Doug Cox
Doug Cox is an island-based Musician, Producer, Instructor and event organizer with 40 years experience. He is also a son, father, and grandfather. His musical past includes collaborations with such diverse virtuosos as Indian guitarist V.M. Bhatt, Singer/Actor Ronny Cox, bluesman Long John Baldry, guitar slinger Amos Garrett and African musician The Mighty Popo. His own projects display a similarly expansive arc, as the folk-blues of Bone Bottle Brass or Steel eventually led to supergroup Strung (Band of Gypsies – with Tony McManus and April Verch), New Orleans funk (JUNO NOMINATED – Make A Better World – featuring John Boutte), or his two Americana albums with Austin based, BettySoo. His music has been featured in numerous film and TV soundtracks. Doug produced Leonard Sumner’s stunning debut CD. He is the long-standing producer (22 years) of Vancouver Island MusicFest. In 2017, Doug was inducted into the BC Music Hall of Fame. In 2018, he guested on a Grammy Nominated album by San Antonio’s Los Texmaniacs and in 2019, produced a Juno nominated album (Trad. Roots Album of the Year) for April Verch in Nashville. Doug is a catalyst among musicians and organizers for many fascinating collaborations. He believes in the power of music and community.
Erin Kennedy
For the last ten years, Erin has programmed a very successful and diverse series of presentations featuring the very best artists from our province, across the country and beyond. As Artistic Director of the Vernon & District Performing Arts Centre, she programmed their 2019-2020 that features 26 shows with over 30 performances including Dance, Theatre, Special Presentations, and Kids and First Stages (Toddlers) series.
Evie Lavers
Evie Lavers is an innovative entrepreneur & arts administrator from Australia, with over 7 years of experience, delivering online communications, strong social media campaigns & niche marketing services in the music industry. After completing her Advanced Diploma in Music Business from CMIT, Western Australia she developed skills and relationships to coordinate marketing schedules for large outdoor events that delivered live music to over 15,000 attendees various times a year.
Evie now lives in Wells, BC is the co-founder of Rhythm Club! Rhythm Club is a full-service digital marketing agency that specializes in educational Workshops and solutions for forward-thinking individuals, creative businesses & non-for-profit Organizations. Built on the concept that a little-experienced advice enables you tools to spend less time promoting your art, more time for the fun stuff…honing your craft and dreaming bigger. Evie is also the Marketing Coordinator for Island Mountain Arts (ArtsWells Festival & Northern Exposure Conference), and the Assistant Director at Tiny Lights Festival. Fueled by coffee and an incessant hunger for all things social media, she eagerly indulges in the latest articles on countless music industry blogs and youtube channels daily, feeding her obsession with knowing the next big thing by scouring Spotify, Soundcloud, and Beatport charts as well as Hype Machine daily.
Hazel Bennett
Born in Kelowna, I grew up in a household of music lovers. Immigrants from the UK, my parents played classical, opera, jazz and show tunes on Vinyl when they weren’t listening to CBC radio. I became a band and drama geek and a record collector who would carry records to parties to “program” everyone else’s musical tastes Currently, I am the Booking Manager and GM of The Dream Cafe in Penticton, which has been hosting music events for the past 20 years. We host Blues, Bluegrass, Celtic, Folk, Canadiana, Jazz, World-Music, Singer-Songwriters, etc. from Canada and all over the world currently providing the local area with approximately 150 shows per year. We have a strong reputation with musicians by providing them with a high-quality listening room to build and maintain their fan-base in the BC Interior. I am a life-long lover of all musical genres.
John McLachlan
BC born singer/songwriter John McLachlan began writing and performing in folk clubs in Vancouver in 1979. Over the next 20 years he toured his original songs in many corners of BC—from Nazko to Kyuquot, Fort St. John to Princeton, Prince George to Vancouver— presenting hundreds of performances as community concerts and programs for schools about Canadian history. He took a school show to Saskatchewan, played folk clubs across Canada and performed in Bogotá, Colombia.
John took a hiatus from touring and worked as a graphic designer, arts administrator (BC Touring Council, Creative City Network) and arts grant coordinator before returning to music in 2014. Since then he has recorded four albums of original songs and a 14-track album of Gordon Lightfoot songs. He is touring again with his one-man multimedia show (“Call it Home”) as well as a duo and/or trio show (“Early Morning Rain: the songs of Gordon Lightfoot) with multi-instrumentalist Marc Atkinson and bassist Scott White). John calls Hornby Island home.
Kym Gouchie
Kym Gouchie is from the Lheidli T’enneh (lay-tlee ten-ay) also known as Prince George. She has been a part of the arts community for 20+ years as a practicing artist but also as an arts administrator, event planner, consultant, and cultural advisor. She is a gifted storyteller and an award-winning singer/songwriter. Kym embraces audiences while imparting messages of truth and hope. Kym Gouchie is a force!
Margot Holmes
Margot Holmes has owned and operated Caline Artists International for the past 30 years. In addition to touring and promoting Canadian artists around the globe, she has also worked as a presenter with the Vancouver Island Symphony and the British Columbia Boys Choir. In her role with the Choir, she toured around the world for 25 years. Margot also is the creator of Festival Nanaimo, a month-long March Festival, now in its fifth year. Wearing two hats- Agent and Presenter – she has worked both sides of the deal! In 2015, Margot was awarded Agent of the Year by CAPACOA and in 2014 she was awarded the Cultural Champion Award for Arts Leadership by Business for the Arts, Canada and the City of Nanaimo Award of Distinction for her contribution to the Vancouver Island Symphony. In 2017, she was awarded the BC Touring Council’s Agent of the Year Award for her work with the Maverick Cooperative.
Mike Delamont
Mike Delamont is the 18-time “Best Of The Fest” winning creator and star of God Is A Scottish Drag Queen, the highest selling one man comedy on the Canadian fringe circuit. An acclaimed producer, Mike has grown his popular franchise of shows from playing small black box theatres to playing some of the largest venues in the country, developing a large dedicated fan base, and selling more than 40,000 tickets last year. A 3-time Canadian Comedy Award nominee, his 8 one-man shows have toured to sold-out houses across the continent. As a comedian, Mike has appeared on CBC’s Laugh Out Loud and The Debaters, SiriusXM’s Top Comic, the Halifax Comedy Festival, Just For Laughs and at the world-famous Comedy Store in Los Angeles. His debut comedy album “Mike Delamont Live at Hecklers” was released on Itunes.
Renata Mills
Renata is the founding Executive Director of Festivals Kelowna, a producer of community focused festivals and events including Parks Alive!, Celebrate Canada Day – Kelowna, the Buskers Program, Arts on the Avenue, and New York New Years. A former resident of the lower mainland she has been actively engaged in local events and activities in Kelowna for over 22 years and understands the importance and benefits of a vibrant, welcoming community, of which festivals and cultural activities play an important part. A fan of all kinds of music, through her career she has had the privilege of hiring and working with 1000’s of performing artists from Busk style street performers, to youth and child musicians, to garage band “hobbyists”, to national and international touring artists.
Past Trainers & Speakers
Thank you to our all of past and present trainers & speakers including Aaron Schubert, Adam Kane, Bill Usher, Cathleen McMahon, Cheryl Ewing, Colleen Brines, Cory Philley, Cory Thibert, Darby Yule, Daune Campbell, Deb Beaton-Smith, Deb Renz, Debbie Peters, Dinah Dee, Don Parman, Doug Cox, Eden Oliver, Galen Olstead, George Scott, Gillian Thomson, Gina Loes, Graeme Peters, Evie Lavers, Frank Hoorn, Jeff Poynter, Jim Dobbs, Joanna Maratta, Julie-anne Saroyan, Julie Fowler, John McLachlan, Hailey Troock, Kevin Bruce, Kevin Korchinski, Krista Patterson, Lucas Myers, Lucas Schuller, Mandy Wheelwright, Margot Holmes, Mark Greenhalgh, Michael Averill, Mike Delamont, Monique Lacerte, Paul Hinrichs, Rae Spoon, Rick Scott, Sam Calhoun, Speed Control (Graeme Peters, Jody Peters, Ian March), Sarah Kim, Sheryl McGraw, Skip Taylor, Steve Brockley, Stuart Nemtin, Sue Urquhart, Teresa Nelson, Valerie Dare, Valerie Hillier, Valley Hennell and Walter Quan.
Coordinator: Sheryl McGraw
Production Manager: Mark Greenhalgh
Host/Moderator: Joanna Maratta
This workshop is presented by the BC Touring Council in partnership with the BC Arts Council, as part of the Aspiring Emerging Associates Touring & Training Initiative.
