Details of
Breaking News
by McKenna Moonah Blues Duo
Liner Notes:
Producer: Jay Moonah and Jeff Jones
Engineer: Jay Moonah
Mastered By: Jeff Jones
About the Album
Legendary guitar player Mike McKenna and singer/musician Jay Moonah have teamed up for the new EP Breaking News. Four well-crafted songs run the gamut from sultry electric blues to hard-hitting heartland-rock to classic acoustic slide and harmonica sounds.
Mike McKenna is one of Canada's top blues and rock guitarists. As part of Toronto’s Yorkville scene in the early 60s, he was a major force in the establishment of the electric blues in Canada. He has been wowing crowds for more than 60 years with such seminal bands as McKenna Mendelson Mainline, Luke & The Apostles, the Ugly Ducklings, and Downchild. Among his many honours, McKenna was inducted into the Canada South Blues Society Hall of Fame in 2013, and nominated for the "Blues with a Feeling" Maple Blues Lifetime Achievement Award in 2023.
Jay Moonah is a singer, harmonica player, and multi-instrumentalist with almost four decades of experience on the Canadian music scene. His one-man blues band Broke Fuse received a Maple Blues Award nomination in 2022 for New Artist of the Year.
McKenna and Moonah met in 2016, and started performing regularly as the McKenna Moonah Blues Duo at various Toronto-area clubs, and at major events including the Kitchener Blues Festival, the Lighthouse Blues Festival, and others. Moonah also joined McKenna’s long running Slidewinder Blues Band, which plays the music of McKenna Mendelson Mainline alongside classic blues.
Breaking News features all new original songs written by McKenna and Moonah, and was co-produced by Moonah and his long-time friend and collaborator Jeff Jones. Jones and Moonah co-founded the early 2000s Toronto Independent Music Award winning roots-rock group Uncle Seth. Jones also mixed and mastered the EP.