A Message from the President (August 2017)

Wow, I can’t believe that the summer is almost gone… or was it ever here? I’m hoping some of you were able to get out to play or attend some fairs and festivals these last few months. I know that many of our Ontario artists were hitting the stages in the West; and now it is time to turn to Eastern Canada, where the majority of fairs happen August through October. For information on the fairs and festivals based in Canada, please reach out to C.A.F.E (Canadian Association of Fairs and Festivals) http://www.canadian-fairs.ca

Congratulations to Shae Dupuy, who recently won the 2017 Canadian Songwriting Competition – Country Category – for her song “Wishing On You”, co-written by Drew Gregory and Mike Little and produced by Jason Barry. Congratulations to you too, Jason!

Tebey’s annual “Tebey Golf Classic” successfully raised $25,000 for a new youth mental health initiative for the region of Peterborough (his hometown) in partnership with Your Family Health Team Foundation. The money that was raised at this event will support a drop-in day clinic for mental health in Peterborough. Rumour has it that one of the teams included three of CMAOntario’s Directors… How did they play? Let’s just say it was a beautiful day. Thank you Tebey, for that great act of kindness!

The Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) held the first Canadian Country Music Awards in 1982 and here we are, celebrating the 35^th annual award show in Saskatoon on September 10, 2017. Please visit the CCMA website for more info on Country Music Week. https://www.ccma.org/

Congratulations to all the CCMA Awards nominees, and special congrats go out to our Ontario members:

• Jimmy Boudreau
• James Barker Band
• Steve Coady
• Cold Creek County
• Warren Copnick
• Mike Denny
• Shae Dupuy
• Joel Stewart
• Paul Ferguson
• Shane Guse
• Tim Hicks
• Doug Johnson
• Ron Kitchener
• Amanda Kingsland
• Lovelocks
• Lindi Ortega
• Emmanuel Patterson
• Jessica Mitchell
• Meghan Patrick
• Brittany Thompson
• Gavin Slate
• Travis Wood
• Donovan Woods
• Dave Thomson
• Rich DaSilva
• Ron Kitchener
• Derek Caven
• Scott Galloway
• Ben Knechtel
• Pete Walker
• Emma Higgins
• Open Road Recordings
• RGK Entertainment
• ole
• MDM
• Paquin Artists
• The Feldman Agency
• United Talent Agency
• Boots & Bourbon Saloon
• Boots & Hearts Music Festival
• Revolution Recording
• Barrytones Studios

Plus, an “Honourable Mention” goes out to Kira Isabella and Jason McCoy for their roles in nominated projects.

Our current Board of Directors is very excited about the coming year. We are in the process of planning a number of events – including our popular RoadShow – and of course, our 6^th annual CMAOntario Award Show. Look for the announcement regarding the ticket on-sale date next month.

The CMAOntario Board continues to serve YOU, the members. Your input, suggestions, questions, requests and participation in the planned events are vital pieces of the success of our association. While we will always share news from the Board with you, we want to hear from YOU! Nothing is off limits (well… almost nothing) and we’ll do our best to answer and/or address your query.

CMAOntario invites all members in good standing to submit industry relevant information for consideration and inclusion in our monthly newsletter… so tell us what you’re doing, where you’re playing and how we can support you in your endeavours. By sharing your news, we can create momentum for things to come – members can come out to support each other, network together, perhaps write a song together or just get to know each other better. With the love of country music in all our hearts, we can synergize our efforts to create wonderful things.

Think about it! What can the CMAOntario do for you? And, how do you support CMAOntario? I’ll look forward to hearing from you and sharing your input with the Board.

Sincerely,

Catherine Faint
President