Creative Saskatchewan Announces SaskMusic New York City Showcase

In 2013, Creative Saskatchewan was established as a government agency to serve the people of Saskatchewan through their work and involvement in the province's creative industries. Those creative industries include music and sound recording, screen-based media, visual arts and craft, publishing, and live performing arts. Today (Nov. 4), Diffuser is ecstatic to partner with Creative Saskatchewan for the announcement of its music non-profit's SaskMusic's New York City showcase.

"[Initially, Creative Saskatchewan] was created to coordinate the development and marketing activities of [those] five major creative industries," SaskMusic Executive Director Derek Bachman says. "We are a non-profit Music Industry Association and represent artists at all levels in their careers and genres of music. SaskMusic stimulates the growth and development of the Saskatchewan music industry through leadership, promotion, training, advocacy and partnerships. One of our programs, and the focus for New York, is our Export Development Program. Its purpose is to expand the reach in export markets of Saskatchewan music."

With attention on New York, it makes sense that SaskMusic and Creative Saskatchewan are hosting a New York City showcase on Nov. 12 at Pianos in the Lower East Side, featuring Close Talker (pictured above), the Dead South, and Young Benjamins (official flyer below). These bands all hail from the province; as Bachman reflects on Saskatchewan's local music, he explains, "The role of music is an integral part of [our] cultural identity. We live in an area with vast spaces."

Even with vast spaces, Bachman admits that he's surprised at the level of talent that emerges from Saskatchewan: "For such a small population base, we definitely hit above our weight class with our artists!"

At the end of the day, the objective of SaskMusic is simple. "As an organization, our goal is to grow our industry and provide our industry the capacity on a global scale," Bachman succinctly states.

For more information on SaskMusic, visit their website here.