CORRECTION!!!

The gig on Sept. 11 is NOT at the University of Victoria, as previously listed - it WILL BE at VANCOUVER ISLAND UNIVERSITY (which used to be called Malaspina University College) in Nanaimo!!!

GreenTaRA and the band will be performing from 12:30pm-2:30pm at the FROSH week mainstage on the Nanaimo campus.

Hope to see you there!

GT.

For Immediate Release

Thursday, July 31, 2008 - (Edmonton) Today, the Western Canadian Music Awards (WCMAs) announced GreenTaRA's most recent album, "Global Baby", is nominated for the top Outstanding Urban Recording of 2007.

 

The WCMAs feature some of the world's most talented artists. Music Industry professionals from across Canada and around the world will be converging in Edmonton for three amazing days of music and networking.

The WCMAs are an interactive three-day music Industry Conference, a three-day, multi-genre music festival and two awards shows – which include the Western Canadian Music Awards honouring the outstanding achievements of the regions' recording artists.

The 6th Annual Western Canadian Music Awards will be held in Edmonton, AB from October 16th to October 19th, 2008. The Western Canadian Music Awards Gala will be held on Sunday, October 19th, 2008. Twenty-one awards will be handed out, celebrating the depth and talent of our western artists.

Other artists nominated alongside GreenTaRA for Outstanding Urban Recording are Souljah Fyah, Moka Only and Touch & Nato.

 

I will be performing at LIME (1130 Commercial Drive) on Friday, June 27th with Chi Turner & Cristina Orbe.

We will each have a set of music and joining me on stage during my set will be Nino Di Pasquale on drums and Chi Turner on bass! This will be one of the last concerts ar LIME before they change format to food only, no music...the show runs from 9PM to Midnight. Chi and Cristina are amazing singer/songwriters, so their sets are not to be missed!

Last week Chi & I performed at the Alibi Room for the "B-Sides" concert series at Jazz Fest - if you have time to catch any of those shows, definately check them out! The last one is this Thursday.

Hope to see you at LIME this Friday - One Love.

TaRA

I will be sitting on a NXNE panel at 12noon on Saturday, June 14th for anyone who wants to pick my brain and get the goods...

UMAC (Urban Music Association of Canada) Presents:
Play Some Funky Music, White Boy!
Noon – 1PM • Regency

Moderator: Addi Stewart (aka Mindbender)
Panelists: Ayah [Artist], Che Kothari [Earwaks.com], Tara Nicole Donald (GreenTaRA), Michie Mee[Artist / TV Personality], Famous [Radio Personality / Artist]

You may not be old enough to remember when Top-40 radio played everything from cheesy pop to hard rock and—yes—funk and R&B. But if you've got your ear to the airwaves today, you'll know that urban artists are notoriously under-represented on mainstream music channels through radio, TV, and digital media. The Urban Music Association of Canada (UMAC) explores the problem, and presents top urban artists and entrepreneurs who dish the goods on how Canadians in urban music can get quality gigs and vital career-building exposure. (Hint: it doesn't mean running off south of the border!)

Urban artists often feel marginalized in Canada due to lack of infrastructure for live music performance venues across the country, a severe deficiency in free television-accessible video exposure & virtually no outlets for their musical expression on commercial radio. Out of frustration & lured by the "B.E.T. Bible", they are misled to believe that they are ready to jump across the 49th Parallel before they have created any sort of story in their backyard. Industry leaders & tastemakers will propose a variety of ways to overcome the obstacles that face today's urban artist in Canada.

Noon-1PM Regency D -- Michie Mee, Ayah, Che, GreenTara, The Kid Famous, Addi.

GreenTaRA's song "Controller" has been selected by BC kids for the Music Against Racism Project. The Music Against Racism Project is a component of the "Make a Case Against Racism" activity kit which addresses Grades 4 - 7 curriculum objectives in British Columbia. This project is to promote multiculturalism, cultural diversity, and awareness of racism in BC.

Song submissions were uploaded to a web page and accessed by Grade 4-7 students across BC. The students selected their top 15 tracks via online voting. The 15 songs selected will be included on a compilation CD. 2000 CDs will be manufactured for promotional purposes, which will feature artwork created by the students.

The manufacturing of the first 1000 CDs has been generously sponsored by CDman. Music BC Industry Association administered the "Music Against Racism" Project on behalf of the Settlement and Multiculturalism Division, Ministry of Attorney General, and Minister Responsible for Multiculturalism.

Where do I begin? Shout outs to my new friends - Hovercraft Pirates...after 2 weeks of pillaging and plundering through the UK with them, I've grown a fondness for 10 year-old Scotch and partying with Irish lads. We started in London - where our tour manager Ben Ruth picked up me & Scotty, we met Adam who came from Toronto to play drums with us, then we hit the hotel, then the gig with Buck Bros, then ended up in an all-night cocktail bar. Thus the beginning of the next two weeks of debotchery.

Basically we cruised a few towns in England, including Bideford in Devon where I got my clotted cream with scones, playing gigs - GreenTaRA & The Pirates - and loaded into a bus running on veggie oil. All was good, sunny and fun - except for one cold night that involved deflating matresses. Then we went to Wales and played in a biker bar - first time for Adam - and were introduced to the underground world of the biker's barracks.

Back to England for some more gigs, including Bath, where the show was tight, the drinks were flowing a little too smooth, so by the time I had finished the dance competition I had with the Pirate's bassist, we were too lit to find our way home, asked for directions, got jacked, chased some punks, a few punches were thrown and we got the hell out of there relatively unscathed until I busted my ankle running down a stairwell out of harms way. Ambulance and cops came and after a brief hospitalization I was back in the bus the next day on my way to finish the tour on crutches. Hell yeah. Hell no. Needless to say, the next show was rough.

Anyhow - back on tour, got some 4 star accoms, life was good (save the foot blowout) and I found alcohol to serve as a good pain killer. Then we got to Scotland and my Scottish blood kicked into high gear. Beautiful place. Saw some sunsets, limped through town, ate good food. Made great music. Then back to England for one night, show was alright...and before I knew it we were on a ferry off to the Isle of Arran for the weekend in Scotland again.

The Isle of Arran was definately my favourite part of the tour - leg was starting to improve (or was it the Scotch?) - either way, gigs were hot and we got to let loose on the crowd & do some improv. Had the Pirates step up to hit off a track with us each night and settled into a right party beachside post gigs. We had cougars, fish and adventures galore! The people were amazing. Even had a dude in his kilt up at the show. Last night on the isle, I got my hair straightened (woah trippy) and we stayed up til sunrise, then went for a walk (if I can call it walking) on the beach. Returned on the ferry after a couple hours sleep and prepped for our last show.

Last show rocked because we all had friends from the UK come out. Pirate Paul's bro came out, my Leeds ladies made it to the show and Scott's buddy brought his friends too. So we did alright and we ended it on a high note. No lie. I did pick up some bad habits on the road (now detoxing) but hell, ya only live once. Basically 2 weeks flew by, and even with the adversity and the gong show moments, Scott & I agreed we'd do it again. Made good friends and never a dull moment. Stay tuned for pics - I'll post them when I can.

Happy Earth Day! If there's one reason NOT to buy a Hallmark card to say something, it's definately today.

We're back in BC after the Earth Day outdoor festival in Downsview Park in Toronto. I saw so many kids and greenies planting 2,000 trees in the park, which, incidentally used to be part of the neighbouring army base. It made me happy to see things being planted in land that was previously used for war-games.

But if I'm gonna talk about the earth, and our impact on it - I gotta point out the ridiculous weather that's going on in Canada right now. It was snowing when I left Vancouver at the beginning of the weekend (and when I got back three days later). In Toronto it was as hot as a freakin' summer day!!! I couldn't believe it! I saw someone putting on sunblock, and I thought to myself, "woah, it's only April - people don't need sunblock in Canada at this time of year!" Was I ever mistaken! That thinned-out ozone layer, the greenhouse effect, the combination of it all...however you lay it out, that ultraviolet energy burned me up!

Crispy, like fried chicken. Ouch.