December 21, 2022
Dave chats with Ontario’s Dustin Bird about his partnership earlier this year with award-winning Canadian film The Long Rider for the official music video of his single “Cowboy Stay”. On working with Dustin on this music video, The Long Rider director Sean Cisterna says: “Dustin Bird’s Cowboy Stay is the perfect musical companion to The Long Rider. Not only does his music fit the style and tone of our documentary, but the themes in his song are emotionally resonant to what Filipe experienced on his epic journey across the Americas.” Continuing to push boundaries within the country genre, the video follows Dustin’s powerful anthem for equality, “Hating On Love.” The track completes the trilogy story that Dustin has been unveiling with his recent releases. […]
December 21, 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”. […]
November 9, 2022
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
// 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
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
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”. […]
October 12, 2022
(English version follows) Récipiendaire du prix de l’artiste francophone de l’année au CMAOntario Awards 2022, Reney Ray est une multi-instrumentiste et auteure-compositrice-interprète à la plume aussi décomplexée que sensible. L’année 2023 s’annonce déjà très occupée pour l’auteur-compositrice de Val-Rita, qui a déjà annoncé 2 nouveaux albums : Un 3e album francophone qui sera intitulé « Dodge Ram van » et un 2e album anglophone nommé « You can call me Ray ». Comme tout ses projets, ces albums seront entièrement réalisés par l’artiste ou co-réalisé avec des réalisateurs de renom, comme Ricky Paquette et John-Anthony Gagnon-Robinette. Son dernier album « À l’ouest du réel » lui a d’ailleurs valu le prix d’Auteur-compositeur de l’année aux Canadian Folk Music Awards. Un talent reconnu à travers l’industrie, puisque […]
October 12, 2022
// by Larry Delaney // (born: August 2, 1944 – Toronto) (#67 in the Ontario Pioneers Series) BLAKE EMMONS is likely best known for hosting the TV series “Funny Farm”, a short-lived (one season-1974) Canadian-produced answer to the long-running Nashville TV show “Hee Haw”. For diehard country music fans, Blake Emmons will also be remembered for a pair of albums – I Wish You Love, released in 1976, and First Flight, a 1983 album on Columbia Records. The debut album, released on Canadian label Condor Records, contained five songs written by Blake Emmons, including his two biggest chart hits: “Let Me Do Something Lord”, which peaked at #9 on the RPM Charts, and the follow-up single “Sunchild”, a Top 30 hit. The album also contained […]
October 12, 2022
Kitchener’s Angelica Appelman recently released her third single “U-Turn”. The song was written by Angelica along with David Madras. “I love the story we’re telling with ‘U-Turn’ because it feels like such a relatable topic that we hear so often with the current dating landscape. I think this song reminds us to keep hope because it just takes that one person to change your perspective,” says Angelica. “We wrote U-Turn last fall and it was after a summer I spent with someone who treated me so well and had really transformed my mindset on romantic relationships,” explains Angelica. “I wanted to write a song with a more positive outlook about being in the dating scene because I think it is a time where you can […]