The Great Canadian Song-Along

What is the Song-Along?

For want of a better term, let's call it a celebration of songwriting. It's like a songwriting festival during which writers from coast-to-coast perform new material written around common themes. For the participants it's a fun songwriting challenge, as well as a chance to meet other songwriters in their community and hear their work. For the audience it's a very entertaining show. It's an opportunity for everyone to see where different writers can go from the same starting point.

Here's what the Song-Along isn't: it's not a contest or a competition; there is no evaluation or judging; there are no entry requirements or prizes. It's not a seminar or workshop; there's no instruction or critique, no panel of experts. It's not a benefit or showcase.

It's a blast. That's about all there is to it.

How Does The Song-Along Work?

Songwriters contact Song-Along founder and organizer Karen Leslie Hall, or one of the regional coordinators. They are given four themes to choose from and one or more dates to perform. They commit to a date, then write a song, inspired by the theme or themes they pick. Then they show up on the appointed night and perform their new song. Finally, they relax and listen to what everybody else has come up with. Simple! And if years past are any indication, lots of fun!

The Song-Along Vision

The Song-Along is, above all, for fun. It is meant to promote creativity and self-expression for all songwriters, from novices to professionals. It also encourages comraderie and networking in the songwriting community.

The Song-Along is a "no-money miracle". Nobody pays or makes any money, and it's not a vehicle to raise money for any cause or charity (this could give a political or sociological slant to the event that might exclude people or color the content of the songs). In the spirit of pure fun, unfettered self-expression, and wide-open accessibility, the Song-Along is designed to leave money, politics, and controversy out of it altogether (although songwriters are welcome to include political or controversial issues in their songs!)

The accessibility aspect of the Song-Along is also very important. Everyone is welcome to participate, regardless of experience or ability. Past Song-Alongs have included people who wrote their first-ever song for the event, others making their stage debut, seasoned professionals, and everyone in between. There are no auditions or evaluations of songwriters; the only requirement is that they write a Song-Along song and commit to a date on which to present it.

All of this adds up to a veritable "free-for-all" for songwriters, and musical evenings that are engaging, inspiring, and even magical.

Themes

The themes for the 1996 Song-Along are:

	"Almost halfway"
	"Smoke"
	"Front porch"
	"On finding only one"

Dates and Locations

The next Song-Along will be held in March and April, 1996, in communities all across Canada, and in Alaska too.

Call your nearest regional coordinator if you would like to participate, or contact organizer Karen Leslie Hall if you would like coordinate a Song-Along in your community.

Regional Coordinators

So far, the following people have agreed to coordinate the Song-Along in their communities:

	Anchorage, Alaska	Shari Lacy	slacy@pop.adn.com
	Elmvale-Midland-Orillia area, Ontario	Derek Pantling	(705) 361-2547
	Hamilton, Ontario	Pat Carriere	ah377@freenet.hamilton.on.ca (905) 385-9459
	London, Ontario	Jo-Ann Lawton	(519) 673-5860
	Ottawa, Ontario	Chris White	cdwhite@bnr.ca (613) 567-3449
	Peterborough, Ontario	Maxine Mann	(705) 748-5777
	Regina, Saskatchewan	Joël Fafard	(306) 352-7782
	St.Catharines, Ontario	Dave Leask	(905) 309-0092
	Toronto, Ontario	Karen Leslie Hall	karen@seadance.com (416) 690-3504
	Vancouver, British Columbia	Brad Hartley	(604) 525-6451
	Whitby, Ontario	Bryan Williston	(905) 430-1375
	Wolfville, Nova Scotia	Kate Adams	(902) 538-7923

This list is growing. Contact organizer Karen Leslie Hall if you would like to arrange a Song-Along in your community, or call your nearest regional coordinator if you would like to participate.

Additional Information

For more information about the Song-Along please contact international organizer Karen Leslie Hall at:

Seadance Music

P.O. Box 184

36 Adelaide Street East

Toronto, Ontario M5C 2J1

CANADA

Telephone: (416) 690-3504 Fax: (416) 694-0239

E-mail: karen@seadance.com

If you would like to be notified of Song-Along developments, please join Karen Leslie Hall's e-mailing list.

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