Call for Proposals (non-musical and other projects)
Deadline: February 14th, 2012

SappyFest is currently seeking proposals for non-musical, other, and ongoing awesome creative projects to present alongside our always fantastic line-up of musical entertainment. We are interested in your spectacles, installations, prints/multiples, dances, circus acts, performances, interventions and relaxation services.

Generally we are looking for things that are ongoing or ambient, that is, not requiring a scheduled block of time with a dedicated audience sitting down watching you. We are seeking projects that will be embedded and intertwined within the broader SappyFest program, participatory and engaging or perhaps subtle, ephemeral or ambiguous. Mostly we’re after some amazing creative projects that will compliment the rich cultural tapestry that is SappyFest.

We will pay modest honorariums and contributions to materials when applicable. Fees will depend on the scope of individual projects.

Proposals should Include:

- a brief but detailed project description outlining what you would like to do and what you need to do it. (500 words max)

- artist/collective biography and/or CV

- relevant work samples (preferably online)

- a budget if applicable

How to send your proposals to us:

- We’re all trying to produce less paper but we will accept applications through the mail if this suits you and your situation.

SappyFest
6 Ford Lane
Sackville NB
E4L 3X1

- We do prefer email proposals, email submissions@sappyfest.com with your project proposal and online links to your work sample, portfolio etc.

- If you have to send us attachments over 10MB, please use a free web service like yousendit.com, rapidfire, or dropbox etc. Or, post it somewhere else and send a link.

- Are we making this more complicated than it is?

Thank you. We look forward to reviewing your proposals.

Unfortunately we don’t have the time or resources to reply to every submission. If we are interested in your project you should hear something in March.

For more information please contact: submissions@sappyfest.com or call 506 939 3339

SappyFest is a little independent music festival produced annually in Sackville, New Brunswick. Our seventh offering will take place August 3-5, 2012.

The SappyFest Mainstage site is a combination of two large tents, beer garden, merchandise market and uncovered open space with a capacity of 2000. The site is located in the heart of downtown Sackville, on Bridge Street, closing down the main commercial thoroughfare while creating a vibrant, high-profile epicentre for the festival.

Side stages are all within walking distance and include a free outdoor bandstand, art deco movie house, turn of the century United church, and a Royal Canadian Legion.

Now a registered non-profit organization, SappyFest Incorporated, the festival was founded in 2006 by the good people of Sappy Records, Julie Doiron, Jon Claytor and Paul Henderson. At the time it seemed like a more feasible way to get all our friends together than a wedding, and certainly more fun than releasing records into the ether.

http://www.sappyfest.com

Take a look at the photos we were able to sneaked while working away over the three days.

If your not going be sure to download their free Festival Sampler.

Coupon Code: sap2011x3d

Think of it as a way to help with the grief of not attending the festival.

Listening to and Searching Out New Upcoming Artists on the East Coast

Attended the East Coast Music Awards Week Chaos

Avoiding Most Live Shows After the East Coast Music Awards Week Chaos

Planning What Summer Festivals To Attend [Evolve, SappyFest, Hillside (sadly same time as Evolve), FollyFest, MFest, probably more but we need to do more of item one to think better]

Avoiding the Festivals Which Have Non-Stop Radio Ads [You Know Which Ones, We Shall Not Name Them]

Editing Video Of Past Live Preformances

Shooting Commercials For A Production House

Going To The Beach

Wishing We Went To The Beach More Often

Wishing That The Dunk Had More Gatherings & Was Closer

Forgetting To Change This Post From A Draft So It Is Actually Online

Wishing This Was A Better Post

We do hope to check out lots of music this summer but we could always listen to your suggestions.

Email us at info@eastcoastmsuic.tv with who you think should be on our summer play lists, what festivals should be attended and what should be on the radar as upcoming talent.

Here are some photos of In-Flight Safety performing on their recent European tour.

We could not pass on asking our close photographer friend Robert van Waarden to snap for images for us while the guys were in his town. Since In-Flight Safety are performing at the Export Stage on Friday Afternoon at the Delta Prince Edward we thought it would be wrong to not capture their live set in the capital and largest city of the Netherlands.  (Tickets for ECMA Export Stage showcase are available here). They also have a second performance at The Guild (Queen & Richmond) hosted by CBC radio host Craig Norris and promoted by their own Night Danger label which has a line up featuring label-mates Milks & Rectangles and friends Jenn Grant, Paper Lions, Boxer The Horse & The North Lakes.

In-Flight Safety is a perfect example of how East Coast Artists can progress their careers. After winning the XM Satellite Radio Group Recording of the Year in 2007 they have kept themselves busy worked hard with the release of “We are An Empire My Dear“, made multiple music videos and of course took their show on the road to many large North American festivals like North By North East and South By South West.

Shortly after the 2011 ECMA’s the band will take off again to Europe for The Great Escape Festival, the Liverpool Sound City Festival and a handful of stops around the United Kingdom in between.

We could not pass on the chance of seeing Wintersleep in Europe again so we flew on up to Brussels to catch them and Rah Rah perform.

Here are a few images from their set and a video or two will soon follow  to showcase their European performance in the next few weeks.

If you need to even think twice after watching this video from Hemming House Pictures then perhaps music isn’t for you.

The Man Of A Thousand Songs Trailer

While growing up “Sonny’s Dream” certainly was a song which I had enjoyed to the full extend that only a young child could without knowing the deep underlying message of the song and the battles that the songwriter Ron Hynes had faced through his career. To this day there are still many family stories of me belting out that song when it was played, maybe it was the fact that growing up on the shore’s of Prince Edward Island, the closeness of working the land and the love of this small part of the world I have always had the utmost respect for the art that Ron Hynes creates in his music and this film could not have captured him in any better light.

Having met Ron on multiple occasions at the various music festivals that take place around Eastern Canada including one of the best performances I have seen yet at the Stan Rogers Folk Festival when he warmed everyone’s heart indoors while the rain came down throughout the Canada Day weekend and once sharing some great conversation during an elevator ride at the Delta Hotel during the 2007 East Coast Music Awards you could always tell that he was an artist who did not let others into his live that easily.

Having attended the awards that year doing videography I also got to spend a good bit of time working along side the editor of “The Man With A Thousand Songs” Andrew MacCormack while documenting some of East Coast Canada’s upcoming artists and can say that they could not have selected a better crew to work on something of this size and importance.

To see this project come together to celebrate the vast impact of such a staple in East Coast Music who has faced so many uphill battles throughout his career but who still has held onto being one of the greatest song writers certainly should be enough to have this be on your ‘To be watched’ list of films for anyone with even the basic interest in local music.

The film was screened at the Toronto International Film Festival with great celebration which comes as no surprise and had recently been screened on December 2nd at Empire Theaters in Atlantic Canada.

Official Description

An intimate portrait of Atlantic legend Ron Hynes, William D. MacGillivray’s The Man of a Thousand Songs is also a complex account of the personal costs of obsession, loneliness and substance abuse. A singer-songwriter whose work has been covered by countless performers, Hynes met with early success, getting a recording contract at sixteen and featured later in a long-running television series. But the cost of this success was dear. His ego ran amok, his relationships eroded and his onstage meltdowns overshadowed his songwriting talent.

 

The film focuses on Hynes as he recounts and makes sense of his life. A fascinating character, Hynes comes across as sincere, but he’s also decidedly guarded. Though one senses reservoirs of regret in his eyes, Hynes chooses to address these issues almost abstractly. He refers to himself as three different people: himself; a singer-songwriter; and the man of a thousand songs – “a total creature” who took over his life and nearly killed him. Joel, the person who probably knows him best, reluctantly confides that he’s impossible to reach and that you never know which side of him you’ll get. Of course, part of his alienation from himself is directly related to his work, which demands that he blur the line between truth and myth.

The Man of a Thousand Songs also opens a compelling window on the songwriter’s craft, and the self-doubts that come with the profession. Hynes shelved his best-known song, “Sonny’s Dream,” for almost a year because the melody felt so familiar he thought he had stolen it. As a corollary, the film explores the costs and benefits of an artist staying within Canada. Hynes admits he could have made far more money if he moved to Los Angeles, but would probably have never written his most heralded work. Perhaps best of all, the film features Hynes performing in numerous venues – a pleasure to watch regardless of how familiar you may be with his work. His cracked and wispy voice imbues his songs with profound emotional weight.

Steve Gravestock

CBC footage of The Wonderful Grand Band performing Sonny’s Dream

According to Music PEI Executive Director Rob Oakie, “This year’s crop of Music PEI Award nominees is a testament to a growing and vibrant music industry on Prince Edward Island. Perennial favourites Richard Wood, Meaghan Blanchard and Paper Lions are joined by newcomers Molly Rankin, Katie McGarry and Gordie MacKeeman and his Rhythm Boys and exemplify the diversity and development of the Island’s music scene.”

A number of Island artists received multiple nominations this year including Boxer the Horse (5), Meaghan Blanchard (5), Paper Lions (5), Devin Casario and the Illusion (4), Haunted Hearts (4), John Connolly (4), Al Tuck (3), Chuck & Albert (3), Cynthia MacLeod (3), Glen Strickey (3), Gordie MacKeeman and his Rhythm Boys (3), Molly Rankin (3) and Richard Wood (3).

A total of thirty-one (31) awards will be handed out during the 2011 Music PEI Week.

Oakie continued, “2010 has seen tremendous accomplishments and achievements for Island artists such as Two Hours Traffic touring Australia not once but twice, Paper Lions playing to packed houses in China and the Grass Mountain Hobos tour of England. Music Week allows PEI the opportunity to celebrate those accomplishments and excellence our very best!”

Now in its 10th year, PEI Music Week and Conference has grown to an event that brings together the music industry and the public for one jam-packed week of showcases, workshops, and the Gala Awards Show. This year, the festival and conference will be held in Charlottetown, PE from January 14 – 23, 2010.

Voting will take place online at www.musicpei.com from December 20, 2010 to January 7, 2011. Below is a full list of awards nominations.

Album of the Year

Boxer the Horse – Would You Please

Haunted Hearts – Howdy

Meaghan Blanchard – Chasin’ Lonely Again

Paper Lions – Trophies

Richard Wood – A Change of Reasons

Entertainer of the Year

Chuck & Albert

Cynthia MacLeod

John Connolly

Meaghan Blanchard

Paper Lions

Female Vocalist of the Year

Chastity

Kate Bevan-Baker

Katie McGarry

Meaghan Blanchard

Molly Rankin

Group of the Year

Boxer the Horse

Chuck & Albert

Fiddlers Sons

Haunted Hearts

Paper Lions

Male Vocalist of the Year

Al Tuck

Devin Casario

Eric Broadbent

John Connolly

Johnny Oliver

New Artist of the Year

Devin Casario and the Illusion

Glen Strickey

Gordie MacKeeman and his Rhythm Boys

Molly Rankin

North Lakes

Songwriter of the Year

Boxer the Horse – “Mary Meets the Pilot”

Devin Casario and the Illusion – “Wicked Light”

Haunted Hearts – “Sister Lovers Tonight”

John Connolly – “The Wind”

Meaghan Blanchard – “Chasin’ Lonely Again”

Video of the Year

Al Tuck – “Free Me”

Boxer the Horse – “Bad Apples”

Paper Lions – “Lost the War”

Racoon Bandit – “Hat”

Tim Chaisson and the Morning Fold – “Broken Hearted Beat”

Two Hours Traffic – “Noisemaker”

Genre Categories:

Alternative Rock Recording of the Year

Devin Casario and the Illusion – Rooftops and Alleyways

North Lakes – Cobra

Waif and the Spade – Self-titled

Blues Recording of the Year

Plain Dirty Blues Band – Five Dollar Cover

Scott Parsons – Live at Mahogany Hall

Classical Recording of the Year

Frances Gray -Soundscapes of Spain

UPEI Wind Symphony – Cathedrals

Country/ Alternative Country Recording of the Year

Cashmere Disciples – In With the Old

Haunted Hearts – Howdy

Meaghan Blanchard – Chasin’ Lonely Again

Folk Recording of the Year

Al Tuck – Food for the Moon

Corey Doucette Band – Introducing Corey Doucette Band

Fiddlers Sons – This is My Island

John Connolly – The Wind

Katie McGarry – My Side of Town

Instrumental Recording of the Year

Cynthia MacLeod – Riddle

Glen Strickey – Roots for Rudy

Gordie MacKeeman and his Rhythm Boys – Self-titled

Max Keenlyside – Keenly Stride

Richard Wood – A Change of Reasons

Jazz Recording of the Year

Glen Strickey – Roots for Rudy

Kate Bevan-Baker – Come Fly With Me

Max Keenlyside – Keenly Stride

Native Gumbo – Native Gumbo

Pop Recording of the Year

Chastity – Happy in this Oblivion

The Maybes – In Sand

Molly Rankin – She EP

Paper Lions – Trophies

Silver Wolf Band – Jam the Blues

Rock & Loud Recording of the Year

Arrows in the Air – Shadows on the Skyline

Boxer the Horse – Would You Please

Money in the Banana Stand – There’s Always Roots

Traditional Group Recording of the Year

Chuck & Albert – Energie

Gordie MacKeeman and his Rhythm Boys – Self Titled

The Ross Family – PEI I’m Coming Home

Roots Traditional Solo Recording of the Year

Billy MacInnis – The Fiddle Player from PEI

Cynthia MacLeod – Riddle

Fiona MacCorquodale – Eleven

Richard Wood – A Change of Reasons

Urban Recording of the Year

Eric Broadbent & DJ Ghost – Eric Broadbent and DJ Ghost #2

Practical Academics – Funktion: The Album

Tyler Carmody – The World is an Eyeland

Educator of the Year

Faye Barrett

Frances Gray

Jacqueline Sorenson

John Clement

Dr. Karem Simon

Event of the Year

Festival of Small Halls

Funk the Dunk

Indian River Festival

Nigwek

Summerside Outdoor Concert Series

Musician of the Year

Billy MacInnis

Devin Hornby

Johnny Ross

Tian Wigmore

Todd MacLean

Recording Studio and Technician of the Year

Adam Gallant

Big Grey Sound Studios

Lukas Raine Recordings

Venue of the Year

The Dunk

The Guild

Harmony House

Hunter’s Ale House

Solid Rock Café

Visual Artist of the Year

Lorne Miller

Matt Dixon

Moe Chandler

Patrick Callbeck

Six Eyed Cat

Fan’s Choice – Weekend Warrior

Junkmale

MacBeth

Muddy Buddy

Multiple Nominee Break down

Boxer the Horse 5

Meaghan Blanchard 5

Paper Lions 5

Devin Casario and the Illusion 4

Haunted Hearts 4

John Connolly 4

Al Tuck 3

Chuck & Albert 3

Cynthia MacLeod 3

Glen Strickey 3

Gordie MacKeeman and his Rhythm Boys 3

Molly Rankin 3

Richard Wood 3

Your Young Adult Enjoyment

We certainly were pleased to receive an email with a video to bring some attention to The Light Brights “The World’s a Changin” they did grab our attention earlier this year but since we didn’t get to see them live anywhere so far we certainly will be at their upcoming show at Baba’s Lounge on January 8th. But until then be sure to check out their mini-documentary.

The Facts About The Light Brights (Halifax):

Contagious feelings of freedom burst through every foot stomp, colours leap from soulful vocals and powerful guitar strums, groove seeps from the bass and drums.  Indie-inspired-rock-and-roll with hints of blues gets you dancing while catchy melodies implant themselves in your head.  The Light Brights’ fantastic stage presence has been delivered through over sixty soulful, passionate, gravitating shows across the Maritimes. A feature on CBC Radio One’s Atantic Airwaves, interviews on both public and community radio throughout the East Coast, and charting as high as #3 on Halifax’s CKDU has shown that their musical stylings shine as bright as their colourful performances and fun-loving personalities.

“The debut album from Halifax’s The Light Brights brings the rhythm and soul of the blues together with the hooks of modern indie pop as if the two genres were the best of friends finally reuniting after years apart. The awkwardness and embarrassment that often accompanies musical genre-mashing is nowhere to be found, and in its place is a welcoming set of sounds that’ll sooth your soul as much as it’ll make your shoes swing. While it would be easy to credit the album’s successful conglomeration to the soaring vocals and stunning melodies courtesy of Bethany Fulde, The Light Brights’ impressive rhythm section (comprised of bassist Chad Harrington and drummer Andrew Dahms) is not to be overlooked as the two gents have some serious chops and get your body grooving while Bethany’s hooks implant themselves in your head, forcing you to try and sing along before you even know the words.” –thescrapyard.ca. Listen to them on CBC Radio 3.

Download Here

The Fact About The Lite Bright (Hasbro):

Lite-Brite is an electric toy introduced in 1967 by Hasbro that allows lit pictures to be created. Allows the artist to create a “glowing” picture by placing multi-colored translucent plastic pegs through opaque black paper. The light from an illuminated light bulb is blocked by the black paper except where the pegs conduct the light. When lit, the pegs have an appearance similar to that of LEDs. Most Lite-Brite toys come with a series of pre-prepared patterns. Classic patterns include the “Wizard of Light” (a picture of a wizard with the “Lite-Brite” name above), and the clown. In the last few years, the Lite-Brite has gone through a major make-over into a sleeker, flat-screen version of its classic self. Buy them at yard sales and vintage stores (or steal them from younger cousins)