Rockin’ with The Blue Stones

Building your brand? Think big with Lacasse

We’re always expanding our capabilities to help you build your brand in big, new and creative ways. From beautifully crafted traditional printing to large-format exhibit displays, vehicle wraps, real estate signage and just-about-anything you can imagine, we’ve got the technology and expertise to help you stand out in any crowd.

Dazzling large-format printing!

Our large-format systems can print up to 5 feet by 8 feet on virtually any hard surface – corrugated materials, plastic and composite sheeting, aluminum panels, foam boards – and up to a whopping 80 inches by 150 feet on roll substrates! When it’s time for your brand to go really big, go with Lacasse.

lacasseprinting.com 11670 County Road 42 519.735.4121 877.774.6848

Rockin’ with The Blue Stones

Windsor-based rock duo is itchin’ to return to the road

By Devan Mighton Photography by Sameer Jafar

Since forming in 2011, the Windsor rock duo of Tarek Jafar and Justin Tessier, known collectively as The Blue Stones, have developed a worldwide fanbase through their infectious blend of bluesy tones and psychedelic rockscapes.

Their debut record, 2015’s Black Holes, gained The Blue Stones international fandom with their hit singles “Black Holes (Solid Ground)” and “Be My Fire”. Rereleased three years later on the eOne label, their popularity continued to grow, and the duo was honoured with a Juno Awards nomination for their efforts.

In 2019, the band set to work on their follow-up, Hidden Gems. After touring the world and getting signed, Jafar and Tessier hit the studio and started converting their thoughts to sounds. Summer 2019 was spent writing and recording. Little did they know, their world – the entire world – was about to change.

“Everything was smooth sailing,” exclaims Jafar. “We had finished our first session of recording in Kingston in September and then headed out for a European tour. We came back in January 2020 to finish up the album, which was just two months before everything shut down. Right when we were in the mixing and mastering phase of everything, that’s when the whole March shutdown happened. From that point, for a whole ‘nother year, we had to put the album release on hold. Luckily, we had finished recording everything right before the whole world shut down.”

The Blue Stones, like every musical act across the world, were pulled away from their fans by the COVID-19 pandemic. Unable to tour, the band knew that it would be almost impossible to properly market and promote Hidden Gems – and on the shelf, it went. There the new album sat. However, the pandemic allowed the bandmates a bit of a breather from the hustle and bustle life of a rock band.

“It’s been nice to be home, to be honest,” admits Tessier. “Even for the first eight months, it was nice to finally be in one place for an extended time. That was kind of cool. We’ve been writing since then. We did a lot of live streams and focussed more on the social media side of things.”

After much delay, on March 19, 2021, Hidden Gems dropped. The lead single, “Shakin’ Off The Rust”, soared to the top position of the Canadian Rock Charts and reached No. 5 on the Billboard Mainstream Chart.

“I wouldn’t say there is any one specific concept,” explains Jafar. “I think it’s more of a collection of songs that are a snapshot of where we are in our lives and also our careers. This is our sophomore release, so I feel when we were writing these songs, and lyrically, a lot of the content was about finally feeling like we know who we are as a band now.

“We are a lot more mature than we were when we released our first album. It’s that feeling of confidence and knowing your place in the industry and knowing your place in your own life and not being ashamed of where that ended up being. A lot of the songs are about that and the process of being a musician – going from being an indie musician to being somebody who is part of a record label and is touring. It’s a transition that we’ve both had to make in our lives and this album is a representation of that.”

The duo is grateful for the support of the Windsor music scene and how it has helped propel them into international waters.

“It’s a really good city to be in a band because the community is so tight and always has been,” states Jafar. “There’s just so much raw talent around this city. I think the thing that helped us the most, developing as musicians in Windsor, was all of the support and the people that would come out and watch the shows and push us forward. It gave us the confidence to take it outside of the city. That’s something that helped build us up early on – that feeling that our hometown has our back. That’s always been a nice thing to know.”

With no touring for over a year, The Blue Stones are preparing for an American fall tour, festivals, and a 2022 World Tour.

“It’s been a big change of pace for us,” says Tessier. “I think we did 100 shows in 2019. It’s a huge change of pace to be out on tour, at the beginning of a tour, and have to turn around, and we haven’t been at a real show since then.”

“We’re plotting our return to music now, finally, and how we are going to return to touring and how we’re going to introduce these songs to the live stage,” adds Jafar. “We’ve put out an entire album now that we have to perform. It’s taken up a lot of our time for us to figure out how we’re going to present this to a new audience.”

To start 2022, The Blue Stones will be pairing up with Toronto hitmakers The Beaches for a Canada-wide tour.

“We’re so excited to be doing that,” states Jafar. “That’s a band of serious rock ‘n roll chicks that we’ve wanted to play with for a very long time.”

After over a year of social distancing, Jafar and Tessier are excited to be getting back to where they belong, upon the stage.

“We’re not really worried about COVID, just more getting back in the groove of learning how to play on stage again,” explains Tessier. “Getting back to the point of being around all those other people. It’s going to take a little bit of getting used to for the next little while – being around people – and getting back into the groove of performing and putting on a show. Especially on tour where it’s a marathon and getting back into the groove of playing every night.”

“I’m excited to be going back to live shows, but, at the same time, I’m a little bit nervous because it’s been so long since we’ve performed. It’s going to take a few times for us to get back into the groove. It’s a weird little mix of excitement and caution, which is kind of like, ‘Oh shit! Am I ready for this?!’”

For upcoming The Blue Stones’ tour dates, please go to their website at www.thebluestonesmusic.com. D

FEEDING THE WAY

to a Brighter Future for Our Planet and People

Bonduelle Tecumseh

Bonduelle Canada Inc 1192 Lacasse Blvd, Windsor, ON N8N 2C5 bonduelleamericas.com/ca/

In the heart of small agricultural communities you’ll nd Bonduelle, a French family company that has specialized in healthy foods since 1853. eir innovative perspective on farming and food preservation has allowed them to transcend the years and expand from France to feed over 100 countries. Even with their global-scale food production, Bonduelle has never forgotten the purpose behind their name: connecting local communities through food.

Just like the family farmers who launched the company generations ago, the current team proudly carries on the Bonduelle legacy and the pact that came with it for the planet and its people. ey pride themselves on supporting sustainable agriculture around the world, making plant-based foods more accessible, promoting tasty and healthy eating habits for all, and delivering positive social and economic impacts for all their employees and communities. Al Cyster is a Bonduelle eld technician at the Tecumseh, Ont. location and says that when it comes to the farmers, he couldn’t have asked to work with better people or in a better job. “When people tell me that they dread going to work, I can’t relate. I’ll gladly work a Saturday or Sunday because I’m outside in the open with nature all around me, and I feel so lucky to have worked like this for 30 years,” Even though Al is set to retire this year, he says he’ll be back to help out in the eld whenever the team needs it. is positive work culture starts in the elds and reverberates into the surrounding communities. For the Tecumseh location that means lending a helping hand each year for the local Corn Festival. Bonduelle sponsors and provides the corn and butter for the entire festival in order to promote healthy and fresh foods, and their entire team take part by volunteering for the parade oat, the corn booth, and other activities throughout the festivities.

Jodie Player, a Bonduelle employee for 32 years, says they’ve been participating in the Corn Fest for as long as she can remember. “It’s like a family here where we enjoy doing things outside the company together,” she says. Jodie used to attend the events with her young boys where they’d dress up in corn, carrot, or

pea pod costumes for the oat. Now that they’re all grown up, they work alongside her at Bonduelle and still get to enjoy the fest as adults through the company. “We all just love going to help out and being part of a community together,” Jodie adds.

Even though the last two years of the festival have been cancelled, Bonduelle – which is right around the corner from the festival’s home at Lacasse Park – has maintained the corn booth in support of local charities. e event takes place until October 10, 2021 every Saturday and Sunday from 10 am – 2 pm or until sold out.

Bonduelle’s commitment to community doesn’t just include volunteering with the Tecumseh area but goes further to make an impact on local individuals through employment. “As an employee that lives in this area, it’s great to see Bonduelle providing careers to hundreds of people in the area,” Plant Manager Peter Golla says. e opportunities for careers and growth within the company are exible for employee’s lifestyles and include student positions, weekend shi s, summer employment, or year-round positions.

“I’ve been the leader of this site for only two months but in that short period of time I quickly realized that the strength of the site is the people. Our longerterm employees do a great job of teaching new employees not only the job but our positive culture as well. Combine that with our hard-working guest workers and we have a great foundation to work on continuous improvement every day,” Peter adds.

In many cases, family members work at Bonduelle for generations and invite friends and loved ones for career opportunities. is has strengthened the family dynamic and created a bond around the sturdiest foundation: food. Mira Kosevich, Bonduelle’s new manager of Human Resources and Health and Safety says this is why their retention rate is so good, because of the family-oriented work environment where everyone ows so well together. “It’s so collaborative and everyone is so helpful. I feel so fortunate to work here and can’t think of anywhere else I’d rather be,” she adds.

Bonduelle brings purpose to our plates in their range of products under their Bonduelle, Arctic Gardens, Graves, and Del Monte brands in Canada. their Bonduelle, Arctic Gardens, Graves, and Del Monte brands in Canada. Inviting their frozen or canned veggies to the dinner table encourages employees Inviting their frozen or canned veggies to the dinner table encourages employees to work on meaningful missions, helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and to work on meaningful missions, helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and provides healthy plant-based products to our meals. eir commitment is to provides healthy plant-based products to our meals. eir commitment is to inspire a generation of consumers who eat plant-based foods, not just because inspire a generation of consumers who eat plant-based foods, not just because they’re healthy but because they taste good too.

If “nature is our future”, then Bonduelle is our present. ey’re guiding the way to a brighter future for the planet and for our people, all while serving us delicious food. You can read more about their missions at bonduelleamericas.com/ca/ and apply to work with Bonduelle at jobs.bonduelle.com. D

The Tecumseh plant was once a Green Giant facility. Bonduelle purchased the facility in 2007