Newsletter

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 […]

Canadian Musician magazine has launched Canadian Musician Radio, a weekly internet radio program hosted by CM Editor Andrew King and Assistant Editor Mike Raine. The weekly program will be broadcast on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. EST at www.canadianmusicianradio.com Each program will be roughly half an hour in length and feature weekly news updates, informative how-to discussions with industry insiders and experts, profile interviews with great Canadian acts, and lively discussions on issues pertinent to musicians and music industry professionals. CM Radio will also keep listeners up-to-date on events, artistic and career opportunities, and industry trends. Everything related to music, from songwriting to marketing and promotion, will be discussed with experts and experienced pros. Listeners who follow the Canadian Musician Radio channel will receive automatic updates […]

CMAO member Chris Jacks would like us all to know about a country music series he is running. Chris and his company Your Show Productions are presenting North of Nashville, showcasing country artists every Sunday night at Lou Dawg’s in downtown Toronto. The cover charge of $5.00 will be split among the artists, and Lou Dawg’s will offer Tennessee’s most famous whiskey, Jack Daniel’s, at $4.50 a shot all night. If that ain’t country, we don’t know what is! If you are interested in playing at one of these events, please contact Chris at: chris.jacks@yourshowproductions.com Details: What: North of Nashville country music series Where: Lou Dawg’s, 589 King St. W., Toronto When: Every Sunday at 8 PM

In this first and important Awards year, the CMAO has also established a very special award. The CMAO IMPACT AWARD recognizes an artist, group, industry personality or company/organization that has left an enduring and indelibly positive footprint on the landscape of country music in Ontario. This year’s Impact Award will go to the Canadian Country Music Association, which has celebrated and helped develop the careers of numerous Canadian country artists, including those from Ontario. By creating an annual awards show, the CCMA has placed our domestic artists squarely on the national stage, creating Canadian stars as they go, with its television show ratings often outranking some of its most popular competitors. The CCMA continually raises the bar for our country music industry by annually hosting Country Music […]

On April 9 in Toronto, many of the movers and the shakers in the Canadian country music scene convened on the waterfront of Lake Ontario at the Corus Entertainment building (home of CMT and other media companies) for a CMAO press conference. In the 8th floor atrium, the press and industry met, conversed, nibbled, conducted interviews, gathered sound bites and mingled in a fun, relaxed manner. At 10:30, they were directed into the beautiful 102 seat private theatre for some exciting announcements. CMAO President Sam Arraj welcomed the attendees and told them how excited the CMAO was that Ontario would at last have its own Country Music Awards show. He pointed out that other provinces have had their own provincial organizations in place for years, […]

On June 12, 2011, I was elected to the CMAO Board of Directors. At that time, I had a conversation with several of the Directors about what will be an incredible achievement for the organization; they all stated that putting together an award show to show off the incredible talent in Ontario would be a great achievement, but it was something that could realistically be accomplished in 4 years, as the organization was in the start-up phase. It’s now May 2013, and in a few weeks on May 27, 2013, the CMAO will be hosting its first Awards to show to celebrate Ontario country music. The ability to make the awards show a reality in a two year time span clearly shows you how much […]

For fans that are planning to attend the CMAO Awards show at The Markham Theatre, Markham on May 27th, Hilton Markham Suites is offering CMAO Members a Special Hotel Rate of $125.00 To reserve your booking: By Phone: 1-800-668-8800. Press 1. Provide group code: CMAO By group webpage: http://www.hilton.com

Time Sensitive: Send Submissions To The Diamonds In The Rough Showcase Stage At Country Music Week In Edmonton. Deadline is May 15th, 2013 In case you didn’t go to the CCMA’s Country Music Week event in Regina last year, a new opportunity was created there for artists to showcase. Angie Morris hosted a stage event called “Diamonds In the Rough” at a popular bar area in the Radisson Hotel. It was a wonderful opportunity for many artists to showcase during the week. Alberta’s Michaela Clarke was surprised and thrilled to play to all of Eric Church’s crew among folks who came to see her set. Eric’s guitar tech even checked her guitar for her before going on stage. The showcase was a success on many […]