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Becca Hamel
Valley
Management
Valley Signs With Wednesday Management: ‘We Are Looking Forward to the Next Mountain We Climb Together!’
“They care deeply about the music and their fans, and that kind of energy is contagious,” shares the company’s founder, Laurie Lee Boutet of the Canadian pop band. They join a management roster that also includes The Beaches, Alex Porat and more.
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Valley are embarking on a new career milestone.
The Toronto-based pop band has signed with Wednesday Management, an indie artist management company founded by Billboard Canada Manager of the Year Laurie Lee Boutet. They join the roster of Wednesday’s other artists, including Billboard Canada Women of the Year, The Beaches, Alex Porat, Venbee and Connor Seidel.
For the group members Rob Laska, Alex Dimauro and Karah James, it was a no-brainer to work with Boutet and her company, telling Billboard Canada, “it just made sense.”
“We have always been on the same wavelength on how to climb the mountain and when the time was right we asked her to meet with us to discuss next steps in our career,” Valley shares in an exclusive statement to Billboard Canada. “It became clear that not only were we speaking the same language but finishing each other's sentences.”
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They continue: “It’s easy to admire Laurie’s fierce ability to build true long-term sustainability on natural momentum and take inspiring risks creatively and strategically to put meaningful art out into the world.”
Boutet shares that the Wednesday Management team were already fans of Valley, but points out their focus and drive as key attributes to decide to work together now.
“They have such incredible vision, and their ambition feels bigger than ever," she says. "It’s exciting to work with artists who know exactly where they want to go and aren’t afraid to dream big.”
A decade ago, the group — originally a quartet — started releasing music, putting out two subsequent EPs, Car Test (2015) and This Room Is White (2016) independently. By 2019, they signed with Capitol Records/Universal Music Canada, releasing four full-length albums and two EPs. During their decade-long run, they’ve consistently put out new work, receiving multiple Juno nominations, a SOCAN Songwriting Prize nomination and singles like “There’s Still a Light in the House” and “Like 1999,” amassing over one million streams. "When You Know Someone" was a hit on the Billboard Canada Airplay charts.
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Valley’s most recent album, 2024’s Water the Flowers, Pray for a Garden, marked a major shift for the group, as former member Michael Brandolino departed at the top of the year, making Valley a trio. Their grapplings of his exit are evident on the record with tracks like “Let It Rain” and “When You Know Someone,” unpacking the band’s complicated feelings. While 2024 came with unexpected changes, Valley is taking control and stepping into another new chapter.
Boutet’s leadership has proven to be a success, as she helped The Beaches turn their viral moment with “Blame Brett” into a long-term moment — the band’s most recent album, No Hard Feelings, peaked at No. 38 on Canadian Albums, and they’re playing to many sold-out crowds in support of the record on tour.
Before the signing, Valley was announced as one of the openers for The Beaches during a string of dates, including stops in Amsterdam and at Canadian cities including Winnipeg, Halifax, Calgary, Edmonton and more (find their full dates here).
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Meanwhile, Alex Porat is currently on the Billboard Canadian Airplay charts, Venbee has charted in the U.K. and Connor Seidel has been a successful producer and songwriter with acts like Charlotte Cardin and Half Moon Run.
“A lot of it is based on feeling. A lot of it is the ability to see the path forward,” she told Billboard Canada about her eye for signing artists earlier this year. “For me, as a manager, my strength lies in strategy. I love the strategy of releasing a record.”
Despite being on an off-cycle, the group has had a monumental year, playing sold-out shows across the world, earning a top 10 spot on the Billboard Canada Modern Rock Airplay chart and performing a high-energy set at the inaugural All Things Go festival at Toronto earlier this month.
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“It’s rare to find a band that’s been together this long and still pushes themselves creatively the way Valley does. They care deeply about the music and their fans, and that kind of energy is contagious,” Boutet says, hinting at new music, calling it “some of their best yet.”
“You can hear how much they’ve evolved and how confident they are in who they’ve become as a band. Next year marks a new era, and we’re so excited to be a part of it.”
Valley echoed a similar sentiment, adding: “We are so grateful to get to work alongside the team at Wednesday and we feel incredibly supported in our vision. We are looking forward to the next mountain we climb together!”
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