Newsletter

by Stephanie Brooks It was a busy few months of preparation, soundchecks, press conferences, RSVPs, hype and hoopla, and glitz and glam. The inaugural 2013 CMAO Awards held on May 27 in Markham were just as flawless as the winners they crowned. The awards were a celebration and showcase of the best Ontario has to offer in country music and provide both artists and budding artists with a tangible and exciting goal to work toward. And along with awards shows like The Grammy’s, The Juno’s, CMT Awards, CMA’s and ACM’s (hey, we’re right up there, aren’t we?), the eventful ride that was the first CMAO Awards is coming to a bittersweet close… for a year. After all, it’s the start of a new season – […]

The Board of Directors of the CMAO would like to congratulate everyone involved in making our inaugural show such a success: our generous sponsors, our media partners, the witty presenters, our host, Charlie Major, and the talented artists who provided such great performances. As well as these people, we are very grateful for the staff and crew of the Markham Theatre, our event volunteers, house band musicians The Western Swing Authority, our announcer Bill Hart and all of our members (and soon to be members) that attended the show. We would also like to recognize our past presidents of the CMAO Board who have given so much to the organization during and beyond their tenures: Heather Ostertag, Barry Haugen and founding president, Robert McArthur.

Toronto, Canada: Burlington, Ontario’s Billy J White has a lot to be excited about. With the steady growth of his profile and performances in the country music scene, Billy was nominated for 2013’s Male Artist of the Year by the Country Music Association of Ontario, has a string of festival and fair dates this coming summer including Manitoulin Country Fest, Country In the Woods and Lucknow Fall Fair, has recently performed the Milton Street Festival and took the songwriters circle stage at NSAI’s annual Tin Pan North with multi-award-winning songwriter, Tim Taylor. Billy’s motto “Come See Me Live” has captured the attention of fans, garnering him the spot of Grand Marshal at Burlington’s Sound of Music Festival Parade on Saturday, June 15th. “Last year Billy […]

Announcing “Fair Trade Music” Initiative, World’s Songwriters and Composers Unite to form a Global Advocacy Network Washington, DC, June 3, 2013: For the first time in music industry history, over 25,000 songwriters and composers from nearly fifty countries throughout Europe, North America, South America, and Africa have joined together to form a new, wholly independent advocacy Network for music creators. Its immediate goal will be the championing of a set of Fair Trade Music Principles designed to ensure transparency, fair compensation, and autonomy for music creators in an increasingly complex and non-transparent music business landscape. The new group, characterized by its founders as a “Network of independent alliances,” will serve not only to support advocacy for music creator rights throughout the world, but as a […]