We TOPAZ have just released a new original Christmas single, (all costs paid for by TOPAZ) and we are selling it to raise money for the Mission and Abbotsford food banks. 100% of ALL FUNDS RAISED by this recording will be donated; not one single penny will go to us.

This new single is called “Give Them Hope” and is now available on ITunes for $0.99 per download and will also be available in CD with original design jacket (packaging) by Friday) October, 28, 2011. These funds also will go directly to our local food banks. This original new single “Give Them Hope” features Jenny Bice on fiddle.

The CD will be sold for a minimum donation of $2.00 with ALL FUNDS RAISED from the sale also going to Mission and Abbotsford food banks.

TOPAZ band members or anyone associated with TOPAZ will NOT receive a single penny from this venture.

TOPAZ (my band) is a member of the BCCMA in good standing.

Please help us “Give Them Hope” for Christmas…  

The Yale Celebrates it's 130th Anniversary!

On Thursday, Nov 17, at 8:00 the Yale presents Chilliwack and friends for the 130 anniversary of the Yale including some of our BCCMA artists! The line up includes One More Girl, Valdy, Shari Ulrich ,Roy Forbes (UHF,with Bill Henderson), Jim Byrnes, Loretta and the 4 Amigos and Texas Flood. More information coming soon!

Cynthia Leigh-Ann

Cyntia will be releasing her Christmas ingle Christmas memories October 15 to radio with Joe Wood SENDING A CHRISTMAS SONG TO RADIO? RDR DELIVERSCynthia will also be releasing her new Album February 15th 2012Shows Christmas in Kelowna with Cynthia Leigh-Ann and Guests December 10th 2011 Rotary Centre for the ArtsTickets will go on sale November 1st.

Contest Honours Vets with Prose

Veterans have given so much to this country and this community, that a local poet wants to give something back.In fact, published writer Joe Robinsmith is inviting other Lower Mainland poets of all ages and experience to help pay tribute to this country’s veterans in advance of Remembrance Day.Working in conjunction with The TIMES, Haney Place Mall, Black Bond Books, and WAVES, Robinsmith is launching a poetry contest this week.

Read more: http://www.mrtimes.com/news/Contest+honours+vets+with+prose/5510417/story.html#ixzz1a6i4xilY

Kristal Barrett

Check out Kristal's brand new single and seen her first music video! http://youtu.be/ab0sjjLafQE

CBC Live

Be a part of the spectacular star-studded kick off to Culture Days! CBC AND THE ORganizers of Culture Days invite you and/or your group to participate in an exciting live opening performance to "CBC LIVE - A kick off to Culture Days" on Friday, September 30 at 10 a.m. Join Johnny Reid and a full day of free CBC events that will showcase some of the best of Vancouver's diverse arts communities. Johnny will be performing his hit single "Let's Go Higher" and CBC wants you to be a part of his interactive audience.

All you need to do is show-up at 10a.m. outside the CBC Vancouver Broadcast Centre at 700 Hamilton Street. Preparations and a mini-rehearsal will begin shortly thereafter and official kick-off is at 10:45 a.m. - rain or shine. All ages, all welcome!

CCMA's

The BCCMA would like to send our congratulations to our members for their recent successes at the CCMA's in Hamilton!

Rising Star - Chad Brownlee
Music Director of the Year (Secondary Market) - Kelly Moore
Video Director of the Year - Stephano Barberis
Radio Station of the Year (Major Market) - 93.7 JRFM

www.ccma.org

The past few weeks have been extremely busy for One More Girl…….on the heels of their brand new signing with US label giant Interscope Records, Britt and Carly recently attended Canadian Country Music week, where they performed at FanFest and the Songwriter’s Café, as well as rocking the awards show on Monday night with ‘Fall Like That’, their current single out to Canadian radio.

Immediately after the CCMA’s, the girls headed to Los Angeles where they will be writing and recording for their new Interscope release. The first writing appointment is with Billy Steinberg (‘Like A Virgin’, ‘True Colors’, ‘I’ll Stand By You’, ‘I Drove All Night’), and the girls couldn’t be more excited – or ready – to take on this ‘brave new world’! They will also be spending time in Nashville over the next couple of months, continuing to write for the new album.

Also up next – a video shoot in LA at the end of September with Margaret Malandruccolo, for their new single ‘Maybe’.”

LISA KIENAS

Lisa Kienas is proud to share her new video with you. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rr-sSS7bziA

Whiskey Jane is honoured to be part of the 2011 International Country Music Festival September 7th through 20th, in the beautiful city of Zhangjiajie, China, the city that was the inspiration behind the movie "Avatar"! This series of shows will be feature several picturesque locations such as Tianzi mountain. You can read about this amazing place right here...

http://english.cri.cn/6666/2011/07/18/2821s649071.htm

The band is excited to be a part of this historic event, and we will send lots of photos from our trip!

In addition, Whiskey Jane has also officially released their video "'Sinking Like a Sunset", directed by Gene Greenwood.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBditPPDgjc

Fall Schedule:

September 7-20 - International Country Music Festival- Zhangjiajie City, China
October 13-15- Ranchmans -Calgary
Oct. 27-29th Gabby's (Langley, BC)
Nov. 17-19th- 97th St. Pub (Kelowna, BC)

www.whiskeyjane.com

BCCMA Music Rules In School!

We did it! The BCCMA is very proud to announce that we have successfully completed our pilot Music Rules In Schools program. Thank you to Alice Brown Elementary for embracing the program and giving us the opportunity to present the program in its full four parts to the grades 3 - 5 student of the school. Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, and we are excited to move into the next phase of planning to expand the program to more schools in the upcoming year.

The goal of the BCCMA in presenting this program is to rebuild an interest in, and provide an opportunity for, live performance by inspiring and educating the youth interactively in all facets of the Music Business. We seek to increase awareness of, and create new fans of Country Music; iInfluence young musicians and singers to become involved in the genre; create awareness of the BCCMA; who we are and what we have to offer members; as well as teach students that vast areas of opportunity for them to be involved in music industry.

A special thank you to the the CCMA, the Township of Langley and Barnes Harley Davidson for their sponsorship of MRIS program and to JRFM and Country 107.1 for playing the song created by the students - "School's Out Forever" live on air. Truly a memorable moment for all involved - especially the students!

We would also like to thank all those involved in presenting the program: Angela Harris, Eric Reed, The Matinee, AJ Woodworth, Emily Taylor Adams, John Higgins, Kathleen Higgins, Jaydee Bixby, Ken McCoy, Tony Del, Dave Gustafsen and Jay Wittur. You were always stars to us, but you are now true superstars of Alice Brown

STEPHANIE SPENCE

Stephanie has had a busy summer making appearances on festival stages around the province.

 Her 3rd single "Love Without You" from her debut EP has been released to radio and is already gaining momentum.

Contact your favorite country station & make a request!

KRISTAL BARRETT

Kristal Barrett's newest CD is now finished!

Her 1st Single "Girl in a Car" hits Canadian Radio Sept 5th.

The video release party is slated for Sept 25th at Finnegan's

visit Kristal Barrett for more

Unremarkable words, perhaps, on their own; and certainly words that could apply to a million music industry scenarios. But this time it relates to what could be best described as a fairy tale discovery story.

The Vince in question is A&R executive Vince Herbert who signed Lady Gaga to his Steamline Records, a joint venture with Interscope, right after she was dropped by Def Jam. The quote itself came from legendary music producer and entrepreneur Jimmy Iovine, chairman of Interscope-Geffen-A&M. The “one” Iovine was referring to is One More Girl, the remarkably talented Canadian female singer/songwriter duo who had just performed for him in the above mentioned club.

The signing of One More Girl’s worldwide deal with Interscope took place last Thursday. The signing began with an inquiry by Interscope A&R manager Aimee Nadeau, who works with Jolene Cherry (former Senior VP of A&R), to the band’s booking agent Jim Cressman, after being intrigued by their name in a trade magazine. From that initial inquiry to the band becoming part of the Interscope family was a courtship over 18 months (which is actually a landmark time to conclude such a major deal).

While auditioning in L.A. the girls were informed the piano that they would be playing was the same one Lady Gaga had played while auditioning for her record deal. “That was a big moment for us as we are such Gaga fans”, laughs group member Carly McKillip.

On the high of this new adventure Carly states, “Dreams do come true, we are so fortunate to be in this position. Why we were the lucky ones, I don’t know…..but I’ll take it.”
 

ISC

The prestigious International Songwriting Competition (ISC) has assembled a distinguished panel of judges for its 2011 competition. With the most high-profile judging panel of any music competition in the world, ISC offers songwriters and artists the unprecedented opportunity to have their music heard by iconic recording artists, as well as many major and indie record label Presidents, A&R executives, producers, music supervisors, and more.

Now accepting entries for the 2011 competition, ISC gives away more than $150,000 in cash and prizes (shared among the 68 winners) including an overall Grand Prize consisting of $25,000 (US) cash and $20,000 in prizes. Open to all levels of songwriters, ISC offers 22 categories that include all genres of popular music. Past winners have included artists from Grammy winners to hobbyist songwriters and everyone in between.

For information and enter, go to http://www.songwritingcompetition.com

Winning ISC can be a tremendous career booster. Over the years, many winners have achieved great career success, including getting signed to labels such as Epic, Universal, Motown, and more. Many more winners have secured publishing deals, smaller label deals, licensing deals, and distribution deals in addition to getting more gigs, fans, and recognition.

The complete list of ISC judges includes:

Recording Artists: Tom Waits; Tori Amos; Jeff Beck; Billy Currington; My Morning Jacket; Simon Le Bon & Roger Taylor (Duran Duran); Kelly Clarkson; Keane; McCoy Tyner; Wynonna; Francesca Battistelli; Tegan and Sara; Massive Attack; Michael W. Smith; Alejandro Sanz; Johnny Clegg; Jeremy Camp; Ray Wylie Hubbard; John Mayall; Craig Morgan; Basement Jaxx; James Cotton; Sandra Bernhard; Trombone Shorty; Robert Earl Keen; Black Francis (The Pixies); Mose Allison; Robert Smith (The Cure); Amadou & Mariam; Darryl McDaniels (Run D.M.C.); Toots Hibbert (Toots & The Maytals); Matt Thiessen (Relient K); Chayanne; and more...

Industry Executives: Monte Lipman (President, Universal Republic Records); David Massey (President, Mercury Records); Brian Malouf (VP A&R, Walt Disney Records); Bruce Iglauer (Founder/President, Alligator Records); Angel Carrasco (Sr. VP A&R, Latin America, Sony/BMG); Ric Arboit (President, Nettwerk Music Group); Anastasia Brown (Music Supervisor, FORMAT); Allison Jones (VP of A&R, Big Machine Label Group); Steve Lillywhite (Producer); Dan Storper (President, Putamayo World Music Records and Putumayo Kids); Kim Buie (VP A&R, Lost Highway); Douglas C. Cohn (Sr. VP, Music Marketing & Talent, Nickelodeon); Trevor Jerideau (VP of A&R, J Records); Antony Bland (A&R, American Recordings); Steve Smith (VP of A&R, Aware Records); Cory Robbins (Founder/President, Robbins Entertainment); Dr. Demento (Radio Host, The Dr. Demento Show); and more...

ISC Sponsors: Presonus, Lowden Guitars, Sennhaiser, ASCAP, Berklee College of Music, Posse, D'Addario, Thayers, SongU.com, Online Gigs, The Music Business Registry, Independent Mastering, Indie Venue Bible, George Stein, Esq. Sonicbids, Taxi, and music Submit

 

BC Country Music Association Members Showcase at 2011 VIMBC! (www.vimbc.com)

From June 22 - 26th, Comox/Courtenay was the place to be for the 4th Annual Vancouver Island Music Business Conference!

BCCMA members were out in full force to showcase during this 'must attend' event. Artists were invited to submit their applications to VIMBC to showcase and some of our BCCMA members were selected!

The 4 day event included seminars & panels with Jake Gold (Mgr: Tragically Hip), Terry McBride (Nettwerk Records) , Steve Wilkinson (The Wilkinsons), Ron Lopata (A&R, Warner Music Canada, Bill Henderson ( Chilliwack, Songwriters Association of Canada), ONE MORE GIRL, Terry O'Brien (SOCAN, Vancouver) Ralph Murphy (ASCAP, Nashville) Tom McKillip (producer) and more!

There were hands-on musician workshops with members of Chilliwack, vocal workshops with Darcy D (PRISM lead vocalist) and also Angela Kelman (Farmer's Daughter). Nashville's Tom Jackson presented his amazing workshop on 'stage performance production.' If you ever get a chance to watch how he works or work with him personally, DO IT!

Our own BCCMA directors, Ron & Sue Irving moderated many panels and also organized the BCCMA Showcases held in the newly renovated "Flying Canoe West Coast Pub."

The first BCCMA showcase was hosted by Steve Wilkinson of the Wilkinsons, which included Shelby Noble, Stephanie Spence, Luke Isaac, and Carli & Julie Kennedy, a.k.a "The Kennedy's".

The second BCCMA showcase was hosted by Patricia Conroy, who started her career right here in BC! The evening started off with Angela Harris with Eric Reid, Livy Jeanne & her band, Chasing Jesse, Shelly Dubois, and finished with FERA backed up by The Matinee!

This is the MUST ATTEND event of the year ! It's small enough that you can actually approach and speak with panelists and network with everyone. The seminar topics are current and everyone comes out to the showcases!! Great exposure and a great business education all in one event!

 Hope you like it!

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJJ_uBqpEW8
 

Robyn & Ryleigh Gillespie

Our New EP - We are currently in the studio recording our first EP! Check back soon for updates and to buy songs!

Booked A Role - In the feature film ‘Heart of Dance’. We will also be working on the soundtrack for the film! Check out the site at www.heartofdancemovie.com

90.1 CJSF Radio - We will be on a program called “Melodies in Mind” on September 7th from 8-10pm. There will be two other musicians there as well, kind of a songwriters circle.

For full stories go to /www.robynandryleigh.com

AJ will be hitting the road heading to Rock Creek, Merritt, Kamloops, Oliver, Vancouver and more! Watch for more details at www.ajcountry.com

Chad Brownlee

We’re now taking applications for Chad’s House Concert Series!

The House Concert performance has been around for many years across the country and is an intimate way to showcase an artist and hear the songs in their rawest and most intimate form. Hearing Chad sing live with just his acoustic guitar is sure to delight you and your guests.

Just a reminder folks, you MUST guarantee at least 20 people minimum and send in the completed agreement to be considered. A link to download the agreement gets emailed to you when you fill out the online form.

Apply now by going to: http://chadbrownlee.com/houseconcert/

And a quick update, the new single (Carried Away) was released to radio May, 2011 - be sure to request like crazy to your local radio station! Chad’s off to Cuba to shoot the video Carried Away as well!