaim.
The album debuted at Number 4 on The Euro Americana Charts and was selected as the ABC Country Music Australia’s – Album of Choice. It has also been nominated for three Canadian Folk Music Awards for Emerging Artist of the Year, Ensemble of the Year and Single of the Year, as well as Awarded Songwriter of the Year at YYC Music awards.
The Hello Darlins began in 2016 when Lacina and Little worked together on a studio session for George Canyon and began collaborating as songwriters and producers. They duo wanted to write an Americana/Folk-roots project for fun, that was dedicated to creating classic sounding music using real instrumentation, classic instruments and no vocal tuning.
The band officially began to take shape when producer and friend, Murray Pulver suggested making a record. The goals were to keep it real, (go by feel) and create a sound that would translate live with no tracks or studio tricks. Bed tracks were recorded in Winnipeg and Calgary, and the 3 recorded the rest in a small basement studio. It was Mixed by Grammy Award Winning Engineer (Patti Griffin) Mike Poole.
The project is often referred to as “The Broken Social Scene of Americana” due to the number of professional musicians and guests performed with. Some of the artists and friends they have collaborated with so far include: Clayton Bellamy (Roadhammers), Murray Pulver, (Crashtest Dummies), Joey Landreth (Bros Landreth), Matt Kelly (City & Colour), Tammy Rogers (Grammy Award winning SteelDrivers) and Matt Andersen. The future possibilities for collaborations and partnerships are endless…and will hold many surprises!
The Hello Darlins hosted North Americana Night for the Canadian Country Music Awards and performed their first round of sold out shows in fall of 2019. The live show is energetic, engaging and everything you would expect from a stage of seasoned professionals.
The debut album has gained over half a million streams on Spotify and Apple Music, 12,000 monthly listeners, 3000+ radio and satellite stations nationally and internationally (primarily in Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and the Netherlands) and over 300 press reviews and interviews worldwide so far. They were signed to a European tour for 2022 within the first week of their release and have a lineup of shows and tours planned in when restrictions allow. A second album is also already in the works. Until then, audiences will now be able to fully savour the tunes, musicianship and production of Go By Feel, proof positive that teamwork ultimately leads to exceptional results.
Rent The Aeolian
The Aeolian is a beautiful, unique, award-winning location to host your event.
While particularly renowned for its acoustic/live music presentations, the Aeolian is a versatile facility and can also host conferences and fundraisers.
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Look no further than a gift card for The Aeolian. This is a perfect gift for any lover of music and the arts.