CLIFF FABRI
MANAGEMENT MATERIAL
BY GORD HUNTER
Most people could not distinguish Cliff Fabri from any other coffee-shop patron. You can normally find him at Coffee and Company on the corner of Princess and King streets, relaxing in the big armchair he calls his “office.” He could be mistaken for an office employee or an aspiring author, but it’s hard to imagine anyone would guess his real vocation. This unassuming man with headphones dangling from his ears is actually a world-renowned music impresario who mentors and manages the aspirations of talented musicians.
Born in Montreal, Fabri’s first post-graduate job after attending University was promoting and booking acts for The Penguin Club, a live music venue in Ottawa. It was then that Fabri had a vision for his future. He and his business partner, Mark Monahan (who would go on to to create and run Ottawa’s mega music festival- RBC Bluesfest),
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had booked Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Bo Diddley for 2 shows at the Penguin Club. Fabri recalls taking the performer to the airport the next morning. “It was a really early flight and my son was less than a year old so I had him with me,” says Fabri. “At one point, I look in the rearview mirror and there’s Bo Diddley in the backseat of my car singing ‘I’m a Man’ to my son. That was the moment I became hooked on the music business.”Not long after, Fabri tried his hand at music management and spent a year in a van touring the East Coast of the United States with a band called September Child.
Under his direction, the band achieved moderate success and a US Recording offer, but Fabri hadn’t yet settled on a place to call home.
Under his direction, the band achieved moderate success and a US Recording offer, but Fabri hadn’t yet settled on a place to call home.
Since his wife’s family still lived in Sydenham and knowing she would need help with their young son while Fabri was on the road, they decided on Kingston. “At that point I didn’t know much about Kingston,” he recalls. “I knew it was a truck stop between Montreal and Toronto, and I knew that it was home to Queen’s University, but from the moment we moved here,
(Los Angeles Nov 2014 -
THOM PANUNZIO is a veteran music man recognized for his work on numerous
Grammy award-winning albums, and has been the recipient of over fifty gold and platinum records.
Grammy award-winning albums, and has been the recipient of over fifty gold and platinum records.
ANITA CAMARATA - Is a former MGM Executive in charge of Song Placements in Major Motion Pictures and Television. Anita has had a long and storied career in the music business , was an associate at Danny Goldberg's GOLD MOUNTAIN, President and co-founder JERSEY RECORDS with Danny Devito. Now owner and Executive at LA Based Popmania (www.popmania.com).
"I absolutely fell in love with the city.” That was in 1997 and Fabri was still trucking back and forth between Boston, New York and Philadelphia, spending hours on the road with
the band and hoping for that elusive big break. “[Two years later], I was working in New York and I got a call from my old university buddy Tom Schreider [owner of White Mountain Ice Cream]. Tom said he’d read an article about this young girl who was doing a show in Kingston, and he wondered when I was home again.”
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Cliff Fabri and Tim James - Rock Mafia - Los Angeles 2014
(Tim James is an American Songwriter and Record Producer. James is the co-founder of Rock Mafia James co-collaborates with production partner Antonina Armato, between the three founding members of the Rock Mafia organization, they have collectively sold over 100 million albums worldwide). |
Fabri took Lavigne on as a client and less than two years later her debut record “Let’s Go” was certified four times platinum. Fabri established 333 Music, a company to represent and develop artists like Lavigne and Samantha Moore.
Fabri found a 13-year-old Moore singing at the Kingston Fall Fair nine years ago. With Fabri's assistance, she signed a million dollar record deal, and then a million dollar publishing deal, all within a year of meeting Fabri. She spent 7 years on Geffen Records under the tutelage of Jimmy Iovine.
Fabri found a 13-year-old Moore singing at the Kingston Fall Fair nine years ago. With Fabri's assistance, she signed a million dollar record deal, and then a million dollar publishing deal, all within a year of meeting Fabri. She spent 7 years on Geffen Records under the tutelage of Jimmy Iovine.
Internationally renowned artists have since recorded her songs and she remains a star in the Publishing world.Throughout his rise within the ranks of music management and artist development, Fabri has stayed in touch with his former business partner Mark Monahan.
Cliff has taken on the role of music industry liaison for the Ottawa Festivals, Fabri’s connections to people like Jimmy Iovine, chairman of Interscope-Geffen-A&M Records, and co-owner of 'beats by dr. dre',
are expected to broaden awareness of the festival and introduce opportunities such as high-definition broadcasts to the lucrative American television market. With these kinds of connections and an established track record of international success, the question becomes, why has he never taken up residence in Manhattan or Hollywood? “I’ve had numerous opportunities to live in New York or LA, but why would I want to leave my home".
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