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FYI

Charlie Major’s MADD Return With With All-Star Cast On '90s Hit

The longstanding Cancountry hitmaker updates one of his earliest classics with a corral full of impressionable friends to raise money for MADD.

Charlie Major’s MADD Return With With All-Star Cast On '90s Hit

By Karen Bliss

Country music veteran Charlie Major recruited a who’s who of Canadian country music — including Dean Brody, Brett Kissel, Terri Clark and Johnny Reid — to add their voices to the remake of his 25-year-old No. 1 hit, “It Can’t Happen To Me,” in order to raise money for Mothers Against Drunk Driving, now known as MADD Canada.


The national charitable organization — which has over 100 chapters and community leaders and 7,500 volunteers — is committed to stopping impaired driving and supporting the victims of this violent crime. According to MADD, on average, four Canadians are killed and 175 are injured every day in Canada, and approximately 65,000 Canadians are impacted by impaired drivers annually.

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"While I have lost friends, and seen friends and family affected by drinking and driving, the song 'It Can't Happen To Me' is more or less meant to be generic and was written to show the erroneous mindset of invincibility people have when they are young along with the consequences of that particular way of thinking," Major tells Samaritanmag. – Continue reading Karen Bliss’s story here.

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Executive of the Week: Justin West of Secret City Records on the Secrets of Independent Music Success​
FYI

Executive of the Week: Justin West of Secret City Records on the Secrets of Independent Music Success​

The man behind one of Canada's most successful indie labels talks about the late-blooming success of French-language streaming record-holder Patrick Watson, why he builds long-term relationships with artists, and why it's important for the indie sector to work together.

Justin West is a leader and advocate in Canada’s independent music scene, but he didn’t plan it out that way. When he started his record label Secret City Records in Montreal in the mid-2000s, it was out of necessity. He had met an artist he loved and wanted to build a career with, and the label was a means to do it. That artist was Patrick Watson, and 20 years later he — and Secret City — are more successful than ever.

West — a multiple time Billboard Canada Power Player – leads one of the biggest indie labels in Canada while also advocating for the sector on multiple boards both locally and internationally. When we speak to him for this Executive of the Week interview, he’s just returned from Banff for the National Summit on Artificial Intelligence and Culture, and is a central figure in discussions around the Online Streaming Act and collective negotiations with online streaming platforms.

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