Our own Kevin Young’s report from NXNE had some love for a NWT-based singer-songwriter named Sarah MacDougall, whom he happened upon during one of his nightly adventures. Well one of our other writers, David McPherson, was also out and about during the festival, albeit with a different agenda, and found his way to the same bar. On the same night. For the same show. And had the same impression – that this young lady is one to watch. Read more for David’s thoughts…

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The Unison Benevolent Fund, an assistance and referral program that provides discreet relief to music industry personnel in times of hardship, is presenting For The Love Of Music, a benefit concert at the Chelsea Hotel in Toronto on Wednesday, July 4^th.

The event, which begins at 8 p.m., will showcase the musical styling of The Robert Scott Trio with special guest Genevieve Marentette. JAZZ.FM91’s Jaymz Bee hosts the evening.

A $20 donation is suggested at the door; tax receipts will be issued.

For more information, visit: www.unisonfund.ca.

With your subscription or renewal to Canadian Musician magazine, placed by June 30th, you will receive a complimentary E-book by Derek Sivers, entitled “How To Call Attention To Your Music“.

The book is a hard-hitting how-to instructional manual on promoting your music, yourself, or your band.  Derek Stivers is an internationally-known musician, entrepreneur, author, speaker, and the founder of CD Baby.

http://canadianmusician.com/subscribe.php

Kevin Young is one of CM’s longest-standing and most frequent contributors, so we were pretty happy to have him on the ground for the 2012 edition of NXNE, the annual festival that brings the best in new music and industry ideas to downtown Toronto for a few crazy days in June. Here’s the lowdown:

For some reason, it seemed as if everyone upped the ante for NXNE this year. It could have been because of the mix of bands I saw, or it could be that there were more films and more comedy added to the mix than in previous years. Last year was actually the first that NXNE began incorporating comedy into the festival, and this year, late-night slots were added at some venues so comedians could keep the party going even after the music stopped.

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Mike Miltimore and his team at Lee’s Music out in BC have a guitar company called Riversong Guitars. The company’s instruments are manufactured in Kamloops, BC and are produced by local employees using local materials.

Mike’s currently in the running for the BDC Young Entrepreneur Award, which comes with a prize of $10,000 for the business, and is currently in 2nd place. Hit the link below and give him a vote – it’s easy to do and it feels good to support the Canadian music industry. Or at least I think it does…

Read Mike’s story and give him a vote by clicking here.

S.C.E.N.E. Niagara is one of the largest and most successful music festivals in Canada and is taking place this year on Sunday June 24th in St. Catharines.

Canadian Musician, in cooperation with the fine folks at S.C.E.N.E., is giving away a pair of tickets to the first five (5) people to respond to this blog. (Value $58.00)

Just email and, in the body of the message, write I WANNA GO TO S.C.E.N.E.! Please enter only if you’ll be able to take advantage of the passes.

Winners will be notified and must be able to pick up their tickets at CM‘s St. Catharines office by 5:00 pm on Friday, June 22nd.

For more on S.C.E.N.E. Niagara, visit www.scenemusicfestival.com.

For more on Canadian Musician, visit canadianmusician.com.

Neil Young & Crazy Horse are touring again later this year. Great news, though the fact I probably won’t get to catch a date is quite the opposite.

Anyhow, I just delivered my ballot for the Polaris Prize long list. For those unfamiliar with the process, I, along with 200-some other jurors submit our 5 favourite Canadian (if you wanna know what qualifies, visit www.polarismusicprize.ca) albums of the year in descending order. Each “place” from 1-5 is assigned a point value and the 40 albums with the highest point total make the long list.

From that list of 40, we again include our 5 picks, and that whittles it down to the 10-title short list.

Would love to get your picks or your thoughts on mine…

1. Fucked Up – David Comes To Life

2. Boxer The Horse – French Residency

3. The Weeknd – Thursday

4. Coeur de Pirate – Blonde

5. Rich Aucoin – We’re All Dying To Live