TWO YEARS AGO, five bands from Barbados were selected to participate in the alliance and were paired with Canadian talent.
As a result, they performed in Newfoundland and co-wrote original pieces with their Canadian counterparts. Subsequently, creative relationships were forged and a sound was created that was fresh and invigorating.
The AME, also known as the Association for Music Entrepreneurs, is in its second year of collaborating with Club One Releases, a TV show distributed through Columbus Network in Canada and the Eastern Caribbean. Although having to reduce the scope of North American music export projects due to the lack of funding, the affiliation between the two entities has continued.
Club One Releases has created a platform, which showcases musical performances, exclusive interviews, songwriting processes and more. Series producer Fabian James and series director Wes Holmes held a press conference in February in Kingston, Jamaica, to announce the six Caribbean acts which would be featured on this year’s show.
Bajan Adaeze was selected to be one of the artistes featured and has been paired with an alternative band, Eastcoast Love Story, from New Brunswick. Adaeze said: “So far the Club One New Releases experience has been refreshing and rewarding. It was great to see the Canadian bands play with the passion they did – it helped me develop a better appreciation for folk and country music.
“Meeting Caribbean musicians like Anna Mariah and her band (Jamaica), made me very proud to be from the Caribbean and made it obvious that the Caribbean is bubbling over with young, ambitious artists.”
Acts from both Canada and the Caribbean met in Trinidad for this year’s taping.
Club One New Releases is in its fourth season with 40 acts from the Caribbean and 37 acts from Canada. The final part of the series will be filmed in Newfoundland for 72 episodes. (PR)
