Terra Lightfoot Reaches Finals In SOCAN Songwriting Prize: Vote Daily For Her

Terra Lightfoot performing at the 2016 CBC Music Festival at Echo Beach in Toronto on May 28, 2016. (Photo: Janine Van Oostrom/Aesthetic Magazine)

For the eleventh year in a row, the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada is honouring the best songwriting our country has to offer. This year, one of the shortlisted nominees comes from Hamilton.

This year’s finalists include English and French songwriters from across Canada, but most importantly, this year’s list includes Terra Lightfoot from Hamilton.

Since fan voting determines the winner, the real question is: does Hamilton have what it takes to clinch the prize for the song that hails from their hometown? In this case, "No Hurry" by Terra Lightfoot?

From June 9-23, 2016, fans can vote for their favourite song from the nominees by visiting www.socansongwritingprize.ca or through Twitter using the hashtag #mySSPvote and identifying the performer's name in the tweet. Fans can vote once daily through each platform.

One English and one French Winner will each receive $10,000 in cash, a choice between two brands of Godin Guitars (a Seagull Artist Studio CW guitar or Godin 5th Avenue Jazz guitar), a Yamaha PSR-S970 keyboard, and a $500 gift card from Long and McQuade.

The 10 English and French finalists were each determined by independent panels of 15 music-industry experts who were asked to nominate two songs from any musical genre that they felt were the best written in the last 12 months by emerging songwriters – defined as songwriters who have released no more than two full albums (excluding EPs) up until the end of the eligibility period. All of the nominated songs were then compiled, reviewed and voted on by each panel as a whole to decide the final 10 nominees. SOCAN does not have a role in determining nominees or winners.

• "Black Body" – written by Benjamin Addy, Renee Wisdom; performed by Spek Won feat.Shi Wisdom.
• "Dead or Alive" – written by Jahmarie Adams, Michael Lantz; performed by Jazz Cartier.
• "Desire" – written by Kathleen Monks, Benjamin Reinhartz, James Rowlinson, Elizabeth Ball; performed by Dilly Dally.
• "How Could You Babe" – written by Tobias Jesso Jr; performed by Tobias Jesso Jr.; published by Universal Music Publishing.
• "Julia" – written by Matthew Mcleod; performed by Fast Romantics.
• "No Hurry" – written by Terra Lightfoot; performed by Terra Lightfoot; published by CCS Rights Management Corp.
• "Paradise" – written by Ashton Simmonds, Matthew Burnett, Jordan Evans, Alexander Sowinski, Matthew Tavares, Leland Whitty,Chester Hansen, Keaven Yazdani; performed by Daniel Ceasar feat. BADBADNOTGOOD, Sean Leon; published by Reclusive Music Inc., Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd. Canada, Robinson Heart Publishing.
• "Pen to Paper" – written by Sean Graham, Thomas "Tawgs" Salter; performed by Modern Space; published by Sony/ATV.
• "Spirits" – written by Simon Ward, Jeremy Drury, Jonathan Hembrey, Darryl G.J. James, Brian Leigh Pickett, David Ritter, Joanne Setterington, Isabel Cunningham Ritchie; performed by The Strumbellas; published by Domino Double Nine.
• "Wendell Walker" – written by Andy Shauf; performed by Andy Shauf; published by Peer International Ltd. (Canada), Music of the Mothership.

The winning songs are planned to be announced the week of July 4, 2016.

Winners will receive $10,000 in cash, a choice between two brands of Godin Guitars (a Seagull Artist Studio CW guitar or Godin 5th Avenue Jazz guitar), a Yamaha PSR-S970 keyboard, and a $500 gift card from Long and McQuade.

"These emerging songwriters might be tomorrow's global superstars," said Michael McCarty, Chief Membership & Business Development Officer at SOCAN. "The SOCAN Songwriting Prize helps these talented songwriters expand their fan base and get the attention they so deserve. Although there can only be one official winner, simply being nominated is a huge achievement."