Latest News...

July 7, 2010 - John Allaire and Bill Toms have successful "Troubadors Across North America" Tour - It started in April and ended in June. John Allaire and Pittsburgh native Bill Toms toured troubador style across 13,000 kms and two countries, playing "everywhere". The tour was a huge success and BIG THANKS goes out to all who played with us, put us up, booked us, and came to the shows! Heres the picture gallery!

May 9, 2010 - Campistas bringing the rock show to Zaphods for Summer kick-off - John Allaire and the Campistas will be bringing the rock show to Zaphod Beeblebrox on Friday, June 4 in a Summer kick off event, with a bit of a twist. Also on the bill is local high energy rockers Royal Ottawa (mostly former members from Bugs Harvey Oswald) and 40 Watt Monkey (comprised of ex members of Jimmy George, The Town Cryers, the Whirleygigs and others). The show is the brainchild of Minneapolis promoter and one-time manager and fixture on the Ottawa scene Marshall Brown of Wahoo Productions. The Show starts at 8 pm promptly, so get your tickets early (here at ticketweb) and show up on time. The show ends at 11 pm.

Mar. 31, 2010 - Bill Toms returns to Canada - For those who have been following John's touring and live escapades over the last couple of years, you'll know that he has teamed up with the Spingsteen-produced Bill Toms from Pittsburgh, PA for tours on both sides of the Can-Am border. Well, they're at it again. The tour will start at the end of April in Canada and will wind up at the end of June in the US. Cities like Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal will be the first stops, and then it's off to the States for places like Richmond, Annapolis, Nashville, Athens GA, Philadelphia, West Virginia, Pittsburgh and Cleveland.

Check out the schedule for full listings and ticket information. AND DON'T MISS THIS TOUR! Bill has a brand new live CD out that he recorded with his backing band, Hard Rain, in Pittsburgh a few months ago. And John is venturing out on his second (and continuing) leg of his "Up Hill ... Both Ways" tour. Anyone who has seen these two together on a bill will attest to the dynamics of the show.

Mar. 31, 2010 - Texas, oh Texas! - It was a long road to Texas, but a worthwhile trip, as John played in the Lone Star State for the legendary SxSW festival. And the funny thing was, he went all that way and ended up playing with or seeing just about every Ottawa musician that was in Austin! As well as playing, John hung out with Alejandro Escovedo, Jacob Dylan and Sass Jordan. He played a short set with Ottawa singer-songwriter Amanda Rheaume and it was recorded through the board. Hear some cuts here Live in Austin, TX!.

Feb. 1, 2010 - Latest video from "Up Hill ... Both Ways" released - Michel Poirier and John Allaire have today released the lates video for John's 2009 album "Up Hill ... Both Ways". While the original concept was abandoned in part, here is the result of the latest release from the Allaire camp! Stay tuned for a full-lemgth DVD with this and many other features, live shows and documentaries coming soon!

Dec. 17, 2009 - John wins Toronto Independent Music Award in "Best Live" category - It's been quite a year and the train keeps a' rollin'. John walked away from a showcase for the Toronto Independent Music Award with the hardware for the "Best Live-Acoustic" act. John was joined on stage by his "Toronto" Campistas and took the award with a 17/20 score.

Dec. 8, 2009 - Sony BMG (Acidpro software) produces and hosts the "John Allaire Remix Contest" - John's song "Magnets" off his latest album has been supported by Sony BMG through their AcidPro recording software website ACIDplanet.com. According to their site: "ACIDplanet.com® is excited about teaming up with American Songwriter magazine and offering John Allaire’s “Magnets” for remixing. “Magnets” recently won first place in American Songwriter’s lyric award." Would-be recording engineers and producers are encouraged to remix John's song "Magnets" and enter it into the contest for prizes! Go here to see what this is all about!

Dec. 8, 2009 - John playing showcase at the Toronto Independent Music Awards - After being nominated in the "Best Live" category, John and his "Toronto Campistas" (led by T.O. alt-country guitarist Greg Klein) will be playing The Central on 603 Markham Street (beside Honest Eds!), as part of the award selection. The show will be Wednesday, December 16th at 8:00 pm and the cover is $7.00. Come on out and cheer him on!

Oct. 30, 2009 - John wins American Songwriter "Best Lyrics" Award - It has just been announced out of Nashville that John has won the "Best Lyrics" category of the American Songwriter Awards. The song submitted for the award was "Magnets", a song from John's latest album "Up Hill ... Both Ways". The American Songwriter Awards holds quarterly awards announcements. "Magnets" will go up against the other three winners for a chance at a trip to Nashville to write and record with some big Nashville names. See the award anouncement and artice in this month's issue of American Songwriter Magazine.

Oct. 13, 2009 - Songwriters Assoc. of Canada "Bluebird North" Showcase at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa - Tuesday November 3rd, 2009, Bluebird North Ottawa, Presented by the Songwriters Association of Canada, National Arts Centre's Fourth Stage
Doors: 7:00 pm
Show: 7:30 pm

Featuring:
Graham Greer (ex-Barstool Prophets)
John Allaire
Kyrie Kristmanson
Amy Campbell

Tickets:
$15 - Members of the S.A.C. (at the door only)
$20 - Non-Members

Tickets Available Online though the NAC Box Office:
http://www.nac-cna.ca/en/boxoffice/tickets.cfm

Oct. 9, 2009 - Award Nominations! - The American Songwriter Awards has informed John that one of his songs (Magnets) finished in the top 4 out of 2,500 entries in the "best lyrics award" section. Final placement is pending, but a first place finish will award John a Martin guitar and a shot at the grand prize, which is a week in Nashville recording with some pretty big stars. At the very minimum, at this point John is going to be published in "American Songwriter Magazine", which has a very large worldwide circulation.

As well, the Toronto Independent Music Awards (TIMA) informed John that he has been nominated for an award there too in "Best Live acoustic act" category. A concert will take place in Toronto some time in the new year for a shot at the $15,000 top prize in the qualifying round and a chance to compete for $60,000.

Aug 19, 2009 - "Up Hill" US Tour Blog Posted - Follow John and his touring buddy Gilles as they trapse across the USA! The blog is jam-packed full of pictures and videos of the tour. Go here to check it out!

Aug 3, 2009 - "Up Hill" review from Denver!. "He has the lyrical sense of Dylan, the chops of Neil Young, and his backing group reminds me of The Band..." See the whole review here.

June 22, 2009 - US TOUR a great success ... Ontario and Quebec dates up next - John's recent flurry of shows took him across two provinces, 11 states, 7,000 kms, 75 driving hours, $57 in highway tolls, 19 shows in 21 days, two time zones and approximately 450 Egg McMuffins between John and Gilles (not really by choice). John played about 380 songs in that time period in places such as Cleveland, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Nashville, Virginia Beach, West Virginia, Manhattan, Connecticut, and many points in between. Hundreds of pictures and 8 hours of video were shot. We will be uploading new pictures and a blog in short order. Stay tuned for that!

In the meantime, check out the shows page to see if/when John's playing in a town near you. And don't forget to show up early at Ottawa Bluesfest on July 18th, as John and the Campistas' set is at 1:30 pm on the "Subway Stage".

May 19, 2009 - First "Up Hill" review is in .. from David Yazbeck at NxEW. "I sure hope we'll hear plenty from this new release. Here are my first impressions: this is a great record. Excellent production, great sound, nice contributions from Tara Holloway and Amanda Rheaume. And a showcase for an evolving singer-songwriter pushing the envelope a bit but also doing what he does best: heartfelt troubadour songs about real people." See it here!

May 16, 2009 - John Allaire is Peter Simpson's "Critic's Pick of the week" in the Ottawa Citizen.

Apr. 22, 2009 - John to play Ottawa Bluesfest again this year - This just in... John and his band will be playing the Ottawa Bluesfest for his thrid consecutive year. He will be playing on Saturday, July 18th at 1:30 pm on the Subway Stage. Go here for more details.