Gil’s Hootenanny is delighted to announce that Christine Graves has won the 2017 “Songs of Hope and Protest” Sing-Along Songwriting Contest for her inspirational song “Rise Above”.
All finalists performed their original songs at the Ottawa Grassroots Festival on Saturday, April 22. According to contest judges Tony Turner, Mark Evenchick and Marty Hamer, “this year’s contest featured a number of strong song submissions and it was difficult to narrow the field to the five finalists”, who were (songs and songwriters):
We Are the One : Harmony Siu
Your Wall Will Come Down : Jan Bentham
The Baby King : David Mayerovitch
Race to the Bottom : Tom Clairmont
Rise Above : Christine Graves
Christine’s winning song focuses on the importance of pulling together to overcome adversity. She weaves together a musical message of community, commitment and hope that everyone can easily sing in solidarity and harmony. She will be performing her song Monday evening, May 1, 2017 at Gil’s Hootenanny, which will be held at the RA Centre (Clarke Room), 2451 Riverside Drive, starting at 7:30pm.
Staffed by UNIFOR members, the RA Centre is accessible, has loads of parking and is well serviced by OC Transpo. Tickets for this all-ages event will be $10 per person (kids are free). Tickets are available online (www.rasputins.ca), at the door, or they can be purchased at Metro Music, 695 Bank Street & Octopus Books, 16 Third Avenue (west of Bank).