After a year of behind-the-scenes work the Ontario Independent Music Archive (OIMA) is ready to launch! Starting on Saturday, January 26th you can check it out at www.oima-amio.ca.

OIMA is an online bilingual repository for new and emerging musicians in all genres to post and share their work with the public.

It also collects, preserves and promotes older independent music from across the province that was originally produced in small batches on vinyl, cassette and CD, making it available to new audiences.

The NCRA is behind the creation of OIMA, along with our partners at the Music Association of Canada, and funded by a grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, a leading grant-maker in Canada.

On Saturday, January 26th there will be a launch show in London, ON, featuring performances from local Eastern-European influenced folk act Olenka and the Autumn Lovers; hiphop act Treetop featuring Casper; NFG, the precursor to punk band 63 Monroe; and the electronic psychedelic duo Learning, the Band from Windsor. The facebook page for the show is here.

Then on Friday, February 1st we'll launch the site in Toronto, featuring Hamilton proto-punk pioneers Simply Saucer; Juno-nominated reggae legend and treasure trove of Toronto-Jamaican musical history Jay Douglas and the All Stars; Colombian-born, Toronto-based and rising star of the Alternative Latin scene Lido Pimienta; and new alt-country band The Highest Order. There will also be a book signing by Liz Worth, author of "Treat me like Dirt: An Oral History of Punk in Toronto and Beyond 1977-1981".The facebook page for the show is here.

The press release is attached. Please feel free to contact alan@ncra.ca or call 1-866-859-8086 for more information.