User:Hmacleo/David Leask

= David Leask =

David Leask is a Scottish-Canadian singer and songwriter born in Jedburgh, Scotland. Leask lives in Ontario where he creates and performs his music, and mentors aspiring performers. His music draws from a variety of genres such as Celtic soul, folk, pop, and roots rock.

David Leask has won many awards and competitions that have helped build his career as a musician.

Career
David Leask began his music journey as the drummer in his older brother's punk band. Soon after Leask began learning guitar and formed a new band with his younger brother. The band performed in the old TSB Rock School and made it to the finals. Ever since, Leask has been building his music career for roughly 29 years.

With the help of Jeddart Music, his 2020 album Voyageur in Song, was nominated for Album of the Year with Canadian Folk Music Association and it reached #8 on the Canadian Roots Music Chart. The album includes 6 recordings that are inspired by the Six String Nation Guitar. The Toronto Star admired the album for being "Possibly the most Canadian album on Canada's most historic instrument."

Leask has performed at the Canadian National Exhibition, the Mississauga Meadowvale Theatre, and Oakville Theatre for the Arts. He has also been on tour in the UK, performing in countries such as Scotland, Wales, and England.

In addition to concerts, Leask performs at The Feathers Pub in Toronto on Saturday nights to promote his music.

Mentoring
David Leask is a songwriting mentor for aspiring musicians. He is a mentor for Humber College's Graduate Certificate Program in Music Composition and has been a mentor with the School Alliance of Student Songwriters since 2011. Leask is also on the songwriting faculty with Guitar Workshop Plus.

Leask works with the Songwriters Association of Canada to provide mentorship for students as young as 7 and hosts numerous songwriting workshops at folk festivals.

His "Hero In Song" Workshop teaches music theory, writing, and history in connection to inspirational figures. Leask's own composition "Run Fox Run" was written about Terry Fox. He uses this song to demonstrate how to incorporate songwriting elements and then gives his students the opportunity to write a song about their own hero.

Music
David Leask is a singer, songwriter, and storyteller. Leask's music tributes to both his Scottish and Canadian roots, using both Celtic and folk elements. Canadian life has inspired many of Leask's songs such as "Run Fox Run" which was inspired by Canadian hero Terry Fox. His album Voyageur in Song tells the story of writer and broadcaster Jowi Taylor's art history project Six String Nation. The art piece is a guitar, known as Voyageur, that displays Canada’s multicultural community. It is composed of 64 pieces of various materials such as wood, bone, and metal. Each song in Leask’s album Voyageur in Song is inspired by a different piece on the guitar. For instance, "Take a Seat" was inspired by a piece of a seat from Canada's music venue, Massey Hall. His song “Fire and Ice” is about the blue feldspar on the fretboard.

Leask has a total of 6 albums. His first one, 100 Camels, was released in 1996 and includes 10 songs. His other albums include Ancestors' Eyes (2000), Tightrope of Dreams (2004), Underneath (2013), The Clarke Hall Sessions (2016), and Voyageur in Song (2020).

Leask's music is similar to Canadian artists like Nathan Wiley, The Cottars, and Universal Honey.

Awards
2021 - Mississauga Music Songwriter of the Year

2020 - Finalist in the Love Songs Category in the International Songwriting Competition "Perfect Imperfections"

2020 - Semi-finalist in the International Songwriting Competition "The Legend Of Joe Labobe" & "Perfect Imperfections".

2019 - Finalist in the International Songwriting Competition - Video "When You Think No One Loves You"

2019 - Nominee Independent Music Awards - Video "When You Think No One Loves You"

2018 - Finalist in Unsigned Only Vocal Performance "When You Think No One Loves You"

2018 - Finalist in the Canadian Songwriting Competition "Undo" & "Everybody Sing"

2018 - Finalist in the International Songwriting Competition "When You Think No One Loves You"

2018 - Semi-finalist in the International Songwriting Competition - "Red Balloon", "Between Him & Me", "Caught in the Tide"

2014 - Finalist in the International Songwriting Competition - "Everybody Sing"

2011 - 1st Place USA Songwriting Competition Comedy Category - "Infomaniac"

2011 - Runner-up in the John Lennon 70th Birthday Song Contest - "Everybody Sing"

2009 - Overall winner OCFF Songs From The Heart - "While I Still Breathe"

2009 - Top Ten Finalist Toronto Song Contest - "The Toronto We Know"

2009 - 1st Place Unisong Song Contest - "Freedom By The Barrel"

2007 - 1st Place OCFF Songs from the Heart Political Category- "Freedom By The Barrel"

2007 - 1st Place in the International Songwriting Competition - "Strong in Broken Places",

2006 - Finalist in the John Lennon Song Contest - "Undo"

2005 - 1st Place in the International Songwriting Competition - “The Honey I Want”, Blues Category

2005 - Winner OCFF Songs From The Heart - “The Honey I Want”, Blues Category

2004 - 1st Place in the NSAI Single Song Showdown - “You Can Cry”

2003 - 1st & 2nd Place in the Unisong Song Contest - “Five Minutes” & “You Can Cry”

2003 - 1st place in the Quinte Spirit Songwriting Contest - “Halfway to Heaven”

Because of Leask's multiple international songwriting awards, Songwriters Magazine has dubbed him, "the most consistent Canadian songwriting competition winner."