Tell Me Stories Podcast With Paula Allen

Bry Webb is the frontman for The Constantines, one of my most beloved bands. Stemming from their start in 1999 they traveled and toured and put out 4 full length albums and 2 EPs, skyrocketed to indie fame and broke up in about 2010. Then in 2014/15 they hit the scene again, hard. The Constantines, or Cons, as they're known on the indie scene, played Massey Hall May 27, 2015 - one of the most pivotal moments in my life even tough I wasn't there (oh I wanted to be but you will hear why I didn't make it to that show and you can find that exact show through Live at Massey Hall ) and reignited that love of a truly great Canadian rock band.  Bry Webb joins me after he played Riverfest and while he only hinted at what was to come for The Constantines it lit a spark of hope that I would get to see this band live again, to return to a place and time of stunningly great lyrics, hard hitting drum lines and that fender strat lifted overhead calling the crowd to their feet. And keeping them there all night.  www.theconst

The Slackers are the kind of New York Ska band your momma warned you about, they live up to every expectation possible in ska love and you know damned well I was into ska in the 90's like every other good natured music geek. Getting to finally meet and sit down with Marcus Geard was nothing short of brilliant and the culmination of my 15 year old self's every joy. Marcus did not disappoint and I managed to capture so much of his life story he almost missed his ride out of town.  The Slackers are touring now - GO see them live, this is the kind of band you literally HAVE to see live to understand the depth of talent here. Ska has an unfortunate tendency to disappear in the recording - they are like the jazz of almost-rock, you will never see the same show twice and that's one of the few times that is a good thing. Its a living breathing animal on stage and I'm not talking about Marcus' stash. The music has to be lived to be heard properly. There, you will fall in love.  Marcus and I feel in deep deep like, mak

That one time though, there was a snake.  But its a real thing to walk into a room of 12 rockstars and tell their tour manager (not quiet enough) that you need to move the interview to a different greenroom because there's a live, loose boa constrictor in the building and you can't record in the studio you'd booked because, well - the snake was last seen in that area.  Police were called. Animal control was called. More beers please was called, mostly to calm nerves but also because the fucking Sheepdogs were there to perform as BROS.  Let me clear that up: Sheepdogs frontman Ewan Currie started a side project with his brother and fellow Sheepdog Shamus and they are so big time that their first foray into this thing - they are traveling with a 9 piece band.  If you don't know what normal bands travel with I will let you know it is NOT even close to a 9 piece band. Most smaller projects, or bands in general, have trouble affording travel with the entire band itself. Let alone adding extras. These guys can add

This week on TMS I host Justin Rutledge, and I don't want to blow your minds but he has played with Dolly Parton. Yes. My personal white whale ebbs ever closer my loves. Justin blew my mind actually when we talked about how he writes.  www.justinrutledge.com A love note to my listeners: You'll note I didn't do a retrospective on the year and this is mostly because so much happened I am not sure what to include and what to leave for another round. This time last year I had just pressed GO LIVE on my podcast and sat with bated breath to see if anyone, anywhere would consider downloading it and listening to me.  I spent hundreds, HUNDREDS of hours editing, ripping, recording and trying with all my might and then-skill-level (which has improved!) to produce a show I love. I hit refresh and saw a download. It was my husband in the next room and I could hear him giggling softly when he heard my breath draw in at the sight of that one single download that meant the world to me. A few more downloads trickled in and I

Well I stacked the deck here babies! You're gonna hear new music from a band called Stella Ella Ola who are so much fun its not fair to other bands, except Busty and the Bass are super damned fun too on stage. They weren't as much fun off stage so I had to cut the balls off my interview w/ Busty. Sorry about that guys, but I'm not going to air crap, and that's literally all it was. I loved the interview with Stella's crew and Kardinal Official is so busy and talented I've never felt so lazy! But it was awesome to get to sit down with them all, even Busty's crew (save one asshat) because they all had stories to tell and were willing to share. That's all I ask. I keep the format simple, I make every effort possible to make people comfortable and allow them an "out" when they need it, which you will hear. But respect my time and talent as I am respecting yours bitches, its a simple task literally every other musician I have ever encountered has been capable of - but this one guy. So focus on the positive - I am

Sun K Official is a band to be reckoned with. At once rock with alt country tendencies they defy what it means to be a typical Canadian rock band - because they are anything but typical onstage and off. I sit down with Scott Tiller and Stuart Retallack of Sun K for stories on boots lost and found, confessions of a candy-aholic and basically everything in between.  Describing their sound is easy - its damned good. Explaining why is harder. They are tight performers but come off as breezy in person; they are talented on next-level scales but each time I see them they speak to the audience like its their first humble show (its incredibly endearing and disarming in a way that almost shocks the audience when they have their sh*t together so well on stage). Sitting down with them for the first time they are polite, too polite to take a beer (thanks again Elora Brewing Company!) but manage to grab one a few jokes in. They settle into the interview and quickly begin to show their humour, friendship and honestly - who

A few years ago Nils Edenloff's brother emailed him about visiting the homestead, the land they grew up on, in the wilds of rural Alberta, Canada. He worded it in such a way as a means to show he was hoping to recapture something there, a call-back, a memory place, a feeling of home, in some way to create an advantage to his life and sense of purpose in the world. He called it The Rural Alberta Advantage and in doing so, sparked a name for a project Nils was putting together with his musician folk at the time, Amy Cole and Paul Banwatt. They formed officially as the Rural Alberta Advantage or, RAA for those on the cusp of coolness, in 2006 and have released albums that have garnered them Juno awards and  the honour of being long listed for the Polaris Prize. Amy took a step back in September of this year but when I sat down with the band, this was already the new normal as Robin Hatch has stepped into the role of backing vocals, keyboard and bass pedal.   Here's the thing about RAA: they will not stop until y

Did everyone notice the hiatusI just took? Yeah, me too! With my show getting syndicated I've had little time to actually - like - DO THE SHOW, hahaha... With that said, I am back babies! This episode features Tim Baker of Hey Rosetta telling me stories that range from he and I taking the same university courses (small sociological world people) to his view on writing in music today. He's very east coast, his music is too. Don't know what I mean by that? You will. I include two of my current favourite songs by Hey Rosetta on this episode and if you aren't a fan by the end of it then hit up Youtube because you can hear more and settle on the beauty of it all by yourself. You'll get there, Paula is here to help :)   I kid. Everyone becomes a really quick lover of this band. Bands like this pick up fans fast because they put a lot into their tunes and make them both fun and meaningful. That's kinda what I mean by East Coast too. Listen and know. Thanks for sticking it out during the mild step back I took to prep

Drew and Danielle McTaggart are Dear Rouge. They are incredibly talented in their own rights but the two added together is literaly flipping magic - like, call Hogwarts already, this shit is incredible. Danielle's stage presence is nothing short of miraculous in its energy and talent, but when you see these kids lock eyes during a few songs and the silly grins they have with each other - says it all.  Drew tells me about marrying Danielle, and then losing his senses. Both stories are pretty much perfection. He was such an interesting character offstage and not at all what I expected. He was quietly funny and super open about his life, which as a story collector of the highest order (are you reading this CBC? yay!) made me super happy. In this episode you will hear their award winning "I heard I had" song and my favourite by them "Black to Gold". They won the 2016 Juno for Breakthrough Artist of the Year and deserve every accolade that comes with it.  www.dearrouge.com Find them on Spotify, Soundcloud, Bandcam

Just stop gentlemen, you are too adorable. Theses guys have that sunshiney West Coast feel, which is weird in Canada because... like... the west coast is notoriously rainy and gets the least amount of sun of almost anyplace else in this country. But BC must be doing something right because they keep turning out consistently talented musicians and this band appears to have nabbed MOST of them at once.  Daniel McBurnie, Graham Gomez, Alexa Unwin, Robert Hardie, Alex Hauka, Greg McLeod, Will Watson are Good For Grapes and their sound just plain good for you.  www.goodforgrapes.com Their current album The Ropes is available on Soundcloud, Bandcamp, Spotify and ITunes, so go check it out - and tweet at me #GoodforGrapesLOVE when you do.  All the best, see you next week. Paula

Julia was a left turn and one in the right direction. I loved this band for dance good times before they made a change-up and brought Kirty on board but what's happened since - no one could have predicted. Deep, meaningful, lasting impressions is the best way to describe their sound now. Did you ever listen to Pulp and feel like the rest of the songwriting world might be kidding themselves? Then you will love Fast Romantics and not just this resident music geek said so - because your ears won't lie. Matt and Kirty joined me after their outstanding set at Riverfest and talked about what this band's renaissance in its infancy felt like - and then told a brilliant story about accidentally impersonating Queens of the Stone Age and having Skrillex call them on it. Skrillex. Yeah, these kids run with the big dogs.  Listen in, listen up and enjoy. Their new single, Animal, is on Spotify now. xo Paula

Reuben Bullock is Reuben and The Dark. and its a dark and brooding feel to his music that so succinctly envelopes what I feel is "Canadian" about music its perfection. His 2014 album Funeral Sky already sounds Canadian, ever so melancholy and deeply thought through before a move is ever made - exactly what I love about this genre. Bow & Arrow is the current single from this release that's hitting the airwaves hard for something gentle and gorgeous.  Speaking of which, this other-wordly human sat down w/ me at Rivefest backstage in my mobile studio to smell the wood (not a euphemism), tell some stories and get to that place I love most - getting someone super classy and elegant to talk about telling someone to fuck off.  www.ruebenandthedark.com Also a quick shout out to dickatyourdoor.com who, funny enough, came up in this interview, take a listen at the end.  Podtoberfest 2016 takes place October 7 and 8th this year, head over to podtoberfest.com for details and sign up for Mixlr now to enjoy this one of

Fresh in the midst of their 2016 Album release Light The Sky, these two are making their way through Canada with an english album and holy hot damn, they are one of the best live performers I've ever witnessed. I liked their french work and was really excited they were releasing in english but I hadn't seen them live before and now that I have, the whole album sounds different to me - its even more alive and lit up and that's the beauty of a live show. It brings you newness, it gives you the chance to see them at what shoudl be their best - in front of a crowd of new and known fans. And they made some new fans that night for sure. They blew the crowd away and every single foot in that tent stage was dancing - they made absolute sure of it. Every inch of stage was used, every audience member became a part of the show and even in 5 inch heels - I was dancing too.  Thank you Radio Radio, I can't wait to see you on Montreal! www.laradioradio.com radioradio.bandcamp.com/music   www.bonsound.com/en/artist/radio-rad

The Zolas: Zachary Gray, Cody Hiles, Dwight Abell big fat sat down with me at Riverfest Elora and we talked about how Prince had a really weird rider that included lucky charms cereal and then about how Cody's shirt was straight-up stolen from his Mother In Law but was 100% worth it for the adorable factor alone. These guys are one of my absolute favourites and Molotov Girl (song featured in the pod) is not only the start song on my run playlist (an honour only the Arkells and flipping SIA have managed to be a part of previously) but hot-damn, I dare you not to love them after hearing it. Seeing them live is simply perfection in live music.    I can't say enough good things here. I heart this band too hard. They knew it, I know it and no one was sad about these facts. Please go see them with a little known band called The Strumbellas (whom i also interviewed this summer, only to lose it and ask Sam Roberts to act it out w/ me, and he did because he's a trooper and he freaking gets me) this year on their tour:

Sarah Blackwood and Ryan Marshall from Walk Off The Earth joined me backstage at Riverfest after their main stage performance to tell me stories! They loved the mobile studio, not only because you can close the dang door and concentrate, but also it had candy. That's right, I lure musicians into the back of a trailer with candy and beer to get them to tell me stories. And I am not apologizing for it! They just finished recording the video for Closer which you can now find on their YoutTube account as it likely goes viral :) www.walkofftheearth.com And support us here! Thanks to our Sponsors: Elora Brewing Company and Riverfest Elora.

Paul Murphy's dad likes Buddy Holly and Wintersleep. The latter works out well since Paul is the lead singer for this band, now topping the charts with their hit Amerika. You can hear this little ditty playing on my phone roughly every hour :) I sat down backstage with Paul, cracked open a few Elora Brewing Company cold ones (look how smooth I sound here, like I wasn't so flipping nervous to meet Paul I had to audibly calm myself before walking up to him backstage) and talked music, growing up in a big family and how sibling rivalry is something most of us don't grow out of, no matter how far from home we get.  Weighty Ghost is one of the longest standing songs on my personal playlist and has popped up in my life at incredibly poignant times. I was beyond thrilled to get to talk to this band, I hope you enjoy it.  www.wintersleep.com Support the Show! (or like, don't but please do and if you do thanks and if you don't then no worries and thanks for listening and if you don't listen then why are you reading th

The Sheepdogs are one of Canada's most loved bands - formed in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in 2006. Lead singer and guitarist Ewan Currie, bass guitarist Ryan Gullen, drummer Sam Corbett, guitarist Jimmy Bowskill, and Shamus Currie, brother of lead singer Ewan Currie, playing trombone, keyboards, and tambourine - AND occasionaly but sadl not on this round of seeing them live: Rusty Matyas, Rusty, you were missed man and I can't wait to have you on the show! Some of you may recall The Sheepdogs became the first unsigned band to make the cover of  ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE back in 2011 and have since blown the hells up all over North America. Cause, hot damn - they good. I sat down after their set w/ Ryan Gullen to talk backstage parties, working for a living and dressing for the part. Ryan - I loved every minute man and thanks for being the host with the most style at an after-after party :) www.thesheepdogs.com www.patreon.com/posts/support-me-at-10-5388919 Tell Me Stories available on Itunes, GooglePlay, PlayerFM a

In 2014 Hannah Georgas was touring with City & Colour in Europe, kind of a big deal. That same winter one of her songs was used on HBO's incredibly loved series Girls, and Hannah hit the map beyond the Polaris long list. One of Canada's most incredible song writers and singers, Hannah brings it hard on stage, killing it across venues big and eclectic. I sat down with her backstage before her Koi Festival performance where she knocked the audience straight down with her electro-indy vibes and stunning vocals.  Hannah shared a story with me about getting lost on Baffin island with her then crush and how finding her way back cured that puppy love dead!  www.hannahgeorgas.com 2016 Album For Evelyn available on ITUnes  

Doug Haynes walked backstage after HIGHS performed at Koi Festival this summer and sat down with me for stories. The voice on this kid is something else, the tone is one of my favourites in music right now. He looks like Justin Timberlake and Brad Pitt has a secret love child in an alternate universe - but sings much better. Then he proceeded to tell me a story about having his face destroyed before one of the biggest gigs of the bands life.  An unstoppable optimist and a true storyteller of the best degree, Doug was a doll. Listen to us delve into Dazzle Camouflage's making and the writing behind the first single "I do, do you?" from its 2016 release. You can hear them live August 19, 2016 at Riverfest in Elora if you have a weekend pass. If you don't, get one here: Riverfestelora.com www.highsmusic.com Facebook/highsmusic Twitter: @highsmusic On Soundcloud and Bandcamp as HighsMusic ENJOY  

Ivory Hours is a sassy alt-pop trio from London, Ontario. The band was formed by Luke Roes (Vocals/Guitar) in 2012 and features Chris Levesque (Bass) and Thomas Perquin (Drums).  It’s been a big year for Ivory Hours. Amidst constant touring, the London, Ontario natives hit the studio to record their debut full-length album ‘Morning Light’ - a collection of infectious pop tunes co-produced by Dan Brodbeck (The Cranberries, Dolores O'Riordan) and mastered by Joao Carvalho (Lights, Stars).  After releasing the album on June 9th 2015 the band went on to win 102.1 The Edge’s ‘Next Big Thing’, garnering their first commercial airplay for the single ‘Warpaint’. Within weeks they announced their grand prize win of the Canada’s Walk of Fame Emerging Artist Mentorship Program. Shortly after the band announced a national tour for spring 2016.  With ‘Warpaint’ spreading on radio and online with the help of a clever stop-motion video, a new album and acoustic release in the works, a MuchFACT funded video for ‘Dreamer’ jus