Ottawa Tonite.com : Section Title

I awoke this past Tuesday to an e-mail from a friend and fellow troubadour in Cincinnati with the words “Congrats – 1st Place, WOW” in the title block. My friend informed me that he was reading a copy of “American Songwriter Magazine”, and that he noticed I had won the award for “Best Lyrics” issued by the American Songwriters Assoc. This was all news to me. I knew I had been nominated for the award, but didn’t realize I had won it. Of course, I verified the win with the Association before doing a little victory dance for the benefit of my somewhat confused beagle. Apparently there had been 2,500 applicants for this award. And apparently the lyrics for my song “Magnets” of my latest album “Up Hill … Both Ways” had caught the attention of the judges down in Nashville.

So, the people here at Ottawa Tonite asked me to write about how I feel at the moment. Well, “honoured” would be the first word that pops to mind. Indie musicians and songwriters, generally speaking, aren’t rushing to the bank with sack-loads of cash after writing a song or putting out an album, so recognition from fans, press and peers end up being the fuel that often keeps the train rolling down the track. The fact that the award comes from the US is somewhat surprising, but then again, it seems to be a tradition up here in Canada to watch our own get recognized elsewhere before we take notice here. They’re guilty of it in the US as well. When I tour down there, many of the local artists I play with from city-to-city and state-to-state say the same thing.

But I digress. The American Songwriter award comes with more than just recognition. A Martin DX1 guitar and a Shure microphone are being shipped to my address and a shot at recording with some Nashville stars is part of the deal as well! And the lyrics to the song as well as a brief article are in this month’s American Songwriter Magazine, which has a pretty hefty worldwide circulation. But all the materialist elements that go with an award pale in comparison to the  feeling that a songwriter gets just knowing that someone out there is LISTENING – someone other than my faithful beagle!

See the lyrics for “Magnets” here

See John Allaire and the Campistas performing “Magnets” at Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest, July, 2009.

Note: John Allaire will be playing the National Arts Centre 4th Stage with Graham Greer, Amy Campbell and Kyrie Kristmanson on Tuesday, November 3rd as part of the Songwriters’ Assoc. of Canada’s “Bluebird North” series. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster.ca and at the NAC Box Office.

John will have a full band performance with the Campistas (his backing band) on Friday, November 20th at the Elmdale House Tavern. Also on the bill that night will be rockabilly greats from Montreal “Matchless”and the Songwriting Roundabout Singers.

Tags: awards, folk music, John Allaire

This entry was posted on Friday, October 30th, 2009 at 5:37 pm and is filed under Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.