SOCAN was pleased to present our annual Nashville Family & Friends Bash at the City Winery, on May 24, 2019, honouring our locally based SOCAN members, and allowing them to network extensively with the city’s songwriting, publishing, and broader music-business communities.
We hosted more than 100 guests, including local and visiting members, as well as industry representatives from labels, music publishers, music technology firms, and agencies. Among them were members such as James Barker, Colin Linden, Gordie Sampson, and Kelly Archer,among others
Because SOCAN’s longtime Nashville representative Eddie Schwartz was recently inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, he was honoured at the reception, too. Raquel Cole sang and played a spirted version of Schwartz’s most well-known smash, “Hit Me with Your Best Shot,” and the assembled guests each took home a shot glasses cleverly emblazoned with the song’s title.
Attending from SOCAN were President and Chair of the Board of Directors, Marc Ouellette; Michael McCarty, our Chief Membership and Business Develoment Officer; Senior Director, A&R, Rodney Murphy; Steve Ambers, Director, International Development & Compliance; and A&R Representative Melissa Cameron-Passley.
We also took the opportunity to present five SOCAN No. 1 Song Awards during the Bash:
Left to right: Rodney Murphy, Michael McCarty, Aaron Goodvin, Marc Ouellette
One to Aaron Goodvin for co-writing “You Are,” co-published by ole, which reached No. 1 on the Nielsen BDS Country Chart;
Left to right: Tebey, Rodney Murphy, Melissa Cameron-Passley
One to Tebey, for co-writing “Dive Bar,” co-published by BMG Rights Management, which reached No. 1 on the same chart;
Left to right: Marc Ouellette, Melissa Cameron-Passley, Travis Wood, Todd Clark
One each to Todd Clark and Travis Wood, for co-writing “Feels Like That,” co-published by ole, Warner Chappell Music Canada, and Downtown Publishing, which The Reklaws took to the peak of the same chart; and one more to Travis Wood, for co-writing “Forever’s Gotta Start Somewhere,” co-published by Warner Chappell Music Canada and Downtown Publishing, with which Chad Brownlee topped the same chart.
Left to right: Tom Luteran, V-P Creative, Sony/ATV Music Publishing, Michael McCarty, Melissa Cameron-Passley, Brad Rempel, Rodney Murphy
Earlier in the week, SOCAN hosted a lunch with Brad Rempel, where we presented him with a No. 1 Song Award for co-writing “Lost,” co-published by Sony/ATV Music Publishing Canada, which The Hunter Brothers brought to the zenith of the Nielsen BDS Country Chart.
Left to right: Thomas “Tawgs” Salter, Simon Wilcox, Gordie Sampson
We also hosted a dinner for Simon Wilcox, Tawgs Salter, and Gordie Sampson, all three of whom we presented with No. 1 Song Awards for co-writing Scott Helman’s “Hang Ups,” co-published by Sony ATV Music Publishing Canada and EMI Blackwood Music Canada Ltd., which reached the top spot on the CBC Music Top 20. Simultaneously, Wilcox and Salter each earned another No. 1 Song Award for co-writing Helman’s “Ripple Effect,” co-published by the same companies, and peaking on the same chart.
SOCAN thanks our hard-working members for attending the reception, and congratulates all our chart-topping members as well!