Photo by courtesy/courtoisie. In-Story Photos / Photos dans l'article : Marie-Michèle Bouchard

Gémeaux Awards: SOCAN hosts panel on screen composing

Story by Marie-Michèle Bouchard | Wednesday September 14th, 2022

To support its members, the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television – Québec Chapter organized its first-ever edition of the Salon des membres des prix Gémeaux, at the Cinémathèque québécoise, in Montréal, on Sept. 13 and 14, 2022, ahead of the various galas of the 37th edition of the Gémeaux Awards. The Salon des membres is intended to be an additional platform for promoting local talent. SOCAN took this opportunity to host a panel on screen composing.

The panel was a case study on the documentary La goutte de trop, a film whose music is nominated at the 2022 Gémeaux Awards in the category of Best Original Score: Documentary, and which tackles the myth that the supply of drinking water is inexhaustible in Québec. The Chairman of SOCAN’s Board of Directors, Marc Ouellette, moderated the discussion, as did Jérémie Battaglia, director of the documentary, and Anaïs Larocque, the SOCAN member who scored Une goutte de trop. They addressed several subjects, focusing on the methodology and creative process of screen composing, especially when it comes to documentary films.

Following the panel, SOCAN hosted a cocktail reception in the private room of Bar Le Furco, to celebrate the Canadian Screen Awards nominations of the past few years. Because in-person gatherings were not possible during the past few years, the nominees of the 2020, 2021, and 2022 editions were all invited to come and celebrate their success.

Don’t miss the 2022 Gala de l’industrie des Gémeaux, hosted by Nicolas Ouellet on Thursday, Sept. 15, broadcast on radio-canada.ca and on the Facebook page of the Prix Gémeaux – this being the gala where the winners in the music categories will be announced.

The Opening Gala will take place on Sunday, Sept. 18, at 5:00 p.m. ET. It will be broadcast on ther ICI ARTV website, and will once again be hosted by Nicolas Ouellet.

The Main Gala will also take place on Sept. 18, at 8:00 p.m. ET. It will be hosted by Véronique Cloutier and will be broadcast on ICI TÉLÉ and its companion website.

Good luck to all nominated SOCAN members!

Photo by courtesy of / courtoisie de Gala Country

Gala Country 2022: Ghys Mongeon, SOCAN Songwriter of the Year

Story by Eric Parazelli | Thursday September 15th, 2022

The country music community was happy to meet again on Sept. 14, 2022, for the return of the Gala Country, held this year during the Festival Western de St-Tite. This 9th edition highlighted the work of the artists and artisans in the Canadian Francophone country-music community. Hosted for the very first time by Richard Turcotte, the gala gave out 14 “Willie” awards to projects that stood out in the past year, in addition to offering a variety of musical performances.

SiriusXM offered a $3,000 cash prize to the winner of the song of the year (“Contre vents et marées,” performed by Paul Daraîche and Renée Martel) as well as $500 to the other four finalists: Wild Ouest, Nathalie Lord, Martin Duford, and Dave Harmo. SOCAN, involved with the gala once more this year, presented a $1,000 cash prize and a one-week stay at the SOCAN House in Nashville to Ghys Mongeon, winner of the SOCAN Songwriter of the Year Award. SOPROQ offered him a $1,000 cash prize for Original Song Album of the Year, for Chasser l’ennui.

Mack & Ro, René Turgeon, Les filles de, Nathalie Lord, and Ghys Mongeon performed an opening number in homage to the pioneers of the genre, while the Deraspe brothers, from Sept-Îles, presented their song “Le vieux pêcheur,” and Beauséjour offered a touching rendition of “Lucille Starr.” A new generation of country musicians was also present, with Montréal’s Brittany Kennell singing the title song of her album I Ain’t a Saint and Gabrielle Goulet, playing her bilingual new release “Cliché Heartache.”

The complete list of winners is:

English Album of the Year
Matt Lang (More)

Television show of the year
Simply Country (Season 3, with Guylaine Tanguay)

Original Song Album of the Year
Ghys Mongeon (Chasser l’ennui)

Group of the year
Lendemain de veille

Album of Re-interpretations of the Year
Guylaine Tanguay (Country)

Female Performer of the Year
Nathalie Lord

SOCAN Songwriter of the Year
Ghys Mongeon

Male Performer of the Year
Laurie Leblanc

Discovery of the year
Wild Ouest

Show of the Year
Patrick Groulx et les bas blancs

Show of the Year presenter
Jam Country Lanjeu

Song of the Year
“Contre vents et marées”
Performers: Paul Daraîche and Renée Martel
Songwriter: Nelson Minville

Radio Show of the Year
En route vers l’ouest avec Véronique Labbé

Public Choice Award
Sugar Crush

Photo by Brad Ardley (via Zoom)

SOCAN presents No. 1 Song Award to MacKenzie Porter for “Pickup”

Story by Howard Druckman | Tuesday September 13th, 2022

SOCAN was pleased and proud to surprise MacKenzie Porter with a SOCAN No. 1 Song Award – her first – for co-writing “Pickup,” which scaled the peak the Billboard Canada Country Chart on the week of June 18, 2022.

ET Canada presented the honour on behalf of SOCAN, after conducting a brief interview during the week of the 2022 Canadian Country Music Awards in Calgary. “Pickup” was co-written by Porter, Will Bundy, and Lydia Vaughan, and is published by Warner Chappell Music Publishing Canada.

SOCAN congratulates all of the participants in the song on their chart-topping work together! The presentation takes place at the end of the video below.