Apparently my song should be done by Metallica...

I attended a fantastic event today sponsored by SOCAN and SAC and a host of other generous organizations and businesses.

My head spins with the packed 5 hours of educational (and excellent) input on songwriting by Canadian singer/songwriter icon Dan Hill; a panel on the music publishing and revenue streams with Stephen Carroll (The Weakerthans), Tim O'Brian (Outreach and Education, SOCAN), Cheryl Link (Creative Director, Peer Music Canada), and Dan Hill; an excellent video presentation on DIY Marketing by Janis Nixon (Marketing Director, Universal Music Canada); a song review panel with Steven Carroll, Adam West (Music Director, HOT 103 FM), Cheryl Link, and Dan Hill. All of this was coordinated and moderated by the incredible Mary Simon under the banner of Radio Star New Songwriters' Workshop Around 50 singer/song writers showed up, which is a huge statement on the collective musical imagination in Winnipeg.

The song review exercise was primarily what I came for, but of course I got a lot more than I bargained for with all the other content. And kudos to the song review panel, who managed to get through 25 of the 37 song submissions.

About three-quarters of the way through the song review submissions, I was getting pretty nervous about being picked from the draw-by-chance.The songs I'd heard so far showcased some pretty incredible talent. There was not a dud singer or song production in the lot!

But my song did eventually get drawn. What caught me totally off guard was the immediate response from one of the panelists. By this time, I had grown used to some pregnant pauses as panelists thought about the best critique they could offer a given submission. Adam West got in the first words as soon as my song stopped playing. This is not a direct quote,  but he did say something quite surprising: 'This would be great for Metallica!' He went on enthusiastically, exclaiming that the lyric and feel was right for "heavy metal... Produce it that way, send it to me, and I'll play it!" he enthused.

Well, I never really thought of myself as a lyricist for that genre. I'm curious to know what others think. Any opinions out there? You can click on the player near the top right and give it a listen...

-dan