Introducing the Calgary Bluesfest Channel: The Calgary Bluesfest folks have launched their new Calgary Bluesfest Channel on Public Place Network! They will be offering live streams of their events and a library of blues videos from their festivals. The Calgary Bluesfest Channel offers hours of viewing and listening joy! Subscribe for an entire year for $60 ($5/mo.) or select as many songs as you like and create your own Bluesfest in your own home!. More info at www.calgarybluesfest.com

Webinars from Folk Alliance: The Folk Alliance has been presenting regular instructional webinars and “virtual gatherings” to help us get through this disruption. On Thursday November 12, it’s “The Future is Green – Envisioning and Enacting a Sustainable Music Industry” to reconsider and reorient our activities towards greater sustainability and greener practices. Join a group of expert panelists leading the shift as they discuss their accomplishments to date and the projects they’ve been pursuing through the pandemic. The Canadian contingent of panelists will include Marie Zimmerman from Guelph’s Hillside Festival and Candice Tulsieram, The Sustainable Events Forum, Canada. Moderator is Alysha Brilla. On Tuesday, November 10, there will be a “virtual gathering” of roots music agents to connect with other booking agents facing the pandemic related upheavals of 2020 with the specific intention of cultivating community and decreasing isolation during this unprecedented and challenging time. This 60-minute session is exclusively for agents. More info at www.folk.org/webinars

New Music Officer at OAC: The Ontario Arts Council (OAC) announced that Dwayne Dixon has joined OAC as Interim Music Officer. “It gives me great pleasure to welcome Dwayne as our Interim Music Officer,” said Carolyn Vesely, CEO. “His deep knowledge of urban music, his professional background as an artist and a producer, as well as his leadership experience in arts administration give him tremendous perspective in this role. Dwayne will work closely with long-serving Music Officer David Parsons and program administrators Jenny Knox and Rachel Mutombo to guide applicants through OAC’s music programs.”

Dwayne has more than 15 years of experience in the arts as well as in the corporate and entertainment sectors. In 2016-17, he was Executive Director of the Nia Centre for the Arts, a youth arts organization focused on helping young Black artists. Dwayne also produced Nia’s first large-scale multidisciplinary arts festival, Blowout Fest. From 2013 to 2015, Dwayne was the Executive Director of Manifesto Community Projects, where among his achievements he produced Canada’s largest hip-hop and urban arts festival at Yonge & Dundas Square in Toronto.

In 2004, Dwayne established an urban artist showcase called Follow Your Instinct (FYI) to create opportunities for aspiring performing artists and over the years, FYI Kids has worked with more than 3,000 children in tandem with the Canadian National Institute For The Blind (CNIB), the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO), the Toronto Centre For The Arts, the Chinese Moon Festival celebrations and the Ontario Science Centre.

Dwayne’s varied career has seen him produce, host and program radio shows. He has emceed events and has recorded as a hip-hop artist. He has had gigs in the corporate world, most recently as a capabilities coach for TD Bank. He has served on the board of directors of Urban Music Association of Canada (UMAC) and RISE Edutainment and as a program committee member for Prologue Performing Arts.

In 2017, Dwayne was the recipient of the Afroglobal Television Excellence Award for Heritage.