Photo by SOCAN. SOCAN's Rodney Murphy de la SOCAN (left/gauche) with/avec The East Pointers.

East Pointers earn SOCAN song honour at 2019 East Coast Music Awards

Story by Howard Druckman | Tuesday May 7th, 2019

Rolicking live band The East Pointers earned the SOCAN Song of the Year honour at the 2019 East Coast Music Awards, for “Two Weeks.” SOCAN Senior Director, A&R, Rodney Murphy and JUNO-winning roots singer-songwriter Old Man Luedecke presented the band with their trophy at the East Coast Music Awards Show, on Thursday, May 2, 2019, at the Confederation Ballroom in the Delta Hotel by Marriott Prince Edward, in Charlottetown. (A second round of awards in this 31st annual edition were presented at a gala that closed the awards week, in the same venue, on Sunday, May 5, 2019.)

Classified led the award count with four, for Rap/Hip-Hop Recording, Solo Recording, and Album of the Year, all for Tomorrow Could Be the Day Things Change, as well as Video of the Year, for “Powerless.” Polaris Music Prize 2018 winner Jeremy Dutcher earned three honours, for Contemporary Roots Recording and Rising Star Recording of the Year, for his album Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa, as well as Indigenous Artist of the Year.

Singer-songwriter Ben Caplan earned the Songwriter of the Year Award, the Charke-Cormier Duo won Classical Composition of the Year for Ex Tempore, and the Francophone Recording of the Year was Les Hôtesses d’Hilaire’s Viens avec moi. The Venue of the Year, for the fourth time, was The Carleton Music Bar & Grill in Halifax – proudly Licensed To Play by SOCAN – which has persisted against all odds, under the guidance of Mike Campbell.

SOCAN Song House, ECMAs 2019

SOCAN Song House ECMAs 2019. Back Row: James Piercey (of ChessClub), Ashley Condon, Drew Moores, Corey Hachey (of FM Berlin), Alicia Toner, Cameron Nickerson, Kristen Rodden-Clarke (of Quote the Raven). Front Row: Mike McKenna Jr., Jordan Coaker (of Quote the Raven), Mallory Johnson, Elsie Morden, Melissa Cameron-Passley (of SOCAN), Brian Howes.

As part of the week leading up to the awards ceremony, renowned, veteran producer Brian Howes led the SOCAN Song House at East Coast Music Week 2019, May 1-2. Eleven songwriter participants from Atlantic Canada were selected to participate, gaining valuable insight into the craft of writing a hit song. They were (in alphabetical order) Jordan Coaker (of Quote the Raven), Ashley Condon, Corey Hachey (of FM Berlin), Mallory Johnson, Mike McKenna Jr., Drew Moores, Elsie Morden, Cameron Nickerson, James Piercey (of ChessClub), Kristen Rodden-Clarke (of Quote the Raven), and Alicia Toner.

During the ECMAs week, we presented a SOCAN No. 1 Song Award to Newfoundland-based duo The Fortunate Ones – Catherine Allan and Andrew James O’Brien – for “Hold Fast” topping the CBC Music Top 20 chart twice, on Aug. 9, 2018, and Jan. 3, 2019.

Fortunate Ones, SOCAN No. 1 Song Award, ECMAs 2019

SOCAN No. 1 Song Award winners Fortunate Ones

 

Photo by Eric Parazelli

Trille Or 2019: Cindy Doire wins SOCAN Songwriter Award

Story by Eric Parazelli | Tuesday May 7th, 2019

The 10th bi-annual edition of the Gala Trille Or, celebrating the musical diversity of Canada’s Francophone community, was held May 2, 2019, at a sold-out Centre des arts Shenkman in the Ottawa suburb of Orléans. Produced by the Association des professionnels de la chanson et de la musique (APCM) and presented by Unis TV, the gala offered an opportunity for artists from across Canada, industry professionals, and the public to honour artistic excellence and celebrate Franco-Canadian music.

YAO, Trille Or 2019

SOCAN member YAO won three awards at the 2019 Trille Or Gala. (Photo: Eric Parazelli)

 

Ottawa singer-songwriter YAO won a leading three awards, for Best Solo Artist, Best Live Show and Media Favourite. Timmins-based singer-songwriter Cindy Doire received the SOCAN Songwriter Award from the President of the organization’s Board of Directors, Marc Ouellette. Eric Parazelli, Francophone Editor of SOCAN’s online magazine, was also there, to meet Doire and capture her reaction.

 

 

Presented every other year, the Gala Trille Or is an opportunity for Canada’s Francophone regional music communities to get together and catch up on the news from other areas, reflect on their common issues, and even make music together during the work lab, and other workshops. SOCAN once again accepted APCM’s invitation to present a panel, this time on the artistic and economic opportunities of co-writing. The workshop was facilitated by Parazelli, and featured Caracol, DJ Unpier,  publisher Xavier Collin from France, as well as Xavier Forget from the Oç Centre for the Arts. Interesting discussions took place about co-writing, song camps such as SOCAN’s Kenekt, and the mistakes to avoid when deciding copyright shares for the resulting songs.

 

SOCAN, panel, Trille Or 2019

SOCAN panel: The importance of co-writing; artistic process and economic perspectives. (Photo: Julien Lavoie)

 

Who better to give us a feeling of the characteristically warm atmosphere of the Gala Trille Or and its red carpet than the famed Franco-Ontarian singer-songwriter Damien Robitaille, who also hosted the gala in 2015. He graciously accepted SOCAN’s invitation to take us on a tour of the red carpet during a Facebook Live event, broadcast on SOCAN’s French Facebook page.

 

 

WINNERS of the 2019 GALA TRILLE OR   

Solo Artist
YAO

Band
Les Rats d’Swompe

Breakthrough (Artist or Band)
Kimya

Author(s) and/or Composer(s)
Cindy Doire

Best EP
Vaero – Le noeud

Best Album
Mclean – Une dernière fois

Best Album from Acadia
Les Hôtesses d’Hilaire – Viens avec moi

Best Live Show
YAO

Best Song
Mélissa Ouimet, Amours jetables

Media Favourite
YAO

Homage
Carmen Campagne

For the complete list of winners of the industry gala that took place on May 1, 2019, see the  APCM press release.

 

Photo by courtesy of/par courtoisie de Canadian Musician. Left to right/De gauche à droite : Mike Raine, Jim Norris, Andrew King

Canadian Musician magazine celebrates 40th Anniversary

Story by Howard Druckman | Monday May 6th, 2019

Canadian Musician magazine, the print publication dedicated to Canada’s musicians and music industry professionals, celebrated its 40th Anniversary with a standing-room-only reception at Grace O’Malley’s in downtown Toronto on May 1, 2019.

Ferraro, Kris Barclay, and CJ Flemings performed at the event, and SOCAN members in attendance included The Trews, Kira Isabella, Ryland James, Marc Jordan, and Steve Strongman. Among the music business representatives at the birthday party were SOCAN CEO Eric Baptiste and SOCAN Chief Communications Officer Andrew Berthoff, John Harris, Cam Carpenter, Steve Kane, Steve Waxman, Tony Tobias, and Martin Melhuish.

Canadian Musician magazineCanadian Musician Founder, Publisher, and President Jim Norris, Consumer Director Maureen Jack, Editor-in-Chief Andrew King, and Senior Editor Mike Raine were all on hand to enjoy the festivities.

“We published our first issue of Canadian Musician 40 years ago with one goal: to be Canada’s premier publication, and a go-to resource, for professional and amateur musicians, and the industry that supports them,” said Norris in a statement. “It’s been as thrilling as it has been fulfilling to work towards that goal in the decades since, and like the industry we’re proud to represent, now feels like the most exciting time in our history. Celebrating this milestone with so many passionate friends and partners from over the years is a great reminder of why we do what we do, and our team is freshly inspired to continue our mission in the years to come.”

The inaugural issue of Canadian Musician was published in the spring of 1979. Since then, the publication has featured countless cover stories, interviews, and columns with some of the most notable names in Canadian music, from The Guess Who, Rush, Alanis Morissette, and The Tragically Hip, to Nickelback, Avril Lavigne, Shad, and Marianas Trench.

Each issue includes the latest updates from the Canadian and international music industries; career-building feature content; instructional columns for musicians, songwriters, and audio engineers; updates on the latest gear, tech, and trends; and coverage of major music industry events across Canada and beyond. The magazine has also expanded its reach with the a radio podcast, a series of music-business webinars, and CM Live sessions on Facebook.

For more information, visit www.cm40th.com.