2009 Casby Awards
September 1 2009

The 2009 Casby Awards have been announced. Not only are we really excited to play along side The Stills, Metric, Mother Mother and many more but we're also fortunate to be nominated for Favorite New Artist and NXNE Favorite Indie Release.

The show will take place Oct. 22 at The Kool Haus in Toronto, ON.

For those who may not know The Casby Awards (Canadian Artists Selected By You) are decided entirely by fan voting. Not only that but when you vote you enter to win tickets to the show. All the info is in the link below so please vote and come party with us in October.
• Vote and Enter to Win

The Verge Music Awards
August 26 2009

This is the last weekend to vote for The Verge Music Awards. We have been lucky enough to be nominated for both Artist and Album of the Year.

This is decided by fan voting so we need your help. Please take a minute if you can and vote.

You can also enter to win tickets to the show which will have live performances by Metric, The Weakerthans and our good friends Hey Rosetta!

Just click the link below to go the The Verge Music Awards Site
• The Verge Music Awards

Covering the Bases with Nick Dika!
August 10 2009

Hey Folks

very exciting news. our own Nick Dika is embarking on what will eventually result in a cushy desk job as a head honcho at some sports radio company or maybe even Blue Jays upper management... for now though, we are proud to present "Covering the Bases with Nick Dika" (The Blog)! Nick will be giving his esteemed opinion on all things Baseball, life, love, and even dogs (his favorite non-human animal). So go ahead, follow the link below to see his inaugural post and be sure to check back with us here at www.arkells.ca for future posts as well as more news and exciting things to cometh.

xo
the a-squad
• Covering the Bases, with Nick Dika (the Blog)

Arkells Hosting CBC Radio 3 This Friday Aug. 7
August 5 2009

Our good friend Grant Lawrence will be out to cover Regina Folk Fest so they've asked us to take over for the day.

Dan and Max will be in studio hosting with CBC's Chris Kelly. The guys will be playing a bunch of songs from their favorite artists and Chris will playing some Arkells tunes and asking the guys questions. You can also call in and speak to the band live. Here are the details.

Arkells Host CBC Radio 3
Friday Aug. 7
listen live on cbcradio3.com and Sirius 86
2:00 - 5:00 PM ET , 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM PT
Call 1-877-955-6565 ext. 2 to speak to the band live.
• CBC Radio 3 Website

girls tank tops: NOW FOR SALE at shows
July 29 2009
(NOTE: For a slightly funnier version of this blog, please head to our myspace)
Festival round up:
Holy smokes folks: it's almost August. It's been a solid month since we had a proper blog and we have a lot of things to discuss.

First, I will give a brief rundown of the past month's happening:

Halifax V-Fest: Rainy. But Great. Hey Rosetta slayed, again. At first we just thought they just were nice guys/girl, but it turns out they are also a great band. Their Manager Jason Burns is also hilariously tall and funny. Phil, their drummer is an iphonatic, and keeps texting me funny pictures. We will see them this weekend in Montreal and i'm sure we'll "have a time". Red Heart is in high rotation.

Windsor Phog Fest- a CBC Radio 3 event. Phog Lounge won the contest for best venue in Canada. Tom (the owner) and everyone at phog lounge treated us great, and I could tell how much the event meant to everyone involved. We totally have a huge crush on radio3 host/guru Grant Lawrence and his producer Chris Kelly. On stage I tried to do an immitation of Grant's signature DJ style, but I think i came up short.
I was not pleased with how it turned out, but luckily, they asked us to host grant's show FRIDAY AUGUST 7 in VANCOUVER, and we happily agreed. Expect each member of Arkells to do a signature grant lawrence intro, and we will have listeners
vote on the best one.

Ottawa Bluesfest- This was a night of two of the best bands i know. First, we got to open for one of our favourite American bands, The National. We've all been obsessed with that band for months on end, and it was really cool to watch them
perform from side stage. Even better, they were all cool dudes to hang out with (phew! ya never know how it's gonna go, ya know?).
After the show we went to a bar called Irene's and saw HURON (www.myspace.com/huronband), our best buds from Hamilton, tear the roof off the place. Opening was Sandman Viper Command, a great band from Burlington, who have some of the finest songs west of the East Coast. Then, Huron totally
obliterated me. Think Sabbath meets the Beatles. I have so much joy watching this band, and of all the great things we've accomplished in the past year
nothing compares to the feeling I get seeing them play. They will be doing big things soon, so get on the train.

Toronto Sound Academy - We didn't predict this. Nick was very worried that 400 people would show up (in a venue that holds over 2,000) and the rest of us didn't really doubt his concerns either. Somehow, nearly 2,000 people showed up and the whole night was awesome. Pete Nema took a bunch of great photos and there are a ton of youtube clips floating around. They sum it up best. A huge thanks to Bookie and Edge 102.1 for being so supportive.


Edmonton Edfest - The show that almost didn't happen. We flew out the next morning after our toronto show in to stormy weathers. The show was delayed by a rain storm but a whole crowd of people stuck it out through the crap weather and waited for us to play. We were very flattered by this - it means a bunch to see young people braving through the cold and rain. After we played, the winds picked up again
and we found ourselves in the middle of a huge thunderstorm. Everyone had to evacuate the area, and we apologize to anyone who was in the autograph tent who missed out. We will be back in the fall, and we'll make it up to you!

London - Rock the Park: Nick's hometown. Again, the weather threatened, but this time mother nature was a little bit more forgiving.
I was out a couple of D strings, and the ever-friendly and gracious Gord Sinclair of the Tragically Hip did not hesitate to lend a helping hand. He gave me a 2 full packs,
for no cost at all! The Spades were terrific and got the crowd all riled up for our set. Kathleen Edwards, who we've all been long time fans of, was a special treat to watch. Her band sounded amazing, and it was cool to able to "talk hamilton" with her guitarist Colin Cripps. The Hip, again, reminded us of how much work we have ahead of us. That band never fails to please. Such great musicians and entertainers. It is very cool to watch a band that means so much to so many people.

Barrie - We thought this was gonna be a strange one - Our own headlining show in a place we've never played before. But it wasn't strange, it was banging.
It was great to be back in a sweaty club again, and the people of Barrie were ready to have a good time. We got to play a nice long set, and the crowd was really quiet when we played "I'm not the sun". It was defintiley appreciated. They also got really rowdy for the rest of the set. Which was also appreciated. We are definitely going to make sure to play barrie on our next Canadian tour.


Guelph - Hillside: A lot of people have been telling us how great this festival is, and I must admit, that even though I had never been before, I was telling people how great this festival is too. Now I have proof. The atmosphere of the event was really different from other festivals. There are alot of families from the Guelph area who have come to Hillside year after year, and they remain excited as ever to be taking part. It was inspiring to see how many volunteers make the festival run, and how environmentally
sustainable it is. Free water, and only re-usable cups and plates are allowed. The show itself was crazy. Woodhands tore the roof off island stage and sort of scared the hell out of us. Luckily, the crowd was in the mood of rocknroll and had a great time. Check it out. We camped out with all the other bands and volunteers and did a bunch of dancing around the fire. I think a new song will come out of the events of that night.


This weekend is looking really good, and so is the rest of August.
A huge thanks to everyone who made July so special for the band. We had a great time meeting so many new faces, and we hope to see you again soon.

xo
Arkells
• dan in a tank top.jpg