Aeolian’s First Annual Songwriting Contest

Andrea Wasse is a Canadian singer and songwriter, currently working and residing in LA. Born in London, Ontario, to a pianist and an actor, the joys of music and performance were introduced to her at a young age. Through both nature and nurture, she found herself following in her parents’ footsteps. She began writing songs, forming a band, and performing at the tender age of 15, long before School Of Rock normalised young teens playing in bands. After playing a handful of concerts, her band The Weekend’s demo tape landed in the hands of Canadian indie label Teenage USA, and through them she was able to release her first full length record and secure a publishing deal with EMI Canada by the age of 19. Through the many years that have followed, with the longstanding support from and relationship with EMI (now Sony), she continues to fine tune her craft in both writing and performing She has written for and performed as front person for pop rock outfits The Weekend, goth pop duo Digital Daggers, cold wave dream pop duo DeadxLife, and jangle shoe gazey NightJacket, and has had her own minor success as a solo artist in the dark country genre, highlighting her ability to be a musical chameleon, all the while remaining true to a goal she once jokingly set- “I just want to make music people can cry to”. Her songs have been featured in countless television shows and movies from the early aughts to present day, from accompanying Paris and Nicole on a shopping trip in The Simple Life, Brittany Murphy dancing in Uptown Girls, supernatural happenings on The Vampire Diaries, an emotional montage on Orange Is The New Black’s final season, and most recently some gods kicking ass in a hospital in Netflix’s The Old Guard. She has also written specifically for projects, script in hand, such as She’s The Man, and television shows Instant Star and Mudpit. From London, Ontario to Los Angeles, California, she is grateful that her journey began in the Forest City, home to some very fine talent.

Valdy is a Canadian folk and country musician whose solo career began in the early 1970s. He is known for “Rock and Roll Song”, his first mainstream single. Valdy is the winner of two Juno Awards for Folk Singer of the Year and Folk Entertainer of the Year, and has received seven additional Juno nominations. His fourteen albums have achieved sales of nearly half a million copies, four of which are certified gold.

Tony Dekker is a Canadian singer and songwriter. Most noted as the leader of the indie folk band Great Lake Swimmers, he has also released two solo albums.

Born and raised in Wainfleet, Ontario, Dekker studied literature at the University of Western Ontario. Both of the band’s first two albums, Great Lake Swimmers and Bodies and Minds, were recorded in Wainfleet, in an abandoned grain silo[4] and a Catholic church, respectively. By the time of the band’s third album Ongiara, Dekker and the band were based in Toronto full time.

In addition to his work with Great Lake Swimmers, Dekker released his debut solo album Prayer of the Woods in 2013. He followed up in 2014 with Tony Dekker Sings 10 Years of Zunior, an album of covers of other Canadian artists — including Old Man Luedecke, Chad VanGaalen, Christine Fellows, Ohbijou, Rae Spoon, Matt Mays, Martin Tielli, Jennifer Castle and Cadence Weapon — released to mark the 10th anniversary of Canadian web music store Zunior.

FIRST PRIZE

1. A $2000.00 cash prize.
2. A professional audio recording of the song at the Aeolian’s state of the art recording studio funded by the Ontario Trillium Foundation in 2021.
3. A multi-track video recording (40 minutes) to be broadcast as an Aeolian Phoenix Session production.
4. Aeolian will produce at no cost to the artist a live show featuring the artist’s music.  In the case that there isn’t enough music for a live show, arrangements will be made to feature the artist as an opening act to another Aeolian production.
5. Marketing of artist through Aeolian’s social media, website, and e-newsletter for 3 months.
6. A consultation on or support in the development of an Electronic Press Kit to include a photoshoot, video content and support with bio and artist branding with a professional expert as well as two hours of professional marketing consultation to help with career growth.

second PRIZE

1. A $1000.00 cash prize.
2. A professional audio recording of the song at the Aeolian’s state of the art recording studio funded by the Ontario Trillium Foundation in 2021. 
3. A multi-track video recording (40 minutes) to be broadcast as an Aeolian Phoenix Session production.
4. Marketing of artist through Aeolian’s social media, website, and e-newsletter for two months
5. A consultation on or support in the development of an Electronic Press Kit to include a photoshoot, video content and support with bio and artist branding with a professional expert as well as one hour of professional marketing consultation to help with career growth.

Third PRIZE

1. A $500 cash prize.
2. A professional audio recording of the song at the Aeolian’s state of the art recording studio funded by the Ontario Trillium Foundation in 2021. 
3. Marketing of artist through Aeolian’s social media, website, and e-newsletter for one month
4. One hour photo session for promotional photos at The Aeolian 
5. One half hour of professional marketing consultation to help with career growth.