Here’s the good news. If you’re looking for something to do over the May holiday, the Canadian government and transmitChina are flying over five bands for the MIDI festival and mini-tours with stops in Beijing, Shenzhen and, yes, Shanghai. Here’s the bad news. None of the groups coming are named Bryan Adams, Nickelback or Barenaked Ladies. Wait ...

“I would imagine Canadian musicians have always wanted to share their music with China,” explains Adam Kittredge, singer and guitarist for Victoria’s Jets Overhead, who are playing at Yuyintang on May 2. “It’s natural for bands to try to find audiences wherever there is opportunity.”

While Jets Overhead may not be big news in China (yet), they have received acclaim in their homeland for the melodic and ambient indie sounds of their 2007 debut, Bridges, resulting in a 2007 JUNO award (Canadian Grammys) nomination. They are also pioneers of the direct, peer-to-peer downloading method of distribution, offering all their music free of charge. “Building knowledge of our band in the minds of the citizens anywhere, is our first goal,” Kittredge adds. “That knowledge and eventual interest will eventually lead people to support what we do.”

In addition to Jets Overhead, transmitChina (with help from Split Works) is also bringing a slew of Montreal-based artists, including glam-funk-visual dance quartet Creature (May 1, Yuyintang), alternative hip-hop act socalled (May 2, Yuyintang) and rock quartet Hollerado supported by Final Flash (May 3, Anar) as ambassadors of their cultural mission to unite Canada and China through music.

Although no one will admit it, the true inspiration for transmitChina (which began in 2008 with performances by You Say Party! We Say Die! and Woodhands) is actually Shanghai’s own Boys Climbing Ropes, comprised of members from Ontario, Nova Scotia and Jiangxi province. “We were thinking that we would be a great band to try to bridge the gap,” comments BCR’s Jordan Small sarcastically. “And now look what happened, all these hot shots coming in and staking out our territory.”

While Boys Climbing Ropes is not scheduled to play at any transmitChina shows, this cultural mission is an amazing opportunity to share music, hopefully resulting in continued collaboration between countries and continents.