Manitoba Music and the Songwriters Association of Canada Bring Collaborative Songwriting Session Back to Manitoba

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Manitoba Music and the Songwriters Association of Canada (S.A.C.) are pleased to announce the second session of the innovative collaborative project, SongWorks. Taking place June 4-7 at Dorothy Lake in the Whiteshell, the S.A.C. initiative is designed to bring professional songwriters and artists together to create new Canadian songs for upcoming recording artists’ releases. 

The Manitoba session includes an impressive list of both established and emerging singer/songwriters, including: Heather Longstaffe, Dana Kowalsky (Bean), Bucky Driedger (The Liptonians/Royal Canoe), Rosie Blais (Enjoy Your Pumas), Stefanie Johnson (Mise en Scene), Leonard Sumner (Lorenzo), and songwriter/producers Phil Deschambault (Ash Koley), Arun Chaturvedi (CBG Artist Development), and Jason Gordon (Studio 11).

“We are excited to bring this special songwriting retreat back to Manitoba,” said Toronto-based S.A.C. executive director Don Quarles, “and especially pleased to be partnering with Manitoba Music on this initiative. We hope this event will contribute to Manitoba’s rich history of world-class songwriting.” 

”Manitoba has a history of developing world-class songwriters and SongWorks is a great tool to help foster new talent and new connections,” says Manitoba Music executive director Sara Stasiuk. “This is a great opportunity to bring together songwriters, producers and artists that might not otherwise have had the chance to collaborate.” 

In 2009, Manitoba’s first SongWorks session yielded stellar results from a diverse collection of songwriters, including Ruth Moody (The Wailin’ Jennys), Matt Peters (Royal Canoe, The Waking Eyes), and producer Derek Norton. Moody included their collaboration, “We Can Only Listen,” on her solo album, The Garden, which was nominated for a 2011 JUNO Award. 

Financial assistance for SongWorks comes from the Songwriters Association of Canada via a grant from the SOCAN Foundation, through the Creators Assistance Program of the Canada Music Fund.

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