ECMA E-News - SpinCount Featured Artist of the Week - Coco Love Alcorn

Coco Love Alcorn sings joyful soul; a combination of her diverse musical influences including Jazz, Pop, R&B and Folk. Her voice is hailed as ‘extraordinary’ (Vancouver Province), ‘beautiful’ (Canadian Musician) and ‘stunning’ (Star Phoenix). Her playful and witty character, love of improvising and her willingness to engage fearlessly with the audience has made Coco Love Alcorn a mainstay on the Canadian music scene.

Her 2009 album Joyful (Sound of Pop / Fontana North) has been a hit with fans and industry alike. Indie radio stations all across Canada have shown good support spinning many of the tracks with 'Intellectual Boys' often charting.  'Revolution' has become a favourite with many CBC hosts and was awarded a videofact grant. 'I Got A Bicycle' topped the charts at a jazz station in Quebec City and has helped to garner strong support for Coco in the cycling community. She shared the bill with Molly Johnson at the 2010 Toronto Bike Union Gala and also graced the cover of Momentum magazine in the spring of that year.

Having toured across Canada numerous times playing many a music festival (including the female inspired Lilith Fair), Alcorn has gained an incredible and loyal fanbase. Over the years she has shared the stage with a diverse and notable list of artists including Ani DiFranco, 54.40, Burton Cummings, Chantal Kreviazuk, Jesse Cooke, Chin Injeti (Bass is Base), Kinnie Starr and Loudon Wainwright III. She has enjoyed success in the realm of music licensing, with multiple television song placements in The Dead Zone and The L Word.

About PLAY:  In September of 2010, Coco Love Alcorn had her first baby, a girl named Ellie. Coco knew she'd need to take a break from touring but didn't want to feel disconnected from her music. So she set about writing and recording a new album at home. During the very special time of bonding with her new baby Coco spent whatever time she could in her music room, often with Ellie on her lap. Released in March of 2011, PLAY is almost entirely performed, recorded and produced by Coco. The few exceptions included Ian Sherwood playing some beautiful tenor sax and her father John Alcorn stepping in with some valuable producer advice in the final stages.  To hear excerpts from PLAY, please visit Coco Love Alcorn on SoundCloud:  http://soundcloud.com/coco-love-alcorn

Coco Love Alcorn's extensive 2011 tour begins right here in the Maritimes, complete tour dates & details can be found at www.cocolovealcorn.com

ECMA & SpinCount Present: Alert the Medic Video from Oct 2nd!

On October 2nd, 2010, ECMA & SpinCount held a member's night at the Seahorse Tavern in Halifax, Nova Scotia to showcase our first round of four acts from across the regions of Atlantic Canada. Andy Brown, Tim Chaisson & Morning Fold, Telfer, and Alert the Medic all put on an incredible show for a packed house - and we had a great team filming each set! The team @ Said Productions set out to develop a profile video for the event in its entirety, as well as separate instalments for each performing artist. 

Our last video in this series is Halifax's Alert the Medic with 'Cardboard Cutout'. Click on the link below to be directed to our YouTube Channel where you can view the last four videos released. 

We'll be working on the videos from the 2nd ECMA & SpinCount Presents show (Andrew Hunter and the Gatherers, Arrows in the Air, Slowcoaster) to release after 2011 East Coast Music Week. We'll see you in Charlottetown on April 13-17!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqQkgY2YE58

http://www.alertthemedic.com/

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SPINCOUNT & BEAR RIVER ROAD MUSIC PRESENT: ACOUSTIC ROCK STAGE UPSTAIRS AT HUNTER'S DURING ECMAs!!!

Join us upstairs at Hunters Ale House in Charlottetown, PEI, during ECMA Week at Nightcaps on Friday April 15^th – Sunday, April 17^th from 2pm – 5pm each day for Acoustic Rock Shows. We’ll be showcasing some of the top talent in the East Coast in a kitchen party type atmosphere!

Friday, April 15th:

2:00pm - Carmen Townsend

3:00pm -Chris Kirby

4:00pm -Tim Chaisson & Morning Fold

5:00pm - SPECIAL GUESTS

Saturday, April 16th:

2:00 pm - Stone Mary

3:00 pm - Andrew Hunter and the Gatherers

4:00 pm - Arrows In The Air

5:00 pm - Steve MacDougall & Mike LeLievre of Slowcoaster

Sunday, April 17th:

2:00pm - Jordan Cameron

3:00pm - The Express

4:00pm -Andy Brown

5:00pm - The Stogies

Also on Sun, will be the announcements for the winners of the first annual Aley Awards!!!

SpinCount fb event is here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=193585204015803

ECMA E-News - SpinCount Featured Artist of the Week - Kim Stockwood!

“Upon this rock I will sing my world”

While Kim Stockwood’s world spills out well beyond the shores of Newfoundlandand Labrador, she is anchored heart and soul to this place. She seeks out what is special here and searches for a voice that will reflect her longing and love for the province. One way she has found to capture that voice is to go Back To The Water.

When Kim left her beloved native spot eighteen years ago she could not have known the paths she would travel or the heights she would scale. Kim is an accomplished artist on many fronts, from singer to songwriter to television host and radio personality. These things she does with humor, grace, and class. Her hit songs, her awards and accolades, her solo work and her work with Shaye, have seen her mature as an artist. Her wealth of experience and her longing for home have laid the foundation for Back To The Water.

This album is filled with the sound and fury of a place that surges upward with a fist of rock and grabs life from the sky’s air. The album is enriched and enlivened by Newfoundland musical luminaries and session players who would shame the Nashville Scene. It is a great source of pride for Kim to have her wonderful Dad play with her.

The power of the sea can be heard here, roaring beneath Kim’s soaring vocals. The album, Back To The Water, is indeed a musical trip through the beating heart of the province. Surrounded by water, yes, her place is made rigid by granite pillars like those Cliffs Of Baccalieu, that Kim navigates so beautifully as she dances among the tunes of her native land.

Listen to her Let Me Fish Off Cape St. Mary’s and you are taken to both a real and a mystical place. You feel the ache of the Petty Harbour Bait Skiff and taste the dread of the daily sea drama that punctures our ancestral memories. This song is tempered by the skip, caper, and sly nod of the Squid Jiggin Ground, and the sense of fun found in Feller From Fortune. There is a certain beauty in that balance.

Kim has chosen her songs carefully, with the romance of the St. John’s Waltz held arms length against the everlasting anguish of Atlantic Blue. Ron Hynes is served well here. The title track, Back To The Water, was written with her close friend, Damhnait Doyle. One can only imagine what gems might pebble the paths Kim will travel, or what crowning heights she will scale before Now I’m 64 becomes her mantra. In the meantime, we revel in the present smiling land and Thank God We’re Surrounded By Water.

If you find yourself near Cabot Tower on a warm summer evening, pick your own rock, fire up the iPod and sink into the album Back To The Water. There you will find the joy, peace, and the wisdom of the deep.

Back to the Water was recorded and produced in Newfoundland and features the finest of Newfoundland musicians and songwriters

Back to the Water, a television special filmed in Newfoundland, will debut on CMT on March 12.

For more information, please visit www.kimstockwood.com

QUEENS PLACE GALA FUNDRAISER A ROUSING SUCCESS!

For Immediate Release

Liverpool : March 3, 2011 - The gala fundraiser for Queens Place that took place on February 26th was a huge sold-out success! Thanks to contributions from very generous sponsors and attendees, over $7500 has been raised for the Queens Place project! The evening of high caliber entertainment featured Charlie A’Court, Music Nova Scotia’s Entertainer of the year for 2009; double ECMA nominees Tim Chaisson and Morning Fold and Pony and the Pistols.

The night began with a VIP reception for about 45 guests in the Best Western’s Larruper’s Lounge, sponsored by the Best Western Hotel and Conference Centre and Alimento Catering and Kitchen Works. Conversation at the reception was lively and filled with anticipation for the night to come. Once the music began, over 130 people had arrived to enjoy the music and help support and celebrate the campaign for Queens Place. The room was so full, that tables and chairs needed to be removed to allow for dancing!

Ticket sales weren’t the only source of revenue for the fundraiser, a 50/50 draw brought in $274 and the silent auction prepared by the South Shore Chamber of Commerce’s 10 to 20 project brought in a further $1787!

Buzz about the event has been ongoing ever since the night of the 26th, with many people looking forward to similar events in the future. Mayor John Leefe said “this response is indicative of the desire of the people in this community to enjoy music of this quality. We anticipate that Queens Place will be able to attract some larger concerts and the support and excitement we received through this event really brings that message home.”

Stew Horton spoke on behalf of Brady Home Building Centre, Presenting Sponsor for the evening, “On behalf of Brady’s we would like to congratulate everyone involved in making this event a huge success. Your hard work paid off not only in raising a significant contribution for Queens Place but also in creating a fantastic night of entertainment. We were thrilled to have the opportunity to support the Gala”. Other sponsors that helped contribute to the success of the evening were: The Best Western Hotel and Conference Centre, Alimento Catering, CKBW, Allen Fownes, FinancialPages.ca, Sobeys, the 10 to 20 project, SpinCount and QCCR. Photographers Taryn Jollimore, Pam Samson and Steven Cooper captured all the action, Brad Stevens and Scott Tilley from Halifax helped with sound, and volunteers Pam and Alan Samson helped with the door and band hospitality.

For more information on the event, please contact Karen Gilmour at 354-5741 or by email at kgilmour@regionofqueens.com

ECMA E-News - SpinCount Featured Artist of the Week - Keith Mullins!

Keith Mullins has played music all of his life. His roots are in Cape Breton Island, where a family and culture of music fostered his passion and ability. At the age of 14, Keith started entertaining bar crowds with fellow band-mate, Steven MacDougall (now from Slowcoaster). Having since completed a music degree and self-directed studies in Cuba and Africa, Keith has turned his passion into his profession. He has toured the world performing with numerous bands of fame, such as: Lennie Gallant, Bruce Guthro, Jimmy Rankin, Grammy-award winner Gordie Sampson, Dave Carroll (from the Youtube viral video “United Breaks Guitars”), Jennifer Roland, Havanafax, John Campbelljohn, Caledonia, Jimmy Swift, Garrett/Dutch Mason, Melissa McLelland, Sarah Slean, Paula Cole, Divine Brown, and many more.

Keith has also developed and facilitated some highly successful workshops. Starting with his drumming workshops 8 years ago, this venture has blossomed into a salsa workshop with an 8 piece Latin band partly from Cuba with salsa dancing, and a songwriting workshop with Keith and Steve Bowers. He has delivered these workshop to groups of all ages; across Canadian schools, at special events, and at festivals.

Keith now looks to bringing his songs to these same audiences.

In April 2010, while performing at Dollywood TN with a Peruvian Cajon troupe and a Trinidad Steel Drum group, Keith made a trip to Nashville to record a record of his written songs with the assistance of Grammy-award winner Gordie Sampson. Keith’s record entitled “Localmotive Farm” is a collection of writings created through his life on a back road farm near Stewiacke NS.

Described as folk soul, the record is as varied as the different styles of music in which Keith plays and the album is flavoured by the incredible range of talented musicians that contributed to the recordings. Back up vocals are performed by Amy Sampson and Dutch Robinson (Ohio players). The track “Si es Loco” is Cuban-style, with the gifted guitar playing of Jorge Chicoy (Dizzie Gillespie, Buena Vista Social Club). Jorge is known as “The Jewel of Cuba”, as coined by Fidel Castro himself.The record also includes hang drummer David Charrier (France), beat-boxer Jay Andrews, fiddler Anna Ludlow, Gordie Sampson, and Bruce Dixon. The main backing band is Caledonia from Halifax. Keith sings and has written all of the songs along with a couple of co-writes, one with songwriter Steven Bowers (Trouble) and one with Halifax artist DJ DeCoste(Is the City). He dabbles with bass and guitar on the record as well as playing all of the drums and percussion.

http://keithmullins.ca/

DEVCOM 3: Lineup Announced for Live Battle!~

The votes are in & Now onto the live battle!

Each night, four bands will rock out in front of their fans and a panel of judges for their chance to win the Grand Prize of a four song EP recorded at Codapop Studios in Halifax, produced by the DevCom Team with one of those songs being promoted to radio across Atlantic Canada by SpinCount.

March 9th:

Rain Over St. Ambrose

Light Brights

Submerged

Left The World

March 16th:

The Convicted

Soho Ghetto

Low Lights

Cas & The Novas

March 23rd:

Alice Stops Time

We’re Doomed

Chunk Audio

Constantly Misjudged

The winners of each battle will proceed to the final battle to be held Wednesday, April 13th, when the Grand Prize will be announced!

Judges of the battle are:

Denise Tompkins - Managing Partner - The Candy Show Entertainment and Consulting Services and The Talent Coordinator for The Candy Show,

National TV Production

Scott Blackburn – Scott Blackburn Photography

Josh Hogan – Diminished 5th Records/Red Tentacle