Photo by Photo by Brad Ardley. SOCAN Foundation Young Canadian Songwriter Awards 2019 winners / Lauréats des Prix de la Fondation SOCAN pour les jeunes auteurs-compositeurs 2019. Left to right / De gauche à droite : Lou-Adriane Cassidy, Arianna Ohlsson, Emily Glifford (GRAE), Kasia Thorlakson (Kasia Leigh), Mahmoud Ismail.

SOCAN Foundation 2019 Young Canadian Songwriters Award winners play at SOCAN

Story by Howard Druckman | Friday October 25th, 2019

The five winners of the 2019 edition of the SOCAN Foundation Awards for Young Canadian Songwriters – created in partnership with Sirius XM Canada Inc. – gathered on Oct. 24, 2019, at the SOCAN offices in Toronto, where they each played their winning song to assembled SOCAN staff in the Harmony Lounge.

The talented, emerging songwriters – each under 21 years of age, and each of whom won $5,000, performed powerful, moving versions of their songs, as follows:

  • Mahmoud Ismail, “Sigada”
  • Lou-Adriane Cassidy, “Poussière”
  • Arianna Ohlsson, “Heaven”
  • Emily Gifford (a.k.a. GRAE), “Your Hands”
  • Kasia Thorlakson (a.k.a. Kasia Leigh), “Love Song #1”

After these short but powerful performances, the quintet enjoyed a catered lunch with SOCAN Foundation Executive Director Charlie Andrews and Administrator of Programs Julien Boumard Coallier.

Then they spent the early afternoon in an educational workshop with Andrews and Coallier, as well as SOCAN A&R Representatives, including the Director, A&R, Rodney Murphy.

SOCAN congratulates these strong young songwriters on their SOCAN Foundation Awards!

Photo by Marie-Michèle Bouchard

Gala de l’ADISQ : Alexandra Stréliski wins two more honours

Story by Eric Parazelli | Monday October 28th, 2019

It was no secret that Alexandra Stréliski stood very good chances of winning Félix Awards last night, and she didn’t leave the 41st edition of the Gala de l’ADISQ empty-handed. She didn’t have to write lyrics in order for her album Inscape to win the prestigious Author or Composer of the Year Félix Award, and she also won Breakout Artist of the Year, for a total of three, including the Album of the Year – Instrumental honour she won during the Premier Gala de l’ADISQ last Wednesday.

SOCAN met her backstage at the Gala just after she won her two awards, where she explained her acceptance words – “One must not underestimate the power of softness” – for her first award, and talked about the evocative power of her music, which was sufficient enough to win her the Author or Composer of the Year award, without lyrics (see left).

Among the other big winners of the evening were Cœur de pirate, who walked away with two major awards, namely Album of the Year – Pop, and Female Artist of the Year, while Loud was the Male Artist of the Year. Florent Vollant won the inaugural Native Artist of the Year. Roxane Bruneau won the Song of the Year Félix award for “Des p’tits bouts de toi,” and Alaclair Ensemble won the Rap Album of the Year award. Fred Pellerin’s album Après won Folk Album of the Year. Michel Rivard received the Show of the Year – Singer-Songwriter Award for his autobiographical one-man show L’origine de mes espèces while Bleu Jeans Bleu capped a whirlwind year by winning the Group or Duo of the Year honour. Ginette Reno won the Album of the Year – Adult Contemporary.

For a complete list of the evening’s winners, visit the ADISQ website.

Photo by Marie-Michèle Bouchard

ADISQ 2019: Hubert Lenoir wins award for Artist with Highest International Profile

Story by Eric Parazelli | Thursday October 24th, 2019

The deluge of 2019 Félix trophies began to rain down on Oct. 23 with the Premier Gala de l’ADISQ, as well as the Industry Gala, in Montréal, with a total of 43 trophies presented.

Among the SOCAN members who stood out during the galas were Vincent Roberge, aka Les Louanges, who won three of them, for Best Arrangement, Best Album – Alternative, and Best Album – Critic’s Choice. This year, SOCAN partnered with ADISQ to present the award for the Artist with the Highest International Profile, which went to the flamboyant Hubert Lenoir. We met with him in the press room for a video interview just after he accepted his honour (see left).

Among the evening’s other winners were:

  • Jesse Mac Cormack: Album of the Year – Anglophone, for Now
  • Elisapie: Album of the Year – Other Languages, for The Ballad of the Runaway Girl
  • Paul Daraîche: Album of the Year – Country, for Ma maison favorite
  • Alexandra Stréliski: Album of the Year – Instrumental, for INSCAPE
  • Dominique Fils-Aimé: Album of the Year – Jazz, for Stay Tuned!
  • Ginette Reno: Album of the Year – Best-Seller, for À jamais
  • Millimetrik: Album of the Year – Electronic Music, for Make It Last Forever
  • Wesli: Album of the Year – World Music, for Rapadou Kreyol
  • Éric Lapointe: Album of the Year – Rock, for Délivrance
  • Le Vent du Nord & De Temps Antan: Album of the Year – Roots, for Notre album solo
  • Milk & Bone: Show of the Year – Anglophone, for Deception Bay
  • Alaclair Ensemble: Video of the Year, for “La famille”

Several SOCAN members offered outstanding performances during the Premier Gala de l’ADISQ (hosted by Pierre Lapointe), including Alaclair Ensemble, Dominique Fils-Aimé, Éric Lapointe, Florent Vollant, Jérôme50, Lou-Adriane Cassidy, Pierre Lapointe himself, Safia Nolin, and Voivod.

The show will be available online on Oct. 24, 2019, and will be aired again on Oct. 27, at 5:00 p.m. ET, on Télé-Québec. This 41st annual celebration of the Québec music industry will conclude on Oct. 27 with the televised Gala, that will once again be hosted by comedian Louis-José Houde, and broadcast on ICI Radio-Canada Télé, live from the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier of Place des Arts.

For a complete list of the Premier Gala and Industry gala winners, visit the ADISQ website.