Photo by courtesy/courtoisie. 2023 ISC winner/gagnant Dan Davidson

Four songs written by SOCAN members win in 2022 International Songwriting Competition

Story by Howard Druckman | Wednesday May 24th, 2023

Out of more than 18,000 entries from 140 countries, four songs written or co-written by SOCAN members won in the 2022 International Songwriting Competition, in separate musical categories.

The SOCAN members honoured with second-place prizes for their songs were:

  • Monica Fadai-Nia and Andrew Ripp (BMI), in the Adult Contemporary category for “Found My Way to You,” performed by Hendrix (not to be confused with Jimi Hendrix);
  • In the Rock category, Jared Salte and Bethany Salte, with “Little High Little Low,” performed by The Royal Foundry; and
  • Dan Davidson, Clayton Bellamy, and Mitch Merritt, in the Country category, with “Warm Beer,” performed by Davidson.

In the R&B/Soul category, Jully Black’s “Half Empty,” written and performed by her, made a third-place finish, and 25 more songs written or co-written by SOCAN members earned honourable mentions. For a complete list of 2022 ISC winners and honourable mentions, and to hear the winning songs, visit the ISC website.

Now in its 22nd year, the ISC was created to recognize great songwriters and to provide a valuable platform for them to be heard by the music industry and public alike. The competition is open to both professional and amateur songwriters. More than 70 winners in more than 20 genre categories share more than $225,000 USD in cash and prizes, including an overall Grand Prize of $25,000 USD cash, and more. Previous winners have included Jane Siberry, Vance Joy, Faouzia, Sam Roberts, Tenille Townes, The Trews, and many more.

Photo by Frédérique Ménard Aubin

Francouvertes 2023: Jeanne Côté wins the finals

Story by Eric Parazelli | Wednesday May 24th, 2023

The SiriusXM Grand Finale of the 2023 Francouvertes contest took place at Club Soda in Montréal on May 15, 2023. Jeanne Côté was won the Grand Prize, that included a cash award of $15,000. She delivered an captivating folk-pop performance, rooted in her native Gaspésie. Then it was the turn of third-place winner Héron, who has a knack for touching people while he makes them dance to his roots-pop stylings. Parazar, who finished second, was the evening’s closer, and set the roof on fire with her groovy rap.

Parazar

Parazar

Parazar earned the SOCAN Paroles & Musique Award during the sem-ifinal round. She won a $1,000 cash prize and an invitation to the next Kenekt Studio song camp in Montréal. SOCAN was present throughout the contest, as the presenting partner of the “J’aime mes ex” series that features former Francouvertes contestants as opening acts for each show.

Marie Céleste won the $5,000 Andréanne-Sasseville cash prize, awarded by SiriusXM, and determined by an online vote among the nine semi-finalists.

Spokespersons Calamine and Samian brilliantly set the tone with hard-hitting performances, before yielding the stage to the finalists of the 2023 edition.

For the complete list of the prizes awarded out to the 2022 finalists, visit the Francouvertes website.

The final round of Francouvertes was also broadcast live online, but you can catch the entire evening in a special broadcast on Attitude Franco – SiriusXM 63, on Wednesday, May 24, at 12 noon ET, and Friday, May 26, at 6:00 p.m. ET.

SOCAN congratulates Jeanne Côté on her victory, one that we hope bodes well for the rest of her promising career.

Photo by SOCAN

Songwriter François Guy dead at 76

Story by Eric Parazelli | Wednesday May 24th, 2023

“Songwriting is a popular form of art, not a French class. It’s a piece of jewelry. You put it together like a precious jewel. There is no moment more precious than when you finish writing a song.” – François Guy, Paroles & Musique, 2010

Francois GuyWith great sadness, SOCAN learned of the death of songwriter François Guy on May 12, 2023. A fatal fall at his cottage in Labelle, in the Laurentians, put an end to a prolific career in “chanson québécoise.” Whether through his numerous compositions over six decades, or his involvement with SACEF (Société pour l’avancement de la chanson d’expression française) for more than 15 years, Guy left his mark on a whole era. He added his own cornerstone to the edifice of the Francophone repertoire, and mentored the next generation of singers through the Ma Première Place des Arts contest, among others.

Reaching an audience via the band Les Sinners in the late ’60s, and by his next group, La Révolution Française, Guy co-wrote the rallying anthem “Québécois,” that would be inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2018. It was one of the first rock songs to sing about Québec’s independence, a theme that, until then, had been mostly reserved for folksingers. The song’s powerful message captured the era’s zeitgeist, which was the key to its success, and “Québécois”  became the province’s best-selling single in 1970, with more than 100,000 copies sold.

Guy proceeded to record five albums and a series of singles between 1973 and 1983; he participated in the creation of several musical revues, including Cirociel in 1976, before re-orienting his career toward talent development. He did circle back to writing for other artists, including Chloé Sainte-Marie, Véronique Béliveau, Renée Martel, Gildor Roy, and Francine Raymond with “Y a les mots,” a hit song that became a SOCAN Classic in 2018.

Guy made a final recording in 2010 with the album Je préfère le bonheur, in collaboration with his accomplice Manuel Brault, and other lyricists, such as Mario Proulx and Jean-Guy Prince. “I’ve never really left songwriting behind,” said Guy in a story published in SOCAN’s Paroles & Musique magazine in 2010. “I never stopped writing. I just grew old. When you’re younger, you’re more dynamic, but as you grow older, you become a better singer. You reach a certain level of mastery, you know yourself better, your capacities, your range, your interpretation, the value of the words.”

SOCAN extends heartfelt condolences to Guy’s family, friends and colleagues.