You might be inclined, in fact, to call it Nashville North.
Southern Georgian Bay is music country. You might be inclined, in fact, to call it Nashville North. There’s so much happening: from regular music nights at Black Bellows, The Harbour Street Fish Bar, Taps and Tunes, The Corner, The Bruce Wine Bar, Meaford Hall, Heartwood Concert Hall, Collingwood Brewery, Simcoe Street Theatre, to the mythical underground venues like Frontier Town and the Milkbarn—and so many more!—that there’s always a place to enjoy amazing sounds.
The music scene—and the talent here—has generally been a rich part of our heritage, but it seems magnified now that we are thankfully back to our natural and highly beneficial habits of gathering as a community to celebrate positive vibrations. It would be impossible to mention all the artists who deserve a shout-out, so in this issue, the iconic radio personality Jeff Woods—who is based in Thornbury—highlights a handful. His words, complemented by our managing editor Anya Shor’s stunning photography, capture some of the stories.
On the business side, we continue to grow, inspired by the owner of this publication (and CEO of Zoomer Media), the legendary independent media lion Moses Znaimer. This past summer, Moses launched a local news and entertainment TV channel and app called Bay Watch (download it at the app store, or watch at baywatch.ca), which is now airing in more than 1,100 homes in the region and at more than 25 local establishments—and this number grows daily. Moses’ vision for media specifically for Southern Georgian Bay is so welcome. It helps us define ourselves as a distinct cultural region, it helps us celebrate our uniqueness, our entrepreneurs and our community heroes, it spreads good news, and it builds goodwill.
We are only able to do this thanks to the support we receive from local businesses who utilize our platforms as hugely powerful marketing tools. It’s the perfect win-win. We create valuable free content, which creates an attractive audience for advertisers, which in turn connects you, our audience, with the very best businesses in the region to work with.
As we push this forward, marketers will notice new opportunities to reach key demographics. This issue, Moses opened up space on our front cover for a marketing message. This prime branding position is unique to On The Bay, and helps us execute the master plan of: more premium engaging content, more culture, and more connection between our readers and the exceptional entrepreneurs who’ve entrusted us with their business objectives.
Enjoy this issue.
David Loopstra
Publisher, On The Bay
