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MAGAZINE
FALL 2008, Volume 11 Number 3
Simple Plan
Flexing their creative muscle
The Trews
Refine the message
Ali Slaight
Into the spotlight
William Hawkins
Canada’s great
“lost” songwriter
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE …
POST-ELECTION BLUES: WILL THE TORIES
KEEP CUTTING INVESTMENT IN THE ARTS?
20 THINGS CHRISTOPHER WARD WANTS
YOU TO KNOW ABOUT WRITING SONGS
S.A.C. AT THE ATLANTIC FILM FESTIVAL,
BLUEBIRD NORTH,SONGWRITERS IN THE NEWS
… AND LOTS MORE!
PUBLISHED BY
Songwriters
Association of Canada
Association des
auteurs-compositeurs
Canadiens
SONGWRITERS MAGAZINE FALL 2008 1
Executive Director’s Message
2 SONGWRITERS MAGAZINE FALL 2008
Executive Director
EDITOR Greg Quill
MANAGING EDITOR Don Quarles
DESIGN Ambrose Pottie
CONTRIBUTORS Don Quarles,Nick Krewen,
Christopher Ward,Dale Leung, Greg Quill
All photos courtesy of S.A.C., unless otherwise stated.
Canadian Publications Mail Agreement No. 40014605
Canada Post Account No. 02600951
ISSN 1481-3661 ©2002
Songwriters Association of Canada
Subscriptions: Canada $16/year plus
GST; USA/Foreign $22
MAGAZINE
CONTENTS
Don with Cape Breton singer/
songwriter Bruce Guthro
at the Atlantic Film Festival.
there is still plenty to talk about. We look
forward to being at those tables!
In July, it was with regret that I accepted
the resignation of Beverly Hardy,
our Manager of Operations. Beverly had
been with the S.A.C. for the last 10 years
and has helped to develop many of the programs that are still running today. A special
lunch was held for her that was attended by
staff and she was presented with a plaque
and some gifts of thanks for her dedication
to years of service with the association. We
will miss her and wish her well in her future
endeavours. Good luck Bev!
As always, feel free to drop into the Soho
St. office in Toronto or give us a call and let
us know what you are up to. We welcome
your comments and questions on upcoming
events and activities in your area.
Keep on writing,
Don Quarles
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted
in any form or by any means without the prior written
permission of the Songwriters Association of Canada.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
President Eddie Schwartz
Vice-President Bill Henderson
Vice-President Greg Stephens
Treasurer Jim Vallance
Secretary Greg Johnston
Past President Stan Meissner
Directors Joan Besen, Amelia Curran,
Emm Gryner, Marc Jordan,
Blair Packham, Christopher Ward
ADVISORY BOARD Jann Arden, Randy Bachman,
Tommy Banks, Liona Boyd, John Capek, Tom Cochrane,
Lisa Dalbello, Richard Dodson,Rik Emmett, Micky Erbe,
Roy Forbes, David Foster, Alan Frew, Dan Hill, Paul
Hoffert,Paul Janz, Ron Hynes, Ron Irving, Arnold Lanni,
Geddy Lee, Mike Levine, Colin Linden, Rita MacNeil,
Sarah McLachlan, Murray McLauchlan, Dean McTaggart,
Frank Mills, Ben Mink, Adam Mitchell, Gary O’Connor,
Declan O’Doherty, Blair Packham, Dave Pickell, Raffi,
Cyril Rawson, Sam Reid, Tyler J. Smith, Ian Thomas,
David Tyson, Sylvia Tyson, Shari Ulrich, Valdy,
Jim Vallance, Nancy White
The S.A.C. gratefully acknowledges the support of
The SOCAN Foundation and the Government of Canada,
through the Creators’ Assistance Component
of the Canada Music Fund
ALI SLAIGHT
Making her own moves
By Greg Quill
5
5
26 Soho Street
Suite 340
Toronto, Ontario
Canada M5T 1Z7
Phone: (416) 961-1588
or: 1-866-456-7664
Fax: (416) 961-2040
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: www.songwriters.ca
Fall 2008 Volume 11 Number 3
FEATURES:
Songwriters Magazine is a publication of the
Songwriters Association of Canada (S.A.C.)and is
published three times a year. Members of S.A.C. receive
Songwriters Magazine as part of their membership.
Songwriters Magazine welcomes editorial comment.
Opinions expressed in Songwriters Magazine do not
necessarily represent the opinions of the S.A.C. Address
submissions, inquiries and changes of address to:
6 20 QUESTIONS
Christopher Ward reveals as much as he dares in a
candid conversation about professional song craft THE BIG QUESTION:
Did the Tories learn anything from the pro-arts
protests during the election, or will they keep
slashing music-related arts programs?
By Greg Quill
Illustration: SWINGHAMMER
It was good to see many of you at our
Annual General Meeting in June, where a
featured performance by new S.A.C. Board
member Emm Gryner was the hit of the
night.
Other recent events included: The
Humber Summer Songwriting Workshop,
which was held in July and was once again
a resounding success. We also hosted a file
sharing panel discussion during Our Future
in Music, a conference that took place in St.
John’s in August.
We were present at the MIAC trade
show in Toronto in August and hosted an
open mic and demo panel at the CCMAs in
Winnipeg in September; a songwriter showcase called Soundtracks and Stories at the
Atlantic Film Festival; a special songwriters
panel at Pop Montreal in October; and a file
sharing panel and demo evaluation panel at
the WCMAs in Edmonton.
We also hosted our songwriter showcase,
An Evening in the S.A.C., at the Ontario
Council of Folks Festivals in October.
Hopefully some of you managed to get
to the Radio Star New Songwriter Workshop
series that was sponsored by CMW,
Sennheiser, and 12 Astral Media radio
stations, in partnership with the S.A.C.
They featured S.A.C. Board members, Emm
Gryner, Blair Packham and Jim Vallance.
Humber Summer Songwriting Workshop alumnus Ron McNeil (’06) was the
recipient of a single song contract with
OLE Music Publishing during their Hitsville event at the CCMA’s in Winnipeg in
September. After this event, Ron told me he
attributes the success of his songwriting
development to his experience at the
Humber summer songwriting workshop.
Ron’s song “Places I Ain’t Never Been” was
co-written with Larry Wayne Clark and
made it around all the bases to be signed to
a single song deal. Way to go Ron!
I look forward to seeing many of you at
upcoming events as well. Maybe we’ll see
you at: the Hey Big Ears demo evaluation
panel; the “Reality Cheque” panel; our Songshop and file sharing panel at Nova Scotia
Music Week; a Master Class with John Capek in Gander, Newfoundland; Songposium
workshops in November in Toronto and
Saskatoon and in Edmonton and Victoria in
the New Year; S.A.C. In The Schools events
through the fall and winter right across the
country and more events bringing songwriters and industry professionals together.
Now that the federal elections are done,
we’ll be trying to figure out who the new
players are in the Departments of Heritage,
Industry and Finance in hopes of connecting (or re-connecting) with them to ensure
that programs like the Canada Music Fund
continue and that even more funding is
put into the development of Canadian
music, both domestically and abroad. With
copyright reform, the continued support of
the Canada Music fund as well as ongoing
discussion on monetizing music file sharing,
Photo: S.A.C.
T
he summer and fall have been busy
with many S.A.C. supported events.
Back in May, we teamed up with
the folks at NSAI (Nashville Songwriters
Association International) and hosted a
file sharing discussion panel for Music
Row North, a Toronto conference,
showcase and celebration of songwriters.
7
10
12
THE TREWS
East Coast rockers find their voice with
No Time For Later
By Nick Krewen
10
12
SIMPLE PLAN
Sell 7 million records, take a break in Florida,
stretch musical muscle … what could be simpler?
By Nick Krewen
15
WILLIAM HAWKINS
The best Canadian songwriter you’ve never heard … till now
By Greg Quill
17
S.A.C. AT THE ATLANTIC FILM FESTIVAL
Canadian songwriters showcase their work for
international film makers
By Don Quarles
SONGWRITERS MAGAZINE FALL 2008 3
SONGWRITERS IN THE NEWS
U.S. DIGITAL ROYALTY RATES
SET IN LANDMARK DECISION
The U.S. Copyright Royalty Board has
decided not to raise the royalty rates
paid to songwriters and music publishers for physical product and permanent
downloads.
After a closely-watched proceeding, the
three-judge CRB panel in September set
the rate for songwriters and publishers of
9.1 cents per song for digital downloads,
but decided that the rate for physical
products should remain at 9.1 cents,
effectively equating the value of physical
discs with downloads from Internet retailers such as Apple, through its iTunes
store, and Amazon.com.
This was less than the 12.5 cents per
song the National Music Publishers
Association and other songwriter lobbyists had wanted, but better than the rate
of six cents suggested by the RIAA on
behalf of record labels.
The CRB also set a rate of mastertone
ringtones at 24 cents. Music publishers
will have the right to seek a 1.5% late
fee, calculated monthly.
These latest decisions follow the
announcement of a rate of 10.5% of revenue for limited downloads and interactive streaming services, less any amounts
owed for performance royalties.
January 31, Edmonton: S.A.C. Songposium
workshop with Jim Vallance, Ariel Hyatt,
Ryan Zimmerman.
February 7, Victoria: S.A.C. Songposium
workshop with John Capek, Ariel Hyatt,
Mark Adams, Don McLeod.
February, Date TBA. Toronto:
S.A.C. Power Songshop.
February, Date TBA, Vancouver:
S.A.C. Power Songshop.
February 26- March 1, Cornerbrook:
East Coast Music Week.
February 18-22, Memphis, TN:
International Folk Alliance Conference.
March 11-14, Toronto:
Canadian Music Week.
March 13-22, Austin, TX: SXSW 2009
Festival and Conference.
March 29, Vancouver: Juno Awards.
THE WEAKERTHANS
SCORE AT WCMAs
Winnipeg alt.country-rockers The
Weakerthans were the big winners at this
UPCOMING EVENTS
October 23-26, Ottawa: OCFF, S.A.C. Demo
Panel/File Sharing Panel and Songwriter
Showcase.
November 6-7, Gander: S.A.C. Songwriters
Masterclass Workshop with John Capek.
November 6-9, Pictou County: Nova Scotia
Music Week, S.A.C. Songshop and File
sharing Panel.
November 15, Toronto: S.A.C. Songposium
workshop with Jim Vallance, Janis Nixon,
Martin Tremblay.
November 22, Toronto: ANDPVA, S.A.C.
Songwriter Showcase.
November 23, St. John’s: Canadian Folk
Music Awards.
November 29, Saskatoon:
S.A.C. Songposium workshop with John
Capek, Ariel Hyatt, Steve Chisholm.
December 2, Vancouver: S.A.C. Music
Supervisor session featuring Rebecca
Rienks.
December 3-6, Vancouver: Transmission
conference.
January 18-21, Cannes, France: MIDEM
2009.
4 SONGWRITERS MAGAZINE FALL 2008
PHOTO: Brooks Reynolds
Haydain update
their self-titled debut album: Altered Laws
(Outstanding Jazz Recording) for Metaphora;
Saskatchewan’s Little Miss Higgins (Outstanding Blues Recording) for the Junction
City; State of Shock (Outstanding Rock Recording) for Life for Love and Lies; Twilight
Hotel (Outstanding Roots Recording – Group)
for Highway Prayer; and reggae revivalists
Souljah Fyah (Outstanding Urban Recording)
for Truth Will Reveal.
The WCMAs also paid special tribute to
Edmonton music legend Senator
Tommy Banks, Vancouver Celtic-rockers
Spirit of the West, who were both inducted
in the WCMA Hall of Fame.
Feist, k.d. lang and Nickelback were all
acknowledged in the International
Achievement category.
The Weakerthans – Stephen
Carroll, John Samson, Greg Smith
and Jason Tait – also won SOCAN’s
ECHO Songwriting Prize, for the song
“Night Windows”, in October.
The ECHO is adjudicated by an
independent panel of 10 music
community tastemakers who select the
five songs they feel best show the variety
and creativity of new Canadian songwriters, then decided by a public vote in the
month preceding the presentation.
DOC WALKER
SWEEPS CCMAs
Hometown boys Doc Walker were the big
winners at the Canadian Country Music
Awards staged at the MTS Centre in
Winnipeg in September.
Of the eight awards handed out at the
awards ceremony, five were presented to
Winnipeg’s The Weakerthans took three major
awards at the WCMAs and SOCAN’s ECHO
Songwriting Prize.
year’s Western Canadian Music Awards
ceremony, walking off with Outstanding
Independent Album, Songwriters of the Year
and Video of the Year for their Reunion
Tour album.
The sixth annual WCMAs, staged
Oct. 19 at the Myer Horowitz Theatre
in Edmonton and hosted by by CBC’s Jian
Gomeshi, celebrated the best recording
artists from Manitoba, Sakatchewan,
Alberta, British Columbia and the Yukon.
In all, 19 awards were handed out.
Among other winners were Edmonton‘s
Corb Lund (Outstanding Roots Recording Solo), for his album Horse Soldier! Horse
Soldier!; Paul Brandt (Outstanding Country
Recording) for Risk; Winnipeg rockers The
Liptonians (Outstanding Pop Recording) for
PHOTO: MAPLE MUSIC
Doc Walker – big winners at the CCMAs
in Winnipeg.
Doc Walker, including Group or Duo of the
Year, Album of the Year and the coveted
Fans’ Choice Award, which was handed to
the band by Ultimate Fan contest winner
Kendle Leitz, from Calgary, AB.
Breakout Canadian country music artist
Jessie Farrell took awards for Female Artist
of the Year and CBC’s Rising Star.
Last year’s Independent Male Artist of
the Year Johnny Reid won for Male Artist
of the Year.
CONT. ON PG. 10
Haydain Neale, front man of the band
jacksoul, is continuing to recover from
his accident back in August last year.
Neale sustained serious injuries, but
is continuing to improve and steadily
progressing with his rehabilitation.
Both Michaela and Haydain recently
celebrated a birthday, and Haydain has
been doing great with his physiotherapy
work and has had several rehearsals with
his band, practicing popular jacksoul
tunes.
He has been walking in a special
therapy pool and doing other physical and voice therapies, keeping him
busy almost every day of the week. On
a recent visit by the S.A.C.’s Executive
Director, Don Quarles, Don told Haydain how much he has been missed by
the association and Board. Haydain said,
“There is still much to be done”.
We all know that Haydain’s focus
will be on his family upon his return
but we still look forward to having him
bring more of his music to the world and
continue to join us in the mission to help
all Canadian songwriters. Hang in there
Haydain!
To send well wishes to Haydain and
his family, you can do so at
[email protected], or by mail
c/o the S.A.C. head office 26 Soho Street,
Suite #340, Toronto, M5T 1Z7.
Costs for his rehabilitation continue
and if you wish to contribute to help offset
these expenses, a special fund has been
set up for this purpose. Donations can be
sent to the S.A.C. office, payable to: “The
Haydain Neale Family Trust”, or through
PayPal via the jacksoul.com website.
PHOTO: Stephen Uhraney
Great Expectations:
Ali Slaight Steps Up
Taking advantage of the summer break
in her studies at the prestigious Berklee
School of Music in Boston, 20-year-old
Ali Slaight spent her “down time” recording at home in Toronto.
The grand daughter of legendary
Canadian radio programmer/broadcasting mogul Allan Slaight, and daughter of
longtime Standard Radio poo-bah Gary
Slaight – recently retired, after the family
business and the nation’s biggest radio
property was sold to Montreal’s Astral
Media – released her first six-song EP,
Trace The Stars, late October via a distribution deal with Universal Music Canada.
A collaboration with Canadian
producer Justin Gray (Joss Stone, Bret
Ryan, Kim Stockwood) and writer Simon
Wilcox (Three Days Grace, Jorane), the
daughter of famed Canadian guitarist
and songwriter David Wilcox, Trace The
Stars features four songs co-written by
Ali.
The lead-off single, “Great Expectations”, which has already been playlisted
on 1050 CHUM in Toronto, is a Simon
Wilcox composition.
If Slaight’s voice sounds familiar it’s
because she has been quietly honing her
chops – under the guidance of star vocal
coach Elaine Overholt – on recordings
since her mid-teens. She has been featured
on a handful of high-profile compilations
– Women and Songs 11, The Cool Jazz
Collection 2 and The Real Divas Torch
Light, Vol. 2, and with the Berklee student
trio, Take Three, on the seasonal offering
Home For Christmas, which has received
substantial national airplay.
The same trio – Slaight, Bess James
and Stacey Kaniuk, calling themselves The
Roomies – recorded Dylan’s “It Ain’t Me,
Babe” on Toronto jazz pianist/composer
Bill King’s side project, The Saturday Nite
BY GREG QUILL
Fish Fry’s Dirt Road Blues CD last year.
Slaight’s first release, 2007’s “The Story
of Your Life”, was a Top 10 Canadian
radio hit. It was also prominently featured
on CBC-TV’s recap of Beijing Olympics
highlights.
“‘Great Expectations’ picks up where
‘Story Of Your Life’ left off,” says
Slaight, who began her fifth semester at
Berklee, studying songwriting, performance and music business, in September.
“It basically says that there’s nothing
stopping you from achieving what you
want, if you set your mind to it.”
PHOTO: COURTESY UNIVERSAL MUSIC CANADA
SONGWRITERS MAGAZINE FALL 2008 5
20 QUESTIONS WITH … CHRISTOPHER WARD
read a lot, so no doubt stuff seeps into my
subconscious from there along with overheard
conversations and signs on passing buses.
5. Have you ever written to a pre existing
lyric?
No.
6. Have you ever written to a pre existing
track?
Many times.
7. What are your favourite themes to write
about?
Anything that has emotional resonance.
8. Is there a concept that you have yet to
write about that you’d like to write a song
about?
1. What got you started writing songs?
Growing up, all that mattered was road
hockey and music and only one of them was
going to help me meet girls.
2. What comes first-- the music or the lyrics?
There’s no set approach.
3. At what point do you think about the arrangement of the song?
Rarely. The song is for the most part separate
from the arrangement for me.
13. Any remedies for writer’s block?
Keep going.
14. Do you work with a producer on demos or
do you self produce?
I usually work with a track genius.
15. What was the track you least expected to
place?
“Beautiful Goodbye”.
17. What’s your favourite studio experience?
9. Are there any rules to songwriting that you
consistently adhere to?
18. What’s the lamest comment you’ve ever
heard in response to one of
If it doesn’t feel right, fix it.
your demos?
10. Is there a songwriting rule that you continually ignore?
“I like the chorus, but that last line, ‘if you
please’, is a complete copout.”
Standard meter.
19. What’s the longest period you’ve gone
without writing?
Up till about age 14.
4. Where do the lyrics come from?
12. Ever suffered from writer’s block?
20. What’s the strangest co-write experience
you’ve had?
My notebook. Ok - I really don’t know. I
No, I just write some bad songs.
Trying to channel Diana Ross’ inner life.
The Songwriters Association of Canada Presents
songposium
A One-Day Intensive Seminar for Songwriters featuring
Music Industry Vets Jim Vallance, Janis Nixon and Martin Tremblay
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2008 – LE MERIDIEN KING EDWARD, TORONTO
Acclaimed songwriter Jim Vallance (Bryan Adams, Aerosmith), as well as music industry veterans Janis Nixon of Universal Music and Martin Trembley, Virgin Radio’s Program Director, will be on-hand to impart invaluable wisdom and
advice about the business of songwriting.
Songposium will begin at 9:00 a.m. on November 15th with Jim Vallance presenting “Anatomy of a Hit”, a fascinating look at the songwriting process from conception, to rough demos to successfully delivering a hit to radio. Universal
Music’s Janis Nixon will then be on-hand to deliver essential information about “Cyber PR”, a practical discussion and
overview of Web 2.0 and how to utilize and apply the internet to the business of songwriting. The “Radio Programmer”
segment will be lead by Virgin Radio’s Program Director Martin Tremblay, who will reveal how the station selects new
songs and what it takes to balance the tastes of radio listeners with the needs of advertisers. Songposium will conclude
with “Demo Evaluations” – an opportunity for participants to submit a song for evaluation by the panel of experts –
visit songwriters.ca for submission guidelines.
SONGPOSIUM - SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2008 - 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Le Meridien King Edward, Sovereign Ballroom, 37 King St. East, Toronto
ADVANCE TICKETS: $29 for S.A.C. members & students, $39 for non-members
FOR TICKETS & INFO CALL 1-866-456-SONG OR VISIT WWW.SONGWRITERS.CA - SPACE IS LIMITED
6 SONGWRITERS MAGAZINE FALL 2008
BY GrEG QUILL
None of them is obscure. They are all my
little children coming home to daddy.
Sometimes current events move me, but I
find I’m rarely capable of responding artistically.
Engage the listeners’ senses with the lyric.
Will the Tories Keep Slashing
Investment in Canada’s Culture?
16. What’s the most obscure royalty cheque
you’ve ever received?
Having Rose Stone from Sly & The Family
Stone sing on Alannah Myles’ second album.
She explained that odd thing she sings in
“Hot Fun In The Summertime”. I’ll tell you
about it sometime.
11. Is there a genre specific “rule” that has
enhanced your last couple of cuts?
The Big Question:
Pro-arts protests across the country made
CULTURE A HOT-BUTTON election issue... but the
message may have fallen on deaf ears
T
he Canadian music community is
again holding its collective breath after
numerous high-profile, nation-wide
protests over the Harper government’s
$45-million cuts to major arts programs
brought cultural policies into the forefront
during the run-up to October’s federal election, but failed to prevent the Conservatives
from returning to power with a slightly
increased minority.
The big question is whether re-elected
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has taken
heed of the message conveyed in hundreds
of formal and informal protests that took
place across the country in the weeks before
the election – some, like famed Quebec
singer/songwriter Michel Rivard’s brilliant
video satire Culture In Peril, which scored
more than 500,000 hits on the Internet’s
YouTube, made headlines, while others are
credited with galvanizing a strong pro-arts
voter turnout – or continue cutting funds as
part of the Tories’ secretive, non-inclusive,
in-house “strategic review” of arts and
culture programs.
During the summer, before the election
“Fewer Canadian acts
will be able to take part
in showcases in major
foreign talent conferences.
Hundreds of small
businesses in the
Canadian arts sector
representing millions
of dollars in cultural
revenue will be affected.”
was called, Harper cut some $23 million
from major programs regularly accessed
by the music industry They include the key
$4.7 million ProMart program, an artists’
travel support fund operated by the Department of Foreign Affairs, and the $9-million
Trade Routes program that supports film
and music exports, administered by Heritage Canada.
Harper countered mounting criticism with claims that his government had
increased arts funding by some $80 million
in the last four years.
But a subsequent investigation by the
Globe and Mail concluded: “A close look
at federal budget documents suggests that
nearly $45-million in recent federal funding cuts are symptomatic of a larger trend
under the Conservatives that has seen
dollars gradually shifted away from arts and
culture, and funneled instead into other
branches of the Department of Canadian
Heritage that focus on the department’s
social mandate.
“Although there is some truth to the
government’s claims, they derive their force
from a vague definition of ‘culture’– which
can comprise everything from piano
CONT. ON PG.8
SONGWRITERS MAGAZINE FALL 2008 7
THE BIG QUESTION CONT. FROM PG. 7
recitals to (English as a Second Language)
classes,” The Globe reported.
The Tories also cut $300,000 formerly
set aside for the Audio-Visual Preservation
Trust of Canada, which archives, restores,
and makes available for digital distribution, Canadian film, television and musical
recordings; $1.5 million from the Canadian
Independent Film and Video Fund, which
helps top up the budgets of independent Canadian films and triggers private investment
in Canadian films of up to $120 million;
and $2.5 million from the National Training
Program in the Film and Video Sector.
The programs, cancelled as of April 2009,
have proven their worth with a demonstrable increase in export opportunities for
Canadian musicians over the last five years.
“The cancellation of ProMart and Trade
Routes will severely affect our ability to create and train artists and industry professionals to work on a global scale,” said WCMA,
the umbrella organization for the five
western music industry associations – Music
BC, Music Yukon, Alberta Music, SaskMusic
and the Manitoba Audio Recording Industry
Association – in a statement protesting the
cuts.
The effects of the federal funding, a small
fraction of the $85 billion in cultural business and taxable revenue it generates, cannot
be overestimated, said Duncan McKie, president of the Canadian Independent Record
Production Association.
Canadian musicians, deprived of future
promotional funding in major markets in
Europe and Asia as a result of the ProMart
and Trade Routes cuts, will also suffer from
the withdrawal of funding to the AudioVisual Preservation Trust, said its director
David Novek.
“This fund assists the archiving and
public exhibition of the work of English- and
French-language Canadian composers. We
deplore the decision.”
The Canadian Music Centre, which used
a $25,000 Audio-Visual Preservation Trust
grant last year to retrieve 9,000 archival
musical recordings dating back to 1945,
transferring them to digital audio formats,
and their scores to digital document files
prior to making them available online, will
have to cease its work unless replacement
private sector funding is found, said executive director Elizabeth Bihl.
“This is music that would have otherwise
been lost, a valuable cultural asset. Because
of the cuts we won’t be able to complete our
8 SONGWRITERS MAGAZINE FALL 2008
Legendary Quebec songwriter
Michel Rivard was depicted
in the hilarious anti-Harper
viral video Culture In Peril
as a humble, well meaning
folk artist confronting a neoMcCarthyite panel of suspicious
Anglo bureaucrats with no
understanding of the country’s
cultural assets or his simple
funding needs. THE HARPER
CUTS PROMpTED PROTESTS LIKE
THE ALL-STAR RALLY THIS IS NOT A
CONSERVATIVE PARTY IN TORONTO
(POSTER BELOW)
PHOTO: COURTESY DEPARTMENT OF CULTURE
Canadian Content Online program.”
The 2008 cuts followed others made
to the Foreign Affairs budget in 2006 that
virtually eliminate the cultural advocacy
and representational functions of Canada’s
embassies, formerly of invaluable service to
Canadian artists performing and attending
arts conventions abroad.
“The prospects beyond 2010 are
disastrous,” East Coast Music Association
executive director Steve Horne said. “Music
industry conferences in Canada will yield
less because showcases will be unattended by
foreign music buyers, agents, label representatives and radio programmers whose travel
and accommodation expenses were partly
paid by these federal funds.
“And fewer Canadian acts will be able
to take part in showcases in major foreign
talent conferences. Hundreds of small businesses in the Canadian arts sector representing millions of dollars in cultural revenue
will be affected.”
Some Canadian music industry insiders
even fear the Tories’ may start dismantling
FACTOR, the Fund to Assist Canadian Talent On Recordings, for decades the essential
infrastructure of the nation’s recording and
music marketing systems.
They are not alone. In a statement issued
before the election, the Canadian Film and
Television Production Association said it
fears “this latest round of cuts may be the
thin edge of the wedge for more significant
cuts to (the arts) sector later this year.”
Harper gave artists no hope during the
election, characterizing them as “people …
at a rich gala, all subsidized by the taxpayers,
claiming their subsidies aren’t high enough”
and as somehow different from “ordinary
working people”
Despite the Tories’ infuriating silence
on cultural policies during the campaign –
even in the face of strong pro-culture planks
presented by the NDP, the Liberal Party, the
Green Party and the Bloc Quebecois, which
all promised to restore funding slashed by
Harper and substantial additional federal
investment in the arts, as well as copyright
legislation impacting the use of and remuneration for music and other intellectual
property on the Internet – there’s at least one
sign Harper might have taken notice of the
protests, particularly those mounted in Quebec, where culture is a fundamental issue
and the federal Conservatives are definitely
not welcome.
In the belated announcement of the
Tory platform just days before the election,
Harper’s controversial Bill C-10, which
was universally denounced as censorship
because it would have allowed governmentappointed bureaucrats to withhold or
withdraw funding from Canadian movies
and TV programs deemed by the panel as
pornographic or violent, was killed.
“Although these proposals were approved
unanimously by the House of Commons, we
will take into account the serious concerns
that have been expressed by film creators
and investors,” the platform stated.
Whether the Tories will take into account the serious concerns that have been
expressed by other sectors of the nation’s arts
industry – which employs 1.1 million Canadians, contributes 7.5 per cent of the Gross
Domestic Product, and returns between
$11 and $17 for every dollar invested – or
follow through with even more reductions
in federal investment in culture, remains the
big question.
S.A.C. In The Schools
Program Expands
The S.A.C. In the Schools program is
designed to reach out to a younger
audience with the objective of giving
them an opportunity to learn more
about songwriting through the eyes and
ears of those who are making a living
at creating music. It gives elementary
Christopher Ward and Hayley Gene
display and discuss the art of
songwriting in a Winnipeg school as
part of S.A.C In The Schools program.
and secondary students an opportunity
to see and hear professional songwriters talk about their songs, their writing
processes and what it’s like to be a
TWO YEAR PROGRAMS
songwriter/performer. Through this
initiative, it is hoped that these young
people will gain a greater respect for
the songwriter and ultimately listen to
music differently.
The S.A.C. plans to expand its
S.A.C. In The Schools program and
create opportunities for educators,
schools and students across the country to learn more about the craft of
songwriting. In 2009, the S.A.C. will
be partnering with the Vancouver host
Juno committee to bring songwriting
into Greater Vancouver area schools
with the help of the SASS program
(www.sasscanada.net).
If know of a school that might be
interested in a S.A.C. In The Schools
program, visit the songwriters.ca
website or contact the head office at
1-866-456-SONG.
S.A.C. HOSTS TWO
CCMA EVENTS
The S.A.C. sponsored two events at
this years CCMA’s in Winnipeg in
September. The first was a demo
evaluation panel featuring Joan Besen
(S.A.C. Board member and songwriter/
performer with Prairie Oyster), produc-
The Keats sisters, Sharlene (Loveless)
and Jolene (R) perform their original song
“Bring On The Next Town” at the S.A.C.’s
Open Mic at the CCMAs in Winnipeg.
Photo, courtesy S.A.C.
er/songwriter Chris Burke-Gaffney, and
Barb Sedun, manager of the Manitoba
Film and Sound Music Fund.
The event attracted a large crowd of
songwriters who received feedback on
their tunes and advice on the music
business. The host was S.A.C. Executive Director Don Quarles.
The second event was an open mic
opportunity for delegates to perform
original songs for an enthusiastic audience. Over 25 songs were performed
at this event, hosted by country artist/
songwriter, Jamie Warren.
ONE YEAR PROGRAMS
Metalworks Institute is registered as a private career college under the Private Career Colleges Act, 2005.
SONGWRITERS MAGAZINE FALL 2008 9
CONT. FROM PG. 4
The live telecast, hosted by Terri Clark,
included performances by Dierks Bentley
with Sarah Buxton, Paul Brandt, George
Canyon, Emerson Drive, Kellie Pickler,
and Crystal Shawanda.
CARIBOU TAKES
POLARIS PRIZE
Post-psychedelic electronica pop artist
Dan Snaith, from Dundas, Ont., was
awarded the $20,000 Polaris Prize, honouring the best of Canada’s annual crop
of new independent pop artists, at
a concert gala featuring live or video
performances by all ten contenders at
Toronto’s Phoenix theatre Sept. 29.
Snaith, who records as Caribou, won
for his album Andorra.
Other finalists for the third annual
Polaris Prize were Two Hours Traffic, Holy
Fuck, Basia Bulat, Kathleen Edwards, Plants
and Animals, Shad, Black Mountain, the
Weakerthans and Stars.
Modeled on Britain’s prestigious Mercury
Prize, the Polaris is decided on the
night of the presentation by a jury of 11
music critics, producers and performers,
and awarded to the best album of the
year, regardless of record sales
and profile.
OLIVER SCHROER TO BE
HONOURED AT CFMA
Influential composer and violinist Oliver
Schroer, who died in July of leukemia,
leads the field of nominees at the fourth
annual Canadian Folk Music Awards gala
taking place Sunday, November 23 at the
Arts & Culture Centre in St. John’s, Nfld.
Schroer, nominated in the Contemporary
Album Of The Year, Solo Instrumentalist
Of The Year, Producer Of The Year and
Pushing The Boundaries categories, will
be honoured in a special tribute at the
awards ceremony.
Vancouver roots singer-songwriter
Wyckham Porteous and Nova Scotia
fiddler Troy MacGillivray are close behind
with three nominations each.
Scheduled to perform at the CFMA gala
are Figgy Duff, Murray McLauchlan, Rita
Chiarelli, Enoch Kent, Asani, Anne Lindsay,
and The Newfoundland Step Fiddlers.
For ticket information and a full
list of nominees, go to
canadianfolkmusicawards.ca.
APPOINTMENTS
Tamara Kater has been named new Executive Director of the Winnipeg Folk Festival.
She was most recently Executive Direc-
tor of the Ottawa Folk Festival.
Peter MacDonald is the new Executive
Director of the Ontario Council of Folk
Festivals (OCFF), starting November.
He replaces Erin Benjamin who left
the OCFF earlier this year.
PASSING: TEENAGE HEAD’S
FRANKIE VENOM
Canadian punk icon,
Teenage Head lead
singer Frank Kerr — aka
Frankie Venom — died
October 15.
Kerr had recently
battled throat cancer
and spent Thanksgiving
weekend with his family before slipping
into a coma. He was 51.
Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Kerr was the
lead singer of the Hamilton-based band
which formed at Westdale High School
in 1975.
Teenage Head released its first independent single in 1978 and its legendary
self-titled debut the following year. The
group, best known for the song “Let’s
Shake” from the album Frantic City, last
performed in Hamilton in August, and was
scheduled to play at this year’s Grey Cup
festivities in Montreal.
Teenage Head will be presented with a
special lifetime achievement award at the
2008 Hamilton Music Awards Nov. 13-16.
Attention SONGWRITERS, MUSICIANS and PRODUCERS!
Looking for music
industry advice? Want
your songs evaluated by
industry professionals?
TORONTO
Nov. 15, 08
The Songwriters Association of
Canada presents SONGPOSIUM, an
intense one-day seminar for aspiring
songwriters and those interested in
learning more about the art, craft and
business of songwriting. Learn from
some of the foremost international
talent in the music industry as they
share their experience and knowledge
to help you get your songs heard.
SASKATOON
Nov. 29, 08
EDMONTON
Jan. 31, 09
VICTORIA
Feb. 7, 09
To order tickets
VISIT www.songwriters.ca or CALL 1-866-456-SONG
The S.A.C. gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Music
Fund’s Creators’ Assistance Program, administered by The SOCAN Foundation.
10 SONGWRITERS MAGAZINE FALL 2008
The Trews: Music and Meaning
East Coast rockers refine their message delivery system
BY NICK KREWEN
N
o Time For Later, the third rock
opus from Toronto-based East
Coast exiles The Trews, is as much a
mandate as it is a title.
Make that a lyrical mandate. For their
third complete studio album lead singer
and writer Colin MacDonald and his
merry band – guitarist/bro John-Angus
MacDonald, bassist Jack Syperek and
drummer Sean Dalton – decided it was
high time to kick it up a notch in terms of
message delivery.
“I wanted to say more,” Colin recently
admitted, “On our first album (2003’s
House Of Ill Fame) we were finding our
feet as pop songwriters. The lyrics were
ambiguous and flowed with the songs.
“Our second record (2005’s den of
thieves) was written really quickly and
tended to be about this bad relationship I
was in.”
When homegrown rock icon Neil
Young issued Living In War in 2006, MacDonald felt the gauntlet had been thrown.
“Neil was on CNN and was asked,
‘Why did you write this album?’” MacDonald recalls. “He replied, ‘I just don’t
understand why no young bands are
saying anything in their lyrics. Why does
it take a 60-year-old rock musician to say
anything?’
“It struck a chord with us. We thought
that we should start thinking about using
our music as a platform for saying what
we feel and believe.”
As a result, No Time For Later takes
a stand. For instance, the pointed “Gun
Control,” inspired by the tragic 2007 Virginia Tech massacre that claimed 32 lives,
is fairly blunt.
“We were in Toronto writing the songs
for this album, and we turned on the TV
coverage of the Virginia Tech shooting,”
MacDonald recalls. “And we thought,
‘Not again. That kid shouldn’t have been
able to get a gun.’
“We’re very firm believers in stricter
gun control laws.”
PHOTO: COURTESY OF THE TREWS
SONGWRITERS IN THE NEWS
The Trews (L to R): Colin MacDonald, John-Angus MacDonald,
Sean Dalton, Jack Syperek
“We should start
thinking about
using our music
as a platform for
saying what we
feel and believe.”
-Colin MacDonald
Not everyone shared The Trews’
soapbox.
“We were playing New York City, and
one individual did not like the fact we had
a song like ‘Gun Control,’” MacDonald
recollects.
“He said, ‘I don’t want my rock and
politics mixed, and I don’t know if a
Canadian has any right commenting on
American politics at all.’
“It’s totally understandable, but we
were prepared for that when we wrote the
song. We figured if this album gets any
attention at all, it’s going to get reaction
from the lyrical content.”
No Time For Later also boasts dark
humour, although MacDonald isn’t sure if
his audience is in on the joke.
“I was trying to be ironic in the song
‘I Can’t Stop Laughing,’” MacDonald reveals. “It’s about going out and having the
time of your life while you’re completely
miserable and masking your heartbreak.
Then, with ‘No Time For Later,’ I wanted
to be kind of funny as well.
“But some guy came up to me in a
Halifax bar and said, “I broke up with my
girlfriend because she was bringing me
down and it was making me depressed
and there was no time for later.’
MacDonald winces.
CONT. ON PG. 14
SONGWRITERS MAGAZINE FALL 2008 11
LIVING WITH DANJA
With seven million albums sold, Simple Plan mixes it up
with four producers on new CD
PHOTO: COURTESY OF SIMPLE PLAN
BY NICK KREWEN
SIMPLE PLAN: Pierre Bouvier, Sebastien Lefebvre, David Desrosiers, Jeff Stinco, Chuck Comeau
P
lans for Canadian rock bands looking
for international attention don’t get
any simpler than this: Write lots of
catchy melodies, tour ‘til your face falls
off, sell millions of CDs around the planet
and continue on to world domination.
Montreal rockers Simple Plan have
executed this formula to a ‘T’. Their first
two albums – No Pads…No Helmets…Just
Balls and Still Not Getting Any – decorated
the bedrooms of Simple Planners Pierre
Bouvier, Chuck Comeau, Jeff Stinco,
David Desrosiers and Sebastien Lefebvre with platinum and gold discs galore,
thanks to the punchy punk-propelled rush
of adolescent anthems like “Addicted,” “I’d
Do Anything” and “Welcome To My Life”,
and the power ballad “Perfect.”
But seven million sales later, Simple
Plan has decided to flex their creative
muscles. They’re a little more grown up, a
little more complex, a little more strident
in their quest to demonstrate capabilities
12 SONGWRITERS MAGAZINE FALL 2008
“In Miami … we were the
white guys in the crappy,
beat-up rental car.
We didn’t really fiit in.”
– Chuck Comeau
different from the Warped Tour mentality.
Sure, a love for NOFX, Green Day
and Bad Religion may still linger in their
sound, but the willingness of the quintet
to widen their horizons is fully evident
with the songs on its recent self-titled
album.
The band trumpets its new sonics right
from the get-go with “When I’m Gone,”
one of three tracks either produced or co-
produced by Tim “Timbaland” Mosley’s
right-hand man, Nate “Danja” Hills.
“When I’m Gone” kicks things off
with a looped hip-hop rhythm, then veers
into something you’d more likely find on
a Def Leppard album than on anything
Simple Plan has previously recorded.
“When I’m Gone”, one of three tracks
on Simple Plan captured on Hills’ home
turf of Miami, Fla. – “The End” and “Generation” are the other two – testifies to the
band’s collective willingness to jump into
unfamiliar territory.
“We were in an environment where all
the rappers were coming in at midnight
and they were rolling with their Escalades,” recalls drummer and chief lyricist
Chuck Comeau of the Danja sessions at
Hit Factory Criteria Studios.
“We were the white guys in the crappy,
beat-up rental car. We didn’t really fit in,
and it was all a different pace for us. It was
all late-night recording.”
But singer and prime melody maker
Bouvier says the procurement of Danja
as one of four producers – Dave Fortman
(Slipknot, Mudvayne), Max Martin (Britney Spears, Pink) and Arnold Lanni (Our
Lady Peace) are the others – was worth it.
“If I could pinpoint one thingabout
this album, it’d be experimentation,” says
Bouvier. “We wanted to try different
things.
“Obviously Danja, a great hip-hop producer, is very different for us. We wanted
to branch out and try some different
things that would keep it interesting.”
Danja offered Simple Plan new creative
challenges.
“With him, we’d write from a loop or a
beat,” Comeau admits. “It was something
we’d never done before.”
On “When I’m Gone,” singer Bouvier says
Danja provided both the beat and the
loop, but wasn’t satisfied with the results.
“He didn’t really know what to do with
it and he didn’t think it was all that great.
We felt it had a cool summer feel-good
vibe.
“So we took that loop, went home and
worked on that one without him. I used it
on my laptop – I use Pro Tools – and we
played around with different things. That’s
how the song came about.”
Atmosphere also played an inspirational part. “The End,” Bouvier says, was
inspired by a night of Miami clubbing
with one-time Montreal resident Tïesto
on the turntables.
“We partied until 4 a.m. in some big
club in Miami where Tïesto was spinning,”
he recalls.
“We were all hung over, and I was experimenting with some keyboards Danja
had in the studio. I came up with that little
riff that starts the song, and Danja’s going
‘Keep playing that!’ and he laid a beat on
top of that riff.
“The next thing you know, we had
the whole melody lined up. From there,
Chuck and I went outside, worked on
some lyrics and then tracked the whole
first verse and chorus.
“It was one of the fastest songs we’ve
written and we weren’t even trying.”
Bouvier concedes that Simple Plan
prefer to tinker with songs in the studio.
“It takes a while,” he admits. “We’re not
the kind of guys who write a song in five
or ten minutes and bang, it’s done.
“We look at it as a craft. We’ll go back
and rework the lyrics a bunch of times,
and try 10 different versions of the chorus.
We’ll argue about how we should end it.
On some songs we spend three days, put
it away and spend another week on it.
As a general rule, it takes longer than we
expect.”
It’s usually Bouvier and Comeau who
kick off Simple Plan’s songwriting process.
“Once we find the basic idea, we demo
it, then bring it to the band and everyone
gets involved with making it better.
“For Simple Plan, there were a lot of
ideas – 65 of them. Once you have a verse,
a pre-chorus and a chorus, you’ll know
whether it’s a home run or not. Sometimes – as in the song ‘I Can Wait Forever,’
which I wrote at my parents’ house – I’ll
come up with the whole thing on my
own.”
“I had written the entire
chorus sitting alone in
my room, thinking about
… my brother and
the cancer he
went through”
– Pierre Bouvier
For seven of the album’s 11 songs, Arnold Lanni – who produced and co-wrote
No Pads, No Helmets…Just Balls, initially
setting Simple Plan on its platinum path –
returned to add his polish.
“We had a lot of songs ready, but a
lot of them were incomplete,” Bouvier
explains. “We got Arnold to have a listen
and see what he thought. With the song
‘Save You’, I had written the entire chorus
sitting alone in my room, thinking about
the situation with my brother and the
cancer he went through. But I didn’t know
how to address the intro, the verse, and
although I had a few ideas, I couldn’t stick
with just one.
“Arnold came in, looked at the chorus,
and suggested a couple of ideas for some
verses. Having him there gave us the
confidence to push the idea and finish
the song.”
Simple Plan song
“Save You”
to benefit
International
cancer charities
Net proceeds from each download
sale of Simple Plan’s iTunes Store
single, Save You, will be distributed to cancer charities around the
world, through the Montreal-based
band’s own Simple Plan Foundation. Save You” was penned in tribute to
lead singer Pierre Bouvier’s brother
Jay, who was diagnosed with
non-Hodgkin lymphoma cancer at
the age of 28. Simple Plan has also donated portions of their merchandise sales to
charity, as well as 50 cents from
each ticket sold on their recent
and forthcoming tours. For full details on the charity
organization, please visit
www.simpleplanfoundation.org.
In addition to the “Save You”
single, a special companion video
has been produced, featuring
appearances by cancer survivors
from all walks of life, including
such famous faces as Sharon
Osbourne, Marissa Winokur (of
the original Broadway production
of Hairspray), Barenaked Ladies’
Kevin Hearn, and Saku Koivu
(captain of the NHL’s Montreal
Canadians). “After what happened to someone
so close to us, we feel that, as a
band, we had to do something to
help,” Simple Plan’s members
said in a joint statement.
SONGWRITERS MAGAZINE FALL 2008 13
ThE Trews: “People really want you to feel what they’re going through”.
much as I can.”
One of those novel approaches occurred during MacDonald’s collaboration on the title track and “Man Of Two
Minds” with Simon Wilcox.
“We sat down with no instruments
and we just wrote the lyrics on a piece
of paper,” MacDonald remembers. “We
thought, ‘What’s the story here? What’s
this guy going through?’ We wrote those
two songs on a sheet of paper and just
put chords behind them.
“It’s difficult to do and it doesn’t al-
ways work, but there’s a little bit of magic
to it when it does. We put a lot of thought
into the lyrics, and when we added the
chords and music, it just sounded right.”
Although The Trews are awaiting the
early 2009 release of No Time For Later
in the U.S., MacDonald is already in
writing mode for the next album.
“People really want answers,” he
states. “They really want to relate to songs
and they really want you to feel what
they’re going through. I’m taking it
more seriously.”
Welcome New Members!
The S.A.C. welcomes the following new members who have joined since June, 2008
AB Alecia Aichelle
BC Aaron Korop
NS Ruth Minnikin
ON Carla Dancey
ON Leanne Miele
ON Ivy Steel
AB Don Chesniak
BC Patricia Manly
NS Dana Ryan
ON Francis De Mello
ON Stephen Mosley
ON Mike Stephenson
AB Ryan Eavis
BC Sherard James Moffatt
NT Sylvia Adams
ON Moira Demorest
ON Charles Brian Murray
ON Rocco Stragapete
AB Kent Klatchuk
BC Gregory Morgan
ON Vicki Abbott
ON Chander Dickson
ON Sean Newell-Barrette
ON Lynn Thacker
AB Lori Kole
BC Jennifer Morgan
ON Aruna Adhya
ON Carlo DiZio
ON John O’Brien
ON Diana Tiessen
AB Chris Livingston
BC Mike Moy
ON Dallas Arney
ON Gary Evans
ON Gloria O’Brien
ON Christopher Todman
AB Vitaliy Malkin
BC Corbin Murdoch
ON Rohan Bader
ON Christine Fraser-Hector
ON Kimberly O’Connor
ON Natalie Tom-Yew
AB Wayne Monnery
BC Randall Murray
ON Blake Michael Barrett
ON Michael Henderson
ON Sue Peters
ON Kevin White
AB Jacqueline Pratte
BC Eddie Plotnikoff
ON Shaun Bishop
ON Samantha Hooey
ON Michel Pixel
ON Hong Wei Zheng
AB Ashley Rae
BC Cheryl Stavely
ON Soren Boyd
ON Andrew Jablonski
ON Diana Planche
QC Keith Ambrose
AB Mike Savage
BC Jorge Torres
ON Nicholas Brann
ON Rob James
ON Graham Plug
QC Karen Belfo
AB Kimberly Spears
BC George Tozer
ON Don Breithaupt
ON Pierre Jobin
ON Eric Price
QC Daphne Coriolan
AB Karen Vande Vyvere
BC David Watts
ON James Budd
ON Laszlo Josephson
ON Lucas Rezza
QC Robert Ethier
AB Sharon White
MB Lynda Dobbin-Turner
ON Frank Casula
ON Jesse Kahilibeaulac
ON Daniel Richter
QC Jessica Hart
AB Greg K. Wood
MB Jerry Holowaty
ON Werner Tien Wei Chan
ON Kevin Kennedy
ON Carmel Michael Rizzo
QC Derek Jones
BC Damian Burns
MB JanicStarodub
ON James Chaney
ON Noreen Kirwin Donnell
ON Jillian Romanow
QC Rosamaria La Posta
BC Claire Carreras
NB Ghislain Martin
ON Lily Cheng
ON Clara Klein
ON Michele Rosano
QC Catherine Maynard
BC Cody DeBoer
NB Chris Mercer
ON James Christie
ON Zoran Konjevic
ON Wanda Ryan-Kirs
QC Paul Murphy
BC Alexis Desaulniers-Lea
NF Bev Allen
ON Derrick Claridge
ON Elena Krajcik
ON Melanie Samson
QC Sean Saucier
BC Jessica Desauniers Lea
NF Bob Dicks
ON Anthony Cook
ON Joanne Larocque
ON Jay Schnekenburger
QC Michelle Amy
BC Yvette Dudley-Neuman
NS Cherie Borden
ON Patricia Corsini
ON Luke LeDoux
ON Zach Schottler
QC Sher Spier
BC Jacqueline Forster
NS Tony Butyn
ON Anthony C. Curran
ON Tyler MacCormick
ON Christine Shaw
QC Eunice Tan
BC Arnulfo Garcia
NS Dave Fogarty
ON Kosta Cvijovic
ON Mary Frances McDonell
ON Phill Smith
SK Robert Glen Whitefish
BC Angela Harris
NS Carmel Mikol
ON Murray Daigle
ON David McKee
ON Step St. Michael
SK Shane Yellowbird
14 SONGWRITERS MAGAZINE FALL 2008
Ottawa songwriter
turned his back on
music at the peak of
his career, only to be
rediscovered by
peers and longtime
admirers 40 years
later …
William Hawkins,
Lost and Found
by Greg Quill
For those who believe in the redemptive and restorative powers of song, the
strange tale of the recovery of the lost
works of William Hawkins is convincing
evidence.
“I was never lost,” claims the Ottawa
poet and composer, whose best songs
were written almost 40 years ago and
forsaken when Hawkins turned his back
on a burgeoning career in music for a
life marked by bouts of inebriation, drug
smuggling, rehabilitation and eventual obscurity as the owner/driver of a taxi-cab.
They have been lovingly revitalized in
a remarkable two-CD set, Dancing Alone
(True North Records) by producer Ian
Tamblyn and a crew of Canadian roots
music notables, including Hawkins’ former musical colleagues Bruce Cockburn,
Sneezy Waters, Sandy Crawley and Bill
Stevenson, as well as Murray McLauchlan,
Lynn Miles, Suzie Vinnick, Brent Titcomb,
Terry Gillespie and Kelly Lee Evans,
among others.
“I just dropped out sometime in the
1971, when I woke up in the Donwood
Clinic, a rehab centre in Toronto, with no
idea how I got there, weighing 128 lbs and
looking like a ghost in my six-foot frame.”
This was some time after Hawkins,
who was already a nationally recognized
poet, with five collections published
between 1964 and 1971 and selections of
his work in two major poetry anthologies,
had turned his lyrical talent to songwriting, and, as manager/curator/host of
Ottawa’s famed folk haunt Le Hibou, had
gathered around him an ensemble of fortuitously gifted musicians, among
them Cockburn, Waters, Crawley and
Neville Wells, who’s also featured on
Dancing Alone.
PHOTO: CHRIS TOPP
PHOTO: COURTESY OF THE TREWS
THE TREWS CONT. FROM PG.11
“Then he said, ‘I couldn’t stop laughing. I
wasn’t happy.’ And I’m, like, “Oh…damn’
– I never think anybody’s going to take
what we do that seriously.
“But I really learned something tour
ing this album: just how much music
means to people. When they love it, they
really want to define their lives with it,
and define themselves with the lyrics that
you’re singing. They look to music for
complete understanding of the world.”
MacDonald clams his relationship
with lyrics is one of love and hate.
“This buddy of mine gave me a
book about lyric writing, and it was just
talking about how you should always
exercise it – coming up with metaphors
and sitting down every day and writing
and trying to bring two worlds together
in this interesting lyrical way.
“But I got really bored and stopped
doing it. I went back to just singing
melodies over the guitar and listening
back to see if I could find the words.
“I don’t have any set way of doing
things – I try to change it up as
“We called ourselves The Children,”
says Hawkins, 68. “Bruce transcribed my
melodies and taught me the rudiments
of guitar.
“We never recorded anything … that
was my fault.”
In those years Hawkins, who was a
good five years older than his musical
peers, was something of a local legend,
both as a writer of supremely melodic
songs filled with stark despair and raw
self-loathing mixed with dark humour
– “most of them were written inside a
bottle,” he says – and as a performer and
ubiquitous bohemian bad boy.
He had written the Top 10 hit “It’s A
Crying Shame” for Ottawa pop band The
Esquires. He had hosted poetry marathons featuring contemporaries Irving
Layton, Leonard Cohen, Louis Dudek,
Raymond Souster, Gwendolyn MacEwen, Jacques Godbout and John Robert
Colombo, as well as musical performances
by Gordon Lightfoot, Judy Collins and
Joni Mitchell. He had partied with Jimi
Hendrix and. Richie Havens.
“And one night in 1968, opening
for The Lovin’ Spoonful at Maple Leaf
Gardens in Toronto, the house lights went
up and I saw all these 14- and 15-year-old
“I turned to Bruce
(Cockburn) as we
walked off and said,
‘I’m finished.’ All my
troubles started when
I left the stage.”
kids screaming, and suddenly I felt out
of place. I was twice their age. I turned to
Bruce as we walked off stage and said,
‘I’m finished.’
“I had a good thing going with my
poetry, and a Canada Council grant, and
I didn’t see any future for myself or my
songs in pop music.
“I got a part-time job for a while
with the federal government, and as the
producer of a TV music show in Ottawa
hosted by (songwriters) David Wiffen and
Ann Mortifee. Both jobs drove me back
to drink.
“All my troubles started when I left
the stage.”
In the preface to Hawkins’ 2005 poetry
collection, also titled Dancing Alone,
Cockburn compares his old band mate
CONT. ON PG. 16
SONGWRITERS MAGAZINE FALL 2008 15
to the French poet Rimbaud, a flattering
allusion that Hawkins sees as a singularly
ironic summary of his post-Children
misadventures.
“Rimbaud got lost in Africa and became a gun-runner,” he says. “I got lost in
Mexico and became a drug-runner.”
His marijuana escapades ended with
a close call, when Mounties surrounded
him at a remote airport after he’d stepped
from a plane they suspected was loaded
with dope.
“I came out with my hands up. Luckily
I was clean. They had nothing on me,
though they threatened to deport me to
Mexico.
“When I woke up in Donwood, I saw
the light. I wanted no more excitement. I
wanted to be clean and sober. I wanted to
write poetry. I wanted to drive a cab, to
be anonymous, and that’s what I’ve been
since 1971.”
And Hawkins may have remained an
obscure footnote to Canadian musical
history if not for longtime friend, mentor,
promoter and arts philanthropist Harvey
Glatt, who had employed Hawkins decades ago in one of his Treble Clef record
stores, before starting up the phenomenally successful Ottawa radio station
CHEZ-FM.
PHOTO: COURTESY WILLIAM HAWKINS
WILLIAM HAWKINS CONT. FROM PG. 15
HAWKINS CIRCA 1970
“Harvey gave me my first guitar,” says
Hawkins, who has three grown children
from a marriage long gone wrong, and
five grand children. “He’s the guy who first
suggested I should turn my poems into
songs. He has always been my friend, suggesting quietly over the years that I should
get the songs on record.”
Finally Glatt offered to bankroll the
sessions that yielded Dancing Alone,
which was launched late September.
Hawkins’ lost songs immediately stunned
the roots music community with their
brilliance and sophistication, and with the
high quality of Tamblyn’s arrangements
and the spirited commitment of the performances by longtime admirers.
“Harvey let me choose the producer
and the performers,” Hawkins says. “Then
Ian forbade me to come to the studio till
he was finished recording and mixing. I’m
a well known manipulator and megalomaniac.”
Some of the songs Hawkins overhauled completely, others were reconstructed from fragments. Most, he says,
were still in good shape, and easily
adapted to the theatrical, folk, R&B, jug
band, rock, country and jazz styles represented on the album.
“I have no formal musical training. I
grew up loving the songs of Cole Porter,
Irving Berlin and Hoagy Carmichael. I
know what a good hook is and where to
put it.”
When Hawkins heard the completed
recording, “I just loved it,” he says. “I
asked for some re-mixes – I don’t like
clarinets in ballads, so I had Ian take them
out. Otherwise, I couldn’t fault it.”
The experience has rekindled Hawkins’
passion for performance.
“I’d love to play again. Some friends
have put together a small acoustic group
that I can sit in with. I doubt I’ll be able to
go on the road – I suffer from emphysema
– but I’d love to play some folk festivals.
“After 34 years driving a cab, I’m ready
to quit.”
Atlantic Film Festival/S.A.C. Initiative “Soundtracks and
Stories” Showcases Canadian Songs for Filmmakers
BY DON QUARLES
An enthusiastic group of music lovers, film buffs and music
industry folks turned up for the first annual S.A.C.- sponsored
“Soundtracks and Stories” songwriter showcase which was
held at the new Carlton in Halifax during the Atlantic Film
Festival in September.
The event featured Alex Madsen of The Divorcees, singer/
songwriters Catherine MacLellan and (S.A.C. Board member)
Amelia Curran, and Tim Baker of Hey Rosetta, as well as a
feature performance by surprise special guest host, Bruce
Guthro.
The event was designed to bring songwriters and artists
from all the Atlantic provinces to showcase their songs and
music for film and television placement opportunities with
film industry professionals attending the film festival. Music
supervisors and publishers from Los Angeles and Toronto were
presented with a great selection.
The Carlton is a new “listening” venue in Halifax and has
become as well known for its great ambiance as well as the
great food. The Carlton crowd received the usual pre-concert
speech from host/co-owner Mike Campbell, reminding everyone to “shhhhhhh” while the songwriters are performing.
Reports from several attendees, including some of the music supervisors, were that this was one of the best songwriter
showcases they had ever heard! This event was the result of
a partnership between the S.A.C. and the good folks at the
Atlantic Film Festival, and plans for next year’s event are
already in the works.
L to R; Alex Madsen, Amelia Curran, Tim Baker, Catherine
McLellan, Bruce Guthro. Bruce Guthro breaks up the
panel during the S.A.C.’s Soundtracks and Stories
songwriter showcase at Atlantic Film Festival. Photo,
courtesy S.A.C.
Singer/songwriter
Amelia Curran
(right) listens
to The Divorcees’
Alex Madsen,
as he performs
one of his songs
during the S.A.C.’s
Soundtracks and
Stories songwriter
showcase during
the Atlantic Film
Festival in Halifax in
September. Photo,
courtesy S.A.C.
Songwriters magazine special offer!!
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Publicize your tour or that special gig
with a quarter-page Display ad in
Songwriters magazine for just $195
(Includes GST) $175 For S.A.C. Members
That’s a $100 break on our regular
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Deadline Jan.7 2009
Call 1-866-456-7664, 416-961-1588
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Halifax based singer-songwriter Christina Martin releases her new album
‘Two Hearts’, produced by Dale Murray (Cuff The Duke), and tours parts of Canada
and the US in 2008-2009. Visit www.christinamartin.net for more information.
Music Website: www.christinamartin.net.
Myspace: www.myspace.com/cpmartin.
Facebook Fan Page: www.facebook.com/pages/Christina-Martin/8426326493
16 SONGWRITERS MAGAZINE FALL 2008
SONGWRITERS MAGAZINE FALL 2008 17
blue spotlight:
bird
north
The Roundhouse, Vancouver
Photos: Dale Leung
Shari Ulrich
Will
Joe Mock
BBN No. 60,
September 9,
2008, hosted by
Shari Ulrich
Julia Graff
Carolyn Arends
Joel Kroeker
with her daughter,
special guest
Julia Graff
The next Blue Bird North takes place November 27 at the Roundhouse Community Centre, Vancouver, featuring
Sarah Noni Metzner, Andrea Menard with Robert Walsh, Barney Bentall and Tom Taylor, hosted by Shari Ulrich.
Produced by Shari Ulrich for the Songwriters Association of Canada
18 SONGWRITERS MAGAZINE FALL 2008
SONGWRITERS MAGAZINE FALL 2008 19
W H O W I L L B E T H E 2 0 0 9 N AT I O N A L S O N G W R I T E R O F T H E Y E A R ?
16th Annual
Presented by:
Award-winning Songwriter
Tomi Swick
Participating Radio Stations:
WHO CAN ENTER
Aspiring or proficient songwriters – self-published or unpublished – who are looking for
a chance to get their material recorded and/or published.
HOW TO ENTER
Send a CD with a minimum of 1 song up to a maximum of 3 songs, along with a typed lyric sheet, your
name, address and telephone number to the closest participating radio station in your area.
(Please write your name and telephone number on CD).
The song must be original and not published or distributed prior to competition.
All entries must be received no later than December 12, 2008.
Participating Sponsors:
Go to www.radiostar.ca for complete contest details and prizing