Category Archives: In the Studio

Tex Holliday (Supercharged Country)

What: full length CD
Engineer: Johnny Gasparic
Producer: Tex Holliday

Fast Facts: Sharing his time between Vancouver, BC and Houston, Texas; Canadian singer songwriter, Tex Holliday has been entertaining locally and internationally for the past few years. Many of his songs have been placed in film and TV as well as recorded for labels such as Sony, Electra, and Warner.

For the last while, Tex has been diligently writing and co-writing for his brand new CD.  His highly anticipated debut single “Wrong Side of Heaven” will be released to Canadian radio on May 9, 2011. The CD, “Always on Holliday” to be released in June 2011.
Influences: Brooks & Dunn, Dwight Yoakam, Keith Urban and Bryan Adams

Catch Them:
Nov 24th Ocean Reef Club –                 Key Largo, Florida
Sept 8-1 – CCMA’s –                     Hamilton, Ont
06-18 Afternoon Concert -Welcome Summer         Vancouver BC
06-17 Big Hair 80’s Show Haney Hotel         Maple Ridge BC
06-11 Wainwright City Concert                 Wainwright AB
06-08 Private Educators of Canada show         Calgary AB
06-05 Dawson s Creek                     Dawson Creek BC

05-23 Wainwright City Concert                 Wainwright AB
04-30 Rock Concert- Outdoor Spring Festival Boys and Girls Country
18806   Roberts Road Hockley, TEXAS USA

Also in tracking away in April:  The Shagbots, Second Rate Brain, Kingdom of Few, Crystal Kid, Open Air, Bobby Wills, Randy Krause, Colored Prints, Lisa Cuthill

Shane Hawryluk (Country)

What: song demos
Engineer: Johnny Gasparic
Producer: R. Mizzoni
Fast Facts: Up and coming singer-songwriter from Calgary ala Alan Jackson meets Ian Tyson

Also in the studio in March chipping away…!
Silent Panic, The Shagbots, Martin Proto, 15 Miles, Randy Krauss, Rooster in a Hen house, Stephanie Perrault, Troy Kokol, Stone Cartel… (Man, it’s getting crowded in here!!)

The Apresnos (Well Tailored Rock n’ Roll)

What: full length CD
Engineer: Johnny Gasparic
Producer: Trevor Hurst

Fast Facts: A Clean Cut, Well Dressed, High Energy rock organization exploding from the depths of Stony Plain, AB, Canada. Influences:
Weezer Taj Mahal Jimi Hendrix Nirvana Rev Theory Santana Jack White The Beatles The Darkness Blink 182 Travis Barker. Opened for Papa Roach, Offspring and Our Lady Peace

Catch Them:
Sat, 11 Jun    Early Stage Saloon – Stony Plain, AB
Fri,  24 Jun    Haven Social Club     – Edmonton, AB
Fri,    1 Jul    Multicultural Center – Stony Plain, AB

Penny Reign (power pop guitar rock)

What: full length CD
Engineer: Johnny Gasparic
Producer: Penny Reign

Fast Facts: Formed in 2008 by ex-Butterfinger members, Ty Penny and Gary Ostafichuk, Penny Reign is showing up on the radar of Canadian radio broadcasters and the Saskatchewan music industry at large. The band was recently selected as 1 of 12 regional winners for their song “Live A Lie” in the Canadian Radio-Star Songwriting competition sponsored by Canadian Music Week. The band has opened shows for The Trews, Big Sugar and Wide Mouth Mason.

Catch Them: Around Sask and at Canadian Music Week 2011

Bellewether (indie pop/alt rock )

What: mixing final tracks for full length CD
Engineer: Johnny Gasparic
Producer: Belleweather

Fast Facts: Long time friends and theatrical co-workers Oksana Porteous and Carol-Anne Day formed Bellewether in 2009. Since the addition of drummer Graham Pendray and bassist Andrew Kobewka, the quartet has written over 30 songs and have been working on their debut CD for the past year. Influences include: Metric, Chantal Kreviazuk, Sarah Maclachlan, Dido, Tegan & Sara, The Yeah Yeah Yeah’s

Catch Them: Around Calgary at various clubs

Chris Bullen (rock guitar instrumental)

What:  full length CD
Engineer:  Johnny Gasparic
Producer: Chris Bullen

Fast Facts: The talent of Calgary guitar virtuoso Chris Bullen, has for the most part, been “flying under the radar” for a great many years now…  But not anymore… !
After a chance encounter to jam with the legendary Steve Vai made possible through a charity auction, the cat is definitely out of the bag now…  Recently signed to Steve Vai’s Favored Nations digital label, Chris is hard at work recording his debut CD due out by the end of 2010.
Working on the disc with Chris is Ric Fierabracci (Chick Corea, John McLaughlin) on bass, and drummer Shane Gaalaas (Yngwie Malmsteen, Uli Jon Roth of the scorpions)
Catch Them: Soon…

Amy Thiesson (folk alternative soul)

What:  full length  CD   “Give Up the Fight”
Engineer: Rick Mizzoni & Johnny Gasparic
Producer: Rick Mizzoni

Fast Facts: Calgarian singer/ songwriter Amy Thiessen continues to take her Soul folk music to people around the country and the world. “Tell me” Thiessen’s EP is played on CBC, CKUA, and several campus radio stations, charting on CJSW. Her road legs came in 2009 after playing 125 shows, 67 on the road with three tours scanning St John’s NF to Victoria BC. Career highlights for Thiessen include sharing the stage with the great Ben E King, touring with the “Ladies that like to Folk” and joining Catherine Maclellan, Lynn Miles, and Melanie Doane, in their Calgary Siren’s of Song Performance.

Catch Them:
Sep-16 Jeffrey’s Cafe, Edmonton    Sep-17 Sep-18 Prana Yoga Studio, Edmonton
Sep-19 Amarilla centre, Red Deer    Sep-20 Minstrels Cafe, Kelowna
Sep-23 Raw Canvas, Vancouver        Sep-24 Trees Coffee House, Vancouver
Sep-25 Guilt and Co, Vancouver        Sep-26 Yoga Spirit, Vancouver
Sep-27 Ocean Island Cafe, Victoria    Sep-29 Herman’s lounge, Victoria
Sep-30 Corner’s lounge, Nanaimo    Oct-02 Black Stilt, Victoria
Oct-03 Moksha, VIctoria Victoria    Oct-07 Blue Dog Cafe, Cochrane