Toronto Music Scene

Rock/Alternative/Pop 

"Basia Lyjak is doing to the world what she's been doing to the rest of us by bringing back everything in classic and alternative rock we thought was lost for good. In songs like 'Bye Bye' 'Lies' and 'Plastic' we get the kind of innovation and excellence that makes for historical live performance at historical live events. It's actually quite unsettling for the music industry, as Basia Lyjak has arrived at a time when we all thought stage and studio 'magic,' 'presence,' and 'charisma' had long since fallen off the pages! Rewriting the A&R chapters is easy but I really do feel sorry for the label execs that ran out of ink!" - Colin Lynch, Jimmy Stilettos magazine

Toronto native Basia Lyjak was born singing, with a seemingly endless supply of melodies at her disposal. Having spent almost a decade defining and refining her sound to most accurately portray who she is, Basia is ready to take the music scene by storm with her rock n' roll, femme-charged vocals.

"Basia Lyjak has broken the mold, folks. This incredibly talented female rock practitioner from Toronto has emerged with a laughingly brilliant and innovatively excellent EP that rips at the very foundations of once sleepy North American rock and wakes the whole world up with the kinda force that could repair the melting ice sheets at either ends of the north or south poles!" - Elley Wilson, IOM Magazine

With an early career that served as a crash course in the music industry, Basia Lyjak found her calling as a solo singer-songwriter rather quickly after testing the waters with a development deal with an all girl group, a 5-song demo and extended stays in both New York and Montreal. Although she learned a great deal from these early opportunities, they only confirmed in her heart what she already knew: she had her own melodies and words that she had to share with the world. Armed with experience in production and life in the studio, Basia embarked on writing and collaborating on her first self-titled EP. Her hunger to get the songs out there consumed her totally until it was completed and the 6-song EP was released in 2002.

The CD was a success, but she knew she still wasn't where she wanted to be as a songwriter, so after taking a couple of years off to regroup, a newly inspired Basia began writing, jamming and collaborating on songs for her second EP. With influences ranging from Veruca Salt and Holly McNarland to Gwen Stefani and Pat Benatar, Basia was creating a whole new "chick-rock" sound of her own that harnessed her passion and energy and expressed it musically in a way that is truly fitting of her as an artist. And so, "Writings on the Wall," her current, self-funded release, was born.

"I first encountered Basia Lyjak on MySpace, when searching for musical peers to add to my own site, and I was immediately struck by her music. Her natural way with melody is the perfect fusion of pure vocal ability and grit, and her song arrangements are delivered to maximize her gifts. I love the track 'Bye Bye', and was instantly certain that it smacked of radio potential, and upon further listens the other tracks also contain that necessary meld of freshness and accessibility." - Rick Tyrrell, Musicblood!

With "Writings on the Wall" officially available worldwide (online or through HMV), Basia is ready to rock any stage she's given with her new band, featuring guitarist Ron Bechard (Sin Dealer, Edwin, Three Days Grace), bassist Dave Carreiro (Nigel's 11, Slash Puppet) and drummer Glenn Nash (Q107 house drummer, Zep Tribute "Ozonebaby"). In addition to being selected as cover artist for the first-ever print edition of Jimmy Stilettos magazine in January, Basia has been nominated for several IOM Awards, and has a full-length video filmed by John Holosko in the works.

She also just recorded vocals for a new single written with Kyle Riabko, "Don't Talk" at Whirlwind Sound Studios with Pilate producer Brian Moncarz, and hopes to record a full album in the new year. Some would say it's a lot for one woman to handle, but Basia says bring it on -- she's living the dream!

Contact: 

http://www.myspace.com/basialyjak

http://www.basialyjak.com/ 

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Interviews: 

Basia Lyjak Writings on the Wall

Upcoming Toronto Shows:

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