On the evening of Wednesday August 19th, Zane van Hoek produced a television pilot shoot at his property, inviting the resident of Lake Waseosa to the taping, featuring some great Canadian musicians. The live edit of the show itself was projected on to a screen, set up at the shoreline of the property and the residents of Lake Waseosa anchored offshore to see the performance, like a boat up drive in theatre!  There were 2 speakers at the shoreline, so the boaters could hear the conversations between tunes, but the overall sound level reflected the location.

The pilot, hosted by Dave Bidini of the Rheostatics, featured Jim Bowskill (Sheepdogs), Devin Cuddy and Sam Polly (sons of Jim Cuddy) and Emily Burgess (Maple Blues Awards - Best New Artist of the year 2019). The show kicked off promptly at 8:15, and the artists would have wound up the set at 10 pm but for the calls of "Encore" from the water. After a short break, they returned with a few more numbers to satisfy the crowd.

The concept of the show is outlined below:

The legacy of Canadian music was born from the wild north: trees, lakes, rivers, a fire and the sky. You can hear the land in the wide lonesome melodies and sweet sweeping rhythms of all genres: from the Fiddle and Accordion on the shores of Newfoundland, to the fury of the Vancouver punk scene and the countless denim-jacketed poets who wrote detailed hymns to match this beautiful place.

“True North Song” is the concept of bringing the wealth of Canada’s musicians to their natural habitat during these unprecedented times. A place where they can remain socially distant and yet together. To return the music to its source and share it with a nation who needs to hear our songs and stories now more than ever – A televised series from the shoreline, the forest and fireside. To showcase historic live performances and hear the stories of Canadian Music from the musician’s themselves. More than unplugged, scaled-down and rustic, the scenery will resonate with the essence of the songs, the tales of people who wrote them and what they mean to our country; to both the listeners and the performers.

Hosted by Dave Bidini, True North Song will invite a band or a selection of Canadian solo musicians to the shores of Lake Waseosa in Muskoka, Ontario for an intimate evening shared amongst themselves, as the stories and the music are revealed under shimmering skies, beside mythic waters, the glow of the fire to guide the viewer through the lens as to what it means to part of the…

True North Song