FOUR CHORDS &THE TRUTH

[Marsbar]

FOUR CHORDS &THE TRUTH:

New series of "in the round" sessions featuring songs and songwriters starts June 18 @ Dakota Tavern

QUICK SUMMARY
A new quarterly series of "in the round" sessions with leading songwriters — modelled on Nashville's famous Bluebird Cafe sessions but with a greater range of musical genres — debuts at Toronto's Dakota Tavern on June 18. The series is called Four Chords & the Truth.

Organized and hosted by songwriter Andrea England, the series has an accurate descriptive subtitle: Where Songwriters Sing and Tell. The first concert will feature Colin MacDonald, the lead singer of The Trews, hit writer Liz Rodrigues (who's contributed to records by Eminem, Pink, Dan Hill and Celine Dion among others), and blues-based songwriter and harmonica player Paul Reddick.

The next event in the series will take place at the Dakota on September 17.

FAST DETAILS
WHO: Liz Rodrigues, Colin MacDonald, Paul Reddick and Andrea England.
WHAT: Four songwriters share the stage and tell stories about the songs they'll sing.
WHEN: Thursday June 18, 7 p.m. sharp — 9.00 p.m. (doors open 6:00 p.m.)
WHERE: Dakota Tavern, 249 Ossington at Dundas St. W.
TICKETS: $12.00 in advance at Ticketfly: https://www.ticketfly.com/purchase/event/857829 or
www.andreaengland.com

BACKGROUND STORY
Inspired by the "in the round" sessions on Canada's East Coast and in Nashville, Andrea England wanted to established a regular grass-roots series in Toronto, but wanted to present a wider range of music.

"It's a rare opportunity to hear bare-bones versions of songs — from different genres — and the stories that inspired them," said England. "When you break songs down this way, it's easy to see that at the end of the day, they're all 'folk' songs and we're all just folk singers."

The first participants are:

• Liz Rodrigues has contributed to some of the biggest selling records of the past decade, including Eminem’s Grammy-winning #1 album, Recovery, Celine Dion's The Ultimate Collection and Pitbull's Rebelution.

• Colin MacDonald is the principal songwriter and lead singer of Juno-nominated and multiple ECMA-winning Canadian band, The Trews. His co-writing credits include songs with Tim Chaisson, The Meds, Simon Wilcox, Gordie Johnson and Gavin Brown.

• Paul Reddick is a blues-based singer, songwriter and harmonica player with a music career that goes back 20 years, with seven albums of original music. A frequent Maple Blues Awards nominee, he recently founded the Cobalt Prize to honour contemporary blues compositions.

• Andrea England, Nova Scotia-born and Toronto-based, will host the series. She works successfully in two different music worlds, recording and performing as a solo roots/country artist while placing songs with pop stars and emerging country artists. She's earned honours in the John Lennon, NSAI, USA and the International Songwriting competitions, and her songs have been featured in major TV series as well as feature films.

The series is presented in partnership with Jack Daniel's Canada, and supported by SOCAN (the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada).