SEMINAL CANADIAN INDEPENDENT RECORD LABEL CELEBRATES 35 YEARS WITH A LIVE CONCERT SERIES
INCLUDES PERFORMANCES FROM COWBOY JUNKIES, SKYDIGGERS, LEE HARVEY OSMOND, JERRY LEGER, HARPACASH & THE MORALS AND MORE
MARCH 22, MARCH 29, APRIL 5 & APRIL 12 AT THE MONARCH TAVERN
PURCHASE TICKETS HERE
WATCH THE NEW VIDEO FOR LEE HARVEY OSMOND’S “LOSER WITHOUT YOUR LOVE” HERE
In 1982, while living in the UK, Michael Timmins and Alan Anton, were inspired by the independent label scene that sprung up around the English punk scene and created Latent Recordings. Latent subsequently released a 45rpm single of their first band Hunger Project and two albums by their second band Germinal. Upon returning to Toronto and forming Cowboy Junkies, they used Latent to release the band’s first album Whites Off Earth Now!! and then, in 1987, the bands' ground breaking The Trinity Session.
Now, Latent Recordings is celebrating 35 years of releasing iconic music with Latent Lounge, a very special live concert series in Toronto at The Monarch Tavern. The series will include headlining performances from iconic Canadian acts Cowboy Junkies and Skydiggers as well as multi JUNO Award nominated and Polaris Music Prize listed Lee Harvey Osmond and a very special album release performance from acclaimed songwriter Jerry Leger whose new double album Heartache And Nonsense is set for release onMarch 31. Openers include label mates HarpAcash & The Morals, Latent alumni Ivy Mairi and special guest Thompson Wilson.
Each evening will also include a set of Latent Recording artists and friends joining each other for a set of themed cover sets. They include The Songs Of Lou Reed, Dead Heroes (The songs of David Bowie, Leonard Cohen, Prince, Johnny Thunders, Joe Strummer and more), Trinity Session (Songs from Cowboy Junkies’ The Trinity Session) and Canadiana (Favourite songs by Canadian artists). All dates and performers are listed below.
WATCH THE NEW VIDEO FOR LEE HARVEY OSMOND’S “LOSER WITHOUT YOUR LOVE” HERE
As he muses on Latent Recording’s beginnings Michael Timmins remembers that, “we found that the indie label scene in Canada was very undeveloped relative to the UK and US scene. I think we were one of the few artist run labels at the time, and there was very little infrastructure to support a true independent. So we cobbled together a very loose association of indie distributors in order to get our album in to independent record stores across North America and in to the hands of reviewers and college radio stations.”
The overwhelming success of The Trinity Session lead to the band being signed to BMG. Michael continued to run Latent Recordings through the 1990's and released albums by John Bottomley, The Corndogs and Pat Temple.
In 1999 the band decided to return to Latent and set up an active on-line business and a series of distribution and licensing deals with various partners around the globe. Over the following ten years the band sold over 500,000 albums worldwide through Latent Recordings. In 2009 the band decided to expand Latent to once again include other artists. Over the past eight years Latent has recorded and released over twenty albums including releases by Skydiggers, Lee Harvey Osmond, The Good Family and the acclaimed Polaris Music Prize listed The Kennedy Suite.
“It's been a long and eventful journey. I think that the forming and running of Latent is one of the big reasons that the band (Cowboy Junkies) has been able survive and flourish for so long,” says Michael Timmins. “We never felt hampered or intimidated by the restraints of the industry because, no matter what direction we wanted to go in, we knew that we had an entity through which we could get our music out there to our audience. We could do massive projects like the Nomad Series and The Kennedy Suite or a few low-key cover songs that we could send out solely through the internet. With the latest phase of Latent we are enjoying working with some long-time friends like the Skydiggers and Tom Wilson as well as being inspired by the energy and enthusiasm of a younger generation like Jerry Leger, The Morals and Ivy Mairi.”
In 2017 Latent Recordings plans new releases by Jerry Leger (March 31), Cowboy Junkies, Lee Harvey Osmond, Skydiggers and the American singer-songwriter John Murry.
LATENT LOUNGE
March 22: Lee Harvey Osmond, Thompson Wilson and The Songs Of Lou Reed
March 29: Cowboy Junkies, HarpAcash & The Morals and Dead Heroes
April 5: Jerry Leger (Nonsense and Heartache Album Release Show), Ivy Mairi and Trinity Session
April 12: Skydiggers, Jerry Leger and Canadiana
LATENT RECORDINGS:
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