Canada celebrated a musical milestone with the final 13 songs from CBC Radio 2’s GREAT CANADIAN SONG QUEST debuting on RADIO 2 DRIVE yesterday at 3:30 p.m. (4 NT). To celebrate the newest entries into Canada’s songbook, all 13 artists were on-air live to discuss their respective songs and the locations that inspired them. The songs will be on rotation and discussed all week.
After months of campaigning and voting, Canadians selected the places across the nation they wanted to see immortalized in song and the singer-songwriters they wanted to write those songs. The artists were given just four weeks to compose tributes to Canada’s favourite places, and the final songs, lovingly crafted by some of Canada’s brightest stars, are finally complete.
“We’ve really made musical history here,” said Mark Steinmetz, director of music programming, CBC Radio. “Never before have Canadians from coast-to-coast been able to have such direct, immediate influence on the music that matters to them. These songs are for all of us—music about Canada, by Canadians, for Canadians.”
The songs:
- Tough City, (Tofino, B.C.), by Oh Susanna
- The Ballad of Mary White, (Hoodoos/Badlands, Alta.), by Jay Sparrow
- Charlie’s (is coming down), (Good Time Charlie’s at The Plains, Sask.), by The Deep Dark Woods
- In Waskada Somewhere, (Waskada, Man.), by Chantal Kreviazuk
- Where They Left it Wild, (Algonquin Park, Ont.), by Hawksley Workman
- Four Black Sheep in the Night, (The Black Sheep Inn, Que.), by Martha Wainwright
- Don’t Drive Through, (Hopewell Rocks, N.B.), by David Myles
- Singing Sands, (Singing Sand Beach, P.E.I.), by Catherine MacLellan
- On the Rail, (The Cabot Trail, N.S.), by Joel Plaskett
- Old Crow Black Night Stand Still, (Gros Morne National Park, Nfld.), by Hey Rosetta!
- Time Before Bones, (Tuktoyaktuk Pingos, N.W.T.), by Dana Sipos
- Dawson City, (Dawson City, YK), by Kim Barlow
- Road to Nowhere, (The Road to Nowhere, NU), by Lucie Idlout
CBC/Radio-Canada is Canada’s national public broadcaster, and one of its largest cultural institutions. With 28 services offered on Radio, Television, the Internet, satellite radio, digital audio, as well as through its record and music distribution service and wireless WAP and SMS messaging services, CBC/Radio-Canada is available how, where, and when Canadians want it.
Stacy Cardigan Smith Communications officer CBC Manitoba 204-788-3129 [email protected]
