October 2024 – Country Music Association of Ontario

October 16, 2024

Artist of the Month: James Downham (October) / Artiste du mois: James Downham

CMAOntario Artist of the Month: James Downham Contributing Writer: Matt Ersnaught For a guy named Downham, there’s a lot of “Up” in his life lately. James has not one… not two… but three Ontario hometowns: Pembroke, Picton and now, Stratford. James was the winner of Season 2 of The Shot – a web-based talent search show – and was selected from thousands of applicants as one of only 14 artists to participate in The Shot: Canada vs. USA. James also spent over a decade performing in a Tim McGraw tribute act before turning his attention back to original music. In April of 2023, Downham released his “The Long Way Home” album, from which the singles “One Mile at a Time”, “Raised On”, “Wine & Whiskey” […]

October 9, 2024

Ontario’s Country Music Pioneers(October):

ONTARIO’S COUNTRY PIONEERS: ROY PENNEY (#87 in the Ontario’s Country Pioneers series) by Larry Delaney Guitar picker extraordinaire, ROY PENNEY was born in Corner Brook, NL. He met with the legendary Dick Nolan and the pair made their way to Toronto during the mid 1960s, where they teamed-up with fellow Maritimers Johnny Burke and Bunty Petrie to form “The Blue Valley Boys”. The act became a popular country club fixture in Toronto, with their music captured on the album, “On Stage At The Drake”. During the 1970s, the group moved on to become the house band at the famous Horseshoe Tavern, where they backed all the hot touring acts of the time. Many mainline acts from Nashville left their tour bands at home, thanks […]

October 8, 2024

In The News (October 2024)

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”. […]