October 2023
The Sound of Music Festival is an annual music festival in Burlington, Ontario, held in mid-June over the Father’s Day weekend. The free-admission festival, with paid VIP upgrades, is held in Spencer Smith Park along the city’s waterfront and throughout the downtown core, billing itself as “Canada’s Largest Free Music Festival.”
Just two of the musical acts appearing in the 2023 edition of The Sound of Music Festival are:
*******************************************************************************************************************
Lee Aaron
America may have “The King” and “The Boss,” but Canada has the “Metal Queen.” Karen Lynn Greening, known professionally as Lee Aaron, has been a part of the Canadian music scene since joining her first band at the age of 15. The band, named Lee Aaron, featured the young Karen Greening singing and playing alto saxophone and keyboards.
The band didn’t last, but after taking the band’s name as her stage name, Lee Aaron embarked on successful solo career with her 1982 debut album, The Lee Aaron Project. A string of hits followed in the 1980s and early 1990s, such as “Metal Queen,” “Whatcha Do to My Body,” “Barely Holdin On” and “Sex with Love.”
Between 1984 and 1994, Aaron toured extensively through Europe and made appearances in Japan and the United States. She released six albums on Attic Records in Canada and around the world, and then two more on her own label, Hip Chic Music.
In 1994, Aaron formed a band called 2preciious, using her legal name Karen Greening, with members of Canadian Alternative-Rock band Sons of Freedom. The resulting self-titled album, released in 1996, wasn’t commercially successful and 2preciious disbanded the following year, with Aaron resuming her solo career.
Lee Aaron has continued to record and tour, including a jazz album in 2000, Slick Chick, and Beautiful Things, a pop-jazz hybrid, in 2004. She released her fifteenth album, Elevate, in 2022.
*******************************************************************************************************************
The Road Hammers
The Road Hammers are a Canadian country-rock trio, composed of Jason McCoy, Clayton Bellamy and Chris Byrne. The band was formed in 2004 as a side-project by Barrie, Ontario, native McCoy, who was already a well established solo act in the Canadian country music scene. Teaming up with Bellamy, Byrne and drummer Corbett Frasz, the band’s music is influenced by 1960s and 1970s trucker music and Southern Rock.
Their first self-titled album, released in 2005, included remakes of several classic truck-driving songs. The album was re-released in America in 2008 as Blood Sweat & Steel, including three new tracks. The band released a second self-titled album in 2009 and the following year, went on temporary hiatus as McCoy resumed his solo career.
Coming back together in 2013, minus Frasz, The Road Hammers have released an additional three albums and in 2023, an E.P. titled Back At It.
Sources: Lee Aaron – Wikipedia, Lee Aaron Official Web Site – The Official Lee Aaron Web Site, The Road Hammers – Wikipedia, The Road Hammers – Official Website, Sound of Music Festival – From June 15 – 18, 2023 | Free Admission, Spencer Smith Park, Burlington Ontario.
