
Down With Webster's YouTube views soar 500% after Mark Carney's dancing goes viral
Toronto rap-pop-rock band Down With Webster received a major boost after Prime Minister Mark Carney's win on April 28, with the group's YouTube daily view count increasing by more than 500 per cent after Carney danced to their 2010 song Whoa Is Me.
WATCH | Mark Carney dances to Down With Webster:
The group's daily YouTube viewer count was 5,949 on April 27 and by April 28, when they performed at the Liberal party's victory party, the daily count had soared to 35,816 viewers, according to data from Soundcharts.
Several YouTube users took to the comment section for Whoa Is Me to share that the newly elected prime minister is who prompted them to check out the band.
"Canadian here. I've never heard of this song before. I like it (A LOT)," wrote @joananne7802. "I saw a clip of our new Prime Minister rocking out to this, so that is how I landed here."
WATCH | The official music video for Whoa Is Me by Down With Webster:
"Thanks Carney for leading me to a new good song I never knew before," commented @JessicaD.
After going viral while wearing a piece of the band's merch, a red hoodie with its logo, the band shared that they were making it available on its website.
"Due to popular demand, we're making our 'Team Canada Jersey' available in the web store," they wrote. "It doesn't matter what party you choose, as long as you choose to party!"
Carney also played the band's song Time To Win at his rallies, and Down With Webster posted about his use of the track on Instagram on March 9, writing, "Great campaign song choice. Also throwing up the W like an absolute legend."
In the comments section for Time To Win, several users also shared that they listened to that song because of Carney.
"Who's here after Mark Carney won the election & saw him busting it down to this song?" commented @bapeater.
"This being the current Canadian PM's fav [sic] song was unexpected but cool af," commented @Hooy-H00y.
WATCH | The official music video for Time To Win by Down With Webster:
The band's bassist, Tyler Armes, shared on CBC's Commotion that Carney has been a big fan of Down With Webster for years.
"I know that over a decade ago when we were first starting to tour, I remember reading press that somebody in politics was a big fan…. So apparently he came to see a show and was watching the opening band, and wanted to know what all the commotion was about and why they were all sticking around for whoever was on after, and that was us," he told Commotion host Elamin Abdelmahmoud.
"So the way that I know that he's a die-hard fan is because the correspondence we had prior to showing up, the list of songs they wanted us to play, there were some deep cuts on there," he continued. "And it was clear that he was super involved in that process."
Armes added that he was "super impressed with his timing and his delivery" after Carney rapped to them backstage.
"I want to know what else he listens to because if you like our band, you like a lot of music, because our band is such a mashup of so many genres," he said.
WATCH | Tyler Armes talks about Mark Carney and Down With Webster on Commotion:
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Winnipeg Free Press
an hour ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
‘Buckingham Nicks' was a record store holy grail for decades. It's finally getting reissued
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — They were in love once. Four years before Fleetwood Mac's 'Rumours' became one of the best breakup records of the 1970s — and, many might say, all time — Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham were relative unknowns, a young couple putting out their own album, posing nude on the cover like a Laurel Canyon version of Adam and Eve. Released as 'Buckingham Nicks,' the 1973 album has for decades maintained somewhat of a holy grail status in the dusty bins of record stores, selling for $20 to $90 depending on its condition. Now, in addition to new vinyl, it will be available on streaming and CD for the first time when it's reissued Sept. 19 on Rhino, Warner Music Group announced Wednesday. 'It's one of those records that everybody has heard of but not that many people have actually heard,' said Brian Mansfield, a music historian, journalist and record collector in Nashville, Tennessee. 'Especially before everything got put onto YouTube, very few people had heard it because it had never been on CD. But it had this iconic cover that everybody recognized.' 'Buckingham Nicks' featured the duo's iconic harmonies and Buckingham's distinct guitar sound, which later fueled Fleetwood Mac's ability to sell tens of millions of records. But 'Buckingham Nicks' bombed upon release and Polydor dropped them from the label, prompting Nicks' return to waitressing and Buckingham to briefly tour with Don Everly. The rest of the story is enshrined in lore: Drummer Mick Fleetwood heard 'Frozen Love' from the album when he visited the studio where it was recorded, Sound City. After guitarist Bob Welch left the band, Fleetwood invited Buckingham to Fleetwood Mac, with Buckingham insisting Nicks join too. The band also included the late Christine McVie on keyboards and John McVie on bass. Generations of avid Fleetwood Mac fans have tattooed their lyrics or analyzed them at a forensic level, enshrining the tumultuous relationship between Buckingham and Nicks in pop culture. The upcoming reissue of 'Buckingham Nicks' is a reminder of the couple's musical beginnings and the special status their only joint album has held among fans and record collectors. 'As soon as we put it out, it goes that day,' said Michael Bell, owner of Hunky Dory Records, which has locations in Raleigh, Durham and Cary, North Carolina. 'Joni Mitchell fronting the Eagles' Nicks and Buckingham met during high school at a local church in Northern California where young musicians gathered on a school night, according to Stephen Davis' 'Gold Dust Woman: The Biography of Stevie Nicks.' Buckingham played the Mamas & the Papas' 'California Dreamin'' on piano, prompting Nicks to chime in, singing Michelle Phillips' high harmony. 'They glanced at each other; she noticed his eyes, cold blue like lake ice,' Davis wrote. 'They sang the whole song while the room went quiet, everyone mesmerized.' After high school, Nicks joined the band Buckingham was in, Fritz, which would open for Creedence Clearwater Revival, Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix. They eventually split off as a duo, started dating and moved to Los Angeles. Nicks said she loved Buckingham before he was a millionaire, according to Davis' book, and 'washed his jeans and embroidered stupid moons and stars on the bottom of them.' The first track on 'Buckingham Nicks,' 'Crying in the Night,' has 'a sense of Joni Mitchell fronting the Eagles,' Davis wrote. 'Frozen Love' closed out side two, with 'layers of strings and synthesizers and a major Lindsey Buckingham rock guitar symphony.' 'No one seemed to like the record,' Davis wrote. 'Polydor executives hadn't even wanted to release it.' A review that ran in The Pittsburgh Press said Nicks and Buckingham produced 'a pleasant, albeit a whiny vocal blend on some pretty fair songs.' 'And if you don't like the record,' the review concluded, 'you might like the costumes they're wearing on the cover — a couple of those oh-so-chic birthday suits.' Interest in the record only grew following the new Fleetwood Mac lineup. That incarnation's first record in 1975, 'Fleetwood Mac,' contained the songs 'Landslide,' 'Rhiannon' and 'Monday Morning.' 'Rumours' came two years later. Record store rarity Bob Fuchs, retail manager of record store Electric Fetus in Minneapolis, said the shop gets in about two to four of the original vinyl a year. Those go on on its collectible wall that showcases hard-to-find titles. Depending on its condition, the album sells for between $40 to $90, he said. 'You put it up on a Saturday morning and it's gone by Saturday at noon. So it lasts about two hours,' he said. Fuchs never bought the album himself because, 'every time I came in, it was $60 or $80. … So I'll probably end up picking up a reissue.' Across the river at the St. Paul, Minnesota, location of Cheapo Discs, though, worker Geoff Good said people rarely came in looking for the original. He does expect the reissue to juice sales. He has the original, which he bought in 1974 or 1975, in his own collection. 'The songwriting is really good, the harmonies are good, Lindsey Buckingham is an amazing guitar player,' he said. Mansfield, the Nashville historian, randomly found a copy two weeks ago in a neighborhood garage sale, just days prior to hints that a reissue was coming. He has no idea why 'Buckingham Nicks' hasn't been reissued more considering the steady demand. For him, it's a good album but not one that reached the heights of what was to come. 'It's definitely not there yet,' he said. 'I don't know that there's anything on this album that would have made a Fleetwood album.' Monday Mornings The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week. The romantic relationship between Buckingham and Nicks would end around the making of 'Rumours.' Nicks and Buckingham would shoot eye daggers at each other onstage in packed stadiums, while Buckingham would roll his eyes during Nicks' MusiCares speech in 2018, according to the Los Angeles Times. Buckingham would eventually be kicked off the band's tour in 2018 , prompting a lawsuit that was later settled. But this month, Buckingham and Nicks seemed to be operating in perfect symmetry — at least on Instagram. Each posted half a line from 'Frozen Love,' — with Nicks writing 'And if you go forward…' and Buckingham responding, 'I'll meet you there.' On Wednesday, they shared the same video of a billboard being put up to advertise the reissue of 'Buckingham Nicks.' They may have made the album more than 50 years ago, Buckingham said in announcing its reissue, 'but it stands up in a way you hope it would, by these two kids who were pretty young to be doing that work.' ___ Finley reported from Norfolk, Virginia. AP Business Writer Mae Anderson in New York contributed to this report.


Winnipeg Free Press
an hour ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Canada's premiers meetings: Kinew seeks federal fire response; shares advice on Trump
Premier Wab Kinew says he's taken up a request from Manitoba fire chiefs to ask his fellow premiers to consider national co-ordination for local fire departments to prepare for future wildfire seasons. Kinew said he shared with his counterparts gathered in Huntsville, Ont. a request from the Manitoba Association of Fire Chiefs to make sure they're equipped to respond to the next summer's wildfires. 'I think there's general interest from the other premiers,' Kinew said late Tuesday. Nathan Denette / THE CANADIAN PRESS Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, right, greets Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew, left, as Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston looks on, during the 2025 summer meetings of Canada's Premiers at Deerhurst Resort in Huntsville, Ont., on Tuesday. On June 30, the chiefs wrote to Kinew on behalf of counterparts across the country asking for support for a 'National Fire Administration' to ensure expertise from fire departments is integrated into federal policy and decision making. The letter noted there are 14 federal departments and more than 50 task groups involved in determining policies with fire, life safety, and emergency management implications for fire departments. A national co-ordinating body would help to modernize Canada's emergency response system and benefit the Manitoba fire service in protecting homes, businesses, and the economy, it said. The premier said he thanked all his provincial and territorial colleagues for their help during Manitoba's wildfire emergency. He praised firefighters from across the province for saving the city of Flin Flon that was threatened by a 300,000 hectare blaze. Premier Wab Kinew said his special advisor on U.S. trade and former ambassador to the U.S., Gary Doer, offered some 'great advice' to Canada's first ministers on how to deal with the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump: 'Give him a bumper sticker.' Kinew said Tuesday that the former NDP premier and David McNaughton, who served as Canada's ambassador to the U.S. during the first Trump administration, joined the premiers for lunch when they gathered in Huntsville, Ont. to grapple with how to respond to the trade war launched by the second Trump administration. Doer's suggestion was to 'give the president an easy-to-understand win that he can communicate in a line and, of course, to do that within our national interest in standing up for ourselves,' Kinew said. Weekday Mornings A quick glance at the news for the upcoming day. Kinew said the federal government is wise not to rush into a trade deal with the U.S. by Trump's Aug. 1 deadline — after which he's promised to raise tariffs on Canadian imports to 35 percent. 'I think future generations are to look back at this moment and they're going to say that 'Our country, at that time, stood up for its independence, stood up for its economy'. When the stakes are that big, we can't rush.' Carol SandersLegislature reporter Carol Sanders is a reporter at the Free Press legislature bureau. The former general assignment reporter and copy editor joined the paper in 1997. Read more about Carol. Every piece of reporting Carol produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.


CBC
5 hours ago
- CBC
Prime Minister Mark Carney visits his hometown of Fort Smith, N.W.T.
Carney, along with N.W.T. MP and Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Rebecca Alty and Premier R.J. Simpson, met with local families Wednesday morning in Fort Smith to discuss affordability challenges and food insecurity.