After a province-wide callout for the top talent in Alberta, Wild 953 and Alberta Music have announced the Top 12 artists for the 2019 season of Project WILD.
A professional development program designed to develop and launch the careers of some of Alberta’s up and coming artists, this year’s top 12 artists are as follows (in alphabetical order):
Aaron Pollock – Calgary, AB
Ben Chase – Calgary, AB
Blake Reid Band – Carstairs, AB
Devin Cooper – Innisfail, AB
Julia Vos – Edmonton, AB
Lauren Mayell – Calgary, AB
Lyndsay Butler – High River, AB
Mariel Buckley – Calgary, AB
Mariya Stokes – Stavely, AB
Mark Times - Stony Plain, AB
Michela Sheedy – Okotoks, AB
Ryan Lindsay – Wainwright, AB
As part of the top 12, each artist will receive a $5,000 Development Award in addition to an invitation to participate in Project WILD’s music industry boot camp – an intense one-week workshop to further their skills in performance, songwriting, marketing, media strategy, music business, music accounting, tour strategy, and social media. Following a series of showcase events and public voting, the top three artists of the season will be chosen. Top Awards this year for Project WILD include a $100,953 award for first place, $75,000 award for second, and $50,000 award for third.
Created in hopes of fostering the Alberta music industry and creating a sense of community among artists and industry professionals, Project WILD has played a role in launching the careers of many local artists including previous top-three finalists The Prairie States, Ryan Langlois, and Leaving Thomas (2018); Brad Saunders, Nice Horse, and Tanya Ryan (2017); The Dungarees, Sykamore, and Ken Stead (2016).
To welcome the class of 2019, last year’s Project WILD winners The Prairie States will be putting on a special performance at The King Eddy in Calgary on Saturday, June 15th from 4:15-5 p.m. This event is opened to the public and encourages Calgary to come out and meet their Top 12 artists in this year’s program.
For more information, visit www.projectwildcountry.com.
