| When it comes to major labels on the east coast, none have their hands in the mix like Warner Music Canada.
Through Sonic Records, Warner distributes acts like Matt Mays & El Torpedo, The Novaks, Hey Rosetta! and Nathan Wiley. Plus, Atlantic Canadian acts such as Great Big Sea and Buck 65 are signed to Warner. |
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| On top of that, Warner has released a handful of albums under the banner of the Atlantic Standards series, compiled by the east coast’s award winning Warner Music rep John Poirier. The albums have featured traditional artists such as The Rankin Family, J.P. Cormier and Dave Gunning.
Poirier’s latest project is a little more cutting edge, however. Released last month, Atlantic Voices is a compilation of some of the best and brightest female singer-songwriters from Atlantic Canada. Featuring Julie Doiron, Rose Cousins, Christina Martin, Ruth Minnikin and more, the album features 14 tracks, from folk to rock. It’s a labour of love for the record label representative and music fan, who says he has the full support of Rhino Records, who released the album, and Warner, who is distributing it. “I think Warner recognizes that that this region is top-heavy with talent and has afforded me the opportunity to go out and do projects like this,” he told EastCoastNoise recently. “Warner, at the end of the day, is still a business. They would not be encouraging me to do Atlantic Voices if the previous efforts had not done well.” Poirier says he reached out to east coast singer-songwriters in particular for this new collection because he’s noticed in the last two or three years just how many “really interesting and talented women singer-songwriters were coming out of the Atlantic region. It’s overwhelming.” He says he had enough songs for a double-album, but that would have been a tougher sell to music fans who are curious and might pay for a single CD but wouldn’t fork out the extra dollars for a double album. “It’s to show the rest of Canada how diverse the talent pool is in Atlantic Canada,” Poirier says of the collection. “It runs the whole gamut from traditional, bluesy artists such as Catherine MacLellan right to alternative artists such as Rebekah Higgs and Julie Doiron. And I think the package succeeds in that regard.” Most of the artists on the record are independent or on labels not affiliated with Warner, though Meaghan Smith is signed to the label and Amelia Curran and Jenn Grant have distribution deals with Six Shooter Records, which is affiliated with the major label. Atlantic Voices starts off in a traditional vein and works its way to more alternative or rock-based sounds. Jenn Grant, a singer-songwriter originally from Prince Edward Island, painted the Atlantic Voices album cover. Veteran New Brunswick reporter Bob Mersereau, who has been writing about east coast music for years and who put together the book The Top 100 Canadian Albums, wrote the liner notes for the album. Poirier says he has another project in mind for sometime down the road which may compile tunes from some of the east coast’s many rock and pop bands. Atlantic Voices is in stores now. |
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