Bobbyisms: On music discovery with Autumn Hill

Header image for Interrobang article CREDIT: MATT BARNES
Country duo Autumn Hill and Kira Isabella will make a final stop in London as part of The Shake It If You Got It Tour on November 27 at the London Concert Theatre.

I write about random things a lot. I write a lot about random things. It’s no secret that the landscape of the music industry is ever-changing, though sometimes it can be easy to miss the little signs along the way. While it often takes years to fully realize or recognize the impact of any given paradigm shift, there are often telling little milestones along the way that foreshadow grand changes.

Over the years with this column, I’ve shared a number of websites and services that music fans could visit to discover new music, from blogs and media hubs to even going so far as to offer advice on how to download torrents – how to safely recognize good files from bad to protect yourself from viruses and malware. In the few short years since those stories were published, almost all of those websites have disappeared, closed up or shut down.

In their wake, subscription streaming services have taken up the charge, offering a low-level subscription for free in exchange for hearing a 30-second ad at given intervals. Case in point, streaming giant Spotify finally became available to Canadian users in September this year, follow in the footsteps of Rdio, which offered a free subscription level.

Regardless of your preference, I can’t recommend these services enough. Not only do they give you the power to stream music on demand, they have radio discovery features and curated playlists to appeal to non-album listeners as well. The one catch – aside from a 30-second ad roughly every 15 minutes, most of which simply advertise a premium membership – is that they suggest you sign up with your Facebook account, at once benefitting from a one-click login and integration into your profile and existing musical preferences.

When it comes to discovering new music, be open to trying new things – you might discover your favourite new music platform. While you’re considering that, allow me to further recommend you use those services to check out Favourite Mistake, the debut album by Toronto’s Autumn Hill before its performance at the London Concert Theatre on November 27.

A country pop duo – Tareya Green and Mike Robins – have been supporting Kira Isabella on The Shake It If You Got It Tour across Canada for the last month, wrapping up here in London after gigging from Ontario out to British Columbia and back.

The pair met in 2012 through Toronto- based Wax Records, two artists arriving at the right place at the right time. Green arrived from Calgary, where she produced her own videos for YouTube, building a following as she honed her songwriting skills and voice. Meanwhile, Robins was taking the next step in a journey to pursue his own craft, one that had taken him across North America and to Europe on tour and seen him work with producers in Los Angeles and Nashville before bringing him full circle back to Toronto.

As a group, Autumn Hill has emerged with remarkable momentum. The band released “Anything At All” before 2012 was out, its first single in a series of three – along with “Can’t Keep Waiting” and “Fire” – to preview Favourite Mistake before its release in September 2013. Since then, the band has become the first Canadian country outfit to cross over into pop radio since Shania Twain, receiving nominations in 2014 from the Canadian Country Music Association and the JUNO Awards alike.

For more on Autumn Hill and their recent life on the road, visit autumnhillmusic.com online or follow on Twitter @autumnhillmusic. See what the buzz is about – the band’s gig with Kira Isabella at the London Concert Theatre is a 19-plus event, tickets are $29.25 and available via ticketmaster.com. General admission, doors at 7 p.m.

And for more of the latest in music news, album streams and concert previews, follow this column on Twitter @fsu_bobbyisms. You never know when you’ll find your newest favourite music, keep your ears and your mind open. I’m out of words.