While their reformation may not be news to some, Grapes of Wrath finally announced details this past week of their upcoming album. This will be the first album to feature all three members of the original Grapes of Wrath since their 1991 album These Days. The band has had various incarnations and performances since their last official show in 1992, but none of them included all three members until a few years ago. In 2012 they released an album of their singles called exactly that, Singles which included two new songs that will also be featured on the new album. One of them is called “Good to See You”, which you can get for free here and it’s what drew me to Grapes of Wrath in the first place. The album will be released on March 19th with two concert following the release in Kitchener and Toronto. Watch a live performance of “Good to See You” below, and for more information about the album release, see this post.

While I was celebrating my birthday, the rest of the world was celebrating Valentine’s Day which brought about a lot of Valentine’s Day music and lovely posts from some of my favourite indie singer/songwriters. Notably, Dan Griffin, one of the founding members of Hamilton-based band Arkells, released a new song for free download on his website called “Love Your Light”. It’s a really calm, soothing and relaxing tune that is perfect for Valentine’s Day. Unfortunately, if you didn’t manage to snag it on Valentine’s Day, it’s no longer on his website, and no longer free, BUT, you can find it on iTunes, and I suggest you do. While you’re there, grab his album Leave Your Love – absolutely worth it.

I was introduced to Billy Pettinger, also known by her stage name Billy the Kid, in a music video for Raine Maida’s (see previous post) first solo single “Yellow Brick Road.” Maida worked with Billy and produced her first solo EP The Lost Cause in 2008. Billy had previously been in a band called Billy and the Lost Boys. Billy has been steadily and consistently releasing new music since 2010. On Valentine’s Day she posted on her site that anyone on her mailing list would be receiving some free demo versions of some of her songs. She also stated that on March 6th she would be releasing an EP of songs she had played all of the instruments for (including drums), you can find that EP here.

Here’s a Valentine’s Day cover she did.