What's New : Summer / Fall 2016
It's been busy -
RBT | NE Monthly Mania : Where do I start? So much on the go for North and I that he will now be in Toronto every three weeks starting September so we can endeavour to keep up. Highlights (I can talk about) :) JUNE GARBER : We had the opportunity to have Ms. Garber walk us through the South African landscape resulting in "Underneath the Jacaranda Tree" which just might be her signature song. We also wrote a heartfelt and personal song based on some challenging times in her life - "Unbroken" which had the audience crying right along with her at the packed house of her "This I Know" CD release at Lula Lounge. Big smiles here with these songs being the two original songs on her album. CARLOS MORGAN : A super talented singer / songwriter, we recently completed writing, production and video for "Have A Little Faith" a song that will be a single from Carlos' upcoming album "C.A.R.L.O.S.". We've got a few more singles in the works as well; Been greatly enjoying working with singer / songwriter ANDREW ALLEN, Andrew who is riding the charts north and south of the border; had a great writin' and learn'in session with the very humble and hugely talented Canadian turned Nashville music ambassador RALPH MURPHY writing "The Devil Next Door with him that is currently knocking on doors in Nashville. We're looking forward to getting together with Ralph again in Nashville this fall; and MIKALYN HAY, such a talented young woman, who just released "Anyway" a song we co-wrote with Mikalyn as well as the video which was filmed and directed by North.
SCOTT MACKAY
I've been writing with Scott MacKay for just over two years now via Skype. We've finished songs for his album, and have a great many song starts underway. No doubt, Skype is 'efficient' in meeting need, with an emphasis on accommodating, rather than maximizing. So it was truly a pleasure to pick Scott up at the train station and have him' in the house', 'in the room' and in my creative space for 8 days. There was much to talk about, much to write about and happily we wrote, finished, produced and recorded "Nothing But Blood". As usual Scott's killer (killer) vocals added an element of texture and mood that transformed the space of the song. With more inspired thoughts fired up - we're once again back to Skype to find the finish.
AMBER McLEAN : Fellow Collabor8tor, Amber and I had a great writing session that found us "Don't Think Tonight". I'm so excited to soon be sharing more about this great group of Canadian writers which includes : Patrick Ballantyne, David Leask, North Easton, Amber McLean, Ken Yates, Blair Packham, Dayna Manning and me :)
THE ACOUSTIC GUITAR PROJECT : While there's barely enough time in a day as it is, I just couldn't resist the offer to be the Toronto curator for this amazing global music initiative. With so much more to share - let me simply say that I'm stoked to have the amazing talents of Suzy Vinnick, Julian Taylor, Blair Packham and Keith McKie along with me on this very cool music venture.
SAC 4x4 SONGWRITING CHALLENGE : Again, couldn't say no to The Songwriter's Association of Canada and mentoring 80 songwriters. 80 songwriters and a song a week over 4 weeks. A blur of late nights listening and commenting, from a transatlantic flight to the UK, to the back seat of a car from Manchester to London to the Chunnel train to Paris. Our own challenge was North's fleeting WIFI in the mountains of BC with him on tour, and trying to locate each other in time zones and 7,000 miles between us. But overall, happy to have had the opportunity to give back and help out.