Canadian Musician Editorial Assistant Shanine Cook (pictured above with The Maine) was out for the last-ever Toronto stop on the infamous Vans Warped Tour. The iconic tour, lovingly dubbed “punk rock summer camp,” announced that the 2018 edition would be its last full cross-country run. Here are Shanine’s thoughts from the day, including some summer festival prep tips.

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The buzz is building for GOATLIFE, the new mixtape from Toronto-based trio John Orpheus that blends fresh afropop with bouncy hip-hop, soca, and dancehall. The group dropped three much-hyped mixtapes in 2017 to set the stage for the Mike Schlosser-produced GOATLIFE, and in this exclusive #CMPremiere, we’re bringing you the electric new video for the title track two days ahead of its wide release.

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Jazz Cartier at Yonge-Dundas Square for NXNE 2018

The 2018 edition of NXNE say the long-running festival bring its programming back to Toronto’s downtown core after a few years at the more isolated Port Lands site. Canadian Musician’s Samantha Everts-Matusoff and Mark Matusoff were on the ground for the event and Mark snapped some killer shots from the stage at Yonge-Dundas Square. Check ’em out!

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Canadian Musician‘s Samantha Everts-Matusoff & Mark Matusoff were out for Field Trip 2018 at Toronto’s Garrison Common from June 2-3, 2018. The weekend featured sets from the likes of Metric, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley, and Japandroids, and we’ve got plenty of Mark’s (awesome) shots from Day 2 right here.

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Canadian Musician‘s Samantha Everts-Matusoff & Mark Matusoff were out for Field Trip 2018 at Toronto’s Garrison Common from June 2-3, 2018. The weekend featured sets from the likes of Metric, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley, and Alvvays, and we’ve got Sam’s thoughts and Mark’s shots from the first day of the event right here.

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Sloan at Yonge-Dundas Square

Canadian Music Week 2018 was a total whirlwind, so kudos to Samantha Everts-Matusoff and Mark Matusoff for covering so much ground and kicking so much ass. Here are some highlights from Saturday, May 12th and Sunday, May 13th.

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Starcrawler at the Bovine Sex Club

The Canadian Musician crew covered a lot of ground Canadian Music Week 2018, with contributors Samantha Everts-Matusoff and Mark Matusoff covering panels and networking events by day and showcases across the city by night. Here are some pics from Thursday, May 10th and Friday, May 11th, 2018.

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Stage psychologist, performance coach & Canadian Musician contributor Luther Mallory on one of the most important & valuable aspects of Canadian Music Week: hanging in the hotel lobby.

I saw cool shows at CMW and I went to some good panels with some smart speakers. CMW is a well organized, world-class music conference. There’s nothing terribly exciting to report.

So I get thinking about my topic for this blog and I consider covering how many bad-ass rap artists are coming out of Nova Scotia like Quake Matthews, Kayo, Corey Writes, Mitchell Bailey, etc. – some of whom played Saturday night at the Rivoli.

As an artist, though, and now an “industry person,” I’m more interested in what I spent the week noticing in the hotel lobby at the Sheraton Centre, where everyone is hanging out in between panels and performances. It’s more interesting than any of the shows or panels. It’s a better blog topic, too, and a better read for artists.

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Canadian Musician had a huge presence at Canadian Music Week 2018, thanks in large part to Samantha Everts-Matusoff and Mark Matusoff. Sam and Mark were on the ground covering panels and networking events by day and showcases across the city by night. Here are some of Mark’s standout shots from the first three days of CMW, May 7-9, 2018.

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On their upcoming third LP, in city & country, award-winning indie folk outfit The Young Novelists decided to travel out of the city and into small-town Ontario in order to connect the two places. After years of firsthand experience combined with historical research, core songwriters Graydon James and Laura Spink wrote over 30 songs inspired by a dozen Canadian towns. From that set, in city & country was born, and in this exclusive #CMPremiere, we’re sharing these 10 tracks with you ahead of the album’s May 4th release.

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