ABOUT
BROCK TINSLEY
Music Instructor, Founder
My name is Brock, and I have been drawn to music for as long as I can remember.
Upon graduating high school, I launched my own record label (Colfax Music) and pursued a career of original music. Eventually, I signed a joint deal with Jeff Burns (Universal Music Canada), who had originally discovered and signed bands such as Nickelback and Loverboy.
It wasn’t long before I was performing all over the world; not just Canada, but the UK, Western Europe, and the USA. In fact, some of the biggest performances of my life have involved learning material within an hour before playing it to crowds in the 1000’s. Some of my proudest endeavors in the live music sector culminated in a Hamburg, Germany based music festival. There, I represented MusicOntario at the CanadaHouse, showcasing with the Ottawa-based band Double Experience.
My biggest passion in life is to educate and guide young creatives however I am able. In 2010, I developed a SHSM-approved program dubbed “The EducaTOUR” which I delivered to over 150 highschools and colleges across Canada (and even the UK!). This series of workshops opened my eyes to the uphill battle of modern music education. To my horror, many underfunded communities have paid the ultimate price and have been forced to abandon music classes entirely.
I have been fortunate enough to collaborate with critically acclaimed producers, songwriters and players including Jayson DeZuzio (Imagine Dragons), Chris Birkett (Sinead O'Connor) and Anton DeLost (Highly Suspect). In 2022, I received a nomination at the Ottawa Music Industry Coalition awards for Best Songwriting for Double Experience's song “Bill Murray”.
In the same year, Twitch Music selected my band's channel in the launch of their artist incubator program, "The Collective", which develops the abilities of music streamers from all over North America. I also received formal sponsorship from the legendary guitar electronics company Seymour Duncan Pickups and Canadian luthiers Godin Guitars.
Many of the lessons I have learned as a musician have been costly, yet invaluable. My duty is to pay this forward however I can, and the final frontier of my skillset is to impart these lessons other creatives as many abilities associated with the above as I possibly can.
Diane Wooller
St. Marys Catholic School, Brockville
The rock music workshop facilitated by Colfax was thoroughly enjoyable... Extremely practical and relatable for high school students. Highly recommend!
Riley McMullen
Tagwi Secondary School, Avonmore
It has been my pleasure to welcome Brock to Tagwi Secondary School several times over the past decade. As a touring musician, he brings a wealth of knowledge and experience about both the art of performance and the creative process. I was thoroughly impressed with the way he tailored his presentation to fit my students' needs and with the way he connected with them through his engaging presentation and the question & answer session that followed. Brock has honed his craft as a speaker; he is organized and professional, while at the same time being down-to-earth and flexible. It was such an amazing experience for my students to realize that their musical ambitions and aspirations are within reach. Brock inspired them to chase their dreams and provided them with invaluable tools to help make them a reality.
Alex Maheux
Client, Sunday Riot Club
"We wish we had met Brock [and Colfax Music] sooner. They have the creativity to take our ideas and push them even further to build on new projects and new chapters for our band."