We finally got a release date for the new album. Really excited for you all to hear the new tunes. The band was amazing! thanks to Enver, Jen, Billy, Brynn, and Malcolm for kicking butt. Special thanks to Barrett Ross and Ghetto Box studios for letting these tunes grow in your space. And thank you to FACTOR, Creative Sask, SKArts, and SaskMusic for giving me the chance to share these songs with you.
Hey gang,
We are going through some crazy times out there. Hope you are all staying safe and healthy and at home until this has a chance to pass.
As you know, all live events have been cancelled and postponed indefinitely at the moment. I have decided to hold onto the new album until things have come to a “new normal”.
We’ll be looking at getting a single out before the summer so that we can be in your hearts and minds with the sunshine and the new album will be out in the fall.
Right now I am just taking the time at home to enjoy our new baby girl that was born in March and spending a lot of time playing with our 2 year old as well.
take care and talk to you soon!
From the opening salvo of “Feeling Good” to the epic crescendo of “Don’t Wanna Tell You” the new album from Smokekiller is, to say the least, all killer, no filler. John Antoniuk, aka, Smokekiller, has put together a collection of songs that is destined to be the soundtrack to summer 2020. The new album was written over the last five years while John was managing, and performing with his wife, Jen Lane. In between North American tours, John found time to hit the studio with engineer Barrett Ross at Ghetto Box Studios in Saskatoon, SK. The songs are some of the strongest John has ever written and the energy of the performances was as easy to capture as rain in your hand. The thunderous bass of Enver Hampton (Volcanoless in Canada) and cacophonic drumming of Billy Tataryn (Castle River, Acronyms) brought a spark to the project that sets each track on fire. You can hear John’s love of 90’s rock all throughout the album which at times sounds like Lou Reed singing KISS songs with the Foo Fighters. The accolades have already begun coming in with the International Songwriting Competition recently recognizing track one, “Feeling Good”, as a semi-finalist in the rock category. Smokekiller has also been selected to showcase at Junofest 2020 in Saskatoon, and they’ll be tearing up the stage at a handful of festivals this summer.
Standout tracks: “Lion”, “You’ll Find Out”, “Don’t Wanna Tell You”
Hey gang,
I’ve been working hard this year on the new album. “Chiba” will be released in Spring 2020. So thankful to have had my good friend Barrett Ross engineer and mix the album. Barrett was a big part of the writing process helping me channel my angst through the Chiba project. Also very thankful to Creative Saskatchewan, FACTOR, and the Saskatchewan Arts Board for helping me bring this project to light. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. We will be playing the new material at a few shows coming up in the next few months. Keep an eye on the the tour dates tab for info on upcoming shows.
that should catch us up for now. talk soon
ps. Our daughter Vera is 28 months old. And we are expecting another baby in March 2020! Going to be an amazing year.
Hey gang,
It’s been a long time since I rock n rolled but better late than never. I have been writing and touring like crazy for the last few years. Mostly on the road with the Jen & John duo, or just Jen Lane. The songs kept coming out of me the whole time, sometimes a little Pettyish, sometimes a little Foo Fighting, and sometimes a little old school country. I know, I know, all over the place. I just let them all happen and make sure that I saved them so that I could share them with you.
First things first, let’s catch up. Jen Lane and I had a baby!!! Yup, ol’ smokey smoke is a proud papa now. Vera Lee Frances Antoniuk was born on June 25th, 2017. (Hopefully that helps explain my absence from talking about myself as of late.) We are having a lot of fun while working hard raising a little baby, and oh my god people, it is an incredible amount of work. I have to say that you moms out there are an amazing bunch. When I think that my mom had 4 kids, 2 years apart, I’m totally surprised that we all survived and that she made it too. And yes, there will be a kids album in the works. Already writing it. : )
Jen and I also have a new duets record that we recorded at the end of the Jen Lane “This Life of Mine” tour. We have decided to put it on hold at least until Vera can keep time with a shaker. We’ll be releasing it in stages over the next little while so keep your eyes and ears out for it.
Back to the business at hand. I have a new Smokekiller album written. It’ll be ready for release in Spring 2020. But first I’ll be sharing tracks off my 2008 release “13” with all the itunes and spotify links. I just feel like sharing it out there so that we can all get reacquainted before we drop the new tunes. I’ll be starting that in the next few weeks to coincide with some live shows that I have coming up. The first of those is on March 3rd at the Capitol Music Club. I am really excited to be playing with Billy Tataryn on drums (Castle River) and Malcolm Whyte (Gunner & Smith).
Gotta run for now, but I think that about catches us up.
Talk soon,
John
I’m on my way to Toronto for Canadian Music Week 2017. It’s always such a great event and I’m very excited to be showcasing Saturday April 22nd at 10pm at the Paddock (179 Bathurst). I’ve also been able to pick up a couple Tuesdays from 8pm-10pm at my favorite place to play in the city, The Cameron House (408 Queen St. W). Check out the Tour Dates tab for more info.
Hope to see you around Toronto over the next 2 weeks!
John
Here we are and it’s already February! 2017 is relentlessly flying by. I’ve had a couple nice shows this year and I’m looking forward to a few more. So much fun to hit Regina and the Fat Badger! Check it out next time your in town, and hit a Thursday to catch some great live music! Thanks to Theresa Sokyrka for coming out and playing with me at the Underground Cafe in Saskatoon! It was really great to hear her singing! Jen Lane and I are taking things a little slower to start off the year, but you’ll be able to catch us at Grace Land Live in Winthorst, SK! We are excited to come for a visit.
Been working on the new Smokekiller album and I’m happy to say that you will all get to hear something this year! We will also have a new Jen & John duets album coming out this year. I’ve also been working with Paul Kuzbik (The Pistolwhips) on some solo acoustic material of his! I really enjoy producing, especially when the content is so good already!
I’ll be at Canadian Music Week this April 18-22, 2017! Thank you so much to the festival for having me back out! I’m ready to share some new songs with y0u and pumped to come take in all the CMW action! I’ll also be playing a couple Tuesdays 8-10 at the Cameron House (front room). Love every opportunity that I get to play on that stage!
Check Tour dates for all upcoming show info!
John
I had an amazing tour with the wonderful Jen Lane and her amazing band. Jen’s new album “This Life of Mine” was released on Feb 26th, 2016 and hit #1 on the National Folk/Roots/Blues charts in March. It is a fantastic record and if you haven’t heard it yet you should do yourself a solid and check it out at her website!
We embarked on a Canadian CD release tour that took us from Vancouver to Montreal and I got to open most of the shows along the way, including having a double slot for our residency at the wonderful Cameron House in Toronto. Playing a solo 6-8 spot there gave me the chance to test out some new material that I’ve been working on. I’m getting ready to record a new Smokekiller record and I’m very excited about the team we are working with.
Ryan Dahle (Age of Electric, Mounties, Limblifter) will be helping me to record my best tunes for a new album. I am over the top excited about working with Ryan and I know that he will take my stuff to the next level. The band and I have been working hard getting the arrangements down and I haven’t had this much fun playing music in a long time!
The band and I will be at the DogPatch Music Festival in Whelan, SK, August 5,6, to test out the new material live. I’ll also be playing with the Jen Lane band at Ness Creek, Gateway, and DogPatch, so there be a lot of summer fun happening around our house!
Hope to see you at a show!
john
Hey gang,
Hope everyone is having a fantastic November! Jen Lane and I are out in Ontario and Quebec on tour at the moment, check the tour dates tab for more details. We are back at the Cameron House for a residency Tuesday nights from 8pm-10pm. We are doing it a bit different this time, with me opening solo for a short set and then a FULL BAND Jen Lane set!! Yup, Del Cowsill (bass), Pat Phillips (drums), and Kevin Neal (pedal steel) have been joining us for a full set of Jen Lane songs. It’s sounds amazing. Hope you can come and check it out. I’ve changed themes on my website, still trying to find the right one for me. Gonna play around with this one for a while. Been so busy lately that I haven’t really had a proper update for too long, so here it is for now! : ) I also wanted to thank FACTOR for their support for Smokekiller to go into the studio in January 2016 to record some new demos. I’m very excited to share what I’ve been working on with you. I also want to thank Creative Saskatchewan for their support through touring, marketing, and recording. It’s an amazing level of support that is helping all the provincial talent put their best foot forward.
Have a great week and we’ll talk again very soon!
john
Hope everyone is having a great spring and getting ready for a great summer. Jen Lane and I have been busy working on plans for her album release in early 2016, writing new songs for the next “Duets” album and mixing some songs I recorded at Bottega last October. whew! Good to be busy. Thanks to the Cameron House for the wonderful hospitality this past May and the Saskatchewan Arts Board for making the trip possible. Our May/November residency is really growing and we’re excited to get back there later this year! First things first, Jen and I will be heading out west in support of the “Jen & John” album starting with Regina at Creative City Centre this Saturday June 20th! We’ll be joined by Kirby Criddle for the Behind the Songs Series, check out the event here. I’ll be doing some stage managing at MosoFest, Ness Creek, and Gateway, so maybe I’ll see some of you there. Jen and I hit the road again on July 27th out West to Salt Spring Island. Be sure to check the Tour Dates tab for all the details. That’s all for now.
john
John Antoniuk / Smokekiller 