McMaster & James

McMaster & James was a Canadian soul/pop "boy band" music duo from Winnipeg, Manitoba.

History

Luke McMaster (born 22 March 1976) and Rob James (born 30 October 1977) met in 1997 through Winnipeg-based producer Chris Burke-Gaffney and began collaborating as Two Face, later performing and recording under their combined names. Their gold,[1] self-titled debut CD, released in February 2000 on ViK. Recordings, a domestic label formed by BMG Music Canada, a subsidiary of BMG,[2] yielded the hits "Love Wins Everytime", "Thank You",[3] "I Understand" and "Sweet Sensation" which were well received by Canadian radio.[4]

McMaster & James toured nationally, securing the opening spots for NSYNC Canadian dates and on Christina Aguilera's Canadian tour that year, including a 13 July 2000 date for Aguilera at the Winnipeg Arena.[5] In the fall of 2000 and nominated in four categories, McMaster & James won Entertainers of the Year at the Prairie Music Awards via fan vote.[6]

In 2001, their song "Thank You" was named by SOCAN as one of the most performed Canadian pop songs on Canadian radio,[7][8] while "I Understand" won the Prairie Music Award (PMA) award for Best Song. The duo parted amicably in 2002.

In 2003, Luke McMaster decided to focus on his songwriting and production, signing with Universal Music Publishing Group Canada in 2004 for an association that lasted through 2012, placing songs with Rihanna, Nick Carter, Nick Lachey, Kalan Porter, Marc Jordan (he co-wrote Jordan's 2010 Top 40 hit, "Falling Man") and others.

In 2006, Rob James was a contestant on the fourth season of Canadian Idol, finishing seventh.

As a self-published (through his own Ekul Music) solo recording artist, Luke McMaster teamed up with Grammy-nominated American pianist Jim Brickman in 2013 for "Good Morning, Beautiful" - a co-written Top 3 Billboard (magazine) AC hit.

McMaster released his solo album, Icons of Soul, which includes collaborations with Felix Cavaliere and Lamont Dozier.[9]

See also

References
  1. "Music Canada Gold/Platinum certification". 24 October 2004.
  2. Larry LeBlanc (6 November 1999). "Canada labels go pop with round of signings". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. pp. 58–. ISSN 0006-2510.
  3. "Luke McMaster returns in concert to Thompson". Kacper Antoszewski / Thompson Citizen, 11 January 2017.
  4. "Winnipeg’s one-hit wonders. They were supposed to be the next big thing. Where did they go?". The Uniter, Catherine van Reenen, 31 March 2011
  5. "The queen of teen Aguilera conjures up a knockout performance" Archived 21 December 2004 at the Wayback Machine. AllPop, By PAT ST. GERMAIN, Winnipeg Sun, 14 July 2000
  6. "Singer Jann Arden tops music awards". SASKATOON — Globe and Mail, 2 October 2000
  7. Larry LeBlanc (8 December 2001). "SOCAN recognized McLauchlan, Klees, Bachman and Cummings". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. pp. 74–. ISSN 0006-2510.
  8. "The Guess Who, Murray McLauchlan Win Big At SOCAN". Chart Attack. 20 November 2001. Archived from the original on 23 December 2001.
  9. Belanger, Joe (7 October 2019). "Motown legend Lamont Dozier featured in Luke McMaster album, film Icons of Soul". London Free Press. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
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