PEI was in a history making place on Saturday night at the annual Canadian Folk Music Awards
Written by Lloyd
Saturday, 21 November 2009 23:30
PEI was in a history making place on Saturday night at the annual Canadian Folk Music Awards. For the first time in the history of the Folk Music Awards, PEI artists were nominated for a total of five awards at the annual presentation held this year in Ottawa. When the announcements were all done PEI brought home two awards! Congrats are in order for Catherine MacLellan for her win as solo Artist of the Year and Colette Cheverie for her win as Traditional Singer of the Year. Both are historic wins in terms PEI artists at the Folk Music Awards. Colette in another category and two members of the Lazy Jacks were also nominated in this groundbreaking year. We are very proud to be working with both our winning artists! Way to go ladies! Colette’s terrific first album is available from the Sandbar store in CD and Download formats. Check it out.
Congrats are also in order for all the Island acts who managed to score ECMA showcase gigs in Sydney NS March 4-7, 2010. Sandbar artists who will showcase include Andy Stevens, Catherine MacLellan, The Sidewalks, Meaghan Blanchard and Colette Cheverie.Other Island artists selected to showcase include Two Hours Traffic, Paper Lions, Milks & Rectangles, and Ladybird. Just added to the Discovery stage are two more Island artists, Intoxicado and Johnny Oliver while the Rising Star stage will feature the Grass Mountain Hobos.
ECMA 2010 will see the three provincial music associations combine their stages into one stage featuring at least 5 acts from each province over three nights. This is a departure from the previous three years when each province produced its own showcase stage. Novea Scotia has decided to do their own thing although they had originally opted in to the shared stage concept. In 2008 in Fredericton NB the PEI stage featured 23 acts and in Corner Brook in 2009, there were 14 PEI acts showcasing on the provincial stage. Halifax in 2007 featured another fifteen acts. None of the acts selected for ECMA showcases will appear on the MIA stage in Sydney NS. My understanding is that at least five additional acts will be selected by Music PEI for this MIA stage for a total of sixteen Island artists showcasing in Sydney NS at ECMA 2010. Also the MIA’s will be able to make recommendations for the awards show. This deal is for one year only. Things are expected to return to the original format of multiple MIA showcases in 2011 when the ECMAs return to PEI.
We expect the ECMA nominations will be announced at a press conference in Sydney NS in very early December ’09. Rumor has it will be December 2nd.
Catherine MacLellan continues with her busy fall schedule. She has just returned from Calgary AB where she showcased as part of the Capacoa conference. She flies to London England to begin a nine stop tour of the UK which will see her play dates in Narbeth Wales, Bristol, Derby, Manchester, Ratlinghope Shropshire, Belper, Southend Newcastle and London. She will then take a few days off and spend some time in Scotland getting in touch with her roots before returning home December 10th.
Catherine has also completed her song for CBC Song Quest. It’s a winner! Deadline for submitting the song to CBC is November 20th. The songs will be unveiled by CBC Radio to the public beginning Monday November 23rd. All thirteen finalists will be flown to Toronto for a concert at the Glenn Gould Theater on December 15th at which time the songs will be performed live and a grand winner will be announced.
She will be doing a Benefit Concert on December 17th in Wolfville NS for USC. Also appearing are Lennie Gallant, JP Cormier and Chuck & Albert. Another show to mark in your calendar is in Fredericton NB at the Charlotte Arts Center on Friday, January 22nd with Olympic Symphonium. Catherine will also be teaming up with Tanya Davis for their annual Mitten Time Revue in December. It will be December 19th in Halfax NS at Company House and December 20th at the Guild in Charlottetown PEI with the possibility of a second show being added at the Guild on December 21st. Stay tuned.
Just a reminder, that the new Sandbar podcast series should be up and available early in 2010 on the www.closetothecoastradio.com web site. Series one is now available from the site.
The Songwriters to Nashville initiative has been successfully completed. Four Island songwriters spent two weeks in Nashville. While there they were busy networking with other writers to develop future co-writing opportunities. They also performed at the legendary Puckett’s Grocery and gained some new fans. One in particular goes by the name of John Hiatt. The Islanders also found time to perform on the Billy Block television show from 12th and Porter. Meaghan and John also got to perform at the Bluebird Café as part of their songwriter open mic. John Connolly will be heading back to Nashville at the end of March 2010 to record a new album after he finishes a stint in Banff AB finishing the work on his stage musical based on the life & times of Terry Fox. He will be in Banff from January through March 2010. Here are the links to their appearances on the Billy Block Show at 12th and Porter on November 10, 2009:
Meaghan Blanchard has been selected as one of eight artists to perform in the New Songs, New Voices showcase at the Vancouver Olympics. Her show will be on Tuesday February 16th. The shows will be held at the Roundhouse with four artists per night.
Another major announcement concerning Meaghan and the Olympics will be made as part of a press conference in Vancouver on Tuesday November 24th. Stay tuned. And while we are on the subject you can look for an announcement soon on John Connolly and Catherine MacLellan at the Olympics.
New release to check out in the Sandbar store is Awakening from Andy Stevens. Coming soon, it follows a very successful CD launch at the Blue Olive in Saint John NB in October. Andy is currently on the road with his metal band We The Undersigned. Look for dates around the region in February 2010 to get a taste of his pop rock album Awakening.
Keep an eye out for free downloads from the Sandbar store. Coming soon! That’s all for now folks!!
Last Updated on Sunday, 22 November 2009 13:55
Check out the releases now available from Sandbar Music
Written by Lloyd Doyle
Wednesday, 14 October 2009 12:31
It has been the season for showcasing this past month. First up there was the second annual Music PEI International Showcase September 28 & 29 at the MacKenzie Theater. Eighteen PEI acts from different genres and styles showcased for delegates from the UK and across Canada. They represented festivals such as, Mariposa and Vancouver Folk Festival as well as, a good sized group of Atlantic Presenters such as, Harvest Jazz & Blues Festival, Lunenburg Folk Festival, Stanfest, Evolve, Salty Jam and Halifax Pop Explosion. Also on hand were representatives from Home Routes, Fontana North and the Paquin Agency. We did ourselves proud as the quality of the product we are presenting from PEI just gets better and better. Final numbers for this year are by no means in as yet but last year which was the first year for this event, artists who showcased created over $80,000.00 in new business for themselves.
PEI was also well represented at Contact East in Moncton NB October 1st thru 4th. Most of the showcases for this event were held at the Capitol Theater. What a venue! One of the region’s best theaters and a real treasure to enjoyed whenever you are able to get over to Moncton for a concert or show. Sandbar acts did well with terrific performances by John Connolly and Meaghan Blanchard. It looks like work will come out of that showcase as well for PEI artists and that’s what it is all about. Congrats also to Nudie & The Turks and Grass Mountain Hobos for their strong showcases at this event.
Music PEI ‘s grant deadline has come and gone. Results should be available sometime the week of October 19th. ECMA showcase and nomination deadlines have also passed. Word should be out to the public by mid-December sometime. (the 19th maybe?). Music PEI Awards Show nominations deadline is October 30th. The show takes place in January 2010. Our “Songwriters In Nashville” group leave the Island October 18th for a two week stay in Nashville hanging out, showcasing meeting the folks and getting in some co-writing. The group includes John Connolly, Dan Currie, Dennis Ellsworth and Meaghan Blanchard. They will be there from October 19th thru November 1st.
Catherine MacLellan has just returned from a US radio promo tour and showcase that saw her showcase in Denver and Los Angeles, tape a national NPR Folk show in Los Angeles and visit a bunch of radio stations from Taos and Santa Fe New Mexico to Boulder and Denver as well as Los Angeles and up the coast. She heads out for dates around the Maritimes as part of the Canadian Songbook tour from October 15th thru October 24th with Murray MacLauchlan, Nathan Rogers and Barney Bentall. Following the last show of the tour she jumps in her vehicle with guitarist Chris Gauthier and heads to Boston for the first gig in her year long residency at Club Passim. She is off the UK on November 24th for a series of shows over there that will see her play London, Manchester and at least six other cities.
We expect to be adding the new release from Saint John singer/songwriter Andy Stevens aka White Rabbit called “Awakenings” to our web site soon. CD Release Party is set for the Blue Olive in Saint John NB on October 15th. Well known singer/songwriter Clinton Charlton whose latest CD “Parade” is available from Sandbar Music will open the show. Look for Andy to play some shows around the region in the new year after he tours the country with his heavy metal project. He leaves on that tour right after the CD release.
Another series of episodes in the PEI Songwriters Podcast series will be recorded in November at Big Grey Studio in Charlottetown PEI. They should be available on line early in the new year. Last year a series of eleven episodes was created and can be heard or downloaded from www.closetothecoastradio.com. They are also available from the iTunes podcast directory.
Congrats are in order Colette Cheverie and Catherine MacLellan for picking up nominations for Canadian Folk Music Awards to be announced at their awards show in Ottawa on November 21st. Colette received two nominations and Catherine one. Also picking up two nominations were the Lazy Jacks.
November 21st is also the night John Connolly and his band will be in concert at the Mackenzie Theater along with Meaghan Blanchard as part of the “Live from the Center” series. Look for Catherine MacLellan in a February show with Tim Chaisson as part of the same series.
Check out the releases now available from the Sandbar store including recent adds like Gadelle, Vishten, The Sidewalks, Grass Mountain Hobos, Chas guay and the Haunted Hearts.
Battery Point just returned from a week in Athens Ga recording with Drive By Truckers producer and former Husker Du member David Barbe at his Chase Transduction Studio. The sessions went extremely well. The band had a great time. The result is a killer demo of new material that will be used to raise the stakes for a new album due out in the summer of 2010. Stay tuned.
Until the next time, keep supporting live local music wherever and whenever you can.
