The MusicNerd Files Edition #1

Hello and welcome to the first edition of The MusicNerd Files, a monthly column that will focus upon various shows and acts performing in Metro Moncton over the course of the next month. As you will see by this week’s inaugural column, local, regional and national acts are all fair game to be included for coverage.

So without further delay, let’s dive into some noteworthy shows taking place in the month of September in Metro Moncton.

* Colonial Quarrels perform at Plan B Lounge on St. George Street, Saturday, Sept. 3:

It has been a relatively quiet past year for Moncton band Colonial Quarrels but as Remi Cormier tells us, the group has been keeping themselves busy behind the scenes of local and regional concert stages.

“We have been playing odd shows around town and a few outside of Moncton but we have really been practising as much as we can and working on new material whenever the inspiration strikes us,” Cormier says.

With an estimated 14 new tracks currently in the running for the follow-up effort to the band’s 2009 album The End Was An Honest Mistake, Cormier says that the group hopes to have their new record put to tape by the end of this year with an early- to mid-2012 release in mind.

“We have to beat that Mayan calendar, just in case everything goes up in flames or everyone goes zen and no longer needs music,” he jokes.

* Catch Dennis Ellsworth and Haunted Hearts at Plan B on Friday, Sept. 9:

Since we last spoke to Prince Edward Island’s roots band Haunted Hearts last fall, the band has made some nice headway in spreading the gospel of the Haunted. The group signed on with Saint John manager Jeff Liberty (Babette Hayward, Matt Andersen) and earlier this summer, had the opportunity to perform as a part of the NXNE (North By Northeast) Music Festival in Toronto.

As of late however, it has been common to see Haunted Hearts leader Dennis Ellsworth step out for solo shows under his name throughout the region. Fans of the band need not worry that the end is nigh, although Ellsworth does share that he will be starting to record his first solo album in Athens, Georgia with producer David Barbe at the end of October.

“I have written close to 30 songs since we last spoke,” Ellsworth says. “While some of those songs will be picked over for my solo record, we also know that as a band, we really have to up our game on our next record sound-wise. We really want to take the necessary time to line up the right people to work with and pick away at the record for awhile.”

* Cauldron will be setting the stage at The Manhattan Bar & Grill on fire (not literally …) on Friday, Sept. 23:

Heavy metal fans rejoice – Cauldron is set to make their highly anticipated return to the Hub City towards the end of September. Having recently completed some shows with his old band Goat Horn over the course of the past couple of months, Cauldron’s Jason Decay says while everything may not have gone according to plan so far year, he and his bandmates still have much to be excited about.

“This year started out great. Our latest record Burning Fortune came out in February to some great press and gave us the chance to tour Canada and the United States with Volture and Holy Grail,” Decay says. “We had been due to tour Europe but it was postponed to next year and then we ended up having an American tour with Hammerfall fall through. So we re-grouped, worked on some new material and booked some east coast shows to help tide us over.”

Once Cauldron’s short Atlantic Canadian jaunt wraps up, Decay says it will be back to their home of Toronto to continue writing new material which he says they hope to record over the winter before making the long-delayed journey to Europe.

Article published in August 26, 2011 edition of the Times & Transcript