NEWS

Ron Leary to star in film shot on Pelee Island 

A rather interesting development here, I've been cast in a short film called Retreat as a middle-aged musician who goes to Pelee Island trying to rediscover his creative spark. A stretch I know.
It's written by author/musician/performance artist Henry Adam Svec and will be directed by the great Erin Brandenburg and will no doubt be a visually stunning film, my mug aside. Tess Girard will be the Director of Photography and Andrew Penner the Music Supervisor. An incredibly talented and accomplished crew to say the least. 
Taking a crew of a dozen or so to Pelee Island will not make for a cheap venture and a GoFundMe has been set up to help cover some of the production costs. If you'd like to help make the film a reality please do consider a donation!
Here's the link, click 'read more' for all the details:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/vyf6p8-retreat-short-film 

Film Premise: 

Retreat is a 15-minute short narrative film directed by Erin Brandenburg, written by Henry Adam Svec, and starring Ron Leary. The story depicts grizzled songwriter Harold Murphy attempting to find solitude on a retreat to Pelee Island. He may be a local music legend, but Harold has lost his creative spark and he hopes that some time alone will enable him to write his next record. Instead of inspiration, Harold is distracted by the beauty and strangeness of the island, and by a migrant worker on a bike who haunts his days. Visually stunning, with scenes from the landscape of Pelee Island and music by acclaimed musician (and true local legend) Ron Leary, Retreat is an ode to searching for your artistic voice and finding it in the most unlikely of places.

"Our Dogs"  

Here’s a brand-new single (listen on the music page or wherever you prefer to stream music). It’s a song about a couple of kitties who snuck their way into my heart this past winter. 

This is Brando (aka Chonk Dog):

 

 

 

 

 

 

And his little brother Arnold (aka Arn Dog):

 

 

 

 

 

 

(*Photos by Dean Drouillard)

“Our Dogs” wasn’t intended for public consumption, I was just messing around creating things as I do. But it seemed to make a connection with a few of my cat-loving friends so I decided to record it up and share. 

The process was chill and organic. I rented a mic and recorded my part here in Windsor. Then transferred it up to Dean Drouillard and Adrian Lawyrshyn in Toronto in their respective studios to add in some texture and tension. For the finishing touch, my fav comedian Rachel K. Olsen, also a fine painter and cat lover, would bring the boys to life via the paintbrush. A fun and enjoyable creative venture from start to finish. 

Here's the boys story… 

Arn Dog, he barks like a dog 
Chonk Dog, he eats like a dog 
Ah they’re good kitties 
Except when you go to sleep 
And they start attacking your feet 

Arn Dog, he’s a playing machine 
Chonk Dog, he’s a digesting machine 
Ah they’re good kitties 
And they came… 
They came from the street 

It started with one 
It turned into two 
We went to see Brando 
But Arnold was right there purring for you 
They’re brothers from the street 
A black and ginger team 
Running up and down the stairs 
As happy as two dogs can be

Arn Dog, he’s a lap dog 
Chonk Dog, he’s my best bud 
Ah they’re good kitties 
Except when you go to sleep 
And they start a clawing your feet

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Words & Music by Ron Leary © 2022
Musicians: Ron Leary (vocals, acoustic), Dean Drouillard (electric), Adrian Lawryshyn (upright) 
Mixed & Mastered by Dean Drouillard (Hepburn Lab) 
Artwork by Rachel K. Olsen 

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New Weekly Gig - Phog Lounge (Windsor)  

Weekly gigs are how I've survived as a professional musician these past two decades, here's my latest and I couldn't be more thrilled. Things fire up officially beginning Wednesday March 16th.

Peele Island Sessions (Spring 2022) - The Best of the Best 

Working up a plan to record a trio album with Dean Drouillard and Adrian Lawryshyn in the spring. We'll hit a cabin for a week on Peele Island and lock in a dozen or so tunes live-off-the-floor.

Here's the current list of tunes in the running, if there's a particular tune you think we should include please let me know in the comments. 

Spotify Playlist of the tunes
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6fo6xdgDKQnUxtpga1XIlA?si=bce16a63ad8943ed

1. Long, Long Day 
2. Communist Cafe 
3. Baby I'm No Good 
4. Your Eyes 
5. Sweet Valentine 
6. I Was Born 
7. The Road in Between 
8. Ballad of Bob Probert 
9. Tattooed Lady 
10. The New Girl Who's Causing A Stir 
11. Hey, Hey!  
12. The Ancient Seeds of Ojibway 
13. For the Woman 
14. Turn 
15. Roadside Motel 
16. Long Lost Love 
17. You've Got It All Wrong 
18. Musicians Make Great Construction Workers 
19. Sitting On A Bench 
20. Legacy

Picking Trilliums: The Next 50 (A Playlist)  

I'm well into the song hunting/assembling of the 3rd set of 50 tunes for the Songs about Ontario Playlist which I've been working on over the past few months and well, I realized I never posted the 2nd set of 50 tunes, so here they are...  

*This is an ongoing project so click Follow and stay tuned for the latest adds (if you're not on Spotify see the playlist below and follow along however you wish).

There's another 50 coming soon...

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5bvup4BogJ1Js4H7nDA0ct?si=4c6a3220820644c5



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Next 50

51/ Stompin’ Tom Connors “To It And At It” 

52/ Anna Massie “The Trip to Windsor” 

53/ Lawrence Martin “James Bay Shuffle” 

54/ Roger Quick “Ten Miles from Home”   

55/ Ron Leary “Ancient Seeds of Ojibway” 

56/ Castanets “Thunder Bay” 

57/ Elliott Brood “Owen Sound” 

58/ Caribou “Dundas, Ontario” 

59/ Jackie Mittoo “Toronto Express” 

60/ Jay Douglas “Reggae Lane” 

61/ Stompin’ Tom Connors “Streets of Toronto” 

62/ Kardinal Offishall “BaKardi Slang” 

63/ Maestro “416/906 (T.O. Party Anthem)” 

64/ Junia-T “4AM in Toronto (feat. Miloh Smith)” 

65/ Richard Underhill “Meet Me in the Market” 

66/ Dean Drouillard “Steeltown” 

67/ Owen Pallett “The CN Tower Belongs To The Dead” 

68/ Carolyn Mark “Canada Day Off/Toronto” 

69/ Lillian Allen “My Toronto/Poetic Gesture” 

70/ Jim Bryson “Sleeping In Toronto” 

71/ Stompin’ Tom Conners “Tillsonburg” 

72/ Wayne Omaha “Goin’ To London” 

73/ Jenny Omnichord “Kings of London” 

74/ Bobnoxious “E.O.A.” 

75/ Steve Earle “Justice in Ontario” 

76/ Bob Robb “Flower Pot” 

77/ Esau Sinclair “Ontario Swing” 

78/ Grievous Angels “Kapuskasing Highway Song” 

79/ John Doe & The Sadies “The Sudbury Nickel” 

80/ John Southworth “The Little Dolphins of Lake Superior” 

81/ Stompin’ Tom Connors “Fire In The Mine” 

82/ Ohbijou “Niagara” 

83/ Death From Above 1979 “Trainwreck 1979” 

84/ Sunlust “Doing Whippets in an Alleyway Behind the CN Tower” 

85/ Jason Collett “Charlyn, Angel of Kensington” 

86/ Kevin Quain “Market Song (Devil You Know)” 

87/ Kevin Breit “Foster Hewitt” 

88/ Downchild Blues Band “Mississippi Woman, Mississauga Man” 

89/ Joey DeFrancesco “On Georgian Bay” 

90/ Stan Rogers “White Squall” 

91/ Stompin’ Tom Connors “Big Joe Mufferaw” 

92/ The Kelly Song Collective “Petawawa Blues” 

93/ Ian Bell “The Frog Bridge At Drumbo” 

94/ Neil Young “Helpless – Live at Massey Hall 1971” 

95/ The Guess Who “Lightfoot” 

96/ Gordon Lightfoot “On Yonge Street” 

97/ Truths and Rights “Metro’s No.1 Problem” 

98/ Shad “Fam Jam (Fe Sum Immigrins)” 

99/ Liza “LANDSDOWNE” 

100/ Margaret Maria “Georgian Bay”

Picking Trilliums: Songs about Ontario (A Playlist)  

I've started up a new research project...mining songs that situate themselves within the Ontario territory.

This will be an ongoing project for the foreseeable future so click follow and stay tuned (if you're not on Spotify see the playlist below and follow along however you wish).

There's another 50 coming soon...

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5bvup4BogJ1Js4H7nDA0ct?si=4c6a3220820644c5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The First 50

1/ Stompin Tom Conners “Sudbury Saturday Night”

2/ Pukka Orchestra “Cherry Beach Express”

3/ Grievous Angels “Heartbreak Town”

4/ Willie Dunn “Charlie Wenjack

5/ Roger Quick “Southern Ontario Farm Boy

6/ Jean Leloup “Balada A Toronto”

7/ Allison Brown “Invisible Line”

8/ Jim Bryson “Ontario”

9/ Sarah Harmer “Escarpment Blues”

10/ Ron Leary “The Road in Between”

11/ Stompin Tom Connors “The Peterborough Postman”

12/ The Stephen Stanley Band “The Troubadour’s Song”

13/ Martha and the Muffins “Echo Beach”

14/ The Shuffle Demons “Spadina Bus”

15/ Lenny Breau “Taranta”

16/ K-OS “Crabbuckitt

17/ Georges Langford “Thunder Bay”

18/ Murray McLauchlan “Down By The Henry Moore”

19/  Run With the Kittens “Parkdale”

20/ Lilly Singh & Humble the Poet “Ivivi” 

21/ Stompin Tom Connors “Algoma Central No. 69”

22/ Neil Young “Born in Ontario

23/ The Tragically Hip “Bobycaygeon”

24/ James O-L and the Villains “Wild Goose Jack”

25/ Sunparlour Players “Point Pelee Is The Place To Be!”

26/ Allison Brown “Currents Collide”

27/ Gord Downie “The North”

28/ Shibastik “Thunder Bay”

29/ Corey Charron “Smoking Crack With Rob Ford”

30/ Tanika Charles “Parkdale”

31/ Stompin Tom Connors “Black Donnelly’s Massacre”

32/ Kyp Harness “Ipperwash”

33/ Neil Young “Ambulance Blues”

34/ Ron Sexmith “West Gwillimbury”

35/ Erika Werry “Ode To Ron”

36/ Rheostatics “Claire”

37/ Pat Maloney “Bruce County Power Trip”

38/ The Hidden Cameras “Mississauga Goddam”

39/ Grievous Angels “D Miner Reel”

40/ Emerson Woodcock “Jimmy Whelan”

41/ Stompin Tom Connors “Horseshoe Hotel Song – Live”

42/ Digging Roots “Hwy 17”

43/ Drake “Weston Road Flows”

44/ The Spy’s “Machine Shop”

45/ PUP “DVP”

46/ Dave Russell & the Precious Stones “Deep Talk in Shallow Water”

47/ Corin Raymond “Riding West on Dundas”

48/ Sarah Harmer “St. Peter’s Bay”

49/ Wade Hemsworth “The Blackfly Song”

50/ Gord Downie “The Lake”