A mainstay on the Vancouver music scene for the past decade is relocating to Toronto. Ford Pier, a multi-instrumentalist and one-time member of Edmonton's Jr. Gone Wild, moved to the West Coast to join D.O.A. as a guitarist in 1994. After a two-year stint, he went on to launch two parallel careers, one as a solo artist and the other as an in-demand backing musician. He's since played with everyone from Veda Hille to the Hard Rubber Orchestra. For the past 24 months, Pier has been splitting his time between Lotusland and Hogtown. "There are bands that I play in out there, and there are bands that I play in in Vancouver," Pier told the Straight. "Lately there's been more to keep me busy back there."

The singer-songwriter recorded his new solo album, Pier-ic Victory in Toronto, where he's also been playing with Rheostatics member Martin Tielli. He adds that the way his solo material has been received back East helped influence his decision to move. "I've found it easier to do solo stuff in Toronto. In Vancouver, I'm sort of known as the guy that plays in a million bands, which is true. Because of that reputation, which I've done nothing to discourage, my own stuff is seen as a dalliance. In Toronto, my own stuff is what I'm known for first. The fact that I play with Martin Tielli is seen as the dalliance."

Pier is not the only West Coast musician to be putting down new roots: last month, Cindy Wolfe of Tennessee Twin relocated to the Centre of the Universe.