Summer of valley performances for Banff's Poet Laureate

Canadian singer/songwriter Amelie Patterson based out of Calgary these days, but being Banff National Park's first poet laureate, a Banff Centre Alumni (2014, 2016) and Canmore Folk Music Festival past performer will always solidify her as a Bow Valley musician at heart.

She'll keep that title true this summer, opening for Sarah Harmer July 23 at Banff Centre's Shaw Amphitheatre, taking one of the main stages during this year's Canmore Folk Music Festival (Aug. 5-7) before returning to Banff's Wild Bill's Saloon Aug. 16.

Her debut album Roll Honey Roll was released at Canadian Music Week 2016, Patterson then took to the road and toured across Canada hitting stages at Calgary Folk Music Festival, The Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, and TED Talks, and smaller venues all over Alberta and B.C.

The first single off the album, “Tic Tac Blues” was featured in 509 Productions winter edit for snow mobile super star Nadine Overwater. On writing “Tic Tac Blues,” Patterson explained: “For me, Tic Tac Blues is a street-fight. It's about pushing yourself to keep going after what you love, no matter how tough. I love the chorus ‘step baby step, you move just like the rest, until you Roll honey roll and do what you do best.' It is about taking baby steps towards your dreams, and being so authentically you that its all you can be.”

She just returned from Toronto, taking part in Canada's Music Incubator (CMI), a not-for-profit incubator with a mandate to help artists and artist managers evolve from starter companies into sustainable businesses through hands-on networking, mentoring and collaboration. Originally founded by Coalition Music in 2012, CMI established itself in November 2014.

CMI programs (Artist Entrepreneur and Artist Management) reside at Coalition Music, which allows direct access to an active music business environment, a community of like-minded artists across all genres of music, touring professionals, artist managers, industry experts and decades of experience and expertise. Coalition Music represents: Simple Plan, USS, Our Lady Peace, Tom Cochrane, The Tea Party and Finger Eleven just to name a few of the Canadian acts on its roster.

“I've been writing a lot and with other musicians which has been an awesome experience; collaborating with my two main players Barry Mason and Kyle Tenove,” Patterson said. “I'm gone all of August on tour, but I'm spending most of my time in Calgary right now, so I can write with the boys and do what I can.”

CMI takes 15 emerging artists and teach 50 per cent business and 50 per cent performance.

“You get one-on-one time with performance coaches, meet managers of big bands and see how they're doing stuff,” Patterson said.

She added she's incredibly grateful to the Canmore Folk Music Festival for adding her to one of the main stages.

“It's neat because Canmore Folk Fest was my first ever gig as a musician, I did it the first time in 2013, my first ever gig that I did, so it's pretty fun to be coming back four years later and playing again on one of the bigger stages which is very exciting,” Patterson said.

When asked what she looks for in her writing process, she knows you have to be true to yourself before you can be honest with others.

“Make what you like, rather than trying to make stuff that other people will like, which can be harder than it sounds sometimes, have a pair of ears you can trust – have people around that you feel give you good feedback,” Patterson said. “Another thing is to be writing all the time, which is also harder than it sounds. I push myself pretty hard, I'll do things like I'll write just silly songs with my family, or friends that don't play music at all ... because I believe in practice, and if you're pushing yourself like that you never know where those ideas are going to go and it can be as fun as well and I'm trying to be a lot more fearless in sharing what I write.

“I write a lot, but I don't frequently showcase, I'll get precious on songs and think it's not ready yet and I think you're really slowing down the evolution of getting that song ready if you aren't at a place where you feel you can share it when it's a bit more raw – and I think people like to see that too.”