Larry and Joanne
Delaney helped establish the Ottawa-based Capital Country News in 1980 with
founder, Neville Wells. In 1982, the publication underwent a name change to Country Music News
and, shortly after, Larry became the full-time Editor / Publisher, with Joanne
handling various special features. Under the direction of
Larry and Joanne, Country Music News has become widely known as “The Voice of
Country Music in Canada”, and the publication provides the Canadian country
music industry and its artists with valuable international exposure. Many of Canada’s top country music stars (including Shania Twain, Terri
Clark, Paul Brandt, Charlie Major, The Wilkinsons, Michelle Wright, etc.)
received their first-ever “Cover Stories” in Country Music News. The publication has also become a main source for historical reference
and data on Canadian country music.
In recognition of the
value placed on Country Music News, Larry Delaney has been an eleven-time
recipient of the Canadian Country Music Association’s prestigious “Country
Music Person of the Year” award, and he was among the inaugural inductees into
the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame (1989) and the CCMA’s Hall of Honour
in 1996. Joanne
and Larry were jointly inducted into the Ottawa Valley Country Music Hall of
Fame in 1993.
Larry and Joanne were both born and raised
in Ottawa and have remained lifelong residents of the Nation’s Capital. Their heritage home in the city has housed the offices of Country Music
News for the past two decades.