Monday, May 15, 2006

Spring Music Festival hits new stride, draws international talent
and draws attention to local artists

Hamilton-In it’s fourth year, the Roger’s Spring Music Festival wrapped up this month with standout performances by a widening array of artists. The four day music festival witnessed 12 events at eight locations throughout Hamilton and Burlington.

With sold out crowds at many venues and drawing some of the top names in the music industry to the conference, the festival organizer’s are very pleased with the way the festival unfolded.

“It was about the performances”, said festival organizer Rob Rapiti, “Tomi Swick was clearly the standout performance of the festival and definitely a talent to watch in ‘06/07. Kevin Hearn performed one of the most entertaining and exhilarating sets I’ve seen in my life while the Trews sold out which we fully expected.”

On the local front, Y108 FM’s Get Hammered drew large crowds, some as large as our headliner’s, proving that Hamilton talent is as good as anything. And this sentiment is proven by local bands performing the festival that already have plans for international releases and tours later this year such as Threat Signal and Porcelain Youth.

And a special congratulation goes out to Hamilton act 40 Sons and Daughter’s who were the Roger’s Spring Music Festival Break-Out Band of the Year. More than 1400 Y108 listener’s listened to and voted their song “Paint the Sky” as their favourite, giving the band enough votes to take home approximately $10,000 in prizes.

The Roger’s Spring Music Festival has proven itself to be a leader in Hamilton’s music industry and intends to continue to do so by supporting Hamilton and Canadian music.

According to Rapiti, “We have already started work on next year’s Roger’s Spring Music Festival and will tweak it to incorporate a few new twists which will gain interest from an entirely new demographic.”

With the 2007 festival already in the works, Rapiti intends on launching the ’07 campaign this winter

For further details please contact.

Rob Rapiti
www.BLREntertianment.com

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Thursday May 4, 2006

The Talent Keeps Piling Up for fourth Annual Spring Music Festival; from Industry heavy weights to internationally ranked performer’s.

Hamilton – Following a recent announcement listing the names of industry experts confirmed for the conference, the organizers are please to make further announcements.

Author, music historian and producer of the acclaimed series, the Ongoing History of New Music, Alan Cross is set to make his third appearance at the Roger’s Spring Music Conference on May 13th at the Sheraton Hamilton. Alan will be moderating a repeat of last year’s hugely successful “Meet the Dealmaker’s” panel.

The panel consists of manager’s, A&R reps and label Presidents who have the authority to “Make Deals” and who actively work within the Canadian independent music industry. Just announced, Mike Renaud, AKA Parkside Mike who was once ranked with Billboard’s top 50 A&R reps. He is credited for part of the success of Sum 41 and has traveled from Montreal to Toronto and now lays his hat in his hometown of Hamilton. Mike, along with Greg Below of Distort Entertainment (Alexisonfire) will be one of the many speaker’s on our “Meet the Dealmaker’s SUPER Panel”.

On the festival side of things, the organizers have locked in Bare Naked Ladies multi-instrumentalist, Kevin Hearn. Kevin has just released his forthcoming record, “Nightlight”, along with his band, the Thin Buckle. Working with his BNL schedule, this is a rare performance and Kevin has not played Hamilton in more than 3 years. Backing up Kevin on guitar, Martin Tielli of the Rheostatics. The show will take place at the Casbah on May 12th, doors open at 6:00 pm with special guest Michelle Titian. Kevin will take the stage at 8:00pm.

For further details please listen to Y108 FM or visit www.SpringMusicFestival.com.

Rob Rapiti
www.BLREntertianment.com

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Monday April 17, 2006

Roger’s Spring Music Conference Provides FREE ADMISSION to the Public – A First in Canadian Music

Hamilton – The Roger’s Spring Music Conference is proud to announce that the festival’s annual musicians conference will be free for the public to attend. What some are referring to as a first in Canada, will take place on Saturday May 13th at the Sheraton Hamilton.

The conference has been a staple in many musicians’ calendars for the past three years. It is geared towards aspiring managers, promoters, label owners and musicians, and all attend in hopes of learning what the festival founder refers to as the “realities of the music business.”

Rob Rapiti, founder and Marketing Director of the festival says, “With our partners at Roger’s, we have been afforded the opportunity to create a magnificent event and share it with so many people by making this event free to attend. Combine this with the massive push from Y108 who will get the word out, we anticipate our largest conference yet”.

Past speakers have included the likes of Alan Cross, Haydain Neale, Robert Ott, Tom Tremeuth, Tom Wilson and manager’s for the Trews, Finger Eleven, Bedouin Soundclash and Alexisonfire.

Some guest speakers already confirmed include Greig Nori (Treble Charger/Manger of Sum 41), Adam Sewell (Pres. Stereo Dynamite Records), Tim Potocic (Sonic Unyon), Darcy Gregoire (President, Live Tour Artists), Dwight Ireland (Agent, Paquin Entertainment), Derm Carnduff (PD, Y108 FM), as well as several others.

For further details please listen to Y108 FM or visit www.SpringMusicFestival.com.

Rob Rapiti
www.BLREntertianment.com

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BLR Entertainment Pairs with Media Conglomerate for the Roger’s Spring Music Festival

Hamilton – Now in its fourth year, the organizer’s of Hamilton’s only annual new music festival has secured the media giant, Roger’s as their title sponsor. The event takes place from May 10th until May 14th at approximately a dozen live music venues within the cities of Hamilton and Burlington.

The kick off will take place once again at Big Buck’s Mountain Lodge on Thursday May 11th with multiple Juno nominees, and East Coast Music award, winners The Trews. Supporting the Trews will be Y108 FM’s regional Xtreme Bandslam winner’s Daylight For Deadeyes.

Other acts expected to perform the festival include last year’s Y108 FM’s $10,000.00 winner Forever Means Never; The Xtreme Band Slam National Champions, the Pete Moss Band; as well as regional winner’s, Daylight For Deadeyes. The organizer’s also camped out for 4 days at Canadian Music Week last month, finding the hottest ‘buzz bands’ in the country, many expected to showcase at this year’s festival.

Other showcases include the ever-successful Songwriter’s showcase as presented by Cable 14 and the Songwriter’s Association of Canada; Y108 Presents the “Get Hammered Concert Series”, a two night series highlighting some of the best bands featured on the program; the much anticipated and well attended Nu Metal showcase; and a new twist, the “Rock with Roger’s Concert Series", which will feature three big name acts over three nights in three of the area’s biggest and best night clubs. And that kicks off with the Trews at Big Buck’s Mountain Lodge. Each night will also feature a local supporting act.

The Roger’s Spring Music festival anticipates building on the “Y108 $10,000.00 Band Challenge” it started the year before. Fifteen of the hottest festival selections will have one song uploaded to the Y108 Web site four weeks before, where the Y108 on-air personalities will send their listener’s to the site in order to vote for their favourite song. Last year’s winner, Forever Means Never won all the prizes, performed a showcase at Canadian Music Week and recently performed a sold out CD release party.

The Roger’s Spring Music Conference will be held on Saturday May 13th at the Sheraton Hamilton and is expected to again bring some of the top executives and speakers from the Canadian Music Industry. There will be a major announcement at the press conference later this month, proving this year’s conference a historical first in the Canadian Music Industry.

“Partnering with a company like Roger’s sets a new precedent for the festival and provides us with many resources that that without them, wouldn’t have been possible. For example, we will be able to connect with the thousands of Rogers customers in the area who are new music fans. It also provides additional exposure for the bands and performer’s in the festival”, says BLR CEO and Spring Music Festival founder Rob Rapiti.

Roger’s has a lengthy history supporting the arts in Canada and has now entered into the Hamilton music market, which will help the hundreds of musicians within the festival get recognized.

In addition to Roger’s, the festival receives generous support from Y108 FM, Cable 14, Long & McQuade and Athens printing, who again are the official print sponsors of the Roger’s Spring Music Festival.

For further details please listen to Y108 FM or visit www.SpringMusicFestival.com.

Rob Rapiti
www.BLREntertianment.com

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