Join the most recent inductee into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, Sylvia Tyson, and music industry journalist Larry LeBlanc, as they discuss her trailblazing career. From her legendary contribution as one half of Ian & Sylvia, to her solo career and time with country-folk supergroup Quartette, gain intimate insight into the three-time Hall of Famer’s experience and perspective on a life in music.
During the ‘60s and ‘70s, as the folk-singing duo Ian & Sylvia, they were among North America’s leading singer-songwriters, achieving commercial and critical success and recording 13 studio albums. The duo performed their hit songs for U.S. President Lyndon Johnson’s 1964 re-election campaign, at the Hollywood Bowl, Carnegie Hall and Town Hall in NYC; as well as appearances on television’s “Hullabaloo,” the Johnny Cash Show, Steve Allen Show, Mike Douglas Show, and the BBC.
Their folk standards “Four Strong Winds”—deemed by the CBC to be the “most essential” piece of Canadian music – and “You Were on My Mind” were inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2003 and 2007 respectively. Ian penned “Four Strong Winds” after an evening with Bob Dylan, and Sylvia is credited with “You Were on My Mind,” making her one of the few female folk artists to write a major song in that genre at the time, which was remade in 1965 by American folk-rock quintet, We Five, to become a worldwide #1 hit single. Both songs, cemented their individual status as hit-making songwriters.
Ian, who loves the cowboy way of life living on his ranch in Longview, Alberta, performs his own Western-influenced repertoire; Sylvia continues to have a fascinating, and still-thriving solo career while performing, writing, and recording with Quartette with Caitlin Hanford, Cindy Church, and Gwen Swick.
