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About the Songwriters:
Tenille Townes: An astute observer of the human condition, Tenille Townes’ discography is rife with stories that reverberate with heavy truths. Following the release of a duet with
world-superstar Bryan Adams, the revered songwriter, and CCMA Entertainer of the Year, released a five-song project called the Train Track Worktapes in 2023. Townes conceptualized, wrote, and recorded the EP on a 15-day, 3,000-mile, train trip where she played 65 shows at stops in communities across Canada. Townes is a 15-time Canadian Country Music Association Award winner (CCMA), a two-time JUNO Awards Country Album of the Year Winner, and a two-time ACM Award-winner. She is also the first female artist in Mediabase Canada history to achieve two No. 1 singles (Music Canada Gold-certified “Jersey on The Wall (I’m Just Asking),” Music Canada Platinum-certified and RIAA Gold-certified “Somebody’s Daughter”). Townes has opened for legendary artists such as Keith Urban, Miranda Lambert, Shania Twain and George Strait. Townes has also toured extensively outside of the US – last year she performed for fans in Australia, Ireland, Germany, and had a sold-out run of headlining shows in the UK. Her international touring efforts earned her a nomination for the CMA International Artist Achievement Award. A Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree, Townes has been featured by NPR, Variety, Refinery29, Billboard, Rolling Stone, NBC’s “TODAY,” BBC and more. Additionally, she has raised over $2.5 million for Big Hearts For Big Kids, a non-profit she started when she was 15 years old to benefit a youth shelter in her hometown, which has grown to support US-based organizations including the Girl Scouts of Middle Tennessee, S.A.F.E. Animal Haven, and the Manna House.
Lowell: Lowell is a singer, songwriter and producer known for her collaborations with Beyoncé, Madison Beer, Charlie XCX, Tate McRae, Charlie Puth, The Beaches, Lennon Stella, Nessa Barrett, Hailee Steinfeld, bülow, Lu Kala, Leah Kate and many more. Specializing in artist development, Lowell has proven herself to be a powerhouse in consistently breaking artists. Whether producing, writing or A&R’ing projects, her ability to anticipate stylistic and production trends has launched many young artist projects into successful careers. With two songs on Beyoncé’s critically acclaimed new album – the international smash “Texas Hold’em” and upcoming single “Bodyguard” – Lowell has become a trusted collaborator for the legendary artist. Previous highlights include co-writing and co-producing The Beaches’ breakthrough album, featuring “Blame Brett”, which held #1 at alternative radio for 17 weeks and is rising at U.S. and Canadian Top 40. Lowell co-wrote two EPs with JUNO Award-winning artist Bülow, spawning the hit “Not A Love Song” and “You and Jennifer.” She co-wrote Madison Beer’s debut LP “Life Support” which scored a #1 Artist Debut US chart position and features the US platinum single, “Selfish.” She then went on to pen Nessa Barrett’s debut, “la di die” which peaked at #25 on US Top 40 radio and was certified US Gold. Previously, she was nominated for Canadian Screen Awards for best score and best original song in “Bloodthirsty”, the feature film co-written by Lowell.
Dave Gunning: With fourteen albums to his credit, two Canadian Folk Music Awards, ten East Coast Music Awards, multiple International Songwriting awards and a Juno nomination to he’s credit, here’s no denying Dave Gunning’s impressive body of work. Fortunately, he’s just getting started. The band The Nova Scotian folk musician has shared the stage with legends like Ron Hynes, Rita MacNeil, Stuart McLean, and Stompin’ Tom Connors, and has been recognized in his own right as a master of his craft, both as an award-winning singer-songwriter and a captivating performer. Known for his abilities as a gracious storyteller, Gunning’s knack for connecting with audiences precedes the skills and experience he’s earned on the road—It is, for him, very much a way of life. Gunning shares the same sort of relationship with music as an eagle does with the sky. From a very young age, music has been Gunning’s way of interpreting the world around him, the lens through which he sees it, and the medium by which he engages with his community. Dave has never needed to look far beyond his Pictou County, Nova Scotia, backyard for inspiration. That’s where the characters live. That’s where the stories come from. Often shining a light on the well-deserving underdogs, he’s also never shied away from tougher topics, staying true to the folk music tradition. In recent years, those topics have tended to be more social and environmental in nature – causes that he holds near and dear. Nowhere has that been more evident, or public, than Dave’s strong stance against a local bleached kraft pulp mill – a proven polluter in the community. Despite delivering some very important messages in his songs, audiences should also be prepared to laugh at a Dave Gunning show. His banter is perfectly timed, self-effacing, and very, very funny. It’s this finely-tuned balance of sincerity and impeccable performance that makes him one of the country’s most engaging entertainers.
Stacey Ryan (in the TikTok Seat): Singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Stacey Ryan is a true anomaly in today’s pop world. A trained jazz pianist who also plays guitar, bass, ukulele, and trumpet, the 21-year-old artist matches her extraordinary musicality with a sharp instinct for crafting emotionally potent pop songs—a gift first glimpsed on her magnetic debut single “Don’t Text Me When You’re Drunk,” a 2022 collaboration with Zai1k that translated into over a quarter million pre-saves and hundreds of millions of views in the first few weeks. Newly signed to Island Records, the Montreal native is now poised to deliver a body of work showing the full extent of her songwriting powers and one-of-a- kind musical imagination. A prime showcase for Ryan’s radiant vocals and incredible range, “Don’t Text Me When You’re Drunk” spotlights many of the elements that make her music so captivating: an undeniable knack for relatable storytelling, melodies that wander into unexpected places, a singular sense of rhythm and song structure that wholly reflects her jazz background. While all of her material suggests a sophistication way beyond her years, Ryan has honed her craft through a near-lifetime of devotion to music. After taking up piano at age nine, Ryan soon added ukulele to her repertoire and later learned trumpet as part of an intensive music program in high school. As per the educational protocol in Quebec, she graduated high school at 16 and then enrolled in a three- year college program in jazz interpretation. “I remember my parents telling me I should have something to fall back on in case music didn’t work out, but I knew it had to be music or nothing else,” says Ryan, who studied voice and guitar. “There was never a plan B.”. Featured on the cover of Spotify’s Pop Sauce and Lemonade playlists, “Don’t Text Me When You’re Drunk” reveals Ryan’s immense pop appeal while highlighting her distinctly jazz-influenced mode of composition. With her latest triumphs including landing a support slot on Lawrence’s spring tour and a Main Stage performance at Montreal’s Jazz Festival, Ryan has already found her creativity deepened by the many collaborations she’s engaged in since the release of “Don’t Text Me When You’re Drunk.” “Making music has always felt like play to me,” she notes. “Even though it’s happening on a more serious level now, it hasn’t lost any of that playful feeling at all.”
Andrea England (FCaTT Host/ Founder/Curator): Nova Scotia-born and raised, Toronto-based Andrea England, whose songs have been recorded by a diverse range of artists – from country artists Meghan Patrick and Don Amero to Popstar and ex-Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger – has released her long-awaited ambient Americana EP, Evidence of Love, produced by JUNO Award winner Hill Kourkoutis (Aysanabee, Digging Roots). Evidence of Love’s seven songs “detail love in all its many complicated forms: nostalgic love, love of parents, loss, absence of love, betrayal, ideal love, and the love we take with us when we …go.” Andrea is the sole songwriter on five of the album’s seven tracks, cowriting “Stone” with Tenille Townes and “Cover to Cover” with Liz Rodrigues (Celine, Eminem) and James Bryan (Drake, Nelly Furtado). Andrea’s previous album, Hope and Other Sins, produced by Grammy winner Colin Linden, spent several weeks on Cashbox Canada’s top 50 folk chart and hit No. 1 on Galaxy’s folk roots radio channel, and her debut, Lemonade, won multiple International songwriting awards and spawned network television and movie placements. A songwriter advocate and active member of the music industry, Andrea has juried Songwriting categories for the Juno Awards, Canadian Folk Music Awards, Indigenous Music Awards, Canadian Country Music Awards, has performed as an artist at SXSW, NXNE, CMW, CCMAs, ECMAs, OCFF and FAI music festivals, taught Lyrics 101 at Seneca College, is a member of the Recording Academy’s Songwriter & Composer Wing and sits on the Board of Directors of the Songwriter’s Association of Canada.
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