SAKAMOTO AGENCY SIGNS RIVER TOWN SAINTS AND LEMON CASH

For Immediate Release, December 9, 2021: Sakamoto Agency is delighted to announce the addition of two new bands to their Canadian roster, coming off a second win at the Canadian Country Music Awards for Booking Agency of the Year, and following each band’s impressive performance at Sakamoto’s VIP Mixer during the 2021 CCMA’s. Joining the award-winning roster are warriors of the radio and road, River Town Saints, and newcomers to Canadian country music, Lemon Cash. Sakamoto agent Carla Hackman will be the Responsible Agent for both bands, who are managed by Tina Simpkin.

River Town Saints have been wowing audiences with their high energy shows and rich vocal harmonies since 2016, when they were nominated as Rising Star at the Canadian Country Music Awards. More recently, their single “Long Time Coming” was Stingray Radio’s Trending Track, and the band are currently on Rogers’ radio “Ones to Watch” list with their latest single “What Ya Doing Tonight”.

“We’re beyond excited to partner with Sakamoto Agency,” says Chris McComb of the band. “We can’t think of a better team to help River Town Saints bring their exciting live show to fans.”

In their history, River Town Saints have had multiple Top 40 hits and played festival stages across Canada, but not without their share of troubles. The sudden death of their founding bass player and replacing the lead singer set the band back, and then covid-19 struck, putting the brakes on RTS 2.0. However the band continued to work and rose to the occasion, getting their feet back underneath them with new lead vocalist Chase Kasner, by playing drive-in shows across Ontario and raising over $50,000.00 in charitable dollars, towards mental health and awareness in the province.

Made up of Ottawa-born brothers Cory and Jeff Papineau, newcomers Lemon Cash are currently the Country Music Association of Ontario’s Artist of the Month. Starting out as a rock band, and named after the brothers’ “lemon cash” from their childhood lemonade stand, Lemon Cash built a substantial following before finding their “sweet spot” in country music.

Featured in Now & Then Magazine, Music’s Journey Podcast, and C to C Canadian Country Music Insider, Lemon Cash are gathering a buzz in their new genre, and preparing to release new music in 2022. Upbeat and positive, the brothers are excited to join the Sakamoto Agency family, saying “We are so thrilled to be joining Sakamoto Agency. Paul, Carla and Joelle are phenomenal people, both professionally and personally, and we know that we are going to have a fantastic relationship and career with them.”

Responsible Agent for both River Town Saints and Lemon Cash, Carla Hackman says of the band, “I’m tremendously excited to welcome these acts to the roster and start their new chapters. River Town Saints are not only wonderful musicians and people, but they put on a show-stopping performance. Lemon Cash is a duo that should not be missed, and what they have coming is bound to impress any music fan, country or otherwise!”  Hackman is also RA for roster artists Kendra Kay, Garrett Gregory, and Karac Hendriks.

River Town Saints and Lemon Cash join the roster for a total of twenty-one original artists, five specialty shows, and one host/emcee at Sakamoto Agency. What started as a primarily Canadian country music roster, has grown in diversity with such additions as #1 Singing Impressionist Andre-Philippe Gagnon, Canadian rock band Econoline Crush, and Indigenous Drum Group the Young Spirit Singers, as well as multimedia salute-style shows featuring the music of Tom Petty, George Jones, Merle Haggard, and Stompin’ Tom Connors.

Press requests may be directed to Joelle May at [email protected].

MORE ABOUT RIVER TOWN SAINTS:
River Town Saints have a lot to show for the past few years, including over 5 million YouTube views and 12 million streams, a top 10 hit with their single, “Bonfire”, CCMA nominations, Country Music Association of Ontario and Canadian Radio Music Awards, tours with Tim Hicks, Kip Moore and large-scale festivals. The band also released their single “Long Time Coming” which reached the Top 40 and was the Stingray Trending Track for June/July 2021. Known for their energetic live show, rich vocal harmonies and good times, the Saints are just getting started. “Whatcha Doing Tonight” is the latest power driven single from the band, that highlights their incredible harmonies and musicianship. It is sure to have diehard fans singing along, and win over scores of new fans.

Throughout the past two years, River Town Saints have headlined or performed at a number of drive-in concerts including the City of Pembroke, Huntsville, Kirkland Lake, Crooks Rapids Country Fest, Manitoulin Island, Winding Roads Big Brothers/Big Sisters charity fundraiser in Port Perry, and The Carp Fair to name a few. They have also been instrumental in assisting in raising over $50,000 for mental health and wellness in Ontario. River Town Saints have been busy writing and recording with producer Sam Guiana (Silverstein) at Studio 21, for the band’s full length album coming in 2022.

MORE ABOUT LEMON CASH
There’s a saying when life hands you lemons, make lemonade. Ottawa-born brothers, Cory and Jeff Papineau live by this saying. So much so, that they named their band Lemon Cash. The band’s name was inspired from the brothers childhood when they ran a neighbourhood lemonade stand. The two brothers would come home each day celebrating their hard- earned “lemon cash”. To this day they share similar interests in music and continue to write and record music together. Starting out as a rock band, they had success playing lots of gigs, receiving radio traction and formed quite a substantial following. Looking to evolve their music, Cory and Jeff found their sweet spot and transitioned into the country world where they would come to realize this is where their tastes and personalities fit best.

MORE ABOUT SAKAMOTO AGENCY:
Sakamoto Agency is an award-winning booking, talent buying, and event programming agency in Canada. With over 100 years of combined music industry experience among staff including booking, talent buying, management, publicity & marketing, and project management, Sakamoto Agency is an industry leader, and a two-time winner of the CCMA for Booking Agency of the Year (2021 & 2020). Along with 20+ years of various nominations, VP and Operating Partner Paul Biro has also won CCMA’s Ron Sakamoto Talent Buyer or Promoter of the Year 3 consecutive years, from 2019 to 2021.