First it was stunning footage of some of the most iconic national parks in the world. This time, Brand USA is using music to lure tourists to a land of jazz, rock and salsa.

Brand USA officials screened their new tourism video in Toronto for the first time yesterday, showing the 45-minute “America’s Musical Journeys” to an audience at the Sheraton Centre Hotel.

The film is being shown in Vancouver and Victoria now and will appear in Montreal starting May 10. It debuts in Toronto at the Ontario Science Centre on June 23.

The movie, which features singer/songwriter Aloe Blacc as the main character and sports the hugely talented Morgan Freeman as narrator, touches briefly on everything from hip hop to grunge and country, but most of the focus is on Blacc as he explores the legacies and musical genius of Louis Armstrong, Elvis Presley and Gloria Estefan.

You won’t hear or see Frank Sinatra, Brian Wilson, Buddy Holly or Hank Williams, but you will see a truly fantastic gospel choir led by a young man of immense, inter-stellar rocket energy, not to mention dancing waiters and waitresses at Elvis’s favourite diner in Memphis and even a group of skydiving Elvis impersonators.

The showcasing of American music was held as part of Canadian Music Week; marking the first time American music has been the focus in this north-of-the-border celebration. The movie was produced by MacGillivray-Freeman and Brand USA, with sponsorship from Expedia and Air Canada.

“I think we have a shared interest in music,” said Anne Madison, Brand USA’s Chief Communications and Strategy Officer, in an exclusive interview with TravelPulse Canada. “I always find that we tend to share each other’s talent.”

“We were thinking about it (a music movie) when we were making the National Parks film. Music became so much a part of that film. One of Aloe Blacc’s songs was actually in that first movie.”

Madison said Blacc, the child of immigrants from Panama, embraces the culture of music from around the U.S.

“He’s really fantastic and appreciates so much what the USA has provided him,” she said. “It’s about how that music was not only inspired by people within the United States but how that music was inspired by the world. It’s about welcoming people.”

Music is a natural way to explore the diversity of the U.S., Madison said.

“This was not intended to be a once and done program. It’s really about music as a major platform and an inspiration for people to explore the United States. And music is what sticks with you. You remember the sound tracks of your youth or that song you heard on the radio on that driving trip you took.”

Madison said Canada is the most important market in the world for U.S. tourism.

“We’re forecasting a 22 per cent increase in Canadian visits between now and 2022,” she said, which is pretty impressive considering the low Canadian dollar.

“Travel transcends politics,” Madison said, briefly addressing the situation in the White House. “There are a lot of places I go where I might not like the politics but I love the experiences and the people and the culture.”

“Seat capacity has increased (from Canada to the U.S.) in all but a few markets,” she said.

Air Canada’s Steve Goodfellow, director of sales for Eastern Canada, said Air Canada is the largest foreign carrier to the U.S., with 240 flights a day.

The Brand USA event also included one-on-one meetings with tourism officials from Chicago, Portland, North Carolina, Georgia, Myrtle Beach and Austin.

For information on where to see the new music film, visit www.americasmusicaljourney.com

For U.S. tourism information, visit www.visittheusa.ca/