We’re excited to unveil the list of companies and artists that’ll be accompanying us on our mission to the Americana Music Festival & Conference 2014!
For the first ever Canadian Blast showcase at Americana, we’re planning on bringing the Canadiana! In addition to a daytime showcase on Saturday September 20th featuring 6 exciting artists at the Soulshine Pizza Factory, we’ll also be holding a joint networking reception with our friends over at the Music Managers Forum USA.
The Canadian companies joining the Music Export Canada mission will be: Bumstead Productions, Black Hen Music, GroundSwell Music, Six Shooter Records, Pipe & Hat, Kelp Records, Music Manitoba, and Mixed Media.
Please take a look at the bios for the 6 artists we’ll be taking to Nashville!
Carleton Stone
Carleton Stone spends a lot of his time these days co-writing with a growing network of songwriters in Los Angeles, Nashville and Toronto. Carleton released his new recording, Draws Blood, on GroundSwell/Warner Music in Canada on March 4, 2014. The album was co-produced by Howie Beck (Feist, Bare Naked Ladies) and Jason Collett. The lead single, Climbing Up the Walls peaked at #1 on the CBC Radio 2 Top 20 chart. Carleton’s music has been featured on NBC’s Saving Hope, CW’s The LA Complex and CBC’s Being Erica as well as a number of regional TV and web campaigns.
Jess Reimer
There is no denying that an artist is a reflection of their environment, and the harsh beauty of rural Manitoba is at the heart of Jess Reimer’s work. She has been one of the Winnipeg roots music scene’s best-kept secrets for several years, but with her new album, The Nightjar and The Garden, Jess is set to have the wider world embrace her.
New Country Rehab
New Country Rehab (NCR) cuts through the clutter of watered-down musical imitations with a modern, high-voltage, alt-country sound. Spearheaded by lead singer and fiddle player John Showman, NCR combine sharp innovation and a deep respect and knowledge of timeless musical themes and motifs, creating music that is full of love, loss, longing and joy.
NQ Arbuckle
There’s a sober reverence and deep romance to NQ Arbuckle’s songcraft. Everything boils down to life and death, and how to face both with humour and humanity. Don’t let the self-deprecation imply that NQ Arbuckle isn’t serious about the music; this band has earned multiple Juno nominations, considerable critical praise (Pitchfork, Globe and Mail, Toronto Star etc.), and a legion of rabid fans. Years in the making, The Future Happens Anyway is a masterful, yet wholly unpretentious, collection of songs that illustrates NQ’s finesse, subtlety and heart.
Steve Dawson
Over the past two decades, Steve Dawson has become such an indelible fixture on the Canadian musical landscape that it’s tempting to take him for granted. The music that flows out of him is so natural and authentic that it’s possible to forget all of the toil that went into producing it.
Announcement: Unfortunately, due to illness, Tim Chaisson is no longer available to play our Canadian Blast showcase at the Soulshine Pizza Factory on September 20th. In his place, playing a set at 3:30pm, we have……
The Harpoonist and the Axe Murderer
“Shawn ‘The Harpoonist’ Hall and Matthew ‘The Axe Murderer’ Rogers evoke much more than just grisly nautical imagery. Armed with an arsenal of harmonicas, a mess of foot percussion, and a road-worn Telecaster, the duo kick out raw and primal blues in the tradition of a ‘decades-deep blues style’ while infusing the genre with a jolt of renewed energy. Their latest album “Real Fine Mess” is out now via Tonic Records.”
Oh…and don’t miss out on the other Canadian events happening at the Americana Music Festival & Conference:
The OUTLAWS & GUNSLINGERS LUNCHEON will be happening on Thursday September 18 from 12:00pm – 2:00pm at the Soulshine Pizza Factory (1907 Division Street). It’ll feature artists like Oh Susanna, Harlan Pepper, NQ Arbuckle and Sean Rowe.
Our friends over at Manitoba Music will team up once again with prairie counterparts SaskMusic and Alberta Music to present events in Nashville during Americana.
The September 18 showcase at East Nashville haunt, The Groove, will feature performances by four acts: internationally-acclaimed Manitoba roots crooner Del Barber and alt-country darlings The Bros. Landreth, plus Saskatchewan’s Zachary Lucky and Alberta’s The Royal Foundry. The prairie triumvirate will also co-host a networking event with Nashville-based music publishers on September 16 featuring Manitoba singer/songwriter Sierra Noble and more. Del Barber and The Bros. Landreth also landed coveted official AMA showcases, while roots songstress Jess Reimer will join a Canadian Blast showcase during the festivities.
About CIMA
The Canadian Independent Music Association (CIMA) is the national trade association representing the English-language, Canadian-owned sector of the independent music industry. CIMA works proactively to assist the independent sector to expand business opportunities and partnerships in the international marketplace by providing strategic support for Canadian companies at trade missions, key international trade shows and conferences around the world.
About Music Export Canada & Canadian Blast
As a not-for-profit association, CIMA annually executes an industry-wide global economic development and investment strategy, wherein we facilitate targeted business and showcasing opportunities globally, under the Music Export Canada and Canadian Blast export brand.
CIMA gratefully acknowledges the generous support of our Canadian partners and sponsors: Canadian Music Week (CMW), the Foundation Assisting Canadian Talent on Recordings (FACTOR), the Government of Canada (through GOA/DFATD and MEC/Canadian Heritage), Harvard Broadcasting, Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC), the Radio Starmaker Fund, Corus Entertainment and the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN).