Swedish-born musician Sarah MacDougall has performed across Europe and North America, and has found her home in London during the COVID-19 pandemic.
No matter the city, you can always find a local music scene. London is no exception, boasting over a dozen recording studios, a wide variety of venues for live performances, and several respected musical education opportunities. Suffice to say, London offers a lot of ways for a budding hopeful in the music industry to grow.
Someone who helps make that happen is Cory Crossman, London’s music industry development officer. “The role really is about creating conditions for the industry to thrive and grow,” he explains. “That can be policy work, supporting a local activation or concert, to education, workshops, seminars; that kind of thing.”
If you’ve noticed an increase in musicians playing on patios during the summer, Crossman’s office helped coordinate the efforts to change city policy to allow amplified live music to be played on them.
While live music continues to be an important part of London’s music culture, making sure the city’s industry develops into a sustainable system for up and coming musicians is important for the office. To help that growth, Crossman points to the AMPLifier program.
📢 Calling all #LdnOnt AMPLifiers!!!
Sign up today for the 2021 AMPLifier program in partnership with @LondonEDC & @CMincubator. Applications are open until Oct 7th. https://t.co/srb6jooXyU #LdnEnt #ForTheLoveOfLive pic.twitter.com/X9RdKDHbCM— London Music Office 🇨🇦 (@LDNMusicOffice) September 16, 2021
“We’ve got great talent, great venues, we’ve got great recording studios, but we don’t have a strong infrastructure for what I’m calling ‘AMPLifiers,'” Crossman explains. AMPLifiers —referring to agents, managers, publicists, and labels— are critical for the music sector. A lot come to get educated in London, but end up leaving to other cities once graduated. The program looks to partner with the London Economic Development Corporation and Canada’s Music Incubator —a non-profit that seeks to give emerging artists and manages hands-on support— to provide one-on-one mentoring for emerging professionals in the industry.
Over the course of the pandemic, focus has been shifting toward the production and recording side of London’s music scene. Now that businesses are starting to reopen, live music is gradually finding its way back into the daily life of London.
Next Saturday a special @folkmusicon showcase will take place in Market Lane starting at 7pm. Catch @thecedarsisters @NoelleFCoughlin @dthecommonm @sarahmacdougall & My Fathers Son. Limited seating avail BUT the performances will be broadcast on Facebook & YouTube. pic.twitter.com/b4rRw5wM9H
— London Music Office 🇨🇦 (@LDNMusicOffice) September 18, 2021
One such musician is Sarah MacDougall: a Swedish-born musician whose ten years of performing has lead her all across Europe and North America. Initially based in the Yukon, the lack of touring during the pandemic led her to London, where she currently resides. “In the pandemic, obviously, it’s been very isolating,” she explains. “So I’ve been mostly doing Zoom writing sessions with people all over Canada.” Without touring and live performances, MacDougall has found herself moving more into the production side of the industry —something she believes she would’ve done anyway, but was given the opportunity to properly set up with the time she had.
But, as more and more of the country opens up and events are able to be scheduled again, MacDougall looks forward to being on the stage once more. “It’s been my main thing for the last ten years, and I just love playing live in front of other people; getting that feedback and energy from an audience.”
The opportunities for live shows are growing. MacDougall will be performing in London’s Folk Music Ontario showcase on the 25th of September, as well as the Aeolian Hall on November 12th. For a taste of what you could hear if you tuned in, have a listen to MacDougall’s ‘We Are Fire.’
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