Kim Stockwood

Heave It Outta Ya: Part 1
In 1990, while I was a copywriter for an ad agency in St. John's, Newfoundland, a friend of mine suggested we play a couple of songs at a folk night at our local pub. We were both major Elvis fans and had been jamming together for the past couple of weeks. I had sung in public only two other times; at my high school grad and at a friend's wedding. That first night at the pub I sang a song from Patsy Cline, the Velvet Underground and Sinead O'Connor. Without even realizing it, my singing career had begun.

Over the next two years I sang on weekends while holding down my day job and, along with my acoustic guitar player, Doug Randell, started writing songs. I became a big draw at clubs and received a lot of reviews and attention from the local CBC, but I had still never considered taking my singing seriously. That is, until my friends and some "fans" began asking what I was going to do next. Would I move? "As in away from Newfoundland?", I asked. So many people believed that I really had a chance to "make it", but for the moment, I was still too afraid to really think about it.

You'll Never Know Till You Try
As I started thinking seriously about it, I knew that if I didn't see how far I could take this, I would always wonder, and that I could never live with myself with a regret that big. So, in 1992, after I had done everything I could for my career in Newfoundland, I decided to pack up everything, say bye-bye to my friends and family, quit my job and move to Toronto. It was the hardest thing I have ever done.

Never Be Afraid To Embarrass Yourself: Heave it Outta Ya, Part 2
Two months after I arrived in Toronto, through some stroke of weird luck, I found myself standing on the president of EMI Music Publishing's piano stool. After two songs, an hour of me blabbing his face off, and a few dents in his shiny black piano stool, he swivelled in his big leather chair and said the words I dreamed of hearing:

"YOU"RE SIGNED!"

"That's amazing, uhhh, what am I signed to?"

"You're signed to a songwriting deal. We're going to write some hit songs, get you a record deal and make you a star."

Sweet and Simple! I picked myself up, walked around the corner to a pub, and tried to figure out what in the name of God had just happened.

Who The Hell Is That Stockwood Girl?
Word got out. I got out. And soon, everybody was talking about this crazy girl from Newfoundland who got a publishing deal by singing two songs on a piano stool. My first coming out showcase was in March 93': the room was packed full of record and industry types who wanted to see what all the fuss was about. EMI's VP of A&R was one of the first to come up to me after the show and eight months later I would put the finishing touches on a worldwide record deal with EMI Music Canada.

So, I have a publishing deal, a record deal and a whole bunch of amazing people who believe in me. I'm ready. Well, maybe not quite yet.

Nine Tenths Of An Iceberg Is Below Water
For two years I wrote and wrote and wrote. I wrote with everybody and anybody that would write with me. I went on a complete songwriting binge. I met incredible people and through the help of my co-writers found a creative well I wasn't even sure I had. I'm not really sure where the songs came from, nor do I really care. The point is that after three years in the big city and over 50 songs, BONAVISTA had emerged.

BONAVISTA, The Tip Of My Iceberg
Choosing the final twelve songs to make it on the record was incredibly hard. All the songs I had written just about covered the complete musical spectrum. In the end, the 12 songs that did make it were the ones that felt most like me. Songs like Enough Love, I'd Rather Be Lonely Alone and Be Where You Are were songs that I was very proud of as a songwriter. Cry Crazy showed my Elvis/Patsy Cline influences. Compassion and Love When You Need Love were songs with a message that I felt I needed to write about. A Good Man is my tribute to my father. And How Many Miles is a song for anyone who has left home and longed to be back.

BONAVISTA was produced by Jim Rondinelli, (Matthew Sweet, The Odds, Ginger, Sloan) and was recorded in Los Angeles and Vancouver. The core band consisted of Don Heffington (Lone Justice, Victoria Williams, Emmylou Harris); Bob Glaub (Jackson Brown, Rod Stewart, and basically everyone else), Greg Leisz (kd lang, Matthew Sweet, and everybody else), Greg 'The Screecher' Wells (kd lang).

The first single from the album, She's Not In Love, was co-written by Jill Sobule ('I Kissed A Girl') and has Matthew Sweet playing guitar. Randy Bachman also guests on the track (as well as on N.A.S.H.V.I.L.L.E., which he also co-wrote), as do Craig Northey and Doug Elliott from The Odds.

Keep your eyes and ears open for BONAVISTA, in stores now.