Our annual Canadian Songwriting Challenge was this year led by acclaimed songwriter/producer Ryan Dahle. We decided to expand the event to allow more songwriters to participate, and also provided travel bursaries to make it more accessible for those travelling from around the province.
On the Friday evening of the event we presented a workshop & webinar that was open to everyone to attend, “Intro to Copyright.”
Led by Tim Hardy, who worked with SOCAN (The Society of Composers, Authors, and Music Publishers of Canada) in a variety of positions within their Licensing & Membership Departments in both its head office in Toronto and its Atlantic Canadian office in Halifax NS for over 22 years, Tim currently operates an independent rights management/music consulting company (Aspenway Music) based in Halifax and is the co-owner of Sound of Pop, an independent music publishing and one-stop master/sync representation company based in Nova Scotia. Tim led a detailed discussion on copyright and royalties, including how to register your works with SOCAN and other performing rights organizations in Canada.
Then in phase one on the Saturday, a group of 28 songwriters were selected and organized into groups to collaborate and co-write over the course of the day. Nine of these (3 groups) were selected for phase two on the Sunday, where they continued on to record demos of their newly written songs at Studio One with Kieran Semple engineering.
Ryan Dahle’s years on the road playing in his bands Limblifter, Mounties and the Age of Electric, have amounted to a massive bounty of unusual and unique instruments. In search of new and legendary sounds he hunts for deals on mysterious effects pedals, amplifiers, odd keyboards, samplers, tape machines and rare microphones. Dahle attracts artists to his studio to record and write so they can utilize his collection of instruments, as well as his keen songwriting ear and imaginative production techniques.
Ryan’s career as a songwriter began when his self-penned songs elevated The Age of Electric to gold-selling status. Between Limblifter, AOE and Mounties he has written seven top 11 radio hits, was nominated for 4 JUNOs and won a CASBY award and SiriusXM Indie award. His style as a writer, guitarist and producer shines through on any recording he touches. He strives for an organic performance and detailed production from himself and anyone with whom he is involved garnering him much adulation from fellow musicians.
