Long Story Records spoke with Sherry Crawford, organizer and host of The SongRise Music Conference, about the history and this year’s upcoming conference.
How would you describe SongRise?
SongRise Music Conference is a two-day immersion into the business of songwriting, music industry information, live performances, and networking with like-minded artists.
Hosted by Community Futures Peace Country, it is designed to bring together artists and music industry professionals to learn, connect, and grow.
Friday covers topics such as marketing, festival applications, live performance sound and much more. Delegates also have an opportunity to gather feedback during the Date with a Demo portion of the day.
Saturday is about writing and performing where delegates are grouped together to write a song based on themes that the mentors give them and they get to perform it that night during the concert!
What inspired you to start SongRise?
When I was a performing and recording artist with my music partner, we were always searching for information to grow our careers.
After travelling to events like CCMA Week and Breakout West, we noticed that not a lot of Peace Region artists were attending these national events. We decided to create our own conference to grow the music industry in the Peace.
We started small with twelve songwriters, including a 14-year-old Tenille Townes!
It continued to grow and evolve into what it is today, and even after taking an eight-year hiatus, we have a proven formula that brings artists from all over the province to participate.
What do you think its impact on the Peace Region Music Scene has been?
When we started it in 2008, there were not a lot of opportunities for local musicians to gather or even perform. We knew they were “out there,” so it was a case of “build it and they will come,” and talent started showing up in droves. That led to relationships with industry professionals, collaboration with peers and more performance opportunities because local venues started to take notice.
Fast forward to today, where open mics abound, venues consistently book local artists and the message that Northern Alberta has a wealth of talent is being heard all over the province.
Who are this year’s mentors?
Duane Steele, Robert Walsh, Maria Dunn, Zachary Kay of The Northbloods, Steven Gevenich & Keith Rempel of The Misery Mountain Boys, Scott Randall of They Call Me SiR, Jason Bacon of Sunstone Strategic, Randy Fillion from Nord Ouest FM, Randy Hodgkinson of H&S Sound, Holly Sorgen from Community Futures Grande Prairie, and Rylan Crawford will be on hand again to record delegates songs.
The SongRise Music Conference takes place in Peace River on October 2 & 3, 2026 in inspiring venues like the Art Hub and the Athabasca Hall and includes a magical concert on October 3.
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