GMA Canada Week 2010 and The Covenant Awards

Well, I just got in from Calgary at 1:00 AM this morning after spending the past 4 days at the GMA Canada Week Conference and 32ND Annual Covenant Awards and what an experience that was! The picture on the left was taken at the awards ceremony and is of Tim and Jon Neufield of Starfield. I saw the guys earlier in the day at the conference and it kind of went down like this: "Hey Scott from Ottawa, how are you doing brother? Are you still leading Worship at The MET?" These guys are down to earth, filled with the spirit, humility and kindness! Anyway, the conference and award ceremony was pretty amazing. I ended up on the same flight as Scott Jackson, founder of LIFE 100.3 FM in Barrie and although we had lots of email communication we never had the face to face contact and as it turned out we hung out together for the entire conference and got to know each other on a more personal level. The reality is that I also got to get to know other key Music Directors in Christian Radio who although they had been supporting my music, did not actually know me on a personal level. Mountain Mike from SHINE FM, Jim Houssen from CKO and Shamus Neeson from CKVN. As an artist, having the opportunity to connect with some of these guys is so important as a music director is more likely to support someone they have connected with verses an unknown. The picture above on the right features my producer, Andrew Horrocks with Scott Jackson and myself. Andrew won the award for Producer of the Year which is pretty cool considering the fact that his two big projects that were judged were my record and Stephanie Israelson's! It was great to hang out with Jacob Moon a bit and meet Sean Dayton and Greg Sczebel in person (in the picture on the left). One of the most memorable moments for me was when I was driving back to the hotel after doing my sound check for the showcase I was to give later that evening and starting up the truck and hearing my song "Shine on" being played on SHINE FM. I have heard my music on the radio at home on CHRI 99.1 FM in Ottawa but to actually hear yourself in another province is pretty cool. Later that afternoon I did an interview on SHINE during the drive home and that was great! I met a lot of artists and exchanged CD's. I was probably most impressed with TO TELL and DAN BREMNES who are both thinking about joining the "Musical Prayers Records" family! Once again I was able to put my CD in the hands of all the key players that were at the conference including John Mays (on the right) who was up from Nashville and is the VP of A&R for Centricity Music. John gave a couple of pretty amazing talks and I really connected with him on a personal level. He spoke on the Parable of the Tallents of Gold and really drove home the message that you need to commit to investing some hard work into the gifts that God has given you. Well, John has my CD now so I am looking forward to seeing what his response will be after he listens to it! Getting to speak with Martin Smith who is a senior territory manager for David C. Cook distribution and wrap my mind around this side of the industry was very helpful and it was also great to speak with Peter Fleck and Leroy Harder from the GMA and hear their perspectives as two of the guys really have their fingers on the pulse of Christian Music. Another cool moment for me was to accept and bring home 2 Covenant Awards for my friend Gen Feuller who won both Francophone song of the year and Francophone Album of the year! I have a lot more to process from this trip but the bottom line is that I got a grant from FACTOR for $1850 so I could go to Calgary and put myself out there. I am committed to knock on every door and climb through every window I have to in order to move my music forward and attending the GMA Canada Week was a great opportunity and one that will no doubt help me with future projects. I think that we as artists, need to be careful to not shy away from putting ourselves out there otherwise we are like the guy who buries what the Lord has given him verses the other who makes a huge investment and sees the results. One of the hardest working musicians I have ever met is my friend Jacob Moon (on the left). Jacob is always playing and touring. In January I will launch my third Canadian single which features Jacob and is called "My King." After Christmas Music Directors are always looking for new music so this will be the logical move. I also plan on launching "Shine On" to the U.S. market which is currently playing "One Church." It is pretty cool as WDCX in Buffalo is giving heavy support to "One Church" and I am supposed to do a radio interview next week with Neil Boron. I am waiting to hear back to see if we will get to play the 25TH anniversary of Kingdom Bound next summer and also the Gospel stage of Bluesfest. My sense is that great things are just around the corner. I am writing like crazy and praying to be able to do another record that will be called WE WILL. Well, that is it for now, this guy needs some sleep! In Christ, Scott