Newsletter

Both a regular Seminar/Panel Discussion/Demorama (Song critique) and a “Live Demorama” Performance Opportunity are happening this month and next in Hamilton. Here’s the deets on both: October 27th CMAO Holds Seminar/Demorama in Hamilton on October 27th. If you’re involved in the business of country music, then we’ve got something you definitely won’t want to miss. The CMAO is holding another in its educational series of Seminar/Panel Discussion/Demoramas, this time in the Hamilton area. Join us at the Pheasant Plucker, 20 Augusta Street, Hamilton, on Sunday October 27th for 2 panel discussions made up of top artists, publishers, radio music directors, label executives and music industry professionals. At press time, we can confirm Ontario country artist Marshall Dane, award-winning producer, musician and songwriter Jason Barry, KX 94.7 […]

CMAO member Deric Ruttan is on fire. At the time of writing this article, Blake Shelton’s current single “Mine Would Be You” had just hit number one in the US on the MusicRow Country Breakout chart, and was holding down Top 10 spots on the US Billboard Country Airplay and Hot Country Songs charts. The song is a co-write between Deric, Connie Harrington and Jessi Alexander. You can make that a two-alarm fire, because here in Canada, Deric’s own latest single “Take The Week Off” was Top 10 BDS Country and climbing at the same time. This one is co-written with Ryan Tyndell (Eric Church’s “Springsteen”), and co-produced by Deric and Luke Wooten (Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley). Those who were lucky enough to be present […]

Your personal toolbox for making your way successfully through this strange and fascinating business should contain 3 subsections of personal assets or skills: The obvious, the hidden and the acquired. Related to the word “assets” is the word “assess”. Any pro carpenter would evaluate not only the proposed job in front of him / her, but also their abilities to perform and their list of appropriate tools. So, our whole process should start with an honest self-examination – a candid inventory to determine what’s working and what isn’t. Be brutally honest with yourself when listing your strengths and weaknesses – the detached general public certainly won’t be anything but brutally honest. They are not waiting patiently for you to explode into their world, and they […]

Many of you won’t know his name, but if you are active in the music business, you owe him big time. On September 5th of this year, at the far too young age of 73, Brian Chater left us… and we can be angry at cancer yet again for the crime. Born in England, but certainly refined, distilled and matured in Canada, Brian’s legacy is massive. As a music publisher, he had the foresight to sign a young Bryan Adams to his first publishing deal well before the rest of the industry recognized his talent. The Chater ears identified and developed many more nuggets from Michel Pagliaro to Eddie Schwartz to April Wine. But he really began the heavy lifting when he recognized that in […]

The CMAO attended several Ontario festivals this summer and handed out ‘Rumper Stickers’ as part of our summer social media contest. People could pick up their stickers at participating Festivals, and be snapped wearing it by the roaming #cmaosummerstickers patrol, or could take a photo themselves, and enter the contest through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for their chance to win VIP tickets to the 2014 CMAO awards. We had some amazing entries, helped promote Ontario country music and most of all- we had a blast! Our Official Winners of the contest have been chosen and we are happy to congratulate Meghan Lake, Amanda Fawcett, Julie Hebert, Candice Joanisse, and M.H. Pearce, who have each won a pair of VIP tickets to the 2014 CMAO awards […]

Graham Trude is an ex-soldier posted out of Edmonton, Alberta with the Lord Strathcona’s Horse (Royal Canadians) Tank Regiment. Graham served in Panjwai, Afghanistan in 2009 as an armoured crewman operating out of the Leopard (2A6M) Main battle tank. Graham relocated back to his home town of Collingwood, Ontario in 2010 after his contract with the military and has established an annual concert event for a military-based organization called “Wounded Warriors Canada”. The event takes place at the Royal Canadian Legion in Collingwood, Ontario as a Country music acoustic concert, and involves a great amount of support from the local and surrounding communities. Previous headliners have included Juno and CCMA nominees Jamie Warren and Diane Chase. Over the past two years, it has raised more […]

Sep. 23, 2013 – BURLINGTON, ON Canada — James Anthony (born James Anthony Pecchia,1955, Toronto, Ontario, Canada) is a Canadian guitarist. A natural musician at age 10, he played Ontario Place at 15 and turned pro at 17. James’ experience in the music industry is reminiscent of legendary players of the past. James is a guitar virtuoso that some would compare with Roy Buchanan “The Best Unknown Guitarist in the World” or Danny Gatton, known as the Master of the Telecaster, and the Humbler. James grew up on Renforth Drive in Etobicoke, Ontario and went to school at Sir Adam Beck, Eatonville, Bloordale, Silverthorne and Burnhamthorpe Collegiate. Throughout his career he has been a sought-after sideman. His first road experience was with “Reggae star” Jay […]

Dear members: I want to congratulate the CMAO’s Kira Isabella and The Stellas for taking home Female Artist and Group or Duo of the Year at the CCMAs, respectively. Early this year, the CMAO membership awarded Kira and The Stellas with the same awards; our membership got it right. In addition, I would like to congratulate the CCMA on another successful country music week. The CCMA continues to be a rock solid organization by being the core foundation for the country music community in Canada. Also, the CCMA has shown phenomenal leadership by establishing a collaborative environment with and for all the provincial country music associations. The CMAO is kicking off its Open Mic series CMAO DemoRama Live, which takes place on September 21, 2013. […]

By Stephanie Brooks September’s 31st annual Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) Awards shone a light on the industry’s best this year, giving out awards to deserving talent from across the country – one of which was Ontario’s own The Stellas, for Group or Duo of the Year. For the husband and wife team from Whitby, Ontario, winning one of Canadian country music’s most coveted national awards was something they weren’t expecting. “It was the ultimate shock,” says Marylynne Stella. “We had no clue we were going to be taking it home. We hadn’t prepared anything because we were basically waiting to see which friend of ours was going to take it!” Their success, though, should come as no surprise. The couple, who performed at Bowmanville’s […]