Over the years, we have sought out a growing community of professional mentors: songwriters, performing artists, music publishers, producers, music supervisors, agents, managers, radio executives, record label professionals… always on the lookout for mentors who have not only experienced career success, but those who can effectively and constructively communicate their process, their perspective, and their ideas for your next move.
Looking at this list is humbling for us – all of these mentors have given so enthusiastically, so that our songwriters can have a better understanding of the craft and the business of songwriting. We are deeply grateful to all of our mentors, and look forward to partnering with them again!
2023 Mentors (Stay Tuned as the list grows!)
Singer-songwriter Andrea Ramolo is the first to admit that she creates music out of chaos and often misery. If that is a dark statement, it’s also one she laughs about because it all works out in the end. This time, once again, it has lent itself to the creation of her stunning new seventh studio album, Quarantine Dream.
Her past six studio albums — four solo and two with the duo Scarlett Jane — have been borne out of heartbreak, but Quarantine Dream, made almost entirely with women, is different: it’s about a breakup with our lives as we knew it when COVID-19 hit in early 2020.
“The record’s about extreme hope, extreme fear, extreme loss, extreme loneliness, and extreme imagination — wishing and hoping for a better tomorrow,” says Andrea.
Jeremy Fisher is a 3-time, JUNO-nominated pop-folk singer-songwriter based in Ottawa. He has released 6 studio albums and his music has been featured on radio, in film (The Big Year, Our Idiot Brother), commercials (Volkswagon, American Airlines) and TV (Disney, Global). He is a co-creator, songwriter and voice actor in the new CBC animated series Jeremy and Jazzy.
2022 Mentors
Annelise Noronha is primarily known as an engineer/producer, but for the past 20 years she has also been a writer/composer-for-hire and an artist in her own right. Recent releases include her 6th album titled In The Headlights on Zero Degrees Music (digital and vinyl 2020) , as well as single “Constellations” featuring Lisa Bozokovic in November 2020, “Radio McLuhan” featuring the writing of Marshall McLuhan, and her 2021 Christmas album “The St. Nick of Time”.
As an audio engineer and mixer, she has worked with the most indie of artists, and some pretty famous ones (Jennifer Lopez, Oscar Peterson). She has mixed film score for Lesley Barber, and for Oscar-winner Mychael Danna. As a musician, her gig history is prolific, from large festival stages to the tiniest of venues. She has performed as an artist alongside Ron Sexmith, Whitehorse and The Sadies, and as a side man for Selina Martin, Justin Rutledge, The Warped 45s, Arlene Bishop, Dave McEathron, and Pamela Brennan.
“..Annelise is a great talent, it just shines out of her.” – Lonelle Selbo – Life Au Lait Magazine
Annelise mentored at Production Lab in November, and at our Deep Dive weekend in February
Michael Phillip Wojewoda is a 40-year-veteran Canadian record producer, musician and filmmaker. With over 160 album productions to his credit, he has been nominated for eight Juno Awards and has received one for Recording Engineer of the Year and one for Producer of the Year.
He has produced several critically and commercially successful Canadian albums of the 1990s, including Barenaked Ladies’ Gordon, Spirit of the West’s Faithlift, Ashley MacIsaac’s Hi™ How Are You Today? and Rheostatics’ Whale Music.
His credits also include albums for Lou Reed, Laurie Anderson, Gord Downie, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Anvil, The Waltons, Doughboys, Bourbon Tabernacle Choir, Change of Heart, Great Big Sea, Northern Haze, Riit and The Jerry Cans. His work with Canadian icons Barenaked Ladies also includes their children’s album Snacktime!, as well as producing the theme song to the hit show The Big Bang Theory.
Michael has also made multiple music videos for artists such as Joel Plaskett, Kevin Hearn and The Jerry Cans which has over 500,000 views on YouTube. His recent documentary INUK about the most northerly heavy metal band in the world, Nunavut’s own Northern Haze, is currently in festival rotation and last debuted in Greenlands Indigenous Film Festival in September.
Michael mentored at Production Lab in November
Rik was our July Keynote Speaker
Our 2022 Keynote Speaker at our July workshop, is the one and only Rik Emmett.
Rik is a Canadian treasure. Singer/songwriter/guitarist for iconic rock band Triumph and a celebrated solo artist, he has been inducted into nearly every musical hall of fame we have in Canada.
Rik was the architect behind the first SongStudio workshop, back at Humber College in 2005. He has been on our faculty most years since then, and with the return to in-person workshopping, we couldn’t imagine a better keynote speaker!
Dan was our August Keynote Speaker, and mentored at SongStudio Toronto in July
How does one describe the creative force that is singer-songwriter, lyricist, and author Dan Hill?
Nominated for a Grammy for Best Male Vocal, winner of a Grammy (as co-producer of “Seduces Me” on Celine Dion’s 32 plus million-selling “Falling Into You” album), winner of five Juno Awards (Canadian equivalent to the Grammy), the Harold Moon Award (Canadian Lifetime Song writing Achievement Award) and inducted into the venerated Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame Award (2021), Dan is an international music industry legend.
Dan Hill is widely celebrated as one of Canada’s most distinguished, authentic, and multi-talented artists, who continues to create prose and music that speak to the humanity and beauty in all of us. Vanessa Thomas, Executive Director of The Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, issued this statement on Hill’s induction: “Dan’s songs are authentic and intimate, whether he is singing about love or social injustice…his lyrics resonate as loudly and powerfully as if he were shouting it from the mountains. That is the gift that Dan has as an artist and songwriter.”
Maybe it has something to do with being born next to a candy factory, or his ambidextrous brain, but Danny Michel‘s thoughtful lyrics & charming performances have earned a devoted fan base, multiple nominations for Junos, The Polaris Prize, CBC’s “Heart Of Gold”, and most recently winning the CFMA’s “Producer of the year” and “Oliver Schroder Pushing the Boundaries” Awards.
But Danny considers his career highlights to be the unique real life moments like performing for Jane Goodall’s 85th birthday party, touring with Stuart Mclean and working with charities close to his heart.
When he’s not performing he’s fighting for musicians’ rights, the environment, making short films, producing, running his studio or filming his comedy/sci-fi/music show “Dan’s Space Van”.
Danny mentored at our August online workshop.
Few songwriter/producers balance musicality and inspiration in the studio as effortlessly as James Bryan. Hailed as one of Canada’s top guitarists, James has the ability to make an artist feel both relaxed and empowered to create great music, and his track record with Nelly Furtado, Yuna, Backstreet Boys, Olly Murs, Luis Fonsi and many more have proven the success of his approach.
In 2009, James moved from Toronto to London, UK, to work out of Kensaltown Studios, “West London’s version of the Brill building” alongside fellow writer/producers Martin Terefe (Jason Mraz), Paul Herman (Dido, Emele Sande) and Sacha Skarbek (Miley Cyrus). James worked with Jessie J, James Morrison, Jason Mraz, James Blunt, Olly Murs, Zaz, Jesse & Joy, Manuel Carrasco, Raleigh Ritchie, Kate Ceberano and more. In 2012, he co-wrote several songs for Lisa Marie Presley’s album Storm & Grace, produced by T-Bone Burnett.
Now based in Toronto, James continues to work all over the globe, wherever the music takes him. James sums up his journey simply: “I feel blessed to do what I love and love what I do”.
James mentored at our August online workshop.
Barbra Lica is a Juno-nominated artist singer-songwriter based in Toronto. A seasoned act on the North American club and festival circuits, Barbra has performed everywhere from New York City’s legendary Birdland to Toronto’s prestigious Koerner Hall. She has also headlined at festivals across the continent including Festival International de Jazz de Montréal, Vancouver International Jazz Festival and Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival, and opened for the likes of Christian McBride, Pat Metheny, Bob Dorough, and Terence Blanchard.
In addition to writing for herself, Barbra has written cuts for such artists as jazz crooner Matt Dusk (Entertainment One/Universal), rising J-Pop singer Harumi (Sony Music Japan), and Taiwanese pop recording artist, Morrison Ma (Universal Music Group/X Entertainment). She is currently working on her first self-produced EP slated for release in October 2022 with generous support from FACTOR.
Barbra mentored at our August online workshop.
A Jack Richardson Hall of Fame 2016 inductee, Lisa Patterson is an award-winning multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, producer & engineer who brings collaboration and diversity to all her work. She has been championing original Canadian music in studios and on stages across 4 continents for the past 25 years.
International collaborations in India, Mexico, France, Cuba, Dubai & Canada and a mixed Roma & Celt heritage inspire specialization in culturally diverse music.
From the 10-year old kid walking around with a portable mic & recorder, to college Recording Arts program Producer of the Year nominee, to judge for Producer of the Year Juno, Patterson’s passion for sound & song is a lifelong affair.
Lisa mentored at our August online workshop.
Craig Northey is a Canadian musician and film and TV composer. He is one of the founding members of the band Odds, which released four albums between 1991 and 1996. They were best known for the radio singles “It Falls Apart”, “Eat My Brain”, “Heterosexual Man” and “Someone Who’s Cool”. After the breakup of Odds in 1999, Northey embarked on several other ventures, including working with Colin James, Rosanne Cash, Glen Phillips, Bruce McCulloch and many others. He released a solo CD entitled Giddy Up. In 2003 he collaborated on a CD with Jesse Valenzuela of Gin Blossoms, under the band name Northey Valenzuela. When the Odds reunited in early 2007 they included the end credit theme from Corner Gas “My Happy Place” on their album Cheerleader.
Currently Northey, along with Murray Atkinson, Doug Elliott and Pat Steward comprise the reunited Odds. Concurrently he has composed all the episodes for the Kids in the Hall’s CBC/IFC series Death Comes to Town and CTV’s Hiccups.
Northey continues to collaborate with other artists. He co-wrote songs on ex-Barenaked Ladies singer Steven Page’s first solo album Page One and toured with Page in 2012. His collaboration with Rob Baker in Strippers Union yielded another album The Deuce in 2012.
Craig mentored at our August online workshop.
Brian Hetherman is a true music industry renaissance man. Within the business, he has worn more hats than the Queen on a royal tour, and his diverse experiences now stand him in good stead as a previous artist manager and head of a successful independent record label and publishing company, as well as a wealth of experience in the world of Music funding. Brian’s lifelong love affair with music asserted itself at an early age. He started spinning records in Toronto clubs, and quickly landed his first job in a record store. “That was just so I could get good deals on albums, but then I got hooked on the industry,” he recalls.
A super-quick tour of Brian’s career would have to mention:
- Retail Marketing and Sales Rep (Duke Street Records, then MCA Records)
- Director of A&R (Artist and Repertoire) at MCA Records and head of MCA Music Publishing
- one of the judges on the first season of Popstars
- Executive Director of the Radio Starmaker Fund
- Founder/President, Cerberus Artist Management
- Founder/President, Curve Music and Publishing Company
- President of the Music Managers Forum (MMF) in Canada
- Vice Chair on the Board of the International Music Managers Forum (IMMF)
- Vice President of Industry Affairs at FACTOR
Brian mentored at our August online workshop.
Shelly Peiken is a multi-platinum-selling and 2 X Grammy-nominated songwriter who is best known for the #1 hits “What a Girl Wants” and “Come On Over ” (both for Christina Aguilera). Shelly earned her 1st Grammy nomination for the song “Bitch”, co-written and recorded by Meredith Brooks and have had hundreds of songs placed on albums, and in TV and film.
Shelly’s best-selling book Confessions of a Serial Songwriter led to a 2nd Grammy nomination for Best Spoken Word Album. The memoire chronicles her journey from a young girl falling under the spell of magical songs to writing hits of her own.
Shelly is a music industry mentor, panelist, consultant, guest speaker and a fierce advocate of creators’ rights as a founding member of SONA (Songwriters Of North America).
Shelly mentored at our August online workshop.
Toronto’s Karen Bliss has been the Canadian correspondent for Billboard for over a decade and a freelance music journalist since her teens. Her work has appeared in Rolling Stone, Pollstar, Melody Maker, NME, Time, and dozens more. She has interviewed thousands of artists, including Kurt Cobain, Eminem, Eddie Vedder, Lauryn Hill, Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, Justin Timberlake, Beyoncé, Ed Sheeran, Shania Twain, Shawn Mendes, Michael Bublé, Britney Spears, Metallica, and Gwen Stefani. Among her other ventures, she is the founder of charity-focused online magazine samaritanmag.com and co-authored the book Music From Far and Wide: Celebrating 40 Years of the JUNO Awards. With business partner and consultant Farley Flex, she also created and wrote an anti-racism animated PSA, The Girl With Pinhead Parents, in 2010, voiced by Chris Bosh, Nelly Furtado, Jully Black, LIGHTS, and others. Karen was also a co-producer, researcher and interviewer on the documentary Chasing Fortune, about former INXS frontman JD Fortune.
Karen mentored at our August online workshop.
Amanda mentored at our July workshop in Toronto.
Amanda Walther (she/her) is a Juno nominated singer-songwriter and award winning composer from Toronto, Canada.
She has spent most of her career as half of folk-roots duo Dala; touring throughout North America for over 18 years. She has shared the stage with artists including Arlo Guthrie, Richie Havens, Jann Arden, Tom Cochrane, Stuart McLean of the CBC’s Vinyl Café, and has performed in countless festivals like the New Orleans Jazz Festival and the Newport Folk Festival. Dala’s PBS Special ‘Girls from the North Country’ earned Amanda a Canadian Folk Music Award and a Juno nomination.
Amanda is also the singer in piano/voice duo Dizzy & Fay, performing original songs that echo timeless standards.
Her songs have been featured on numerous television shows in North America and most recently she has written the complete soundtrack for indie LGBTQ+ film ‘Walk With Me’ for which she was awarded Best Female Composer at the Toronto International Women Festival and Best Soundtrack at the Immaginaria Film Festival in Rome Italy.
Lacey mentored at our July workshop in Toronto.
Lacey Hill is Oneida of Six Nations, Wolf Clan. She is a singer/songwriter and inspirational speaker. Lacey grew up singing and making music. She played in the Breeze Band when they were nominated for an Aboriginal Peoples Choice Award, before launching her solo career to great critical acclaim.
Her debut album is titled 528 “because it is the frequency of Love. My focus is Love; it’s the only way and we need more of it!” Her sophomore album “M: 528 Volume II” has taken Lacey across Canada and on to international stages.
A featured artist of Thru the Red Door, she has also been a guest on Derek Miller’s Aboriginal Peoples Television Network show The Guilt Free Zone. As of 2018 things started getting huge: Lacey was a Top Ten finalist in Season Six of TV show The Shot, and she opened Sydney Australia’s Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras concert and Cher closed! 2020 brought a feature spot on the new series AMPLIFY, a Shane Belcourt creation.
Marc mentored at our July workshop in Toronto.
Toronto-based singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and podcaster Marc Meriläinen also goes by the artist name Nadjiwan.
Transforming the sound and image of Indigenous music has been one of Marc’s goals from the beginning. His prodigious output has been recognized in many corners, including the Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards, the Native American Music Awards, the Indigenous Music Awards, and Toronto’s Dora Mavor Moore Awards for the Performing Arts. He also received invitations to perform at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics and the 2015 Pan-Am Games in Toronto.
Andrea mentored at our July workshop in Toronto.
Singer-songwriter Andrea Ramolo is the first to admit that she creates music out of chaos and often misery. If that is a dark statement, it’s also one she laughs about because it all works out in the end. This time, once again, it has lent itself to the creation of her stunning new seventh studio album, Quarantine Dream.
Her past six studio albums — four solo and two with the duo Scarlett Jane — have been borne out of heartbreak, but Quarantine Dream, made almost entirely with women, is different: it’s about a breakup with our lives as we knew it when COVID-19 hit in early 2020.
“The record’s about extreme hope, extreme fear, extreme loss, extreme loneliness, and extreme imagination — wishing and hoping for a better tomorrow,” says Andrea.
Ron mentored at our July workshop in Toronto.
Ron Hawkins has long been revered as one of Canada’s greatest contemporary singer-songwriters. As lead singer/multi-instrumentalist and main songwriter of Canada’s legendary Lowest of the Low, Ron Hawkins has enjoyed many accolades through the years: In 1996, 2000 and again in 2005, Chart Magazine honoured the group’s 1991 debut album, Shakespeare My Butt, with spots in the top 10 of the Top 100 Canadian Albums of All Time. In 2000 and once again in 2015, Hawkins was voted Songwriter of the Year by NOW Magazine’s reader’s poll. Also in 2000, Ron received Toronto station 102.1 The Edge’s Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2008 The Lowest of the Low was inducted into the Canadian Indie Rock Hall of Fame and awarded gold records for Shakespeare My Butt.
Over the years, Ron has written and released six LOTL albums, five solo discs, three records with his band The Rusty Nails, and two records (one a double album) as Ron Hawkins and The Do Good Assassins. Adding them all up, Ron has released 17 albums of original material to date plus a commemorative vinyl box set called “Shakespeare My Box” – an anthology of the entire Lowest of the Low catalogue.
Jeff mentored at our July workshop in Toronto and our SongBIZ “Now What?” event in May.
Jeff Rogers has been in the entertainment business since he was 16 years old, in roles including (but not limited to):
- Band manager (Crash Test Dummies, The Pursuit of Happiness, Rusty, Randy Bachman, Ashley MacIssac and others)
- Current owner of Handsome Boy Records
- Film producer
- Head of Artist Development for Richard Branson’s V2 label in New York (working with The Black Crowes, Underworld, Rinocerose, Stereophonics, Moby)
- Founding member of the team behind music tv channel AUX TV
- so much more…
Andy mentored at our July workshop in Toronto.
Andrew Robert Humphrey was born in Vancouver, Canada, and is a songwriter, producer, and recording artist whose career spans three decades. In Canada, his past experience include stints with Toronto bands The Electric Fire Brothers and funk-soul outfit Chunk O’ Funk. Then, having moved to the UK, he formed the London based rock trio Creature as well as touring Europe with drum ’n’ bass diva Nicolette which included high-profile performances at illustrious venues such as Glastonbury and the Monterey Jazz Festival.
After settling in continental Europe, Humphrey founded Renderfly, a Portuguese-based power-pop band whose debut “Beyond Because” was released in 2003 on EMI. The album landed two chart positions: “Fallen Star” which held the No. 1 spot for three weeks and “Theme #4”, a track that earned a Top 10 ranking on the national charts and was featured in the 2008 Olympics.
Now, back in his hometown of Toronto, Humphrey focuses on writing and has formed Pocket Music, a boutique music house that provides music for all media formats and houses his vast catalogue of over a hundred songs. He also finds time for performing live in various bands, including Blair Packham’s the Impossible Dream among others and spends much of his time producing local talent from the comfort of his home studio in Leslieville, Toronto.
Amy mentored at our July workshop in Toronto.
Amy Fritz has worked in the Entertainment Industry since 1990 and as a Music Supervisor since 1997. Her past experiences as a campus radio DJ, music producer, sound engineer (studio and location film), published songwriter/performer, and artist manager, all contribute to her unique sensibilities and expertise as a Music Supervisor. Prior to forming RADAR Music Group in 2006, Amy was an Executive at Canada’s leading music management company/agency.
Amy has been a voting member of: The Mariposa Folk Foundation, The Khyber Arts Society, The Academy of Canadian Film & Television, Metronome Canada, SOCAN, Association MSF-Canada & A jury and panel member, chair for: The Gemini Awards, The Great Canadian Music Dream, MIANS, World Wide Short Film Festival, Atlantic Film Festival, Saskatchewan Recording Industry Association, NXNE, CMW, SOCAN International Symposium, Juno Awards.
Michael mentored at our July workshop in Toronto.
Michael Perlmutter has placed thousands of songs in tv shows, feature films and documentaries, seen and heard around the world. He has been working in the music/film/tv industries for 20+ years.
Michael has been asked to moderate and speak on panels around the world: Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Poland, Miami, New York, Cannes, Halifax, Toronto. Currently, he is the president of the Guild of Music Supervisors, Canada and a 2-time award-winner at the inaugural Canadian Sync Awards in 2018.
‘MP’ is also an avid Toronto Maple Leafs fan, loves to travel and will never pass up a long walk on a beach (as he’s never near one).
Ricardo mentored at our July workshop in Toronto.
With an ear and a knack for spotting and developing talent, Ricardo Chung’s organic path into the music industry has been rich in management experience allowing him to thrive in the music realm.
After graduating from the Remix Project’s Business Program, Ricardo got his first opportunity in the music industry scoring an internship with Raekwon’s independent label ICE H20 Records. From there, Ricardo joined Last Gang Entertainment; managing the Juno nominated artist/producer Tre Mission. As he developed his skill set and built strong relationships among a vast network Ricardo launched Ransom Management Group, managing acts like Sean Leon & Julian Thomas. Adding to his toolkit Ricardo also gained touring experience working as Baka Not Nice’s road manager on the recent “Assassination Vacation” Tour. Ricardo then joined the Warner Music Canada team as an A&R scout.
Recently, Ricardo has secured a position at Warner Chappell as A&R Associate where he will continue to be a key ally in the Canadian music industry.
Michelle Willis is a Canadian singer, songwriter and keyboard player based in New York City.
As a kid growing up, singing and playing was a way of communication; a pathway to self expression. “I grew up in the 90s, when the hits on the radio were women like Shawn Colvin, Lauryn Hill, Amanda Marshall, Jann Arden, Whitney Houston, Alanis Morissette, Janet Jackson and Sarah McLachlan. These women dominated my emo-brain. They said how they felt; their songs felt deep, harmonically and lyrically. Their music was a place where all my teenage emotion could live and be perfectly expressed. Around the same time, I was singing Brahms, Mozart and Bach in the choir I sang in with my family, so all that music was circling around in my brain.”
She later grew to learn the vocabulary of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s songwriters, a sound she has grown quite close to given her fixed position in two bands led by David Crosby. After studying jazz in college, she began taking inspiration from heavyweights Joni Mitchell, Stevie Wonder, Carole King, Donny Hathaway, CSNY, Ray Charles, Paul Simon, Jimmy Webb and The Beatles.
Michelle mentored at our April Deep Dive weekend.
Kari mentored at our SongBIZ “Now What?” event in May.
Kari Zalik is a music publicist and the creator of Bad Parade Canadian Music Publicity. She began her career at Maple Music Recordings in Toronto and progressed to artist publicity management roles in Canada. From launching albums to promoting tours and everything in between, she has worked to ensure top visibility for all artist projects. Her clients have included: Steve Earle, Alex Cuba, Sharon Jones, Charles Bradley, Jocelyn Alice, JD McPherson and more.
Kyle mentored at our SongBIZ “Now What?” event in May.
Kyle Merkley is Director of Music & Technology at Arpix Media. Kyle’s music supervision credits include Frankie Drake (CBC), Murdoch Mysteries (CBC), Remedy (GlobalTV), Pure (CBC) and more. He also coordinate’s everyone’s needs from creative, music editing and delivery, to everything to do with the internet. As a musician he has performed on MuchMusic and Entertainment Tonight: Canada.
MORE 2022 MENTORS TO BE ANNOUNCED SOON!
2021 Mentors
Past Mentors
