INTERVIEWS  with Calgary and area songwriters           <<< RETURN MAIN     |    CD REVIEW >>> JACQUIE DREW  *Tell us a story behind one of your songs*. I wrote the song “Taking Back this Life” to inspire a friend of mine who had a massive heart problem and nearly died. As an after effect of the heart surgery, he couldn’t talk for weeks and was confined to a hospital bed. For weeks, we knew he wanted to say something to us, and we couldn’t understand his speech, and he could barely write. Slowly his scrawling looked more like letters, and the first words to emerge were “Happy Pills” ! He was in such pain, he just wanted it eased! (That explains the line about the happy pills.) He has gradually recovered his communication abilities since then. But rather than write a sad song, I wanted the song as an “ode” to the determination he needed to regain control of his life.  *What do you listen to when you are at home?* I love listening to other roots artists. Some of my favourites are Tom Phillips and the Men of Constant Sorrow, Gordie Sampson, Mike Stack, Ron Hynes, Cam Penner, Aaron MacDonald, the Co-Dependents, Beautiful Joe, Steve Pineo, Jane Hawley, Kit Johnson, the Polyjesters, Juanita Brandt, Little Miss Higgins. When listening to commercial artists, I usually like vintage blues/country – like Billie Holiday, Alex Pangman, Tammy Wynette, Willie Nelson, Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn.

*Who or what has influenced your writing significantly?* The most influential artist has been Tom Phillips – performing with him and learning his songs has really taught me about the importance of solid lyric writing and good song structure. He can make you chuckle, or rip out your soul, but he never leaves you bored. I also add in my own bluesy/jazzy feel to a lot of my songwriting – I’ll put in a a few non-standard chords to spice up my melodies, but never so many to alienate the listener.  *What highlight in your songwriting/performing could you share with us" I was chosen to showcase at the East Coast Music Awards this year – which led to an awesome all-night party with some very famous singer/songwriters. The best was sitting around the piano with Flo Sampson (Gordie’s mother), Ron Hynes and a room full or ECMA award winners, crooning all night long! There a little video of it on my website.  *What have you learned that you could pass on about songwriting/performing experience? Perform as much as you can – and always grab an opportunity. This year, I started performing twice a week at Ironwood over lunch hours, even though no one else was doing it at the time! It has improved my confidence (and hence both my singing and stage presence) immensely...and given me ample reason to continually write new material and expand my repertoire. I am now completely confident in my solo show....and continually improving it.  *Any tips or advice you could give to songwriters?* Keep improving at all your skills – find people who are better in some aspect than you are, and get them to help you improve. Being a moving target is what I am best at! Don’t know how long I can pull this off, but so far so good!  *What plans or goals do you have for the next year?* I’m going to create a kick-butt CD this year...high energy and full of fun. My last one was quite sensitive and quiet compared to the material I’ve written in the last year since releasing it.  *Where can we buy your CD?* You can buy my CD online at www.jacquiedrew.com, at Ironwood, at Megatunes, or several other locations around Calgary....listed on my website. I also always have them to sell from the stage when I perform.

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