It’s been a busy summer for writer Samantha Everts & photographer Mark Matusoff, who were once again on the ground to cover a music festival for Canadian Musician. This time, it was Ottawa’s Arboretum Music Festival, running August 17-20 and featuring the likes of Sloan, Operators, Dilly Dally, Evening Hymns, and many others.

Slow-o-o-o-an! Slow-o-o-o-an! That was what the audience at Arboretum Festival kept calling for as Sloan ducked backstage before playing a second set of their biggest hits on the final stop on their One Chord to Another Tour in Ottawa. With Toronto hardcore band Metz canceling the day before due to a birth (mazel tov!), that Sloan would play two sets added to the buzz in the hipster air at Festival Plaza at City Hall.

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imagineNATIVE, a presenter of Indigenous screen content, has announce a new partnership with Slaight Music calledBull’s Eye, which is a new music talent search that seeks to nurture Canada’s newest music talent with opportunities, including a $10,000 cash award, to turn their talent into a career.

As part of the initiative, Canada’s newest Indigenous musicians are invited to submit a sample track until Aug. 31, 2016 of their original work in an online contest for consideration by a jury of music and media arts industry leaders. Selected contest finalists will be promoted through imagineNATIVE’s social networks in the run up to the 17th annual imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival (October 19-23, 2016). The final nominees will be announced on the week of the festival and the contest winner will be announced and awarded at imagineNATIVE’s annual music showcase, THE BEAT.

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For 2017, Canadian Music Week is bringing back the “CMW Startup Launch Pad,” a pitch competition for new businesses that are based in or connected to the Music Industry. The competition will take place during the 2017 conference on Wednesday, April 19th at the Sheraton Centre Hotel in Toronto.

“The conference is dedicated to further developing the Canadian music industry, and startups play an important role in that,” says Danya Dixon, VP of Programming. The competition will offer startups an opportunity for exposure and investment, as well as advice from top industry professionals.

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Canadian Music Week is now accepting artist submissions for its 2017 showcase festival, which will take place around downtown Toronto from April 18-22. There are 200 performance slots reserved for Sonicbids artists at Canadian Music Week 2017. Performing artists receive a complimentary registration to Canadian Music Week’s Music Summit 2017 (valued at $699 CAD).

Special Early Submission Pricing:
Aug 10 – Oct 25: $35
Oct 26 – Dec 29: $55

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“It’s essential that artists surround themselves with the right people. Assembling a strong inner circle of trusted helpers, advisers, and associates allows you to focus on the music while they take care of the business…”

That’s a quote from Alan Cross’s foreword to Bob D’Eith’s book, A Career in Music: Building Your Inner Circle. The book focuses on how to build your professional team as an artist, and D’Eith is bringing his valuable advice straight to musicians in this FREE webinar presented by Canadian Musician.

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The Atlantic Presenters Association (APA) is a touring network of 100+ presenting organizations in the four Atlantic Provinces (Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick).  The membership is made up of soft seat theatres, volunteer community presenters, arts councils and festivals. Its mission is to enable its members to enhance, promote and facilitate diverse, quality live performances in their communities.

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The 2017 NAMM Show seeking bands and solo artists all genres to showcase their talents during the annual trade show, held January 19-22 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, CA. Called the Bands @ NAMM program, the platform offers artists the opportunity to submit their act to play one of 150 live performances on one of five stages during the annual event. The annual NAMM Show is the largest music products show in North America.

Artists interested in performing at the NAMM Show can apply online here, and will be notified by late October if they have been selected. The submission process will close on Sept. 12, 2016. Bands @NAMM is open to all artists, of all ages, genres and compositions.

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Samantha Everts & photographer Mark Matusoff braved the intense heat for Day 2 of WayHome 2016, which happened July 22-24 in Oro-Medonte, ON. Here’s the recap:

Rolling into a music festival exhausted from lack of sleep and covered with dirt and smears of yesterday’s makeup didn’t hold anyone back from returning for the second day of WayHome. With Arcade Fire at the top of everyone’s list, another heat warning was issued for the residents of Barrie, ON, informing everyone to stay inside and away from direct sunlight as much as possible. Clearly the Weather Network folks weren’t getting through to the Wayhomies, as even more people filled the festival fields for Day 2.

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Once again, Samantha Everts & photographer Mark Matusoff slid into summer festival mode to bring you a recap of WayHome 2016, which happened July 22-24 in Oro-Medonte, ON.

About 35,000 music fans descended upon Burl’s Creek event grounds braving extreme heat for the second-ever WayHome Music Festival this past weekend in Oro-Medonte (just outside of Barrie, ON). Headliners for the three-day fest included LCD Soundsystem, Arcade Fire, and The Killers, with four stages hosting a total of 72 emerging and established acts.

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Cirque du Soleil is currently seeking job applications from musicians for two of its shows.

First, there is a job opening on the resident show KÀ, which is presented in Las Vegas, for a signer (mezzo-soprano/alto or tenor) who also is a cello player. Candidates must fulfill the following requirements in order to be considered: Voice: Mezzo-soprano/alto or Tenor – A warm, colourful voice with depth and a wide range, breathy or not; Cello: dexterous playing, good bow technique, high level of interpretation in pop and classical styles; Style: pop-rock; Age: 18 or older.

For more information about the position and/or to apply, GO HERE.

The second job opening is more a multi-instrumentalist (keyboard/saxophone/guitar player) for the Big Top touring show Kooza. This is a contract position covering the show’s Australian run from October 2016 to December 2017.

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