CBCMusic.ca provides viewers with two programs to get them closer to Canadian music than ever before

CBCMusic.ca is about to give viewers more access to Canadian music than ever before. On Friday, September 5th, CBC-TV will air the CBCMusic.ca Festival Special hosted by CBC Radio One’s Jian Ghomeshi at 9 p.m. ET, CT and PT, 8 p.m. AT and MT (8:30 p.m. NT). CBCMusic.ca’s Backstage Pass will also kick off its second season at midnight (12:30 a.m. NT) with new host Talia Schlanger of CBC Radio 2 Weekend.

The CBCMusic.ca Festival Special will feature exclusive interviews and performances from Tegan & Sara, Spoon, Arkells, Dan Mangan and an appearance by 2014 CBC Music Searchlight winner Lauren Mann And the Fairly Odd Folk. Host Jian Ghomeshi will give viewers a glimpse of the festival that took place at Vancouver, B.C.‘s Deer Lake Park on June 14, 2014.

CBCMusic.ca‘s weekly music program that airs from coast-to-coast on CBC-TV and online, Backstage Pass, will begin its second season at midnight on September 5th, welcoming new host Talia Schlanger. Every Friday and Sunday at 4 p.m. ET (4:30 p.m. NT), beginning September 21st, Talia explores the world of Canadian music, giving listeners the chance to hear creative performances, exclusive studio sessions and in-depth artist profiles in this 30-minute program. In the first episode, Backstage Pass will travel to the pop music mecca, Los Angeles, to sit down with Grammy Award-winning producer Quincy Jones and his young jazz protégé, Montreal’s Nikki Yanofsky, as she records her album Little Secret.

To continue to provide Canadians access to the best music in our country, CBCMusic.ca has re-launched their official Youtubemusic channel. The channel’s new format will include a six-day programming schedule of great new videos of exclusives, performances, series, lists and specials. CBC Radio 2 hosts Tom Power, Rich Terfry and Nana Aba Duncan will regularly contribute with their picks.

In addition, CBC-TV will broadcast the 2014 Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) Awards on Sunday, September 7th at 8 p.m. local time (8:30 NT), as well as live stream the event on CBCMusic.ca/CCMA beginning at 7 p.m. ET.CBCMusic.cawill host a contest for a trip for two to flyaway with Dierks Bentley and Tim Hicks starting on Friday, September 5, 2014. Full details are available at CBCMusic.ca/CCMA.

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CBC/Radio-Canada is Canada’s national public broadcaster and one of its largest cultural institutions. The Corporation is a leader in reaching Canadians on new platforms and delivers a comprehensive range of radio, television, internet, and satellite-based services. Deeply rooted in the regions, CBC/Radio-Canada is the only domestic broadcaster to offer diverse regional and cultural perspectives in English, French and eight Aboriginal languages.

A space for us all is CBC/Radio-Canada’s new strategy to modernize the public broadcaster and ensure that it continues to fulfill its mandate for Canadians and for future generations. Through to 2020, it will increase its investment in prime time television programming, and continue to create radio programs of the highest quality, while promoting the development of digital and mobile platforms and content.

CBCMusic.cais Canada’s free digital music service. For the casual listener to the hardcore fan, connect with the very best Canadian and international music, concerts and features. Simple and easy to navigate,CBCMusic.cagives Canadians access to 50 Web radio stations,12 distinct genre-based music communities, CBC Radio 2 and CBC Radio 3, plus content from the most knowledgeable music personalities and programmers from across the country, hundreds of concerts, playlists and more.

For a complete list of publicity contacts and for more information including series synopses, press releases, hi-res images, video clips and bios, please visit the CBC Media Centre at cbc.ca/mediacentre. Follow CBC’s publicity team on Twitter @CBC_Publicity.

Dayna Shiskos, publicist, CBC

O: (416) 205-7973