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Free Database of Canadian Folk Festivals [UPDATED- December, 2011]

December 20, 2011 By 14 Comments

Since releasing the first version of the database in January, 2011, we received a lot of feedback from the folk community with many suggestions of festivals that could be added to the database. Here is the latest version of the database for Folk Festivals in 2012. Big thanks to Roots Music Canada for sharing their database as well as the many members of the folk/roots music community in Canada that contacted us. Collectively we built a fairly comprehensive database of folk festivals in Canada. You can download the updated versions of the database below. Cheers! -DC

My good friend Emma Julien and I compiled a database of Canadian Folk Festivals. It includes a listing of folk festivals in Canada along with their contact information, deadlines and application guidelines. It is a powerful resource for any folk/roots artist inside our outside of Canada.

You can download the database for FREE in either the original Excel format or as a PDF file.

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers!

Dave

P.S. We encourage you to share this resource, which you can do by:

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I Have a Crush on Ariel Hyatt (and I’m Giving Away 2 Copies of Her New Book “The Musician’s Roadmap to Facebook and Twitter”)

April 5, 2011 By 3 Comments

The Musician's Roadmap to Facebook and Twitter While putting the finishing touches on my eBook “Attending Music Conferences 101”, I was looking for a book I could recommend for further advice about social media. On a whim I checked out Ariel Hyatt’s website at ArielPublicity.com to see if she had released anything new, and sure enough, she had literally just released a new book called “The Musician’s Roadmap to Facebook and Twitter”, written along with Carla Lynne Hall. Ariel is one of my favourite music industry authors, so I bought a PDF copy of the book right away. After browsing through it, I could tell immediately that it was an incredible resource for musicians.

I sent Ariel a message on Twitter saying that I had recommended “The Musicians Roadmap” as a resource in my new eBook, not really expecting a response. Not only did she respond, but she even offered to give away 2 copies of the book to my network of musicians. I was ecstatic. She said to come up with a creative promotion and we’ll go from there. Awesome! A creative promotion? No problem, I can do that…

That was over a month ago. I brainstormed ideas, I asked other people what they thought, but nothing was good enough. It had to be perfect. This was Ariel Hyatt, one of the brightest minds in the music industry. She is at the very top of the many “experts” out there. She’s the real deal. She’s not only a great author, but a great speaker, runs a highly successful company, and her personal branding is a shining example of how to do it right. I could only hope to get to her level at some point in my own career.

And it was going through this thought process that I figured out what was going on: I have a (professional) crush on Ariel and I was totally freezing up! It was the same feeling as back in high school of being too afraid to talk to a girl for fear of screwing it up. I was scared of screwing up this book giveaway with Ariel because I thought this was my big chance to impress her.

After having a good laugh at myself, and understanding that I was blowing it up to be a much bigger deal than it was, I realized that many indie artists do this when thinking about social media (especially with Twitter). They don’t know where to start, what to do, how to do it and when to do it, so they simply don’t do anything at all. Ariel’s book “The Musician’s Roadmap to Facebook and Twitter” answers all of those questions and more.

**********

BOOK GIVEAWAY:

*UPDATE* => Congratulations to Tim Harrison & Megan Burtt who each won a copy of Ariel’s book. Thanks everyone for your e-mails, the response was incredible!

So here’s the deal: If you’re an artist who freezes up when thinking about social media because you don’t understand it or don’t know where to start, send an e-mail to dave@davecool.ca and tell me why. I’ll choose 2 lucky artists who will get a free copy of Ariel’s book, which will no doubt help you to figure out the whole social media thing and how to use it to gain new fans and connect with the ones you have.

Now if only someone could write a book about what to do about professional crushes…

Cheers,

Dave

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Sample Music Conference Budget for Musicians

February 13, 2011 By 1 Comment

If you’re heading out to a music conference, here’s a spreadsheet you can use to budget and track your expenses. The budget contains line items for:

  • Conference fees
  • Showcase fees
  • Marketing Materials
  • Travel
  • Lodging
  • Food
  • Miscellaneous

But you can download it and modify it however you like: SAMPLE MUSIC CONFERENCE BUDGET

The budget is taken from the eBook “Cool’s Notes: Attending Music Conferences 101”.

Cheers!

Dave

Filed Under: Artist Resources Tagged With: , ,

I’ve Been Named Director of Member Services for CIRAA

January 26, 2011 By 4 Comments

Hello everyone,

Some pretty big news to announce: I’ve been hired as the Director of Member Services for the Canadian Independent Recording Artists’ Association (CIRAA). CIRAA have brought me onboard to lead the launch of a new national micro-grant program for independent Canadian artists, as well as oversee a mentorship program focused on connecting artists with industry experts for career advice.

My mission in life is to help artists, and I had a great experience doing that the past 3 years working with McAuslan Brewing running the St-Ambroise Centre and St-Ambroise Music Program. I’m thrilled to now have the chance to take that experience and apply it on a national scale and positively impact the careers of thousands of musicians across the country through CIRAA’s initiatives. This really is a dream opportunity for me.

More details about CIRAA’s new programs will be announced in the weeks and months ahead. I also have several other projects in the works, so if you would like to stay up to date with what I’m up to, please sign up to my newsletter: sign up here

If you sign-up by February 7th, you will get a FREE digital copy of my film “What is INDIE?”

You can also check back at this website as I’ll be adding new content regularly, and you can of course connect with me on Facebook and Twitter.


Leaving McAuslan/St-Ambroise

So after 3 good years of working at Montreal micro-brewery McAuslan Brewing (St-Ambroise) as Program Director for the St-Ambroise Centre and St-Amboise Terrace, I’ve decided to move on. I’m extremely proud of the work that I did while at McAuslan. During that time, we had over 500 shows between the two venues, including several festivals and many special events. Needless to say, it was a busy 3 years with a lot of great memories. At the end of this post I list a few highlights that stood out for me.

Some Thank Yous

This blog post wouldn’t be complete without a few “Thank Yous”.

  • First and foremost, thank you to Peter McAuslan for the opportunity to work for his company. The Montreal cultural community would not be the same without his support and generosity, and it was a real honour to work for Peter.
  • A big thanks to all of the artists who performed at the Centre and Terrace during my time there. This city has an amazing music scene and I was privileged to have a front row seat for the past 3 years.
  • Thanks to the local media for all of their support for the events I was involved with for the past 3 years, it was very much appreciated.
  • Thanks to all of the staff and my co-workers, past and present. Five hundred successful events in 3 years don’t happen because of only 1 person, and I was fortunate to be surrounded by some great people.
  • And last, but certainly not least, I would like to thank Margo Pollock, Director of Marketing for McAuslan Brewing. Margo was my boss and the one who initially took the leap of faith in hiring me to help the company create the St-Ambroise Centre. I’ll miss the Marketing Department at McAuslan, it was a lot of fun to work with such a great team of people.


What will happen to the St-Ambroise Centre?

The Centre will continue to book lots of events and be very active in the community. Nothing is going to change on that front. There is a great team in place who are passionate about the Centre and who will no doubt take the venue to the next level.

And it goes without saying that McAuslan Brewing was dedicated to supporting the arts long before I arrived, and will continue to be long after I’m gone. It was a nice fit while I was there, and I’m grateful to them for the opportunity. And you can be sure that I will continue to drink St-Ambroise beer with pride :)


Stay tuned…

Lots more news to announce in the weeks ahead, 2011 is shaping up to be an exciting year!

Cheers,

Dave

P.S.- As promised, here are a few personal highlights from the last 3 years at McAuslan/St-Ambroise:

United Steel Workers of Montreal | Photo: Wendy Louise Cloutier-Hearns

The United Steel Workers of Montreal free outdoor show at the St-Ambroise Terrace (August 2010)

One the highlights of my career, let alone while working for McAuslan. Hundreds of people packed the Terrace on an absolutely perfect summer night to see the United Steel Workers of Montreal. It was one of the most memorable shows I have ever been a part of.


The St-Ambroise Music Program: Giving Away $10,000 to Quebec Indie Artists (2009)

To give you an idea of what it was like to work for McAuslan Brewing, when I pitched the idea of a bursary program for musicians, I asked for a budget of $5000. Peter McAuslan, founder and President of McAuslan Brewing, loved the idea and said to double the amount to $10,000. There’s a reason why Peter is beloved to the arts community in Montreal, he truly is a patron of the arts.


The entire first year of the St-Ambroise Centre (2008)

That first year of the St-Ambroise Centre was one of the most intense years of my life. I did everything from book the bands, to work the bar, to mop the floors and everything in between. And I loved it. We hosted 175 shows that first year and I was behind the bar for almost all of them. I saw some amazing shows, including Charlotte Cornfield, Rob Lutes, FrancoProietti Morph-tet, Penny Lang, Courtney Wing, Ian Kelly, Camaromance, Peter Katz, Matt Stern, Scott Normandy, Rob Szabo, Katie Sevigny, Mathieu Laberge, and many, many more. Memories to last a lifetime.


Montreal Folk Festival at the St-Ambroise Terrace

The Montreal Folk Festival has now been hosted at the Terrace the past 3 years. Festival founders Carl Comeau (Hyperbole Music) and Matt Large (Hello Darlin’ Productions) have great taste in music and a real eye for talent, and I’ve discovered some amazing artists at the festival the last 3 years.


David Martel + Mark Berube | Photo: Ian Graham


David Martel & Mark Berube: 1st Show at the St-Ambroise Centre (December 2007)

And last but certainly not least, the very first show at the St-Ambroise Centre in December 2007. I was hired only 2 weeks before, and we had a choice of either waiting until January to have the launch show, or do it just before the Christmas rush. We decided to throw ourselves right into it and booked two of my favourite local artists, Mark Berube and David Martel, to kick off the launch weekend. We packed the room, and those in attendance witnessed some amazing performances. It was a good sign of things to come for the venue.

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Sonicbids: No More “Indie” in 2011 (my fault?)

December 27, 2010 By 9 Comments

An interesting piece of news to report on in my little “indie” world. Sonicbids, one of the leading companies in the new music industry, announced recently that they were going to phase out using the word “indie”. How did this come about? Well, that’s an interesting story, because it’s kind of my fault :)

It started a few weeks ago with the debate surrounding the Grammy Nominations, and what the word “indie” really meant. Since I had made a movie documenting that very thing, I got involved in the debate with a guest blog post on Hypebot.com. Shortly after, Panos Panay, the founder of Sonicbids, wrote his own blog post about the Grammy Nominations, praising them for finally getting “indie”.

About a week later, Panos wrote another blog post with his 2011 Music Industry Predictions, and one of his predictions is that the word “indie” will become obsolete. Being the “What is INDIE?” guy, I felt I had to respond, so in the comments section of Panos’ blog, I wrote:

“I think the last people to let go of the word will be companies selling products and services to “indie” artists. So my question for you, good sir, is this: Will you lead the way and remove all mentions of the word “indie” from the Sonicbids site and marketing materials?”

Now, before I get to Panos’ response, I will say that I don’t necessarily disagree with him. Any word that has as many meanings and interpretations as the word “indie” is either at best a very nuanced word, or at worst, meaningless. So to move on and stop using the word altogether is definitely an option. However, is it realistic? The industry is flooded with products/services/websites marketing to “indie” artists everyday, so the word must mean something? Just looking at my book shelf, I have:

  • The Indie Bible
  • The Indie Venue Bible
  • Indie Power
  • Indie Marketing Power
  • The Indie Band Survival Guide
  • The New Indie (podcast series)
  • The Indie Band Bible

And there are many more, not to mention the websites and services that use the word in their marketing to artists.

And Sonicbids is one of those websites, with their “indie” pick of the week, their “Sonicbids LOVES Indie” marketing materials, etc. Which is why I called Panos on his prediction of the word becoming obsolete. Would he lead the way and stop using the word? It looks that way, as Panos responded to me a few days later:

“David, you are right taking me to task about removing references to indie music on the site. OK, you got it. We will gradually remove references to indie music on the site within the next 120 days.”

So there you have it, straight from the man himself. Sonicbids will phase out using the word indie. I’m actually not surprised by this, because if anyone is willing to put their money where their mouth is, it’s Panos. However, you can be sure I’ll keep a watchful eye on their website in the next few months :)

But what I’m most curious about is whether other websites/services will follow Sonicbids’ lead. Personally, I don’t think so, but what do you think? Is Panos right? Will the word become obsolete? Or will people continue to use the term? Should be interesting to see how things develop.

Cheers,

Dave “What is INDIE?” Cool

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What’s Ahead For 2011 & 2010 Top Musical Moments

December 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment

I was recently asked by Hypebot.com what I thought would be the most important business and consumer trends that will shape the music industry in 2011, as well as my top musical moments in 2010. You can read my answers here: http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2010/12/dave-cool-google-music-could-be-a-game-changer.html

Managed to plug a few Canadian artists in there, which is always fun :)

Cheers,

Dave

Filed Under: Dave, In the Media Tagged With: , , ,

Rejected Again: Grant Applications now 0/2

December 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Well, today I received a rejection letter from CALQ (Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec) for a research and creation grant for my new film. So after getting rejected last month by the Canada Council, that’s 0 for 2 with grant applications for the new film so far. Not exactly the start I was looking for.

I expected the Canada Council rejection as I wasn’t technically eligible for the program I applied for, but the CALQ rejection stings a little more because it was based on an evaluation of the project itself. In other words, the jury of my peers didn’t feel the project was worth funding. Ouch.

Now, both of these grants were for research and development and not for the actual production of the film. There is another round of applications in the Spring for production grants, and you can bet I’ll be sending in applications once again.

On a positive note, since applying for these 2 grants a few months ago, the idea for the film has solidified and I’m much further along in the development than I thought I would be at this point. But like almost every indie artist out there, I’m faced with the challenge of getting the funding needed for my project.

Next steps will be re-applying to Canada Council and CALQ for production grants, seeking out other grants to apply for, but also finalizing plans for alternative funding like sponsorships, fan-funding, private investment, pre-sales, creative alliances, etc.

More news on this project in the New Year…

Cheers,

Dave
(Currently listening to: George Azzi’s EP “Dark rooms have no corners”)

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Thank You, Mama Jo

December 11, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Josie-Anne Huard, better known to her fellow folkies as “Mama Jo”,  announced this week that after over 5 great years on the air, she is ending her radio show “Univers Folk“. The show aired on CHOQ.fm, UQAM’s radio station, and each week Josie-Anne would play great folk music and interview (mostly) local folk artists. It was quite simply the best place for a folk artist to get on radio in Montreal and do an interview. Mama Jo is one of this city’s most dedicated supporters of folk music, and did so much not only for local folk artists and folk music fans, but also folk music venues.

Time and time again when there was a show booked at the Centre St-Ambroise (where I’ve been program director for 3 years), I would notice that the artist was appearing on Univers Folk that week. Her support for the local folk music scene is almost unparalleled and her show will be missed dearly by the community.

A big thanks to Simon and everyone at UQAM radio (CHOQ.fm) who recognized Josie-Anne’s talent and passion and kept her on the air the past 5 years. For any of you reading this that did not get to hear Univers Folk, please have a listen to the archives while they’re still there: http://www.choq.fm/universfolk.html

And thankfully Mama Jo will still be talking about her musical discoveries through her Twitter feed, which you can follow here: http://twitter.com/universfolk

So Mama Jo, THANK YOU for 5 wonderful years of folk music radio and for all of your incredible support for the Montreal folk music community, we are forever grateful :)

Cheers,

Dave “Daddy” Cool

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Guest Blog on Hypebot.com

December 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

I was thrilled to be invited to write a guest blog re: the “indie” Grammy nominations on Hypebot.com, one of my favorite sources for news on technology and the new music industry. It’s an expanded version of my original blog post, and the big question that I address in the post is: “Where do you draw the line?”

Check out the blog on Hypebot.com: http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2010/12/indie-has-arrived-273-grammy-nominations-for-indies-congratulations-paul-mccartney.html

Cheers!

Dave


Filed Under: In the Media Tagged With: , ,

Montreal Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame

December 9, 2010 By Leave a Comment

I was honoured to be part of the jury again this year for the Hour Montreal Rock’n'Roll Hall of Fame. The 2010 inductees have been announced in this week’s Hour: http://www.hour.ca/music/music.aspx?iIDArticle=20909

Cheers,

Dave

Filed Under: Dave, In the Media Tagged With: , ,
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