June 30, 2020

Artist of the Month: Sarah Wickett

The small-town-girl turned big-city-singer-songwriter story sounds like a song itself, or maybe a lifetime movie, but for Sarah Wickett, it’s just real life. The Beaverton, ON, native made the move to Toronto in her teens as a college freshman and that’s when she took her music from hobby-at-home to country music releases. Sarah’s love for music started young, with inspiration from artists like Shania Twain, Carrie Underwood and Christina Aguilera helping to craft her own sound. And with her small-town roots at the heart of her songwriting, she’s got country music flowing through her art. Sarah Wickett’s 2020 has been a lot like everyone else’s in the music world – disrupted. But that hasn’t stopped her from releasing new music to the world. In February, […]
June 30, 2020

Ontario’s Country Music Pioneers: Larry Coad

(born: December 20, 1946 – Espanola, ON) (died: November 21, 2012 – Burlington, ON) (by Larry Delaney) Larry Garnet Coad was born December 20, 1946, in Espanola, Ontario. His love for the Ontario Northlands region and his Metis heritage was frequently found in his songs, such as, Espanola (recorded by Terry Roberts); Manitoulin (recorded by Marjorie Freeborn); and Sudbury (recorded by Colin Butler); the latter winning Song of the Year in the 2005 Sudbury’s Homecoming event. During the 1980s, Larry Coad was one of the hottest songwriters on the Canadian country music scene, scoring many national chart hits for top artists, most notably, Harold MacIntyre and the group South Mountain. The Larry Coad and Harold MacIntyre (and the Area Code 705 band) combination was particularly […]
June 30, 2020

In The Country with Dave Woods: One On One With Victoria Banks

Victoria Banks – artist & hit songwriter – visits with Dave to chat about her new album, Uncovered, featuring the lead single “Want”. She recently appeared on NBC’s Songland to ‘pitch’ a song of hers to Florida Georgia Line. Victoria has been nominated for 11 Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) Awards and was named CCMA Female Artist of the Year and Songwriter of the Year in 2010. She wrote Sara Evans’ Top 20 single, “Saints & Angels”, released in 2001. In 2009, Victoria – along with Johnny Reid and Tia Sellers – wrote Johnny’s hugely successful single, “Dance With Me”. In addition, she has had cuts by over 100 artists including Carly Pearce, Lauren Alaina, Terri Clark & Cassadee Pope. Victoria chats with Dave about […]
June 30, 2020

In The News (June 2020)

This section of the newsletter is comprised of news stories, press releases and links to Internet articles that are sent in by our members who believe they will be of general interest to the membership.  We include them as a courtesy to our members but do not verify or edit their content.  Their inclusion does not constitute an endorsement by the CMAOntario nor do their contents reflect the views or opinions of the CMAOntario. If you would like to have something included in the newsletter, please send us a short synopsis, a photo or graphic and the hotlink that can be included in the news listing. Submissions can be sent to verle@cmaontario.ca. Please make sure the Subject Line reads “For inclusion in the CMAOntario Newsletter”. […]