Danny Michel takes over the world!

I seem to be writing a lot about Danny Michel these days, but the man seems to warrant much attention lately, particularly from a cover lover's perspective.

On June 9th at Massey Hall in Toronto, Danny will be part of The Canadian Songbook. Yep, another big concert in T.O. and check out this stacked line-up: Ron Sexsmith, Danny Michel, Luke Doucet, Damhnait Doyle, Kim Stockwood, Marika Bournaki, Karen David, Molly Johnson, Patricia O'Callaghan, Mikel Rouse, Jean Stilwell, Teresa Tova, Nikki Yanofsky, Dan Zanes, and possibly more... all playing Canadian covers!

"The story of a nation is told in its songs as well as its history books, and Canada has never lacked for superb musical narrators. From the chansonniers of Quebec to such icons as Gordon Lightfoot, Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen, Canadian troubadours won acclaim throughout the world, their distinctive voices helping construct an epic account of a land and its people.

Now, in an intimate evening at Massey Hall, a new generation of musicians pay homage to this country's greatest songwriters. Festival artists and special guests will be accompanied by Luminato's own hand-picked house band. Great music, great artists, and a hook to catch the hearts of anyone to whom Canada is more than just a name on a map: it's not just our songs they'll be singing, but our stories too."

Not to be confused with The Art of Time Ensemble's Songbook II with Steven Page of the Barenaked Ladies, June 20 & 21.

And don't forget The Blue Revue with Sarah Harmer, Serena Ryder, Hawksley Workman, Great Lake Swimmers, Danny Michel, and more, June 19.

Wow, if you lived in Toronto concert-going would be a full-time job.

The CBC's radio programming for this summer has been announced and Danny Michel and Emm Gryner's cover-based show Under the Covers is one of the new shows. Previously introduced last summer as a one-time special, starting the week of June 23rd Under the Covers will be hitting the airwaves every Saturday night at 9pm on CBC Radio 1 all summer long, which makes 10 one-hour episodes by my count. Danny & Emm will be sharing the best and worst covers and discussing covers with likes of Ron Sexsmith, 54-40, Jann Arden, Sarah Harmer, The Weakerthans and lots more. I hope that means exclusively recorded covers! Definitely required listening.

Sarah Harmer with The Weakerthans - Islands in the Stream (live) [originally by The Bee Gees]
Danny Michel played lead guitar as part of Sarah Harmer's band at this double feature gig that was recorded for CBC Radio.

Emm Gryner - Crazy Train [originally by Ozzy Osbourne]
On her 2001 covers album Girl Versions, Emm took a Tori Amos stripped down piano approach to several rock songs including Blur's Song 2, Def Leppard's Pour Some Sugar on Me, Stone Temple Pilots' Big Bang Baby, and more. Readily available on Amazon, iTunes, Zunior.com, and CD Baby.