Hamilton -The Rogers Spring Music Festival is locked, loaded and ready for the wildest party of the year! With more than 50 great acts ready to take the stage this Thursday, Friday and Saturday and here’s a quick breakdown of some highlights…

Thursday May 8 – A Great Way To Start The Weekend Early

Two up-and-coming bands will each walk away with $10,000 in recording and prizes.

The Redpipe/Y108 Breakout Band is set to kick off the festival at the Legendary Red Rooster, while on Monday May 12 during the 3:00 o’clock hour Andre Schikolenko will announce which band received the most text votes and crown one band the Best of the Fest. And to top off night one, Jagermeister presents White Cowbell Oklahoma at Club Absinthe and Mastermind Studio presents the Mastermind Stage at the Westside Concert Theatre.

What is being dubbed as the loudest intimate performance ever, Grady will be performing at the Corktown on Friday May 9th with Vesta Varro and Gordie Johnson-produced, Murder City Sparrows. Also on Friday, Cable 14 will be featuring The Rogers Spring Music Festival television taping of the Songwriter’s Series featuring Jay Semko, former front man of The Northern Pikes. And to round out the night, the festival hosts the first ever Urban Hamilton Showcase at the Westside Concert Theatre with eight artists performing. Friday also see The Salads kick off a reggae rock party at the Legendary Red Rooster with Dodger and Walk Off The Earth.

Saturday May 10 – The Biggest Night Yet

One act that no one wants to miss is Ireland’s Vesta Varro - who returns to Canada specifically for the festival. Having had two singles already reach the Irish Top 40 Chart, you can catch them on Saturday night at The Casbah as part of the Rogers Emerging Artist Stage also featuring Drowning Girl and the original Canadian Idol, Ryan Malcolm’s new band, Low Level Flight.

The Corktown Pub hosts the almost sold out Syrum CD release party and The Matadors headline another Jagermeister party – this time at The Legendary Red Rooster.

Social Code wrap up the festival on Saturday night with their own headlining showcase and then at the after party at The Casbah Lounge where your Social Code ticket gets you in to hang out with the band.

For a full schedule listing and to learn more about all of the events surrounding Hamilton’s premier new music festival click on www.springmusicfestival.com

Tickets can be purchased at the individual venues of the show as well as at all local Rogers Wireless locations (1400 Upper James, Lime Ridge Mall, Maple View Shopping Center Burlington and Square One Mississauga), Dr. Disc, and Crash Landing. Tickets for Social Code and Grady are both available on line at www.ticketbreak.com

For more information please contact:
Ric Taylor

gm@blrentertainment.com

905.730.6874

Hamilton - A slew of great concerts are announced today to compliment the full schedule of artists performing as part of the sixth annual Rogers Spring Music Festival in Hamilton.

Social Code tops the list of artists from around the country shining a spotlight on the great music being made in the clubs and theatres with a showcase at The Westside Concert Theatre, featuring local boys, Summerside.

Former Big Sugar front man Gordie Johnson brings his Austin, Texas band Grady to rock The Corktown Pub for an up-close performance. L.A. magazine Access says “Grady has enough low end buzz and slide guitar to shake down the walls of the Alamo.” Gordie himself describes the band as “trying to find the common ground between punk, metal and gospel.’

As the driving force behind The Northern Pikes, Jay Semko created a string of top ten hits through the 80s and 90’s. As a solo artist with his own blend of folk / country / Canadiana / Americana, Jay is releasing his first live album "Live At The Royal Saskatchewan Museum". Jay Semko is one of Canada's finest songwriters, and this is the newest chapter in his ongoing journal of musical adventures.

From R&B to hip hop, the streets of Hamilton have never seen music this vibrant or exciting. BLR Entertainment has launches a brand new web site today, featuring everything Urban in Hamilton. www.UrbanHamilton.com. A concert featuring some of the best up and coming urban artists helps to kick off a website that offers featuring Kae Sun, Chris Jackson, Christopher Charles, Jamila B and more. It all starts May 9 at The Westside Concert Theatre.

The Rogers Emerging Artist Stage features artists destined to break out large in the next year including:

Vesta Varro from Ireland (whose record was produced by Grammy-winning U2 engineer) had two singles reached the Irish Top 40.

Drowning Girl, signed to EMI Publishing is the winner of the 2007 National Radio Star Contest at Canadian Music Week.

Low Level Flight, fronted by everyone’s favourite Idol Ryan Malcolm’s, will perform songs from the current record are getting massive airplay from coast to coast.

And 5 local bands will compete in the Y108 / Redpipe Breakout Band Challenge for $10,000 in prizes at The Legendary Red Rooster with last year’s winner Dean Lickyer closing the night’s festivities!

And in an exciting new addition to the festival, all artists performing will have the opportunity to also win $10,000 in prizes and be crowned the Best of the Fest. All fans will have to do is text the bands name to 4727 and the one with the most votes will be announced during the 3:00 PM hour on Monday May 12 on Y108.

And if that wasn’t enough, festival organizers will be offering up The Best Seats in the House promotion once again where festival attendees text in to upgrade their seats to a private VIP area near the stage and receive complimentary food and drink during the show!

Music, fans and bands is what the Rogers Spring Music Festival is all about this year! So get ready for Hamilton’s Number 1 Rock and Roll party!

For a full schedule listing and to learn more about all of the events surrounding Hamilton’s premier new music festival click on www.springmusicfestival.com

For further information please contact
Ric Taylor
905.730.6874
gm@blrentertainment.com
SpringMusicFestival.com

To help introduce the upcoming Rogers Spring Music Festival, happening in Hamilton on May 8, 9 and 10, SMF organizers have chosen five bands to help celebrate in Toronto as part of Rogers MusicStore Canadian Music Week Conference and Festival.

Five artists who have applied to and have been accepted to play The Rogers Spring Music Festival have been given a showcase at Rogers MusicStore CMW on Friday March 7. They include:

Raggedy Angry (Hamilton)
Lucas Hunter (Toronto)
Drowning Girl (Toronto)
Syrum (Hamilton)
Vesta Varo (Ireland)

Congratulations to these artists who will be performing as part of the Rogers Spring Music Festival Stages at The Kathedral and Holy Joe's, both located in the Big Bop Building.

Organizers have also secured one of the biggest buzz bands in the LA scene to headline this special showcase. With over 36 million friends on his myspace page and nearly as many plays for the music, Jeffree Star is the self proclaimed ‘Queen of the Internet’ - a World Wide Web sensation whose return to Canada will be one of the most talked about shows…

From around Southern Ontario to around the world, the Rogers Spring Music Festival showcase at Rogers MusicStore CMW will also include an additional three bands in consideration for the Hamilton festival.

Please check out our concert production website AnotherBIGShow.com for all of the exciting details on this can’t miss show.

For further information please contact
Ric Taylor
905.730.6874
SpringMusicFestival.com

Hamilton - The Rogers Spring Music Festival is Southern Ontario’s premier new music festival combining music, pop culture and technology.

This year, SMF ’08 will feature two special promotions to give a couple of artists $10,000 in prizes! Each winner will walk away with a six song recording from Mastermind’s world class studio, $500 off a CD manufacturing with professionally designed artwork, a professionally designed web site, a special feature on Y108’s Get Hammered Courtesy of Y108 and several thousand dollars worth of gear courtesy of Long & McQuade!

The Best of the Fest Award!
Each performing artist or band will be assigned a 4 digit number where their fans can text in the number to vote for them. The artist with the most votes by the last day of the festival will be deemed The Best of the Fest! That artist will walk away with $10,000 in prizes.

The Redpipe / Y108 Breakout Band!
Of the hundreds of artists that apply to be a part of the festival each year, ten will be selected to get even more exposure by having one of their songs and their bio uploaded to the Y108.ca website. Each band will also be featured on Y108's indie show "Get Hammered" during the two weeks leading up to the festival. Last year more than 10,000 Y108 listeners voted for their favourite, providing the bands with much-desired exposure. The five artists with the most votes will battle it out live at a special musical showcase at The Legendary Red Rooster in front of a panel of industry judges as part of SMF ’08. The five artists will also be featured on RedPipe.ca. One winner will walk away with $10,000 in prizes as The Redpipe / Y108 Breakout Band

Apply now at your favourite musical instrument store in Southern Ontario or online at sonicbids.com or springmusicfestival.com.

Hamilton – After celebrating five years this year, The Rogers Spring Music Festival is already gearing up for another exciting and unique festival which will take place from May 8th to 10th.

With the consistent support of sponsors like Y108, Cable 14, Athens Printing and View Magazine, SMF Director Rob Rapiti is proud to welcome Rogers as the title sponsor of the Spring Music Festival for the next two years.

“The Rogers Spring Music Festival is a natural fit for Rogers and our commitment to music and youth,” says Ember Johnstone-Bertrand, Marketing Manager for Rogers Wireless in South Western Ontario. “We are the leader in providing new ways to experience music through innovative devices and platforms, such as our MP3 phones and Rogers MusicStore, and this event is certain to continue that leadership as well as show our support of the Hamilton music scene.”

Dozens of national headliners and hundreds of local bands have played the festival but SMF 2008 will feature an international component that will add a special new element to the showcase.

The festival is now accepting applications from local, national and international songwriters and bands. Applications can be made by visiting www.sonicbids.com, downloading an application from the official festival web site or by picking one up at any of the 50 musical instrument retailers from around Southern Ontario listed on the festival web site. All artists who apply will be eligible for the Rogers/Y108 $10,000 Breakout Band Challenge. And those applying before December 31st, 2007 will be eligible to be chosen to perform as part of the Rogers Spring Music Festival Tour in March which will make appearances in several Southern Ontario cities.

The Trews, illScarlett, Ron Sexsmith, Brian Byrne, Tomi Swick, Three Days Grace, The Tea Party, Ryan Malcolm, Leslie Carter and more have headlined the festival in previous years and SMF08 is looking to be even bigger.

Look for full details on headliners, special contests and the biggest bunch of bands all playing The Rogers Spring Music Festival 2008 coming this May 8, 9 and 10.

Check out www.springmusicfestival.com for more details and find links to get involved.