Author, archivist, and self-starting music historian Mike Carr continues his journey to document the impassioned works of Canadian musicians with this, the second release in his ongoing series — Rock My World Canada: Canadian Blues Reference & Collectors Guide.
Featuring over 700+ artists and nearly 2,800 album covers, the book promises coverage of the likes of Kevin Mark, Jack DeKeyzer, Monkeyjunk, Ann Vriend, and more. Newly minted additions to the format include lists of blues festivals, societies, and record labels; there’s also an autograph page.
“It’s all about the music,” Carr considers. “I started this project as my personal commitment to help support Canadian musicians. No matter what genre you favour, we have a vast amount of talent in this country. The goal is for readers to discover something new.
“Just like a song can trigger certain memories, I found album covers could do the same,” he continues, marvelling. “I remember when I was younger, I could hardly contain my excitement when, after purchasing a new album, I could admire the artwork, review the liner notes, and check out the band credits.
“In this digital age, though, it appears album covers have become a lost art.”
The Rock My World Canada mixed media project seeks to remedy that, and then some. “It’s like going to a record store, without going to a record store!”
Carr’s first foray into the project was in 2013 and, in 2018, he published the series’ print debut: Canadian Alternative & Indie Reference & Collectors Guide. That first tome featured over 900 musical acts and upwards of 3,000 album covers — spanning the gamut from the genres most famous to nearly-never heard of Canadian artists.
“I’m sure there are hundreds of acts that I missed, so please no hate mail,” he quips. “The series is designed as a compilation of the history of each musician or band as shown by the studio album releases and a short biography. The qualifier for each artist to be listed in the book is they had to have recorded at least one studio album or EP — so no splits, live, or compilations, unless deemed historically significant.”
The releases are designed to be tangible, hard-copied companion pieces to his website — the digital archive that is RockMyWorldCanada(dot)ca. “It’s so these issues don’t become outdated,” Carr explains.
You can check out the books HERE.