About this Project...
THE SOO MUSIC PROJECT IS A LIVING ARCHIVE OF SAULT STE MARIE'S MUSICAL HISTORY. ORGANIZED AND DEVELOPED BY ARTISTS FOR ARTISTS, WE HOPE TO PROVIDE A SPACE WHERE TOURISTS AND LOCALS alike CAN EXPLORE THE SAULT'S EVER CHANGING MUSIC SCENE, PAST AND PRESENT and future...
Inspired by a trip to the museum in the fall of 2017, this project's story begins the day the citizen journalist Shaun Antler visited the small permanent gallery on the third floor, which houses an exhibition dedicated to the history of local music. There she was struck by the notion that renowned singers and song writers started their careers just down the street from where their pictures now hang on the wall, and their records stand in glass cases. Yet, it was less the idea of locals who became famous which peaked her interest, instead it was the idea that she knew there were many more bands, musicians and performance artists that could be included in the display... and so, a seed sprouted in her brain that day. “Wouldn’t it be great to create a list to include their names, and possibly gather more photos and memorabilia, so they too could be featured in the music exhibit?”
It was a thought which would not leave her. And so, that night after she got home, Shaun rummaged through all the stage notes she had accumulated over the past 12 years spent as Artistic Director for The Stage at ROTARYFEST, the Sault's Summer Festival, and it began. She opened her laptop and created a spreadsheet.
The first two years of her "little project" included untold hours scouring the internet and talking on the phone, collecting information from musicians and performers who have, at some point in their lives, called Sault Ste. Marie home. Her research includes individual artists, names of local bands and what instrument each member played, and also, whenever possible, titles of their recordings, accolades received, special events or venues they played, plus the dates they formed, their current status, and more. It is a wide musical landscape with genres like doo-wop, classical, barbershop, electronic, musical theatre, comedic and world music rounding out the more common rock, blues, jazz, punk, ska, emo, indie, alternative, metal, bluegrass and country. Records date back as far as the early 1900's, and include military marching bands as well as big band orchestras.
By the time that spreadsheet had reached 1600 bands, she began thinking about printing it out, so she could present it to the Museum to be put on display in that gallery which inspired it. It was then she happened upon the Borderline Radio, which had just begun airing a 24hr stream of local music, and there she met Bill Cowen who was working on the a similar archival project, but digital.
It has taken over a year since they met, but the site before you is infact just a multi-media version of that paper copy which now sits in its own place of honor in a small room at the top of the stairs on the third floor of the museum.
With help from our partners at the Indivision Network, who have spent 20 years developing arts directories for local communities, many options have been added to promote multi-media artist profiles, and encourage local input. All Audio recordings, photos, and media articles have been collected from existing online artist profiles, like Discogs.com, Facebook, independed news sources, Myspace, Spotify, YouTube and official band websites, or they have been added by the artists themselves.
We would like to stress, that without contributions of local music aficionados, personal submissions from artists, and verbal conversations with a whole host of intriguing personalities, this project could not have made it this far. Special thanks to individuals who reached out to fellow musicians from their eras, family members, journalists, teachers, organization directors, bloggers, and Facebook Group Administrators, Many thanks to you all.
The database currently contains profiles for almost 2000+ bands and 100's of musicians.
Click the magnifying glass at the top of any page to search for Individual artists, bands and Resources or create your own account to submit your own content.
Contact [email protected], or [email protected] if you have any questions or wish to submit additional listings.
Many thanks to the following Contributors
Major contributors to this project include individuals who reached out to fellow musicians from their eras, family members, journalists, teachers, organization directors, bloggers, and Facebook Group Administrators. Many thanks to the following individuals to whom this project could not have been accomplished.
Paul Leclair, President of the Canadian Conference of Musicians/Secretary Treasurer Local 276 AFM
Rob Figures, Administrator/Blogger, The Sault Metal Scene
Don MacDonald, Sault Music Scene (Centennial Lanes, Zombie A-Go-Go etc.)
Shane "DJ Seith" Erickson, Soo York City Urban Arts Collective
Brian Kelly, Journalist, The Sault Star
Chris Belsito, Freelance Writer, Soo Today/Sault Musician
Adrian Vilaca, Owner/Operator, The Borderline Radio
Ric Datson, The Sault Ste. Marie Museum/Sault Musician
Ronn Koski, Sault Musician
Glen Thomas, Sault Musician
Kt Antler, Sault Musician
Rick "Styles" White, Sault Musician/Radio Personality
Randy Foreman, Sault Musician
Tony Santoro, Sault Musician
Laurier "Tuffy" Thibodeau, Sault Musician
Marty Siltanen, Sault Musician
Jim Traveson, Sault Musician/"18 Forever" coordinator
Marci and Dama Chindamo, Sault Musicians
Kyle McKey, Sault Musician
Scott McLurg, Sault Musician
Steve Ryan, Sault Musician
Agnes McCarthy, Director, Northern Arts Academy/Vocal Teacher
Denine Williams, Music Teacher, Korah Collegiate & Vocational School
Jennifer Patterson, Administrator, Northern Ontario Country Music Association
We thank our partners in these efforts who have been so important during this preliminary collection of information. Our database currently contains profiles for 1864 bands and musicians.
Directory Features
The Directory offers users a searchable listing of the organizations, venues, businesses, and services helping members of the public find what they need as well as the arts community to effectively market and promote their services.
Submitting a Resource is easy, just click on the Submit Listing link in the top right hand corner of every page -> then choose List a Resource
Resource profiles of individual resources include : logo, name/title, contact information, description, web address, social media links and a customized Url to make it easy to share your info. Resources can also be added the Arts & Culture Map simply by clicking "add to map".
Resource Categories enable a quick, easy and intuitive user interface. All items are sorted according to:
- Organization Type: Not-For-Profit Society, Cooperative, Artsist Collective, Private Business, Government Agency, Educational Institution, Religious / Spiritual Org. and Special Event/Festival.
as well as by
- Service Type: gallery, venue, support services, funding agency, etc. Service types are used to categorize the resource in both the directory and on the Arts & Culture Map.
The Automated Directory Confirmation System helps to maintain the accuracy of the ArtsVictoria database through regular contact with resource managers, allowing them to verify if their information is still current. All information is dated to ensure that the user knows when it was last confirmed and updated
The Venue Finder
Caters to those looking for venues to host events, as well as owners wanting to promote their spaces
Use the Finder to filter locations by a variety of important variables, such as capacity, Rental Costs, Stage and Equipment Specs.
The Arts and Culture Map
The Map Viewgives a geographic representation of organizations and resources in the community and seamlessly integrates with the textual data about the organization. Any resource can be added to the map, simply add an address to it’s profile, then select “Add to Map” from the drop down options.
- Category Filters give the user control of how much, or how little information is displayed on the map at a time. All you need to do is click on the desired check box to see, for instance, all visual arts resources, or just the Art Galleries. Resource categories are controlled by the “Service Type” option in resource profiles.
- Unique Category Icons visually define each resource by type on the map.
User Accounts
Use your user account to add, update or manage resources , events and announcments on ArtsVictoria.ca. An account is automatically created for you as soon as you submit a new resource to the directory. If you already have an account in the system, you can create multiple resources under the same username. Your account can also be associated with any resource as long as it's owner adds you to it's management list.
Account Home control Panel
From here you can control and edit your log-in details as well as all the content you have listed, have editing access to on artsvictoria.ca*.
(*Please note that this directory, shares user accounts and some resource directory listings with liveivctoria.com)
- Your Resource List – Your Account is automatically associated with any resources and events which you list under your username (i.e. you email). You can add events and resources either via the “Submit Listing” link at the top right hand corner of any page, or by using the “List an Organization / Resource" link in the resources section of your account home control panel.
- Your Calendar Listings – Calendar listings can be either “single day special events” which take place within a 24 hour period, “on-going events” which have a beginning and an end date more than one day in length.
- Your Announcement Listings - Special postings from your regarding topical information about your resource. Listing categories include : News Item, Call for Entry, Volunteer Opportunity, Employment Opportunity, and WorkshopYour User Profile - Here you will find all the information
- User Name – Your username is the email which you created your resource with, or which was associated with the resource by another owner.
- Password – Your password is automatically generated when your account is created. You can change it anytime you wish via your User Profile
