Saturday 24 June 2017

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE | SMC Launches Season II for Artist of the Year 2017



June 24, 2017 - As of 12:01am MST June 25th, 2017 in North America, fans all over the globe will be fastidiously voting for the next Starlight Music Chronicles (SMC) Artist of the Year.  

In June 2016, Starlight Music Chronicles launched the first ever Artist of the Year online voting event in two categories: TEEN and ADULT. This included all Artist of the Month winners from August 2015 to May 2016 and resulted in thousands of fans voting globally. Winners in the Adult category were IAMWARFACE at a whopping 22,000+ votes followed by Olivia Penalva winning the teen category with over 5000 votes. Both Artists have occupied a spot on our website and social media platforms over the last 12 months and they are about to pass the torch onto our 2017 Artist of the Year.

Now in our second season of this competition, the event has most definitely evolved and the stakes are even higher. The winnings, voting panel, and even our Judge panel has amped-up from five to seven prominent and notable music industry peers who possess valuable experience in the areas of Artist development, music journalism, and radio. In fact, one of our Judges is a Grammy Award-winning Artist! (see our Judges bios below)

The Prize Benefits
Our winner will take home a VIP Scholarship with ArtistMax (see details for the next ArtistMax event below), as well as a 12-month promotional period running from July 2017-June 2018. In this time, the winner will be promoted on the SMC website and social media, have three Radio interviews with Limehead Radio (our affiliates in the UK who are streaming live on the SMC SPOTLIGHT website), and have two Social Media Takeover events on the SMC and Limehead Radio platforms. This is our way of helping the Artist promote new music, campaigns, events, and tours throughout their ‘reigning’ year.

Voting
This is a 45% fan voted/55% Judge voted event. On June 25th, a poll will open up for Registered Fan Voting. Because there are three ways of registering a vote (Twitter, Facebook, and G+) Family, Friends, and Fans of the Artists competing can vote a total of 3 times for their fave in the five days of the event. Fan voting begins June 25th @ 12:01pm MST in North America and ends June 20th 11:59pm MST in North America. A link will be posted to the voting poll in a PINNED POST at the top of this event. It will also be shared everywhere on our Social Media.

ArtistMax
SMC is a global media ambassador for ArtistMax and with Olivia Penalva giving rave reviews following her participation at the March 2017 event in Los Angeles, California we are confident that our next Artist of the Year will see great value in this event. In fact, at the March event, Olivia met with legendary Producer Mr. Ken Caillat (Fleetwood Mac), and Grammy Award Winning Composer David Foster. Having a VIP Scholarship available to our winning Artist means huge opportunities to network and develop their music career further.

ArtistMax founders and mentors hold credits for Katy Perry, Colbie Caillat, John Mayer, Jennifer Lopez, Fleetwood Mac, The Rolling Stones, Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney, and so many more. Their mentors and guests have achieved dozens of Grammy awards and have been responsible for over 100 million albums sold worldwide. Each ArtistMax workshop heralds a new celebrity artist and a Grammy-winning Producer.
Today, ArtistMax released this press release to their social media platform:
“Our next ArtistMax will be 4 days long, Fri-Mon over Labor Day Weekend!!!!We have added many new interactive panels to our line-up including group songwriting, social media feedback and break out panel, LETS TALK PRODUCTION (4 of your songs are reviewed roundtable by a group of esteemed industry vets), A Networking Party with some of LA's hottest producers, managers, booking agents, label execs, film directors and more, thrift shop field trip with celeb stylists, and so much more!!!! PLUS... our surprise celeb guests... means this next event will be insane!!!!We would like to welcome back all of our AM Alumni with our new AM Alumni Scholarship. Scholarship has a non-transferable, non-refundable value of $499 off of the normal program price, and cannot be used with any other discounts. From there, those that are fully registered will have an opportunity to submit a one page essay for a full scholarship.We can start a housing thread on here so some of you can share rooms if you like.As most of you know, we work really hard to make sure you guys have an amazingly fun, educational and rewarding weekend. With most of our attendees on some form of scholarship, we rely heavily on word of mouth as our main marketing source. Whether you are able to attend or not, we ask that you please give a shout out to ArtistMax and help us continue to grow this amazingly talented community. We are very excited to present to you, The Future of ArtistMax.”
 Find out more about ArtistMax (here).

Limehead Radio
In April 2016, we added yet another valuable prize to our roster. Limehead Radio in the UK reached out to us to see how they could also become involved with our Artist of the Month and Artist of the Year events by way of supporting our winning Artists on their platform via interviews and radio play of their music. In addition, they have agreed to coincide a Social Media takeover on July 31st, 2017, the same month we announce our winner and host a Social Media takeover on our own platform (July 15th, 2017).

Find out more about Limehead Radio (here)

The 2017 Artist of the Year Artist Competitors





_________________________________

The Judges

Candice Anne Marshall CEO/Editor Starlight Music Chronicles (SMC)

Candice Anne Marshall is a Music Journalist from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada who began her career by studying Journalism, Photography and Graphic Design at Grant MacEwan University in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. She is the CEO and Editor in Chief at Starlight Music Chronicles Magazine & Entertainment Website interviewing some of the most notable professionals in the Music, Fashion, and Film industries. She has expanded on this career and is working as a Freelance/Contributor on many projects for Artists in the areas of Music, Film, Fashion and Lifestyle. She advocates for Non-Profit Organizations Globally in the areas of Branding, Social Media Campaigns, Biographies for websites, Articles in addition to Photography, Photo Editing and Graphics. (full bio here)

Some of the articles/content/photography/branding for Music Artists that Candice has written for/supported/interviewed are included on several forums including Magazine & Newspaper publications, Blogsites, and Webpages are: Hedley, Theory of a Deadman, The Road Hammers, Rex Goudie (Canadian Idol Fame), The Headpins, Beverley Mahood, Shane Yellowbird, Taylor Swift, Clayton Bellamy (Solo Artist | The Road Hammers), Adam Gregory, Candice Ryan, Rachel Woznow, Tupelo Honey, Bryan Finlay, Palaye Royale,  High Love Band (formerly, REND), Luke Potter, Johnny Marr (The Smith’s fame), Gary Numan, Olivia Wik, Bleu McAuley, Paul Woida, Andrew Scott, Hayley Richman, Little Crow, Jason McCoy (The Road Hammers), Nic Neufeld, Michelle Mollineux, Jasmine Singh, LIGHTS, The Hollywood Vampires, Nim Vind, Shay Esposito, Olivia Rose, IAMWARFACE, Jamie Lawson, Ed Sheeran, Reeve Carney, Scott Patterson (SMITHRADIO), Meghan Patrick, Olivia Penalva, Stuart Epps, Mario McNulty, New Mayans, Mateus Ward, Justin Ward, After The Calm, Lia Cole, Ari Herstand, The Fontaines, Dan Davidson, The 1975, Platinum Blonde, The Standstills, Joshua Shultz (Producer/CEO Bellus Magazine), Chelsea Debo (Actress/Model), Carly Jo Jackson (America’s Got Talent fame), Meresha (Billboard top 40 chart fame), Matt Lande, Narrow Plains, Jet Force Gemini, Christina Taylor, Ships Have Sailed, Ashlinn Gray, Lucien Dante, Dani Rosenoer (Three Days Grace fame), Brielle Von Hugel, The Upset Victory, Tom Bertram, Luke Wade, The Roxy Suicide, Swerve, Radio Drive, Brian Mackey, The Moon Kids, Natalie Jean, Carolina Magnolia, Barley Station, Kaylin, Ryan Inglis, Redvers Bailey, Wall Of Orange, Sallie Mood, John Ferriter  (The Tearaways | The Alternative), TAMSYN, Meresha, Codie Prevost, Luke Wade, Hannah Clive, DaveIt Ferris, Fashion Designer Melany Rowe, and Flash Jam to name a few and it is expanding every day.

Bridget Gardiner | ArtistMax

From Studio Manager of a recording studio for 9 years to Campus President at a recording college for 5 years, Bridge has been instrumental in shaping the next generation of music taste-makers. She is the CEO and founder of Buddha Global Consulting, LLC. Established in 2006, Buddha Global is a global networking and business development company that focuses and consults on project management in the creative and tech industries.

Special Highlights: Published Lupus Author, Elected VP of Industry Relations for Los Angeles Women in Music since 2014. Created and Produced annual star-studded NAMM panel for the last 5 years, ongoing. Created a National Lupus Support Group that has over 1k in lupus followers alone. Currently working to change it to a non-profit status.
Her client /company roster has included Producers, Authors, Videographers, Recording Studios, Music Schools, A record label, A start-up Medical spa, and consulting for various one-off projects, tech firms, events and educational training seminars.

Amrit Sond | Grammy Award Winning Artist

GRAMMY Award Winner & Solid Air Records (USA) Amrit Sond has graced the same billing alongside some of the world’s most renowned Guitarist’s on the scene today; Dominic Miller (STING), Hugh Burns (George Michael), Ronnie Johnson (Van Morrison, Leo Sawyer).
Born and raised in Nairobi, Kenya, he was exposed to African Folk Music at a very early age, and, being of Asian origin, Indian Music was always the backdrop of his family home life. He later studied Art and his family moved to the Middle East (Kuwait) where he then became interested in Arabic and eastern music. This coupled with the African and Indian Music influences that he grew up with, has helped shape his unique compositions.
His unique contemporary instrumental music draws on elements of World Music, Jazz & Classical all honed into a highly refined and melodically driven compositional approach.

Michael McKenna | Retired Radio & Club DJ

Voting Member at Neilsen Ratings
Voting Member at Josie Music Awards
Owner-operator at McKenna Reviews
Judge/Contributing Writer at Starlight Music Chronicles
Studied Journalism at Univ of Maine -Kittery
Studied Business Administration & Accounting at Commonwealth of PA

Mark Richards | CEO | Limehead Radio

Mark started the road to radio as many presenters do, by being the singer in a band. Way back in 2006 when he sported dyed black hair in a ponytail and enough eyeliner to color in the moon Mark discovered what it was like being in an unsigned band, making music and struggling to find a platform for it. This is what eventually led to Mark and a group of like-minded friends launching Limehead Radio. Mark founded Limehead Entertainment in 2010 as a live events company, holding their first gig in Portsmouth which was a huge success. Eventually Mark saw the potential audience of an online radio station and decided in 2011 to pursue that avenue. Since then Mark has been working with the Limehead team and all the amazing people he has met along the way to grow the audience for the music he plays.

Mike Lang | Radio | Music Director

Mike has over 25 years-experience in every facet of the radio industry, most recently several years as Music Director and mid-day host at 106.9 The Wolf in Nanaimo, BC. 

He has also had stints as booking agent/media liaison for a handful of known and lesser known artists.  In addition to that Mike is a sound engineer and has been known to perform as well. 
 

Pursuing his own dreams, he has recently quite literally sold his possessions in order to travel the world.

Carol Kaplan | SMC Contributor | Communications Consultant for Creatives

Owner/Founder of C A Kaplan Independent Services
Communications Consultant for Creatives, Small Businesses, Consultants, Entrepreneurs, and Non-Profit Organizations
Background in Advertising, Marketing, PR, Sales, Social Media Promotion.
Freelance Writer specializing in the Arts, Music, Creativity, Personal Growth & Development.
Freelance Photographer & Artist
Contributor for Starlight Music Chronicles

BFA in Graphic Communications/Journalism from University of Houston, Texas, USA

Follow the Artist of the Year Event (here) & be a part of SMC history by voting in our next AOY Winner. Our Voting Poll will be posted as a LINK in the event at 12:01am MST in North America. Full Rules are listed in the 'about' section of the event. 

Good Luck to ALL of our EXCEPTIONAL Artists! 


Tuesday 20 June 2017

BRIAN WILSON TO RELEASE 'PLAYBACK', HIS FIRST EVER SOLO CAREER-SPANNING ANTHOLOGY



via Warner Music Canada
18-Song Collection Spans Nearly 30 Years, Touches On Nine of
Wilson’s Solo Albums And Includes Two Previously Unreleased Tracks

CD, Vinyl, And Digital Versions Will Be Available From Rhino On September 22
Pet Sounds 50th Anniversary World Tour Continues Throughout 2017

LOS ANGELES – Brian Wilson’s eponymous solo debut for Sire in 1988 launched an extended period of renewal for the iconic Beach Boys songwriter. Rhino revisits Wilson’s solo career with a new 18-song collection that mixes studio and live recordings with two previously unreleased tracks: “Run James Run,” a new song Wilson wrote and recorded for this collection, and “Some Sweet Day,” an unreleased gem he wrote with Andy Paley in the early 1990s for an unfinished recording project.
PLAYBACK: THE BRIAN WILSON ANTHOLOGY covers more than 30 years of music with selections from nine of Wilson’s solo albums and will be released September 22 on CD, double-LP, on digital download and streaming services. Tickets are also available now to see Wilson perform live as he continues the Pet Sounds 50th Anniversary Final Performances World Tour, which was recently extended due to overwhelming demand.

The collection opens with “Love And Mercy,” one of the four songs on PLAYBACK taken from Wilson’s self-titled debut. The song has become one of Wilson’s most beloved classics, a regular closer to his live concerts, and was adopted as the title of the acclaimed 2015 biopic that saw the Beach Boy memorably played by both Paul Dano and John Cusack.

Several tracks on PLAYBACK come from the two albums Wilson released in 2004:  Gettin’ In Over My Head and the Grammy®-winning Brian Wilson Presents Smile. The most poignant of these is “Soul Searchin’,” a song Wilson built around a vocal track left behind by his brother Carl, who passed away in 1998. The celebrated orchestral masterpiece, Smile is represented by “Heroes And Villains”, and the timeless classic, “Surf’s Up.”

Those back-to-back releases ushered in a sustained burst of creativity for Wilson that includes four acclaimed albums. They’re represented on the collection by “Midnight’s Another Day” (That Lucky Old Sun, 2008); “The Like In I Love You” (Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin, 2010); “Colors Of The Wind” (In The Key Of Disney, 2011); and “One Kind Of Love” (No Pier Pressure, 2015.)
Tucked in with these studio classics are two live performances from Wilson’s 2000 concert recording, Live At The Roxy Theatre. Included here are “The First Time” and “This Isn’t Love,” a charming collaboration with Wilson’s Pet Sounds lyricist Tony Asher.

PLAYBACK: THE BRIAN WILSON ANTHOLOGY includes a selection of classic photos from throughout Wilson’s solo career, in addition to a candid shot taken in the studio in 2017 during the recording of “Run James Run.” The album also includes liner notes by David Wild, and features a previously unseen picture of Wilson on the front cover, taken by legendary rock photographer Robert Matheu.

_____________________

PLAYBACK: THE BRIAN WILSON ANTHOLOGY

Track Listing

“Love And Mercy”
“Surf’s Up”
“Heroes And Villains”
“Melt Away”
“Let It Shine”
“Some Sweet Day” *
“Rio Grande”
“Cry”
“Lay Down Burden”
“The First Time”
“This Isn’t Love”
“Soul Searchin’”
“Gettin’ In Over My Head”
“The Like In I Love You”
“Midnight’s Another Day”
“Colors Of The Wind”
“One Kind Of Love”
“Run James Run” *

*Previously Unreleased

_______________________

Brian Wilson Presents Pet Sounds: The Final Performances
Tour Dates

June
15  Blaisdell Center, Honolulu, HI       
29  Odeon, Odense, DK       
30  Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen, DK   

July
3    Carre, Amsterdam, NL       
4    Kursaal Oostend, Oostende, BE       
5    Grote Zaal, Utrecht, NL       
8    BBK Live, Bilbao, SP       
9    Montreux Jazz Fest w/ Bryan Ferry, Montreux, CH       
13 Pori Jazz Festival, Pori, Finland       
15  Umbria Jazz Festival, Perugia, IT       
17  Nuits de Fourviere, Lyon, FR       
19  Jahrhunterthalle, Frankfurt, DE       
20  Konzerthaus, Vienna, AT       
23  Galway Arts Festival, Galway, IRE       
25  Bord Gais Energy, Dublin, IRE
28  Liverpool Exhibition Centre, Liverpool, UK       
29  Kendal Calling, Lowther Deer Park, UK   
30  Camp Bestival, Lulworth Castle, UK   

August
1    Hammersmith Apollo, London, England   
2    Sheffield City Hall, Sheffield, England   
3    Kelingrove Bandstand, Glasgow, UK
5    Glastonbury Extravana, Glastonbury, England   
6    Times Square Newcastle, Newcastle, England   

September
15  Molson Canadian Centre, Moncton, NB       
16  Scotiabank Centre, Halifax, NS       
18 Centre in The Square, Kitchener, ON       
19  Kodak Hall @ Eastman Theatre, Rochester, NY       
21  Foxwoods Casino, Mashantucket, CT   
22  Orpheum Theatre, Boston, MA       
23  Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY       
25  American Music Theatre, Lancaster, PA       
26  Count Basie Theatre, Red Bank, NJ       
29  Zeiterion Theatre, New Bedford, MA   
30  Golden Nugget, Atlantic City, NJ        

October
1    Crouse Hinds Theatre, Syracuse, NY       
3    Morris Performing Arts Center, South Bend, IN       
4    Stranahan Theatre, Toledo, OH       
6    Rosemont Theatre, Rosemont, IL       
7    Belterra Casino, Florence, IN       
8    Civic Center Theater, Peoria, IL       
12 The Big Fresno Fair, Fresno, CA       
13  The Mountain Winery, Saratoga, CA       
14  Pacific Amphitheatre, Costa Mesa, CA



Monday 12 June 2017

MEGHAN PATRICK WINS BIG AT CMAO AWARDS via Warner Music Canada


via Warner Music Canada
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 12, 2017 - It’s apropos that Warner Music Canada recording artist Meghan Patrick’s new single is called “Be Country With Me” as the Bowmanville, Ontario native was the big winner at the Country Music Association of Ontario Awards last night taking home trophies in four categories. The wins for Female Artist of the year, Album of the Year (Grace & Grit), Rising Star of the Year and Music Video of the year (“Bow Chicka Wow Wow”) mark the first time Meghan has been honoured with awards at this event.   Other Warner winners last night included The Abrams as Roots Artist of the Year, Blue Rodeo received the Impact Award while VP of Promotion Steve Coady was named Industry person of the Year.


Meghan will be setting out from her new home of Nashville for a run of Canadian festival performances this summer.   Please see below for a full list of tour dates, or keep up with all things Meghan Patrick by following her on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, and YouTube




Meghan Patrick Tour Dates

June 3, 2017

Richmond Hill, ON

Cosmo MusicFEST & Expo

June 8, 2017

Nashville, TN

CMA Fan Fest

June 17, 2017

Ayer’s Cliff, Canada

Expo Ayers Cliff

June 30, 2017

Dauphin, MB

Dauphin’s Countryfest

July 1, 2017

Timmins, ON

Stars & Thunder 2017

July 2, 2017

London, ON

Trackside Music Festival

July 14, 2017

Craven, AB

Country Thunder Music Festival

July 22, 2017

Haldimand, ON

Hagersville Rocks Music Festival

July 24, 2017

Timmins, ON

Hollinger Park

August 11, 2017

Manitoulin Island, ON

Manitoulin Countryfest

August 19, 2017

Ennismore, ON

Havelock Country Jamboree

Wednesday 7 June 2017

Five Ways to Finance Your Music Career Through Grants and Funding Opportunities


by Michael McKenna
Nor'Easter Magazine for SMC

Beefing up your band fund should be a multi-faceted effort, not a single-strategy one. When you include a variety of sources – door money at shows, merch profits, crowdfunding – you're sure to reach your goals faster. One path of opportunity often overlooked, however, is grant funding.
Competition for many of these awards is incredibly stiff, of course, but the rewards can be undeniably game-changing. Learn more about five current grant opportunities for independent musicians below. Do the research, send a compelling application, and continue honing your craft. Whether you snatch the grant or not, the process of applying is, at the very least, fortifying.

1. PBR Music Foundation Grant
Free of deadlines and eligibility or genre requirements, this new opportunity from Pabst Blue Ribbon's Music Foundation is maybe the most laid-back grant around. (It's PBR, so of course it's chill.) Sums vary – we've confirmed $5,000 and $7,000 are among the amounts doled out since the foundation kicked off last year – but are awarded every single month.
The Milwaukee brand has deepened its commitment to independent and underground music of late, from its BandAidRx partnership and new Music Benefits program for health care help and more, to its Project Pabst festival series, where up-and-coming acts are regularly featured on bills supporting prominent indie staples. But this grant, intended as a “financial safety net” for artists and bands to help sustain and surpass their goals, is no doubt PBR's biggest contribution yet.

2. The Leeway Foundation
Supporting women, trans, and gender-queer artists based in the Delaware Valley who impact social change through art is the focus of the Leeway Foundation's funding opportunities, of which there are two: 

a.) The Art and Change Grant: grants up to $2,500 to artists of all mediums with limited funding whose projects impact particular groups and communities, and those who are associated with organizations and business with missions of social change.
b.) The Leeway Transformation Award: seeks to uplift seasoned artists – again, of all mediums, musicians included—with demonstrated commitments (five years minimum) to social change work.
A third, newly added grant is the 'Window of Opportunity', which boasts a faster turnaround for extra-timely endeavors.

 3. Black Fret
Central to the founding of this Austin-centric charity is that local music is fully deserving of public support. Funds are culled from Black Fret “members," local music fans who get special access to more than 30 intimate concerts featuring nominated artists in exchange for their membership fee.
Those supporters also take part in the process of voting for which of those artists receive grants and how much. At the , just two years after the organization's founding, Black Fret granted a total of $220,000 in grant tiers of $17,000 and $5,000. Funds awarded are then doled out in installments based on specific milestones and contributions to the community.

Unfortunately, though, this one's not open to just anyone. Black Fret limits eligibility to bands that claim at least 50 percent of members as legal Austin residents and consideration is mostly invitation only. Winners in the annual reader-driven Austin Music Awards are automatically nominated, plus members at a specific level add more to the running.

4. BMI Foundation Peermusic Latin Scholarship
There are several categories of grants, scholarship competitions, awards, and other types of funding programs within the BMI Foundation. This one's particular to the next generation of Latin music greats, so it's eligible specifically to songwriters aged 17 to 24 who are currently enrolled in US or Puerto Rican colleges or universities. Each year, a best original song or instrumental composition is selected by a panel of Latin music industry pros; its creator snags the prestigious title as well as $5,000.

5. BMI Foundation Nashville Songwriting Scholarship
Although the name suggests eligibility is limited to country-music-capitol denizens, the Nashville Songwriting Scholarship is actually a nationwide competition. The genres are more flexible than you'd think, too: Blues, bluegrass, contemporary Christian, Americana, folk, and roots artists are also welcome to apply. Otherwise, it's modeled much like the other BMI Foundation program we mentioned: Of the 17-to-24-year-old students who qualify to enter, just one will be awarded the $5,000 scholarship for best original song.