What a great chance to use that opening line!

Well, I’m sitting in my recording studio enjoying a bowl of Raisin Bran and a Big Rock Lime (you guess the time of day) and I’m getting ramped up for Volume 3 of Big Rock Untapped! Listening to hundreds of bands and solo artists has become a work of passion for myself amongst the other industry execs across the country who make up the Untapped judges.

Dave Pierce: Loves Raisin Bran, Big Rock Lime and fresh, Canadian music.

My name is Dave Pierce and I’m the music supervisor for the Big Rock Untapped CD’s. I’m a Canadian music producer, a composer and often a twister of knobs and sliders behind the giant mixing board…does that make me a decider of musical fate? Definitely not, just the guy who chooses how loud the kick drum sounds, if the vocal sounds amazing, or whether now is a good time to stop and tune that wretched guitar once and for all.

Over the years I’ve had some fun making music with some of the greats, from Paul Brandt to Jann Arden, Michael Bublé to Carrie Underwood, Billy Joel to Frank Sinatra (I know what you’re thinking: how ancient and crusty is this guy!!) and now my day job is Music Director for the upcoming 2010 Olympics.

The making of Untapped 1 & 2 are a blur to me…a lot of Big Rock beer…a lot of songs to listen to…okay okay, just kidding! Actually the first two CD’s were an eye opener for everyone at the brewery who believed that a grassroots method of getting solid Canadian talent to the front of the line was needed; much like the methods of Big Rock producing a quality beer, Canadian talent often gets overlooked in its early stages because the spotlight gets hogged by the record company fad of the day.

So, one thing lead to another and Big Rock became the official beer sponsor of the JUNO Awards (the Junos are the Canadian Grammy Awards… without half the wardrobe malfunctions). Celebrating the brewery’s new connection with the music biz, we set out to find the underdogs of the nation - you know those singers and bands you hear in festivals, bars, and clubs and you say to yourself “this sounds amazing…they should be famous!”. We created a channel for these hopefuls to actually be true “emerging artists” by being a part of Untapped. (A back door entrance to an otherwise exclusive club.) Now Untapped artists have a way to gain massive exposure to fans, friends and the listening ear of the industry’s movers and shakers who make up our judging panel.

Our eyes (and ears) were opened indeed! The instant response from artists across the country was phenomenal.

So, now down to the task at hand: Getting Untapped 3 on the rails and ready for the fans to hear. Send us your best songs, give it a whirl…this opportunity is like no other shot at a front-line V.I.P. pass. The folks at Big Rock really (really) love beer, crave (really) good music and they are friends to any musician looking for a leg up in the dog-eat-dog business.