What was politely called "a hiatus" in Canadian music industry trade magazine The Record was believed to be more like a "break-up" when it came to Montreal's Doughboys. But the rumours of the band's demise have been squashed by news this past weekend that a new version of the band will appear on stage this summer across North America in the opening slot for The Offspring. With lead singer John Kastner working as the music director for the new TV series pilot show, Platinum, and former Doughboy drummer Paul Newman out on tour in the capacity of road manager for bands like Pluto and The Legendary Pink Dots recently, and bassist Peter Arsenault taking some time off while new guitarist Wiz retreated back to his native England, it was widely assumed that the mighty Doughboys were no more. But a call from The Offspring touring camp, with a request for the Doughboys to open their North American tour, has made Kastner leap to action. The Doughboys line-up now consists of original members Kastner, Newman and Arsenault with new guitarist Mark Arnold, formerly of Big Drill Car filling in on stage right.. So if you were worried that you might never hear "Shine" or "I Never Liked You" live again, breathe easy! The Doughboys will be rocking the free world once more next month when July 23rd will find the new incarnation of the band onstage with Offspring at The Warehouse in Toronto. More dates will be announced soon.

COCA Entertainment Award Winners Announced

The Canadian Organization of Campus Activities (COCA) has published the list of winners of its Entertainment Awards, held Sunday, June 8th during the annual COCA conference in London, Ontario this year. And the winners are...:
Contemporary Music Recording - Our Lady Peace (Toronto) tied with <.B> Big Sugar (Toronto)
Contemporary Music Non-Recording - Matthew Good Band (Vancouver)
Film - Jerry Maaguire
Comedy - Rick Bronson
Agency/Management - The Agency Group
Canadian Campus Entertainer of the Year - I Mother Earth (Toronto)
Hall of Fame Award - Jim Carrey

Musical Chairs for Four Bands...

Some line-up changes have been clogging up the fax machine around the office recently:
*Vancouver's Speedbuggy has replaced bassist Olga Goreas with Corinne Culbertson, ex of Taste of Joy. The band is in the studio recording bed tracks for its new album, with Kurt Dahle (The Age of Electric, Limblifter) producing.
*Toronto's Big Rude Jake *Vancouver foursome Coal has added guitarist Jon Wood to the line-up of Nicole on vocals and guitar, Marcus on bass and Ian Tiles on drums.
And Venus Envy (Toronto) front-woman and guitarist, Cat Fury, has gone solo, playing her first live show without the band during NXNE last weekend. Venus Envy is on hiatus for the time being. Yeah, right. That's what Doughboys told us last month...Do we see a pattern here? (The Who, I'm looking in your direction...)

Filberg Festival Hits Vancouver Island

The annual folk-flavoured Filberg Festival takes place in Comox Valley, an hour north of Nanaimo, BC, on Vancouver Island this year from Augst 1st through 4th. Confirmed performers include Peter Paul Van Camp (Wininpeg), Oh Toh Kin (Comox), Sild Road (Vancouver), David Gogo (Nanaimo), Valdy (Saltspring Island), Diamond Joe White Band (Chemaimus), Gary Fjellgaard (Gabriola Island) and Tarig Abubakar (Toronto), all playing on the grounds of Filberg Park beside arts and crafts booths, food areas and workshop tents. Ticket information and artist details can be found at the other end of the phone at (250) 334-9242.

Bosstones Show Paul Shaffer How To Skank

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones will be the musical guest on Late Night With David Letterman tonight at 11:35 p.m. EST on CBS, playing their punky brand of ska madness in front of the space-toothed one and the short Canadian key-wanking one.

Autechre and Spiritualized Chat Today

The SonicNet.Com Web site will be busy hosting two lilve chats today. Autechre will voice its collective opinions at 4:00 p.m. EST while Spiritualized chats it up with fans at 7:00 p.m. EST.

D.A.M.N. is compiled by Karen Pace

Karen Pace is a retired teacher (fer real!) who started working in this crazy music industry as an on-air personality at ICRT Radio in Taipei, Taiwan. From freelance writing to voice-overs, from Life on Queen West on CITY-TV to WORD on Roger's Cable TV, she has maintained a foot firmly planted in the door that leads to all things music-related. As Chart's News Editor and ChartAttack's Coordinator, she runs at a break-neck clip, investigating all the news you should know. In between breaths, she finds time to be the world's best aunt to her niece and nephew.