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We received a lot of entries and we are going to take our time to sift through them all in order to determine the winners.  A big “Thank You” to all of you who entered and we hope you found it as much fun selecting which of your photos to enter as we will choosing who to award prizes to.

I hope it also brought back some fond memories of the cross-Canada tour that BIG SUGAR embarked on last fall, with special guests Wide Mouth Mason providing as good an opening act as a band could hope for.  We have read nothing but great reports from those of you who caught a show and who posted on Facebook, and don’t think you’ve seen the last of the bands, because touring is in the blood of BIG SUGAR, and after the last note was struck on the final day of the tour everyone – and I mean EVERYONE – said “We gotta do this again, man!”

So stay tuned here for all the BIG SUGAR news as we are able to make it available to all of you.

In the meantime, BIG SUGAR recorded a dynamite version of “People People” on GREAT GYPSY SOUL, the Tommy Bolin and Friends tribute album. For those of you who are not familiar with him, Tommy Bolin, who died in 1976, was a pioneering guitarist who played with Zephyr (from 1969 to 1971), The James Gang (from 1973 through 1974), and Deep Purple (from 1975 to 1976).

GREAT GYPSY SOUL, which has songs performed by a star-studded line up of talent, including Warren Haynes, Joe Bonamassa, Nels Kline, Steve Lukather and Peter Frampton as well as BIG SUGAR, is coming out on MARCH 26, but you can listen to some of each track and preorder on iTunes here – http://itunes.apple.com/us/preorder/great-gypsy-soul/id504068382 .  Warning – if you listen to it you are going to want to own it. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

That’s all in the world of BIG SUGAR at the moment, good people, but as I wrote earlier – watch this space for updates; we have a tendency of putting news up when you least expect it.

One more month and then Spring will be here and another Canadian winter will be told “So long!”

Me? I can’t wait.

Until next time…

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REVOLUTION PER MINUTE
Tour Photo Contest Rules & Regulations

ELIGIBILITY
All entries must be photographs taken during the BIG SUGAR Revolution Per Minute fall tour of 2011. The contest is open to all residents of Canada and the United States age 18 years and older, except employees directly involved with BIG SUGAR, and any of their sponsoring or affiliated companies. This includes their immediate families, cohabitants, agents or contractors. The contest is void where prohibited or restricted by law. BIG SUGAR reserves the right to cancel the contest or modify these rules at its discretion. Decisions of BIG SUGAR will be final. No purchase is necessary.

FORMAT
Entries are to be digital photographs and submitted electronically as jpeg files to the contest website. Digital files are to be at least 1200 pixels wide for a horizontal image or 1200 pixels tall for a vertical image, and no larger than 4MB (4,000 KB). Content alteration of digital files is not acceptable; including combining multiple photos. Cropping of photos is permitted, tonal or colour corrections are acceptable. Borders, frames, text or other graphic treatments are not permitted.

Finalists will be asked to submit a high-resolution file suitable for print reproduction. BIG SUGAR judges reserve the right to disqualify contestants who are unable to submit, upon request, a high-resolution photograph of at least 300 dpi at 4 x 6 inches.

PRIZES

1 Grand Prize winner will receive -
* 1 limited edition vinyl Revolution Per Minute album, autographed by the band members of BIG SUGAR,
* 1 Stanton T62B turntable (the same model as Gordie Johnson has).
* 4 admissions to a BIG SUGAR concert of his or her choice, plus a meet and greet backstage with the band after the concert,
* $100 in BIG SUGAR merchandise of his or her choice, including taxes and shipping, from items available on BIG SUGAR‘s online store – http://bigsugar.com/bigsugarblog/?page_id=295#D761

2 Runner Up Prize winners will each receive -
* 1 limited edition vinyl Revolution Per Minute album, autographed by the band members of BIG SUGAR,
* 2 admissions to a BIG SUGAR concert of his or her choice, plus a meet and greet backstage with the band after the concert,
* $50 in BIG SUGAR merchandise of his or her choice, including taxes and shipping, from items available on BIG SUGAR‘s online store – http://bigsugar.com/bigsugarblog/?page_id=295#D761

ENTRIES AND IDENTIFICATION
Photographs entered must not have been previously published. They can however, have been posted on BIG SUGAR‘s Facebook Page. Individuals can only win once. Entrants must own all rights to the photographs submitted. As such, entrants hold BIG SUGAR harmless from any breach of copyright. Photographs that have been published in a magazine or newspaper (except online) are not eligible. Photographs that violate or infringe upon another person’s copyright are not eligible. Photographs must have been shot during the Fall 2011 BIG SUGAR Revolution Per Minute tour.

Entries can only be received online. Limit of two entries per entrant. Any individual entering more than two photographs will have all entries disqualified. BIG SUGAR retains the right to disqualify entries with inappropriate content. To enter, email the photograph in JPEG format to bigsugarmusic@gmail.com . Make sure your name, address and phone number accompanies the image, as well as identifying the concert where the photograph(s) were taken.

PUBLICATION
Winners’ names and photographs will be published on www.bigsugar.com. BIG SUGAR reserves the non-exclusive right to publish any entry and/or use any entry in promotional and advertising materials. Photos published will be credited to the photographer where possible.

DEADLINE
All entries, uploaded through the contest website must be received prior to midnight ET, Wednesday, February 29, 2012.

JUDGING
The winners will be selected by a panel of judges, including members of BIG SUGAR. Winners will be notified by email ONLY by March 21, 2012. Decisions of the judges are final.

RESPONSIBILITY
BIG SUGAR cannot be held responsible for entries that are lost, damaged, or delayed during transmission. BIG SUGAR is not responsible for any failure of the website during this contest. Nor is it responsible for any problems or technical malfunctions of computer online systems, servers, access providers, computer equipment, software or any email, online or internet entry lost due to technical problems or traffic congestion on the internet or at any website or any combination thereof, including any injury or damage to an entrant’s or any other person’s computer or property related to or resulting from playing or downloading any material in the promotion.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE
With regard to any photograph submitted to this contest, the entrant, or the owner of copyright in the photograph, retains copyright. By uploading or submitting any photograph to this contest, the entrant grants (or warrant that the owner of such materials expressly grants) BIG SUGAR a royalty-free, world-wide, perpetual, non-exclusive license to display, distribute, reproduce, and create derivative works of the entries, in whole or in part, in any media now existing or subsequently developed, for any BIG SUGAR purpose, including, but not limited to advertising and promotional materials, its website, exhibition, and commercial products, including but not limited to album covers and merchandising. BIG SUGAR will not be required to pay any additional consideration or seek any additional approval in connection with such uses. Winning entrants are required to sign a release containing the above conditions. Prizes must be awarded as listed above, with no substitutions. The admissions and meet and greet to an upcoming BIG SUGAR concert has no monetary prize value,  and is valid for any BIG SUGAR concert in the future, anywhere in North America. Transportation to the venue is not included.

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Acclaimed rock photographer Andrew MacNaughtan – who worked with several groups including Rush, Barenaked Ladies and Big Sugar – passed away late this week. According to news reports the 47-year-old Juno Award winning photographer suffered a heart attack in Los Angeles where he was on assignment photographing Rush.

Big Sugar considered Andrew a friend. He shot videos for “Better Get Used To It” and “On The Scene” (both of which are posted on Big Sugar‘s Facebook Page today). He also shot all of the promotional photographs and the album cover for “Heated.”

From his home in Austin Texas, Big Sugar frontman Gordie Johnson said, “Andrew had a great way of sharing and indulging in our band’s sense of humour,” adding, “We loved his work so much, that he even shot my wedding photos.”

“All of us are moved and saddened by his death, but he left us a  documentation of so many great artists, and was indeed, a great artist himself.”

Thank you for remembering Andrew with us as we send our condolences to Andrew’s family, friends and loved ones. He will be truly missed.

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It was especially gratifying to see and meet a lot of the new fans who had never seen BIG SUGAR before in concert but came out to see and hear what the band is all about.

Special thanks go out to Shaun Verreault and Safwan Javed of Wide Mouth Mason, who were not only the best opening act BIG SUGAR could hope for, but the guys both joined the band on stage during every concert on the tour, helping make the sound as big and sweet as it was.

Thanks also to the wonderful Meredith Shaw, whose feminine touch and marvellous background vocals provided a great addition to the REVOLUTION PER MINUTE tour.

There have been two singles released so far from REVOLUTION PER MINUTE.

The first single – ROADS AHEAD – received massive play across Canada and was in the top 10 on the active rock charts in Canada for nearly 20 weeks.

The second single – LITTLE BIT A ALL RIGHT – is building and rolling its way across the country, getting added each and every week to new stations and it too is climbing the charts as it gets more spins.

Expect a new single from REVOLUTION PER MINUTE later, and if your local rock station is not giving you enough of a BIG SUGAR rush, there is nothing wrong with requesting some tunes.

After the last Toronto concert in mid-December the band members all returned to their homes in Windsor, Toronto, Montreal and Austin, Texas, and are taking some needed recuperation time.

But don’t worry – another concert tour will be happening in 2012; the last one was too much of a blast – both for BIG SUGAR and for the fans – to not be doing this again.

Make sure you keep checking here for news on what’s coming up in the world of BIG SUGAR.

Speaking of the fall RPM tour, I know that many of you took countless photographs of the band at all of the cross country concert dates, and we all want to see your best stuff.  Shortly I will be announcing a contest on the site here, where you will be able to submit your best photographs and win great prizes.  Watch for the contest to be launched in the near future.

And while there is not a lot of activity going on here at the moment, there is a crazy amount of posts, videos, photos, questions and discussion going on over at the BIG SUGAR Facebook page – https://www.facebook.com/BigSugarMusic#!/BigSugarMusic - if you are on Facebook and have not visited and liked us yet, please do. There is lots going on.

Here’s hoping your 2012 is off to a great start. Stay tuned for more updates soon!

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