Don't forget Gram InterNational (Gram Parsons 65th Birthday Bash) Thursday night at the Silver Dollar Room (College and Spadina) with an incredible lineup: Sunbear, Whitney Rose, Big Tobacco & the Pickers, The Key Frames, Drunk Woman, Jacques & the Shakey Boys, The Unseen Strangers, with Michael John Cavanaugh as host. It's really going to be a blast as well as the Americana, actually more alt country, event of the season. See you there!

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Can you name a musician Rolling Stone magazine puts five ahead of Tom Petty in their Most Important Artists of All Time list and who died almost four decades ago?

[Attend at: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=152277584855595]

Now in its fourth year, Gram InterNational, an annual concert event devoted to honoring Gram Parsons while presenting local bands influenced by the late great Gram Parsons, is coming to Toronto, Sept 15, at the Silver Dollar Room, Spadina at College. For the past three years it has been in Nashville and last year also in Boston.

There are not many country music artists whose influence is greater four decades after they pass; Gram Parsons is one of them. To answer the above question, Rolling Stone ranks him as No. 87 in their Top 100 Most Important Artists of All Time. Many claim that his influence on Keith Richards and the Rolling Stones changed the direction of their music.

Many others just claim Parsons as their gateway into the world of real country music, the kind which was being played by the likes of Cash, Haggard, Buck Owens, the Louvin Brothers and so many more. Gram’s protégé, Emmylou Harris, was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame a few years ago; former Byrd, Burrito and Fallen Angel Parsons has so far not been considered.

Organized by the Gram Parsons Petition Project, whose goal is to move Parsons’ name into consideration for induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame (gramparsonspetition.com has over 5,000 signers so far), Gram InterNational’s theme in 2011 is “Gram’s 65th Birthday Bash,” as that’s what he would have been this November 5. Begun in Nashville, and still there, the event has spread to six cities in four countries.

The local bands chosen to honor Parsons include Big Tobacco & the Pickers; The Unseen Strangers; Jacques & the Shakey Boys; The Key Frames; Whitney Rose; Sunbear; and Michael Cavanaugh, who will also act as MC; and others TBA.

Will James, founding director of Gram InterNational, says that bands play their own music with a nod to Gram. “We don’t call them ‘tribute’ concerts, as folks get the impression that the bands will just play Gram songs,” Will states. “You will hear plenty of Gram, but I select bands that claim, and sound to me, to have a deep respect for and are influenced by Gram’s music. I want to hear them play their own music.” He has the same disdain for labels that Parsons did, who hated the term “country rock,” for which Gram is often credited as founding. Will quotes Parsons, "I think pure country music includes rock and roll. I've never been able to get into the further label of country-rock.”

“Many find that Nashville’s product doesn’t sound much like country anymore,” Will states. “So you have this plethora of labels – alt country, Americana, outlaw country, cowpunk – that just becomes overwhelming. While Parsons was the genesis behind all these movements, my feeling is that Gram Parsons was a great songwriter and performer who was trying to introduce country music, the real thang as we say, to a whole new audience in a very divisive time.”

After Will talked with Silver Dollar booker Dan Burke, he knew where the Toronto event would be. “We talked on the phone at first. His venue has been booking some great alt talent, and we were very much of the same mind.” He also liked what the venue had to offer in the way of technical needs and equipment. “Not often you find all that at a venue,” Will states and suggests coming early, “We are scheduling seven great bands into six hours with only 10-minute breaks, so you don’t want to miss anything.”

The door is just $10 for all that music. No tickets are needed; just show up at the renowned Silver Dollar Room. Will warns, “Be sure to be there by 8:00 so as not to miss any of this great Canadian talent.”