JAIMIE VERNON – INDEPENDENCE IS OUR FUTURE

As I type this music retailer HMV is either in receivership or heading into it after one of the chain’s creditors called in their chips. The retail giant has been floundering for years and managed to escape an industry crash that took out the likes of Sam The Record Man and Tower Records stateside a decade ago. HMV’s position as one of the last giants standing (Sunrise has rallied to fill in the hole left by Sam’s), was only delaying the inevitable.

JAIMIE VERNON – HOW TO BE A SUCCESSFUL INDIE ARTIST

It’s only taken 8 months but I feel comfortable back in the captain’s chair at my record label after having not done it for the past 5 years. Re-issuing old albums will continue to be my bread and butter but I will always keep supporting and promoting independent music. It’s where I started and will always have a special place in my heart. The spirit of original and new music is what drives creativity forward. Nostalgia is full of sign posts but without new music to build and cultivate new paths the road ends and the sign post will read ‘dead end’.

Pat Blythe – Music Mania….

Deadlines. I don’t think I’d get anything done if it weren’t for deadlines….artificial or otherwise. I’m one of those that have a tendency to back one’s self into a corner which forces said person to address shit and just DO IT! Tuesday afternoon and already my head is swimming with so much information, events and “stuff”….past, present and future.

JAIMIE VERNON – ONE FINE MORNING WITH SKIP PROKOP

Sometimes stuff just falls into your lap. Some call it luck. Some call it Karma. I’ve always thought of it as a birthday present from a distant relative halfway around the world who chose to send the parcel by cargo ship rather than airmail. Better late than never.

JAIMIE VERNON – BOOM GO THE ‘80s

In a previous incarnation my label, Bullseye, was focusing on 1960s and 1970s Canadian re-issues but in the time that has elapsed since I folded the label (2010) and now, the pop culture zeitgeist has shifted. Classic Rock radio was put into suspended animation in 2014 by the major radio players (at least in Canada) and 1980s radio has picked up the ball. Oh, the 1970s is still getting a fair amount of airplay, but it’s mostly been ghettoized into bite-sized “The 70s at 7 !!!” type radio programming.

JAIMIE VERNON – TO PRESERVE AND PROTECT

Long before I considered myself a profession record label weasel I worked in a government bunker as a data librarian. My job title was Records Management Assistant and my duties included archiving government documents, maps, tax records and all matter of ephemera – including name tags from VIPs who visited City Hall and ribbon cutting scissors from shopping mall openings attended by our politicians.

Cameron Carpenter – 10 CC

It is getting to be that time of year when the conventions and music conventions begin.  SXSW kicks off next week, The Junos are in Calgary at the end of this month followed by Canadian Music Week in May, the newly re-vamped NXNE in June and Indie Week Manchester in October and Indie Week Canada in November. There is a lot to see and do in Toronto as well. Here are ten things on my mind.

JAIMIE VERNON – THE BOOK GOES ON

I’m desperately trying to finish writing my 6^th book. It should have been released in December but things like re-launching my record label have had me in meetings for the better part of 4 months. The new book should actually be my seventh, but that book – ‘Sunny Days – The Skip Prokop Story’ – is taking a very long time to transcribe and edit though we do expect it to be completed in coming months.

JAIMIE VERNON – SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME

24 hours ago a crowdfunding campaign to bring my old record label, Bullseye, back from the dead ended successfully with over $20,000 in donations from people who passionately believe in not only me and the label but music in general. I’m overwhelmed by the generosity and well wishes. I am truly humbled.

JAIMIE VERNON – NOT DROWNING, JUST WAVING

It’s been a really crappy two weeks. Sometimes you get handed a series of unrelated, but no less dramatic, events that snowball into a stifling blanket of stress, anxiety and, more often than not, sadness. It’s been the default mode since early August. I have learned that you can’t catch any of the balloons falling from the sky, you can only offer up a spot for the least damaging of emotional landings. I’m worn out and weary.