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FYI

The Allan Slaight Juno Master Class Is In Session

The four winners of the 2018/19 round of Canada's premier artist development program recently engaged in a week of intensive mentorship and industry insight in Toronto. One lucky winner will get to perform live at the Juno Gala Dinner and Awards in March. Pictured: the winning artists with reps from Slaight Music and CARAS/The Junos.

The Allan Slaight Juno Master Class Is In Session

By FYI Staff

The Juno Awards and Slaight Music launched Canada's premier artist development program, the Allan Slaight Juno Master Class, four years ago. Master Class differs from other artist development programs in that winners are endorsed by members of the music industry and chosen by a super jury of industry leaders.


The 2018/19 winners are Aquakultre (selected by being the CBC Music Searchlight winner), Haviah Mighty, Port Cities, and smrtdeath. All four recently engaged in a week of mentorship and industry insight in Toronto, taking in lessons from the experts including: a visit to Facebook, Apple Music, and CBC Music; myriad sessions at Canada’s Music Incubator at Coalition Music with industry mentors; photography sessions with Matt Barnes and Caitlin Cronenberg; a producer session with Jordan Evans (Daniel Caesar’s manager and producer); a media training session with Franca Miraglia and more, all culminating with a  live performance showcase by each act on Oct. 25 at Jasper Dandy.

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To top off the experience, all four artists will receive a performance slot at Junofest, presented by CBC Music, and one lucky winner will also get the chance to perform live at the Juno Gala Dinner and Awards in March in London, Ontario.  

Photo caption: Allan Slaight Juno Master Class winners with representatives of Slaight Music and CARAS/The Juno Awards: L-R: Nathan Doucet (aquakulture), Jeremy Costello (aquakulture), Nick Dourado (aquakulture), Lance Sampson (aquakulture), Gary Slaight, Dylan Guthro (Port Cities), Haviah Mighty, Derrick Ross, Breagh MacKinnon (Port Cities), smrtdeath, Allan Reid, Carleton Stone (Port Cities), and Ali Slaight — photo credit: Tania Heath Photography

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Not By Choice on MuchOnDemand on MuchMusic in 2002.
Courtesy Photo

Not By Choice on MuchOnDemand on MuchMusic in 2002.

FYI

Obituary: Mike Bilcox of Ajax, Ontario Pop-Punk Band Not By Choice

Former drummer and now head of Round One Sports & Entertainment Liam Killeen pens this tribute to his former bandmate, with words from The Feldman Agency's Jeff Craib, Sum 41's Dave Baksh, Simple Plan's Chuck Comeau and more.

Mike Bilcox, lead singer and guitarist of Ajax, Ontario’s second most famous pop-punk band, Not By Choice, passed away on June 21, at age 48.

Mike started Not By Choice with his Ajax High School friend Glenn ‘Chico’ Dunning back in 1997. They had initially played a few shows under different names that may or may not be suitable for print, but our moniker came from Mike bothering his younger sister Chrissy at the dinner table. When she couldn’t take any more of his taunting, she promptly told her Mom, Pat, that he was annoying her – Pat yelled ‘Well, he’s your brother!’ to which Chrissy quickly replied ‘Yeah, not by choice!’. With that, a real band was born.

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