David Myles (musician)

David Myles

David Myles in performance at Brock University's Sean O'Sullivan Theatre, on November 17, 2011. Photo credit: Bob Magee.
Background information
Birth name David Patrick Thomas Myles
Born (1981-05-12) May 12, 1981
Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada
Occupation(s) songwriter, performer, recording artist
Instruments Vocals, guitar, trumpet
Years active 2003-present
Labels Fontana North Distribution, Little Tiny Records, Turtlemusik
Associated acts The Olympic Symphonium, Old Man Luedecke, Joel Plaskett, Damhnait Doyle, Classified, Measha Brueggergosman, Alex Cuba;
Website www.davidmyles.com

David Myles (born May 12, 1981) is a Canadian songwriter/performer/recording artist originally from Fredericton, New Brunswick. Myles lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia. His music has often been labeled folk jazz, although he prefers simply to call it "roots" music.[1] An independent artist who self-releases his albums, Myles has been able to gain an increasingly large audience, in part because of his active touring schedule and in part because of his cross-genre musical collaborations, which include a single made with the rapper Classified that became the biggest-selling rap single in the history of Canadian music.[2]

Myles is married to CBC radio producer Nina Corfu. They have two young daughters.[3]

Background

While growing up in Fredericton, Myles began playing trumpet at 10 years old and played in school bands. He attended Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick and graduated in 2003 with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in political science. He was in China as a foreign exchange student in 2001 when he bought his first guitar.[1] He has said that learning to play the guitar and write songs was what propelled him to become a professional musician.[4]

Career

Myles released his first album, Together and Alone, in 2005. Before it was released, he relocated to Calgary, Alberta.[1] He returned to the Maritimes in 2006, moving to Halifax. There he released his second album, Things Have Changed, which exposed him to national and international audiences. The album earned him industry recognition in the form of two Music Nova Scotia Awards, as well as nominations for both the 2007 Canadian Folk Music Best New Artist Award and the East Coast Music Awards Galaxie Rising Star Recording of the Year. His original song, “When it Comes My Turn,” took home first place in the International Songwriting Competition and was the winning song at the 2008 Chris Austin Merlefest Songwriting Contest.[5]

In May 2008, Myles released his third solo project, On the Line, which demonstrates his vocal versatility and musical dexterity.[5] On the Line is a powerful and stylish blend of jazz, blues, gospel, pop and folk influences that has garnered awards and nominations, including the 2009 ECMA Folk Recording of the Year Award.

In May 2009, Myles was awarded the Mount Allison University Contemporary Achievement Award from the University’s Alumni Association. It is presented to a recent graduate for "outstanding achievement".[6]

Myles was one of thirteen songwriters chosen in the first-ever CBC Radio 2 Great Canadian Song Quest in 2009. He was chosen to represent New Brunswick by a public vote, and commissioned to write a song about the Bay of Fundy's historic Hopewell Rocks. He recorded a new song, "Don't Drive Through," for the contest. Asked about the song, Myles said, "I wanted this tune to really resonate with New Brunswickers. Don't Drive Through is a lighthearted song that relates to the idea of driving through the province. I tried to create a song that I could sing forever, not just record as part of CBC's Canadian songbook, and I think I have."[7]

In 2010, he performed at the Canadian Deep Roots Music Festival in Wolfville, Nova Scotia.[8] as well as other locations such as Granville Green in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.[9] In December, he played for four nights at The Carleton Music Bar in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Unbeknownst to him, the music bar's sound technician recorded the performances, capturing relaxed live shows.[10][11] Those recordings became the source for his next album, Live at The Carleton.

In 2011, he received five nominations in the East Coast Music Awards [12] and was nominated for a Music New Brunswick award.[13] He played at the Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival in Fredericton, New Brunswick.[14] He released two albums, Live at The Carleton and Into The Sun (October, 2011). Into the Sun uses world music rhythms from Brazilian and African music.[15]

In the same year, Nova Scotia rapper Classified featured Myles on the song "The Day Doesn't Die" from his album Handshakes and Middle Fingers. Although he was left uncredited in some cases, this song gained him more exposure in the hip-hop world as well as a larger fan base.

In 2013, Myles and Classified reunited for the single "Inner Ninja" from the album Classified. The single went triple platinum in Canada and won a Juno Award, and is the biggest-selling rap single in Canadian history.[16]

Also in 2013, Myles released the double album In the Nighttime, on which he gave each of his two separate performing personas (mellow and jazz-influenced on the one hand, beat-oriented and pop-influenced on the other) its own disc of music.[17]

In 2014, Myles was a 'Featured Musician' on the YouTube channel of The Great Canadian Journey, a cross-country project that highlights local musicians, print artists, and culture.[18] Also in 2014, Myles was nominated for six East Coast Music Awards (see "Awards and Achievements," below).

In the fall of 2014, Myles released a Christmas album entitled It's Christmas. The idea of the album suggested itself in part because of Myles' annual "Singing For Supper" tour in Eastern Canada every December, which raises money and donates food for those in need. The concerts take place in a variety of shopping malls in New Brunswick. A portion of the sales of the It's Christmas album continues to be donated to food banks where the album is for sale.[19][20]

In January 2015, Myles was named Touring Artist of the Year at the CAPACOA (Canadian Arts Presenting Association) Awards for the 2013-14 season.[21]

Myles released his first-ever US album, entitled So Far, in September 2015. The album contains stripped-down re-recordings of previously released songs, as a way of introducing his work to a new audience.[22]

Discography

Albums

Guest appearances

Awards and Achievements[23]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Flinn, Sean. "Myles Above", The Coast, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 2007-02-15. Retrieved on 2013-06-04.
  2. ↑ Keene, Rick. "David Myles; Dreams Come True" "Rick Keene Music Scene" blog, 2013-05-21. Retrieved on 2013-06-04.
  3. ↑ Cooke, Stephen. "David Myles singing for charity this week", The Chronicle Herald, Halifax, NS, 2014-12-01.
  4. ↑ Katuwapitiya, Shawn. "Folk-jazz musician David Myles stays down-to-earth: East-coast favourite travels across Canadian landscape", The Gazette, Waterloo, Ontario, 2007-03-14. Retrieved on 2011-09-28.
  5. 1 2 Webb-Campbell, Shannon. Chart Attack, 2008-05-14. Retrieved on 2011-09-28.
  6. ↑ Mount Allison University Alumni Association "Alumni Recognition Award Recipients 2009", Mount Allison University: Alumni Online, Sackville, NB, 2009. Retrieved on 2011-09-28.
  7. ↑ Mount Allison University Marketing and Communications Office. "Mount Allison grad chosen for national songwriting competition", Mount Allison University: Alumni, Sackville, NB, 2009-12-02. Retrieved on 2011-09-28.
  8. ↑ Deep Roots Music Cooperative "Artists' Profiles 2010: David Myles", The Heartbeat of the Valley, Wolfville, Nova Scotia. 2010-05-14. Retrieved on 2011-09-28.
  9. ↑ MacNeil, Susan. "Award-winning songwriter David Myles at Granville Green". WGO: What's Going On Cape Breton. 2010-08-04. Retrieved on 2011-09-28.
  10. ↑ "Live at the Carlton: David Myles", Here New Brunswick, 2011-02-20. Retrieved on 2011-03-02.
  11. ↑ "Album review: David Myles Live at the Carlton" The Broken Speaker, 2011-05-25. Retrieved on 2011-09-28.
  12. ↑ Robbins, Li. David Myles and Family, in Wine and Song, CBC Radio 2, 2011-02-14. Retrieved 2011-09-28.
  13. ↑ Bowie, Adam. "Local artists vying for Music N.B. Awards", The Daily Gleaner, Fredericton, NB. 2011-09-27. Retrieved on 2011-09-28.
  14. ↑ Langmaid, Wilfred. "Harvest is Fredericton's festival", The Daily Gleaner, Fredericton, NB, 201109-23. Retrieved on 2011-09-28.
  15. ↑ "David Myles' page on CBC Radio 3", Canada. Retrieved on 2011-09-28.
  16. ↑ "Classified, Myles score MuchMusic nods with Inner Ninja", The Chronicle Herald, Halifax, NS. 2011-05-22. Retrieved on 2013-06-04.
  17. ↑ Schneider, Jason. "David Myles - In the Nighttime", Exclaim.ca, Toronto, ON. 2013-10-29.
  18. ↑ "Musicians – The Great Canadian Journey". Greatcanadianjourney.ca. Retrieved 2015-09-19.
  19. ↑ Reyner, Ben. "David Myles on how to make a non-cheesy Christmas album". Toronto Star, Toronto, ON. 2014-12-17.
  20. ↑ "David Myles is Singing for Supper". Sea and Be Scene.com, Chester, NS. Retrieved on 2015-10-26.
  21. ↑ CAPACOA Awards Winners CAPACOA.ca, Ottawa, ON. 2015-01-24.
  22. ↑ Steffen, Chris. "Album Premiere: David Myles, 'So Far'". allmusic.com. 2015-09-17.
  23. ↑ "David Myles: Bio". Retrieved November 4, 2015..

External links

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