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MAGAZINE
Simple Plan
Flexing their creative muscle
The Trews
Ali Slaight
Into the spotlight
William Hawkins
Canadas great
lost songwriter
Songwriters
Association of Canada
Association des
auteurs-compositeurs
Canadiens
SONGWRITERS MAGAZINE FALL 2008 1
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
ALI SLAIGHT
Making her own moves
By Greg Quill
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: sac@songwriters.ca
Web: www.songwriters.ca
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
Photo: S.A.C.
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 youve never heard
till now
By Greg Quill
17
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. Johns: 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
Haydain update
their self-titled debut album: Altered Laws
(Outstanding Jazz Recording) for Metaphora;
Saskatchewans 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 SOCANs
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
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 nations biggest radio
property was sold to Montreals 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 Slaights voice sounds familiar its
because she has been quietly honing her
chops under the guidance of star vocal
BY GREG QUILL
Fish Frys Dirt Road Blues CD last year.
Slaights first release, 2007s The Story
of Your Life, was a Top 10 Canadian
radio hit. It was also prominently featured
on CBC-TVs 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 theres nothing
stopping you from achieving what you
want, if you set your mind to it.
your demos?
Standard meter.
songposium
BY GrEG QUILL
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 nations 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 arent 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 theres 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,
Harpers 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 nations 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.
Metalworks Institute is registered as a private career college under the Private Career Colleges Act, 2005.
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. Johns, 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-
TORONTO
Nov. 15, 08
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
Funds Creators Assistance Program, administered by The SOCAN Foundation.
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 dont want my rock and
politics mixed, and I dont know if a
BY NICK KREWEN
SIMPLE PLAN: Pierre Bouvier, Sebastien Lefebvre, David Desrosiers, Jeff Stinco, Chuck Comeau
ThE Trews: People really want you to feel what theyre going through.
much as I can.
One of those novel approaches occurred during MacDonalds 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, Whats the story here? Whats
this guy going through? We wrote those
two songs on a sheet of paper and just
put chords behind them.
Its difficult to do and it doesnt al-
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
NT Sylvia Adams
ON Moira Demorest
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 OBrien
ON Diana Tiessen
AB Chris Livingston
BC Mike Moy
ON Dallas Arney
ON Gary Evans
ON Gloria OBrien
ON Christopher Todman
AB Vitaliy Malkin
BC Corbin Murdoch
ON Rohan Bader
ON Christine Fraser-Hector
ON Kimberly OConnor
ON Natalie Tom-Yew
AB Wayne Monnery
BC Randall Murray
ON Michael Henderson
ON Sue Peters
ON Kevin White
AB Jacqueline Pratte
BC Eddie Plotnikoff
ON Shaun Bishop
ON Samantha Hooey
ON Michel Pixel
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
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 Kevin Kennedy
QC Derek Jones
BC Damian Burns
MB JanicStarodub
ON James Chaney
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
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 Phill Smith
BC Angela Harris
NS Carmel Mikol
ON Murray Daigle
ON David McKee
SK Shane Yellowbird
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
Ottawas famed folk haunt Le Hibou, had
gathered around him an ensemble of fortuitously gifted musicians, among
them Cockburn, Waters, Crawley and
Neville Wells, whos also featured on
Dancing Alone.
I turned to Bruce
(Cockburn) as we
walked off and said,
Im 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,
Im finished.
I had a good thing going with my
poetry, and a Canada Council grant, and
I didnt 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
CLASSIFIED ADS
PLACE YOURS HERE
FOR JUST $25 (5 LINES)
To book your classified ad, contact us at: magazine@songwriters.ca, or call
416-961-1588 / 866-456-7664
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
blue spotlight:
bird
north
Shari Ulrich
Will
Joe Mock
Julia Graff
Carolyn Arends
Joel Kroeker
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
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
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: