Tag: music

A Coquitlam hockey player is about to take his career in an unexpected direction

This story first appeared in the Tri-City News on March, 8, 2023

Mark Ledlin has spent a lifetime getting ready for the biggest opportunity to advance his musical aspirations by banging and crashing opponents on the ice.

The 25-year-old graduate of Dr. Charles Best Secondary School in Coquitlam just wrapped his eighth season of playing professional hockey in Germany — the past two with the Rostock Piranhas in the second division German Oberliga.

But without a contract for next season, Ledlin is focusing his attention on developing a music career that received a big boost three years ago when he appeared on the German version of the reality show, The Voice.

And he could be poised for a breakout with the release of his first EP this summer and an opportunity to compete as one of eight semi-finalists in SiriusXM radio’s fifth annual Top of the Country competition.

On March 30, Ledlin will head into a studio to record an acoustic version of an original song he’s written and composed.

The songs and videos of all eight semi-finalists from across Canada are then posted online for fans to vote for their favourite.

The winner receives $25,000, as well as industry mentorship and a song writing trip to Nashville.

Ledlin said playing hockey in front of thousands of fans has steeled him for the pressure of being on top of his singing game in the recording studio.

It’s also given him the confidence and self-awareness to find his voice.

“I’ve had moments on the ice where I’ve screwed up and there’s 4,000 people watching,” Ledlin said. “I can be myself on the ice and on stage, but nobody tries to fight you on stage.”

ROSTOCK PIRANHAS
Mark Ledlin, of the Rostock Piranhas, pursues an opponent in a recent game against EG Diez-Limburg in the second division German Oberliga.

Ledlin said music has always been a part of his life: His dad, Fred, who also played pro hockey for 13 seasons in Germany, is an accomplished guitarist himself.

Mark Ledlin said he learned to play watching YouTube videos then started posting videos of his own music from his apartment during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic as he awaited hockey to resume.

That led to Ledlin’s appearance on The Voice. And while he didn’t advance, he impressed the judges enough to earn an invitation to the show’s “Comeback Stage.”

Ledlin said until now, music has mostly been a way to fill the time between practices and games. As the end of his hockey career comes within sight, he’s drawing from his experiences as a professional athlete to fuel his creativity.

Ledlin said his blue-collar existence toiling year to year for contracts in hockey’s outskirts, far from the bright lights and big arenas of the NHL or even the German first division, brought him to country music’s soulful sounds.

“I’ve had to learn how to do everything myself since I was 17,” he said. “I put that into the music. Every song I write comes from the heart.”

Ledlin said his teammates have been supportive of his musical journey.

“Some of my biggest fans are the guys I play with,” he said. “They’re always asking me to play songs for them.”

But as Ledlin prepares to pull off his skates and elbow pads and put on a flannel shirt and cowboy boots, he’s feeling like an underdog all over again.

And that’s not necessarily a bad place for an athlete to be.

“I’ve been a pro since I was 17,” he said. “I’m going to make some noise in the music world. That’s my destiny, that’s my drive. If it’s hockey or music, I find a way to get to the end.”

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Port Moody pianist gets the Entertainment Tonight touch

This story first appeared in the Tri-City News on July 26, 2020

Few people get to meet their heroes, let alone get their phone number.

But a unique connection with former Entertainment Tonight host and New Age composer John Tesh has culminated in a new album by Port Moody pianist Martin Mayer that is scheduled to be released early next year.

The album, entitled The Solo Piano Collection, is a compilation of the best pieces Mayer’s written through his 25-year career as well as half a dozen new compositions he put together while riding out the COVID-19 pandemic in his Klahanie home that also contains a recording studio.

Mayer said his career never would have happened were it not for some idle channel surfing more than 20 years ago that landed him on a PBS presentation of Tesh in concert with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre.

It got a boost when he was able to enlist accompaniment from Grammy-winning violinist Charlie Bisharat, who played with Tesh as well as other renowned musicians like Lady Gaga, Elton John and Yanni. Then it got a golden endorsement when he was able to perform one of his new pieces for Tesh himself, after a show in a Seattle jazz club last November.

SUBMITTED PHOTO
Port Moody pianist Martin Mayer says a connection with composer and former host of Entertainment Tonight, John Tesh, helped him chart the direction of his own musical career.

Mayer said the moment was “pivotal” and has blossomed into an ongoing professional relationship with the onetime TV personality.

“He’s just been super great about it.”

Mayer started playing piano when he was 11 years-old, but it wasn’t until he stumbled upon Tesh presenting his own new-age keyboard compositions in the dramatic outdoor venue that he realized the direction his musical inclinations should take.

“I’m not going to be a classical pianist,” said Mayer, who studied at the Royal Conservatory of Music as well as Grant MacEwan University in Edmonton.

He wrote a letter to Tesh, enquiring about the availability of his sheet music so he could learn to play the compositions that had captured his imagination. 

It was the TV announcer’s ability to forge his own path by doing things like composing the themes for sports shows while working in front of the camera that made Mayer realize he’d have to create his own opportunity.

Mayer took out a $35,000 loan to hire a 20-piece orchestra, film and audio crew, as well as a venue, so he could produce his own live concert program that premiered on his website when he was 19 years-old. 

That led to an offer to tour in China, visiting 16 cities in six weeks. It’s been a favoured destination ever since, although he’s also played venues closer to home, like the Evergreen Cultural Centre in Coquitlam.

“Piano is huge in Asia,” Mayer said, adding he was set to embark on another 20-date tour in China this fall until the global pandemic shut down much of the live entertainment industry.

Mayer hasn’t been idle in his downtime, though.

In addition to writing and recording, he had to navigate the creative and technical challenges of collaborating remotely with other musicians like Bisharat, who’s based in Los Angeles. That meant communicating his intent for the pieces, but leaving enough room for each musician to add their own creative sparkle.

“It’s a matter of having a conversation, providing good direction and then give the artist room to breathe,” Mayer said.

The result, he added, is the story of his own musical journey, including a touching tribute to his mother, who had left the TV guide open to the listing of the Tesh concert on that fateful day so many years ago.

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Popular Port Moody concert series gets a financial boost

A popular series of live music concerts at Port Moody’s Inlet Theatre will receive a $5,000 boost from the city.

The art, culture and heritage grant allows promoters Bill Sample and Darlene Cooper to continue booking top touring and local musicians like Shari Ulrich, Roy Forbes and The Paperboys while maintaining affordable ticket prices.

It’s one of $40,000 worth of grants approved by council’s finance committee Tuesday, May 20, for distribution to several local organizations.

Cooper said the concerts have put the city “on the map as a bit of a cultural hub.”

She and Sample, who are both accomplished musicians themselves, launched the series in 2022 after moving to Port Moody from Vancouver and finding the local live music scene somewhat lacking, especially after the demise of Bistro Gallery that burned down in 2019.

Sample said the little bistro on Clarke Street had become a popular performance venue for local and guest musicians, poets, writers and visual artists. But with no place to play, many were bypassing Port Moody while on tour.

“We need music in our lives,” Sample said, of the series that presents up to eight concerts during the fall, winter and spring months in the venue that can seat as many as 208 patrons.

In March, 2024, Port Moody council voted to extend an agreement with Sample and Cooper to waive rental fees at the theatre for two more years to help keep concert costs down.

Devin Jain, who was then the city’s manager of cultural services but recently retired, said the promoters have “brought a consistent and professional music series to the community” which has “filled a gap within the cultural landscape of Port Moody.”

Other organizations awarded grants include:

  • Big Sisters of BC Lower Mainland and Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver will each receive $2,608 community grants to enhance their mentoring and youth leadership programs
  • Crossroads Hospice Society will get a $3,000 community grant to bolster its activities that enhance the quality of care for it patients
  • PoCoMo Meals on Wheels Society will get $3,000 to help keep the price of meals affordable
  • SHARE Family and Community Services also gets a $3,000 community grant to offset the cost of emergency hampers for vulnerable community members
  • The Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention Centre also gets $3,000 to boost its operational support for mental health care
  • Port Moody Men’s Shed society’s $1,404 community grant will help its members build community bird houses
  • Port Moody Heritage Society will receive a $5,000 arts, culture and heritage grant to help fund a new exhibit
  • POMO Players will use its $4,500 arts, culture and heritage grant to fund booking of a venue, creative costs and insurance for its production of “A Christmas Carol”
  • The Port Moody Art Association will get $3,000 for room rental, permits and insurance costs
  • Arts Connect gets a $2,500 grant to help it attract top musical acts to Port Moody

As well, five artists will share a total of $4,717 in grants to help them put on exhibitions, open a studio, produce a short film or acquire materials and equipment. They are:

  • Crystal Koskinen
  • Amy Narky
  • Ramin Mohseni
  • Husein Kamrudin
  • Samira Messchian Moghadam

Port Moody Mayor Meghan Lahti said she was pleased by the quality of the recipients.

“They all look like very good applicants,” she said.

According to a staff report, Port Moody received 47 applications for its three grant programs. Each was evaluated by staff and the city’s citizens advisory group based on criteria like:

  • the extent to which the grant will help address a need in the community
  • how the grant will promote the well-being and quality of life of Port Moody residents
  • how much of the money will be spent in the city and benefit the community as a whole
  • the needs of the organization or group requesting the funding
  • how the funds will be directed to support equity, diversity, inclusions and reconciliation initiatives
  • the involvement of volunteers and promotion of community spirit
  • accessibility
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‘She will never forget this’: How a mom went to a Coquitlam Express hockey game and ended up at a Taylor Swift concert

This story was originally published in the Tri-City News on Dec. 10, 2024. It proved to be one of the most read of the entire year, generating more then 20,000 page views.

Kylie Wright and her daughter went to a Coquitlam Express hockey game Sunday and ended up at the biggest event to hit Vancouver since the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Wright and eight-year-old Saoirse were the winners of a pair of tickets to Sunday’s final concert of Taylor Swift’s monster Eras tour at BC Place.

Their names were randomly drawn from the 1,450 ticket holders to the game between the Express and the Powell River Kings Sunday afternoon at the Poirier Sport and Leisure Complex.

As well, fans could earn extra opportunities to win by donating $20 to the KidSport Tri-Cities or by winning the Chuck-a-Puck contest that’s held between the second and third periods.

Shortly after the Wrights won, Kylie’s husband picked them up from the arena to get them into Vancouver in time for the concert.

Wright said the whole experience was a thrill, especially as it was the first-ever live concert for Saoirse.

“You made an eight-year-old’s dream come true and she will never forget last night,” she commented on the hockey team’s Facebook page on Monday.

Express general manager Tali Campbell said the promotion that was sponsored by Sussex Insurance was equally exciting for the team.

He said more than 87.5 per cent of the ticket holders to Sunday’s game were new customers and the buzz of fans dressed up, crafting signs and singing to the Taylor Swift music that played during breaks in the play carried all the way to Edmonton where he was with the U14 Coquitlam Hockey Club team for a tournament.

“It was the talk of the arena from teams all across BC and Alberta about the unique promotion we were running,” Campbell said, adding the event also brought in $2,160 for KidSport Tri-Cities.

“As a one-time campaign, this was probably our most successful.”

Swift’s show on Sunday was the last of three sold-out concerts at BC Place and capped the artist’s record-breaking tour that comprised 149 sold-out events spanning five continents over two years.

The Express also ended up winners, 2-1, over the Kings. It was the team’s second straight win after a 4-3 overtime victory over the Chilliwack Chiefs on Saturday

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