Not long after releasing their indie and soul-pop album Just Try, YASSiN & Sean Terrio have recently announced the Rock the Halls: A Holiday Benefit Bash.
This soiree is put on by the duo of themselves and presented by Canada's Walk of Fame and RBC in support of Kids Help Phone.
The duo is headlining the show but will also feature some great performances by Canada's Walk of Fame and RBC Emerging Musician Program alumni as well as special guests The Free Label.
This is a holiday-spirited showcasing and for everyone to come together and do this is incredible because it really shows how much they are able to use their music for the power of good.
A beautiful idea and a wonderful sentiment, Rock the Halls: A Holiday Benefit Bash has put together an incredible lineup of eclectic artists and is set for December 20th.
Proceeds from this show will benefit Kids Help Phone, which serves as a support system for young people across Canada. Founded in 1989 this program has grown from telephone counseling to a comprehensive resource for emotional and mental health support nationwide.
This is a beautiful thing, and it just shows how certain musicians, artists, producers, and organizations, can get together to do something big and benefit everyone else in the process.
Along with the duo themselves, they bring in Mindflip which is a hip hop artist with over 50 million streams and brings this super high energy and empowered lyrical concept to the stage.
Cassie Dasilva joins them as well by bringing that emotional backbone turned into catchy pop songs and of course, as mentioned earlier, The Free Label who will give a colorful blend of '70s disco, '90s R&B, and plenty of funk to their performance.
This is absolutely guaranteed to be an unforgettable concert, and funds will be raised through ticket sales, toy drives, and a silent auction. Guests are encouraged to bring new unwrapped toys for the Make-A-Wish Toy Drive to take things further.
Tickets for this event are $35 in advance and $40 at the door and you can grab those here.
With such a warming and inspirational idea. We wanted to chat with YASSiN & Sean Terrio to talk about where this all came from and how it was put together.
Buzz Slayers: Hey guys! Welcome back and thanks for taking more time to talk with us! This time we wanted to talk about the Rock the Halls: A Holiday Benefit Bash in support of Kids Help Phone.
This is such an amazing endeavour! What brought this on exactly?
Hello! YASSiN here! This idea actually came from my amazing fiancé. She used to work as a radiation therapist and has treated cancer all over Canada. Before she changed careers, she was working at a hospital in Hamilton, Ontario, and one day after work a year ago, she came home and had an idea of having a toy drive show to collect and donate toys to the kids going through treatment at her hospital. Sean and I loved this idea and got to work planning. We called that the prototype Rock the Halls show, and it went amazingly well! We collected over 400 toys for those kids! Seeing how well that one went, we knew we wanted to turn this into an annual event we host, and we wanted to make sure the event got bigger and bigger as the years went on. So fast forward to today, we’ve partnered with Canada’s Walk of Fame, and RBC to do exactly that. This year is bigger and better than last, which hopefully means we can give back in a massive way!
Buzz Slayers: It looks like there is quite a line up at this event! Can you give us the rundown of performers?
We are so stoked that all these performers are playing with us! Cassie Dasilva, MindFlip, and Dallas are all incredible artists that were part of the Walk of Fame’s Emerging Musician Program, which we were lucky enough to be a part of in 2021. That program gave us so much, so we wanted to give a platform back to those going through it! What I love about those 3 are they are all so different from each other in vibe and sound! THEN we have the legendary Free Label as our special guest group! We’ve been fans of theirs for years and their live show is unmatched! We still can’t believe we actually got them for this, and I’m stoked to see their performance up close and personal!
Buzz Slayers: This event is brought on by yourselves along with a few others including Canada’s Walk of Fame, RBC is that right? How did you guys end up teaming up with them for this?
So, as I said above! A few years ago, we were part of Canada’s Walk of Fame’s Emerging Musician Program. Since then, we stayed friends with the director of marketing Griffin Sokal (Who basically also discovered us) and the Walk of Fame’s CEO Jeffery Latimer.
When we were brainstorming ways of making this show bigger, they were the first people that came to mind to call up and ask for help. As they usually do, they went above and beyond, and we are incredibly grateful to have them as partners on this! RBC came together in a similar way. They have a relationship with the Emerging Musician Program as well AND they have an amazing program called RBC x Musics First Up which we are a part of this year. So, it really felt like the universe was on our side here and brought us these amazing groups to help make this show spectacular.
Buzz Slayers: Can you tell us a little about Kids Help Phone?
Kids Help Phone is an amazing organization that supports kids across Canada struggling with mental health issues. That seems like a way to simple way of putting it, but essentially, they are a 24 hour help line that can provide support for kids who need to talk to someone. They started out as a help line for youth experiencing abuse, but over decades they have evolved what they offer as support. We had the privilege of playing a few shows over the Summer in support of their cause, and it just made sense to work with them again.
Buzz Slayers: This feels like a big undertaking. How long did it take you guys to put this together?
It is definitely the largest scale show we’ve ever had to put on. We can’t take all the credit though because every step of the way we’ve had help from amazing people, our friend Griffin Sokal to be specific! Without her, none of this would be possible! We probably started talking about this show with our partners in August this year. I think we all wished we could’ve started planning this much MUCH earlier than that, but this Summer was crazy for everyone involved.
We had more shows than we ever had, and it was a struggle to sit down and put in the time for this. Having said that, since August we’ve been hustling to get it DONE. It still feels like we have more to do, but we’re just a few weeks out now and now our only job is to focus on putting on the best show we can!
It's pretty beautiful to see you guys putting so much effort into a charity and a genuine cause.
Buzz Slayers: Are there any personal reasons that made you want to do this?
Well, as I said in my first answer, it all stems from my fiancé, who is the kindest most caring soul one could meet. The way she cares for others always motivates me to do what I can to give back. Also, we are very lucky to have a platform, and we feel that we have a responsibility to use it to help others when we can! We make music to spread a little light out into the world, and we hope as our career progresses, we’ll be known for what we were able to give back to the many charities and organizations that we believe in.
Buzz Slayers: This is a wonderful Holiday effort you are making, and it is a warm gesture and massive effort! Is there anything you want to add about the show that people should know?
This show will be a BLAST. The entertainment we have lined up, showcases the amazing talent Canada has to offer and beyond all of those attending helping us to give back, I want them to know they WILL have the best night of their lives! We also want people to know there is a toy drive aspect to this event and we are collecting BRAND NEW, UNWRAPPED toys that we will be giving to Make - A- Wish Canada! AND if you are feeling extra generous, we have an amazing silent auction with pretty incredible items and all proceeds from that will go straight to Kids Help Phone!
Buzz Slayers: What's next after this for you?
After this show is over, we are going to hibernate for a week hahaha. Once hibernation is over, we have a few new songs we’re going to be recording for our JUST TRY special edition drop, and then we’re hoping to make some moves on the road and keep playing shows around Canada and the US!
Buzz Slayers: Is there anything you want to express to fans or people that are getting tickets for the Rock the Halls: A Holiday Benefit?
A) We just want to say we are grateful for your help and support to give back to a great cause.
Just buying a ticket alone gives a little more money that can go straight to the charity. We promise to put on a heck of a show and if you like this year's event, just you wait til next years!!
Buzz Slayers: Thank you again for joining us! Always an absolute pleasure!
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