Strongwriters On Songwriting: with Eric Bjarnason Martin and Scott B.

SAMANTHA MARTIN:Drawing influences from Memphis soul greats such as Aretha Franklin and Brooklyn’s Sharon Jones, Samantha Martin has been nominated for thirteen Maple Blues Awards to date, 4 times in 2019 and 3 times in 2020. Her record Run To Me was released on April 28th, 2018. Eleven months after releasing their recording Run to Me, the 11-piece blues/soul band was nominated for a Juno Award for Blues Album of the Year.

JERRY LEGER Leger has a thing for ghosts. The Toronto singer/songwriter confirmed it a couple of years ago when he went on a personal journey to explore many of Ontario’s largely unknown ghost towns, having been inspired by the writings of historian Ron Brown. Leger has immortalized one of those towns, Burchell Lake, on his new album Time Out For Tomorrow, containing 10 portraits of the impermanence of life, love, or simply catching a glimpse of a shooting star.Yet, other ghosts reside much d...

LINDY VOPNFJÖRD: State of the Heart reflects not only Lindy’s personal evolution toward a new love and revolution as a dedicated songwriter, but also his fledgling partnership with Danny Michel, who breathes new life into Lindy’s style by imbuing his signature folk sound with a modern feel.The opening moments on the title track “State of the Heart” carry the audience in this new direction, as he sings: “This was meant to be a protest song, but the politics were wrong / Not a time to be sublim...

Each song on The Ridge represents an acoustic-driven mixture of styles that reflects Taylor’s range as a creative force by building upon the templates forged during his tenure fronting the alt-rocking collective Staggered Crossing as well as the fine funk and R&B-driven foundation he continues to mine with the still-active Julian Taylor Band. From the title track’s ruminations on Taylor’s formative days spent on his Grandparent’s farm in British Columbia to the hopeful swoon of “Over the ...

In the final episode of the Teachers, Mentors and Friends series, we're excited to introduce Blair Packham, who will debut two new songs from his upcoming release with The Impossible Dream. A former cohost of a long running major market weekly new radio show about music in the studio on the Bell Media Talk Radio Network. And now, 16 years after his last release, Could have Been King, Blair Packham is recording a collection of clever, catchy and poignant songs, entitled Unpop...

In this episode, Eric speaks with two-time Juno nominee and prolific songwriter, Lori Yates. She is sometimes remembered as "the cowgirl who was singing her heart out in the punk clubs with Rang Tango". She is still singing her heart out, both as a solo artist and member of the super-group Hey Stella. Lori has been long recognized by her peers and respected as one of Canada's top talents. Lori was called Alt Country long before the phrase existed. A true pioneer of a genre i...

Welcome to Strongwriters on Songwriting (Inside the Song) with your host, Eric Bjarnason Martin and Scott Bradshaw. Each series of this podcast will center around a different theme with highly accomplished songwriters as they delve of into their songwriting process. On each episode, we will have an opportunity to listen to and explore a few of the featured artists songs. In this first series, Teachers, Mentors and Friends, E. B. has the opportunity to interview his co-host Scott B. He has bee...