WHAT ARE “TANGENTS NORTH”?

The 1st day of the week is Thursday...

Ever since John Landry and I met at Private Pilot ground school in Waterloo, we always made it a point to meet off-airport on a regular basis. Thursday nights at the farm always started with an agenda, or at least a topic, centered around music, the future of music or fixing the music business. At first it was just John and me; later Tim Louis, Mark Watson, Rich Baker, Dave Savoie, Sean Russell and others would drop in from time to time. Even though the night always started with some tenuous semblance of structure, somewhere through the second pot of coffee (or second Amaretto or second bottle of wine) the left, right and hair-brained ideas inevitably pinballed off in unpredictable directions into uncharted space.

Occasionally the night yielded a couple of lines of careful notes on the original intent... more often the product of the evening was disparate sketches, mind-maps, plans and outlines for things that, though their existence hadn't been contemplated at 8:00 PM, became imperative and important new goals by midnight. Eventually acknowledging the obvious - that we spent more time going off on tangents than on the pre-determined subjects - Thursdays around the dining room table became known as "tangents nights"; formally informal and seriously enjoyable brainstorming sessions. (Sometime the meetings invoked flashbacks to the long ago Bible Belt IHOP overnights with Pierre Chalifoux and various Spectacle alumni, and deja vu of Spinal Tap’s 18” Stonehenge planning session.)

As many of the publishing, A&R, label, touring and artist management ideas and concepts born on tangents nights began to grow legs, and needed a full-time team and structure to help them mature, it was only natural that in its name, we paid homage to the origins of the enterprise, and created Tangents North Music Inc.

- Cameron Joyce

CAMERON JOYCE - CEO

Cameron's first career was as a professional musician, spending much of it with Spectacle, one of Canada's most successful show bands, playing trumpet & keyboards, and sharing vocal, MC, stand-up and musical comedy roles. A decade of international touring and continuous problem solving (like closing in PEI on a Saturday, getting a dozen people and trucks of equipment legally across the border, and opening on time in Las Vegas the following Thursday!) provided the natural opportunity to absorb significant logistics expertise. Learning why and how so much money could come in and so little be left over led to an intense and necessary desire to learn the financial and business management aspects of entertainment.

Subsequent entrepreneurial ventures in screen printing and promotional products, a bookstore, courier and delivery businesses eventually lead to a management career with an international courier company, culminating as Director of Operations, overseeing 1,500 employees and 20 terminals. In 1994 Cameron co-founded and became President of Associated Logistics Solutions, a leading third-party logistics (3PL) provider, and in 2004 became President of McKesson Logistics Solutions, a 3PL focused on serving health care and pharmaceutical manufacturers.

Varied, broad, often fleeting outside interests include forays as a cabinet maker, general contractor, sheep farmer, and pilot. (No longer mentioned is the pile of boxes in the garage that used to be a fully functional 1959 Triumph TR3A before the "classic auto restoration" phase began.) Constant and enduring primary interest is love and support for and from Fran and family, Rebecca, Tracy and Justin.

SEAN RUSSELL

Sean Russell is a Music Industry Professional who became infatuated with the business side at a young age. He began working in the Music Industry at the age of 19 and by 23, he had booked, promoted and organized hundreds of shows, became marketing director for some of Canada's largest acts, managed several well established bands, became a booking agent for bands in Canada and The United States, organized yearly music festivals, national charity events and involved himself deeply within all aspects of the Canadian music industry.

Sean is a creative, opinionated, passionate member of the Canadian scene and has proven to have a deep understanding of the past and future of the music industry. A few bands that Sean has worked with include:

• The Trews
• Peter Katz
• David Francey
• Two Hours Traffic
• Peter Elkas
• Emma-Lee
• Decade Of Sleep
• John Landry
• Sarah MacDougall