Prairie Holiday Songwriter Exchange…

Last night at YQR Songwriters, we exchanged music with one another. Some songwriters had some CDs to exchange; some had recorded a song live sand shared a YouTube clip, and some had a single out on Spotify or iTunes. We agreed to review one another’s work.  It was my pleasure to exchange songs with Jaecy Bells, Kendra Kahl and Glenn Sutter.

Jaecy Bells is a young and up-and-coming singer with a bluesy, very earthy quality to her voice. Jaecy has lots of vocal control. Great tune. I loved her track “Firing Squad,” which has some resonance with the story songs of the 70’s and 80’s. Her lyrics tell the story of falling in love, against any seemingly logical sense. Some great lyrics:

“…A heart no man can break… Memories no drink can drown…Her presence is a firing squad”
Jaecy is a great loop singer as well! Check it out here: https://open.spotify.com/album/6tlqvt1ue3Q9FQ8xzQFreK

Kendra Kahl is also an up and coming singer-songwriter. I checked out her FaceBook page. Kendra has one of those voices that can really reach you. It is as though she is singing directly to you. Awesome! She has a clear and powerful voice. I really appreciate her sense of a melodic contour; she soars up on her Choruses. I appreciated the song “Sweet, Sweet Love” and the song “Great Love Story” which had some great lines, such as “Let me love you until this world can’t hurt you no more” and “Let me love you, ‘cuz I will want this til we’re both gray and old”. She has an intuitive sense of when to add in minor chords and colours to evoke just the right sense of emotion. Kendra truly has a gift.

Check it out here: Kendra Kahl Music on Facebook or her You Tube page https://www.youtube.com/user/kendrahope18

Glenn Sutter is hard-working singer-songwriter; Glenn spearheads the songwriting retreats with Royal Saskatchewan Museum. Listening to his CD, “Sweet Happiness” it is obvious that these themes of nature, earth, sunlight, rivers, etc. have spoken to him for a while. There is plenty of acoustic guitar on the CD, which I quite appreciated. The title tune “Sweet Happiness” has an infectious bass line and a great Chorus.  Quite liked the acoustic bass on the track “That River Rising,” and this song has one of the nicest builds on the CD. It really seems to “crest” as it develops. The song “Sunlight After the Rain” has a great harmonica solo with some old fashioned piano. Also with some great lyrics “I know the land around here calls out loud and clear.” I was really drawn to the track “Seems like Yesterday” with the words “That old clock on the wall is slowly losing time; We’re all set to go; Doing fine” …there is a ticking clock sound at the end, nice touch!  Glenn is a thoughtful and committed songwriter with a timely message.

Check it out here: https://www.glennsutter.com/ or Glenn Sutter Music – on Facebook

And that, my friends, was my Holiday Song Exchange with other YQR Songwriters. What a privilege to be part of such a talented group of songwriters! Have a restful Holiday Season everyone.