Music News Digest: JunoFest Invades Hamilton, Canadian Live Music Association Names Maddy Oliver Interim Executive Director

Damian Abraham, frontman of Polaris Prize-winning Toronto hardcore band F*cked Up, has partnered with International Emmy-winning producer Zach Feldberg to launch Cut & Paste Pictures. This Toronto-based production company already has an active development slate spanning scripted and unscripted formats and a feature documentary currently in production, with a heavy investment in music-related content.

Abraham states that “Cut & Paste is a home for stories that are raw, strange, and often overlooked, and that come from incredible people we’ve encountered who trust us with bringing their fascinating stories to the world.”

Abraham has built a multi-platform career beyond music, hosting and producing television projects including VICE’s The Wrestlers and MuchMusic’s The Wedge, and creating the long-running interview podcast Turned Out A Punk. Feldberg previously served as director of current production, comedy and head of scripted Gem Originals at CBC, where he oversaw series including Sort Of, Son of a Critch, Fakes and For Heaven’s Sake.

The unscripted development slate is led by factual series Exit Strategy and includes a factual/lifestyle series with musician and producer Tim Hill of The Halluci Nation and a feature documentary on Southern Ontario suburban punk rock from director Caitlin Starowicz. In December, Cut & Paste released the short documentary SNFU: A Band From Edmonton which premiered at The Punk Rock Museum in Las Vegas.

Awards News

The National Music Centre has announced the 2026 OHSOTO’KINO Recording Bursary winners: traditional powwow drum group Mountain Kree, singer-songwriter Larrisa Desrosiers and fiddle player and composer Wesley Hardisty. The Bursary gives Indigenous artists the opportunity to record in NMC’s professional studio spaces and explore its renowned living collection of rare musical instruments, with the goal of creating a commercial release. A record number of applications were submitted this year.

The OHSOTO’KINO Music Incubator supports emerging Indigenous artists through mentorship, career-development workshops, and live performance opportunities. NMC has just opened a new call for applications for the 2026 OHSOTO’KINO Music Incubator. The program will take place at Studio Bell in Calgary from September 14-18. Applications are open until May 17 here.

– One award handed out at the Juno Awards annually is for MusiCounts teacher of the year. Fittingly, this year's recipient comes from Junos host city of Hamilton. Raquel McIntosh teaches at Adelaide Hoodless Elementary School in Hamilton, and she received the award from hometown rock stars, Max Kerman and Mike DeAngelis of Arkells. “All the musicians here know this is the most important award being handed out tonight,” said Kerman. Read more here.

Industry News

The Canadian Live Music Association (CLMA) has named Maddy Oliver as interim executive director, following the previously announced departure of president & CEO Erin Benjamin, who held those positions for the past 12 years. Benjamin was an honouree at Billboard Canada Women in Music in 2025.

Oliver has held several roles at the CLMA, most recently as director, membership & industry relations. Over nearly six years, she has contributed across key areas of the organization’s work, including member engagement and national advocacy initiatives. Oliver serves on the board of directors of the Women in Music Canada non-profit organization (unrelated to Billboard Canada Women in Music) and is the founder of Young Music Professionals, a national network supporting early and mid-career music industry professionals and she .

– Sunday night's televised Juno Awards and the previous evening's industry gala (which handed out the bulk of the trophies) grabbed most of the media attention in Hamilton this past weekend, but JunoFest was also a highlight. On the Friday and Saturday nights, it took over most of the music venues in the downtown area, ranging from smaller clubs like Mills Hardware and the new Ridiculous through to The Music Hall, a newly-renovated 1,000 capacity venue within the historic New Vision United Church.

The bills stressed Juno nominees in a wide range of categories and genres. In between long stints in the media room and attendance at a couple of industry parties (thank you, Six Shooter and Sonic Unyon's Tim Potocic), I was there for some of the action.

Friday night's choice was to head to intimate jazz club Henry's on James to catch recent Grammy nominee Laila Biali. She wasn't nominated this year, but was also active in Hamilton in her role as a jazz host on CBC Radio. Here, she dazzled with her fluent piano playing and subtly expressive vocals, ably abetted by bassist Dan Fortin, drummer Ben Wittman and guests including fellow Canadian jazz star Christine Jensen. The capacity audience knew they were witnessing something special.

Post-gala on Saturday night, our choice was The Music Hall. After an impressive set from rising Indigenous star Sebastian Gaskin, hometown heroes Junkhouse took to the stage to deliver a fiery set that thrilled the guitar lovers in the crowd. In honour of the occasion, virtuoso guitarist Colin Linden (a bandmate of Junkhouse leader Tom Wilson in Blackie and the Radio Kings) and fellow ace axeman Terra Lightfoot (who had opened the show) joined the band (and resident guitarist Aaron Goldstein) for the entire set. The charismatic Wilson was in typically boisterous form and, as expected, the crowd sang along on "Shine" (a Hammer anthem) then revelled in the spacey psychedelia on display in other tunes. Tom Wilson was omnipresent over the Juno weekend, including at a Beckett Gallery exhibition featuring some of his acclaimed artwork.

On Sunday night, after the Junos broadcast, we headed to a basement suite at the Sheraton for a post-midnight jam session headed by Jim Cuddy. Quite the contrast to go from watching an arena spectacle to an intimate and acoustic gathering of many of Canada's top singer/songwriters and musicians in what is reportedly a Juno tradition, headed by Cuddy and NXNE founder Michael Hollett. Cover versions of country and rock classics were the order of the day here, with highlights including Ron Sexsmith doing "As Tears Go By," Amanda Rheaume with "Landslide" and Devin Cuddy's take on Warren Zevon's "Carmelita." Brett Kissel and Miranda Mulholland were part of the segment we caught, while other performers over the three night series reportedly included Aysanabee, Tom and Thompson Wilson, Ben Kowalewicz of Billy Talent, Begonia, Whitehorse, Tom Cochrane, Dave Rave and many more. A great way to round out Juno festivities.