Mo Kenney’s breakup song, Sucker, has people describing her as Canada’s next k. d. laing. That praise, C$5,000 in cash, a C$3,000 gift certificate for Roland gear, and a new Gibson Les Paul guitar, were all part of the SOCAN Songwriting Award, announced yesterday.
SOCAN is the acronym for the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada. It operates as a copyright collective for musical works, protecting the performing rights of their members.
In a statement Mo Kenney said, “I wrote Sucker in my first apartment in Halifax after getting dumped, I never dreamed back then that I’d win a prize for it. Thanks, SOCAN, and thanks to all the other nominees and the people who voted for me!”
A panel of Canadian music experts select the five nominees and the winner is chosen by the public. Between June 3 and July 3 14,000 online votes were cast for both the English and French nominees.
The SOCAN Songwriting prize in French went to Quebec City’s Keith Kouna for his song Batiscan.
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