November 2022 – Country Music Association of Ontario

November 30, 2022

Lorem Ipsum

Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum.

November 28, 2022

CMAOntario Festival & Awards 11th Anniversary Celebration Is Coming to Hamilton June 2023

CMAOntario Festival & Awards 11th Anniversary Celebration Is Coming to Hamilton June 2023 Tickets On Sale Friday, December 2 at 11:00am November 28, 2022 (TORONTO) Greetings from the Country Music Association of Ontario! We are excited to announce that the CMAOntario Awards will be returning to Hamilton in June 2023. The Awards, presented by Slaight Music, will cap off a weekend of live events scheduled throughout the city from June 2-4, with a rousing celebration on Sunday, June 4th, 7pm, at Theatre Aquarius. “The CMAOntario is thrilled to be returning to Hamilton! Fans here know and support country music and we can’t wait to bring the fun of music and activity to Hamilton once again for our biggest annual event!” said CMAOntario President Steve Kassay. […]

November 9, 2022

Artist of the Month: Matthew Runaway

Raised on a cattle-and-crops farm in Perth, ON, Matthew Runaway is rapidly gaining recognition in the music industry! Matthew has been immersed in the music industry for years. In his early 20s, he toured across North America with his EDM rock band, Aspire. Given the success of that band, he was encouraged to continue pursuing singing and songwriting in the country genre. Luckily for him, this added to his unique style and attracted a diverse fanbase. His latest release, “Missing Sweater”, was released to radio on Sept 26, 2022 and has reached Top 10 for CanCon downloads. If you haven’t seen the visualizer for the song, it showcases the beautiful Nashville skyline at dawn, as well as snapshots of landmarks the city is known for. […]

November 9, 2022

Ontario’s Country Music Pioneers: MIKE “Pepe” FRANCIS

// by Larry Delaney // (#68 in the Ontario Pioneers Series) MIKE FRANCIS is a multi-talented music man who has literally “done it all” in the music world. A guitarist extraordinaire, a record producer, composer, arranger, and commercial jingles writer… are but a few of his massive career credits. Music has always been a part of Mike Francis’ life. He is the son of legendary Canadian country music recording artist, the late Ray Francis (1931-2010), who headed-up the Chatham, Ontario-based group The Whippoorwills. As a teenager in his hometown of Chatham, Mike followed in his father’s musical footsteps, briefly playing with his father’s band before moving on to working with various local country and pop/rock bands – which led to full-time work in Toronto studios. […]

November 9, 2022

In The Country with Dave Woods: One On One With Tia McGraff

Port Rowan, Ontario’s Tia McGraff is a multi-talented, award-winning singer, songwriter, performer, author and podcast host. Along with her husband and co-writer Tommy Parham, the skilled songstress has been making impactful and thought-provoking art for well over a decade. Tia is a trailblazer in her genre, one’s whose efforts have made her a beloved figure on the international music scene. Her latest release is her EP called With Love which was released back on Sept 3rd and commemorates the passing of her beloved dog Jake.

November 9, 2022

In The News (November 2022)

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”. […]