The Canadian Songwriter Challenge is part of the Canadian Songwriter Conference, administered by Music PEI. 2016 was its second year. “The CSC brings leading music industry professionals from across North America together to examine and discuss the art and the commerce of songwriting.”

The Canadian Songwriter Challenge pairs a PEI artist with another Canadian musician, and this year, Music PEI approached Brianna to be the NL Delegate at the CSC and May Run Music Festival. She was paired up with Tim Chaisson. They had a mere 2 days to co-write and record 2 demos.

On the third day, they had the opportunity to pitch their songs to a panel of delegates including music supervisors, publishers, labels and other industry professionals from Canada and the US. They also had the chance to pitch their own catalogue of songs, and play in the May Run Music Festival.

Here are their two songs, “It’s On You” was recently singled out in CBC Music’s “Songs You Need to Hear This Week” alongside the likes of The Strokes, Super Fury Animals, and Chance the Rapper:

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How Did You End Up Paired with Tim?

As far as I know the pairings were random. Tim Chaisson was a blast to work with. We buckled down at The Hill Sound Studio in Charlottetown with our champion of a producer/engineer Adam Gallant to write and record 2 new songs. We wrote “It’s On You” in roughly two hours and recorded it in three or four.

How — or Does — the Act of Collaboration Help Us Grow as Musicians?

Songwriting is a personal and unique experience for everyone but I’ve always been a big advocate of writing with others. It pushes you to try new things and ultimately expands your creative spectrum. I believe it is an essential part of growing an already collaborative industry. Plus it’s a great way to make new friends and connections, as the co-writing experience requires a somewhat fast-and-furious way of getting to know someone. I’m very lucky to have shared that experience with an artist as talented as Tim.