Celebrate Island music
Music P.E.I. announces details for Canadian Song Conference
Music P.E.I. is looking for some perfect harmony when it runs two simultaneous music conferences this May in Charlottetown.
The third annual Bell Aliant Canadian Song Conference will take place at the Rodd Charlottetown, May 10-13 – the same weekend as the association’s May Run Music Festival.
Music P.E.I. executive director Rob Oakie says it’s a great fit.
“It’s a unique opportunity for music industry professionals from around the world to gather, collaborate and celebrate with the P.E.I. music community.”
The conference will feature a special component called the Canadian Songwriter Challenge. Music P.E.I. will invite four musicians from other provinces and pair them up with an Island artist. Each duo is hosted in a local recording studio for two days of collaboration, Oakie said.
“The goal is to write and record two songs from each pairing and then present (them) in a listening session to the conference industry. From there, who knows how far the songs will go.”
Dennis Ellsworth can tell you how far he went. Music P.E.I. brought over musician John Smith from England in its pilot project and paired him with Ellsworth, he said.
“I didn’t know what to expect, but after the first day it went well.”
The experience opened a whole new world to Ellsworth.
“My trajectory from that day took me to Finland, Belgium, England, Ireland and Nashville.”
Ellsworth said this event is special to him because it’s in his own backyard and was a great experience to write with someone else. He doesn’t know whom he’ll be writing with this time around.
“I’m excited about this year. Let’s keep it going.”
Dale Gaudet, marketing and ticketing co-ordinator for the festival, says it’s all about celebrating Island music.
“In such a small province, with all the people you know, there’s probably someone in a band or (who) writes music. It’s part of our culture. This event is a win-win-win all the way around. People will be amazed by the talent we have here.”
Music P.E.I. claims there has been a 400 per cent increase in the number of internationally touring artists since it began operations.