You may recall Corin Raymond from his visit on the show in July and you may have heard about his unique mission to pay for his new album with Canadian Tire money. Both have endeared him here at TTBTGH, and he’s just the kind of hard-working, fun-loving guy we like to support here. We’ve been spinning the new discs for a while now, and I can tell you that they are a delight.

We’re hoping to get Corin on Steel Belted Radio before his shows in Winnipeg. In the meantime, here’s his funny newsletter announcing those shows. I hope to see you there and I encourage you to pick up his new album, which is amazing to listen to, look at, and just admire.

Winnipeg friends,

  Yesterday I shipped two boxes of Paper Nickels your way so that they’ll be there, safe and sound, for the two-night CD Release party at Times Change(d) on Friday and Saturday April 5th and 6th. Details at a glance:

Friday & Saturday April 5th/6th, 2013
Corin Raymond and The Sundowners
PAPER NICKELS ALBUM RELEASE!
at Times Change(d) High and Lonesome Club in Winnipeg, MB
Doors 8:30pm Show 10pm

$15/night or $25/both nights (totally different show each night)
Advance tickets available at Times (234 Main St. Tel: (204) 957-0982)
or at Into the Music (B-245 McDermot Ave, at King and McDermot (204) 287-8279)

http://www.highandlonesomeclub.ca
http://intothemusic.ca
I’m required to ship these bad boys because they take up too much room for me to carry ’em with me. Each hard-cover copy of Paper Nickels contains two discs and 144 pages. It’s the first of its kind. It’s definitely the first album in Canadian history whose recording costs were paid for with Canadian Tire money (by the way, friends, we hit the rarified peak of Mt. McTire a couple weeks ago, reaching the $7,333.75 total of the bill from The Rogue Music Lab here in Toronto… more on that soon). It’s the first coffee table CD, with 50 pages devoted to the story of the Great Canadian Tire Money Caper of 2012-13, the words and chords to all twenty songs, as well as 30 pages of stories about the songs themselves. The twenty-song playlist features 17 different writers, all friends of mine, all peers, all writers whose work I discovered over a decade of adventures in the Small Time.

More than a quarter of the album is Winnipeg material. Paper Nickels features songs by Scott Nolan, Andrew Neville, Ridley Bent, and (three by) Rob Vaarmeyer. The seed of the whole crazy Tire Caper began in Winnipeg, when RV came up with the words:
don’t spend it honey
not the Canadian Tire money
we saved it so long
we saved it so long

(followed by the further genius of):

jolly Scotch bonnet
it’s got the cute little Scotsman on it
we saved it so long
we saved it so long
Rob Vaarmeyer is one of the greatest (and most Canadian) songwriters we’ve got. Stompin’ Tom may have died two weeks ago today (rest his Canadian soul), but his spirit is a lot more alive and kicking than the general population is led to believe. I don’t think I’m going out on a limb when I say that Stompin’ Tom would’ve loved songs like “Don’t Spend It Honey,” “Ol’ Fort Mac,” and “A Big Truck Brought It.” As would any Stompin’ Tom fans! Those three tunes are Canadian songs, all written by RV (“Big Truck” was picked as Top Track in this recent review by Toronto’s NOW Magazine), which is appropriate, because there’s a lot of Winnipeg talent at the fleshy heart of this whole project.

And that’s what Paper Nickels is all about: turning people all over this country onto great songs they might never hear otherwise.

It’s also the first album I’ve made entirely with my band The Sundowners (featuring David Baxter, Treasa Levasseur, and Brian Kobayakawa). There are about 7 Juno nominations between us (and a couple wins) and not one of ’em belongs to me. I lovethis band. We’ve been playing together for nine years and although they’ve all appeared on my previous albums (Doghouse Dreams, Travelling Show, Record Lonesome Night,There Will Always Be A Small Time), this is the very first album we’ve made as a band. Just us, as we are, recorded live at The Tranzac here in Toronto last year.

And this is the first time I’ve managed to corral The Sundowners and bring us all to Winnipeg. And I want to stress that we are doing TWO TOTALLY DIFFERENT SHOWSon those two nights. Two full evenings of songs and stories and we might repeat two of those songs. There’s a deal if you buy tickets for both nights and I don’t want to say you’ll regret it if you don’t (who the hell am I to tell you what you’ll regret?) but… you’ll regret it if you don’t. I only tell you this because I love you.

And now the albums are heading your way on a Greyhound. And t-shirts too. Don’t forget those. And hey, if you can’t make the shows but you want to have your best mailbox day ever, everything you need to order Paper Nickels, or a shirt, is right HERE. Two weeks and two days! I can’t wait. I hope you feel the same way and as always, I remain,

Promotionally yours,

Corin

http://www.corinraymond.com