As Saskatoon's The Sheepdogs descended down the steps of the Dakota Tavern and sauntered their way over to my bar stool, it was obvious that I was about to speak to a band mid-tour.

I shook hands with the members, who were all dressed in 70's folk-rock attire, and I moved to the back of the bar to chat with Ewan Currie (lead vocals, guitar) and Ryan Gullen (bass, backing vocals), while the rest of the band did a sound check.

We Are The City are exactly the type of band that I look for. Fresh, new music, coming from a group of guys young enough to be experiencing the grueling industry for the first time. I think that they might even like it.

They recently notched their first full-length, first national tour, first music video, and experienced their first time seeing the country we live in through the window of a Toyota 1988 Land Cruiser. This will also be their first time playing a Toronto venue outside of a music festival.

When I first got Cayne McKenzie (lead vocals, piano) on the line, he didn't even know where he was...

The five members of Make Your Exit were excitedly handling and examining their new EP, Remind Me The Reason I Came when I arrived at the Red Room. I think only two of the five looked up as I joined their table and it reminded me of children opening Christmas presents. They were excited and it was cool to watch.

On top of that, while I had mentioned that I only needed one or two members to be there they had insisted on all coming to meet me. While it makes it harder for me to transcribe (there are seriously three Mikes in the band), it shows a group solidarity that really shines on stage when all members of an ensemble are so committed and eager.

Whenever I meet someone who's thirty or under, actively creating folk music (or some variant of the genre), I'm always somewhat puzzled. I am generally interested to know their motives, and I wonder how they got into it. I guess it's like finding out that someone plays the harp. So, I have at least one question to ask Patrick Brealey.

With the release of his second album, Mercury in Songbirds, and an upcoming show at an interesting venue that I've never been to, I now had at least three good reasons to sit down with Brealey in the corner of an Ossington favourite, the Communist's Daughter.

Secret Broadcast are quickly becoming something. In two years, this Calgary-based rock band has accomplished a more than a few memorable feats, and experienced enough encouragement from industry big-wigs (Richard Branson of the Virgin empire) to keep them working hard at their craft.

They had already embarked on their tour to promote their first full-length, 'Exploding Spiders,' so I was happy to settle with a phone call from Toronto-native, Matt Lightstone (guitars, vocals) instead of the usual sit down interview. He told me about how sometimes just picking up the morning paper can land you in a band.

Corduroy has stepped it up this past year. After four months of what they describe as "a stagnant period," the songs started to come quickly, they began playing the Toronto circuit heavily, and with a demo released and an EP on the way, things look on the up and up. They're certainly not the band of yesteryear. I guess they've been really reinvigorated by a new member and a new name.

We arranged to meet up at the Red Room and discuss all of the above and a TIFF kick-off party they are scheduled to play. And, of course, Nicolas Cage.