Ron Irving's Biography
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Ron Irving |
From
hearing the opening chords of “She Loves You” blasting out of his
transistor radio, Ron Irving was hooked on the Beatles and music was
the only thing that mattered.
By the time he was 14, Ron was teaching guitar and playing in the
local Legions in his hometown of Powell River, BC. At 21 after
playing on the road throughout Western Canada, Ron set down in
Vancouver to play six nights a week with pick up bands by night and
spend his days wood shedding on his Baldwin jazz guitar with the
ambition to become the next Lenny Breau.
Soon Country music caught his ear and he put together his award
winning band Bootleg who went on to top the national Country charts
with Ron’s hit songs leading the way. With numerous songwriting awards to his credit and his guitar under his arm Ron headed to
Nashville to pitch his songs and to collaborate with some of music
city’s finest tunesmiths. BMG Music Publishing took notice of Ron’s
composing talents when Anne Murray, Lee Greenwood and the Statler
Bros all recorded his songs. They immediately signed him as a staff
writer.
During one of his many trips back and forth to Nashville for writing
sessions, Ron produced the first “Canadian Night at the Bluebird
Café” in Nashville where he performed with fellow hit makers Randy
Bachman, Marc Jordan, Shirley Eckhard and Eddie Schwartz.
Upon completion of his 3 year contract with BMG, Ron’s writing moved
towards the Pop music world with cuts by Asian superstar Jackie
Cheung and Korean boy-band Shinwa, Michael Bublé, Japanese Pop star,
Mink, and South African Idol winner, Anke.
Over 100 Ron Irving penned songs have been recorded worldwide in 6
languages and his songs have received national awards from both
SOCAN and the Canadian Music Publishers Association. In 2003 Ron was
inducted in to the prestigious British Columbia Country Music Hall
of Fame reflecting his status as not only a writer but as an artist,
performer and entertainer.
Success as a songwriter was very gratifying but something was
missing. That ‘something’ was playing his guitar and singing his
songs for a live audience. It was time to record “Into The Blue”, a
Ron Irving solo album of eclectic songs from Pop, Modern Country,
Blues and World Beat music. Ron was on the road again – appearing at
music festivals, concerts and songwriter shows. “You’re Not Alone”,
Ron’s second self-produced album, was completed in 2007 and he
continues to captivate audiences with his powerful lyrics, velvety
vocals and his sometimes intricate, sometimes hypnotically rhythmic
guitar playing.
Throughout this musical journey, Ron, a teacher by nature, has
continued to share his talents with others by leading songwriting
workshops and critique sessions and often participates as a panelist
during music industry seminars.
Sue Irving's Biography
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Sue Irving |
Sue Irving has a long history in the Canadian music industry and is highly regarded by her peers. Sue worked for 16 years immersed in the performing rights world as the Administrative assistant to the National VP of Member Relations at SOCAN, Canada's performing rights society, representing over 70,000 composers and music publishers. During her tenure at SOCAN, Sue acquired extensive knowledge of the revenue streams, administration, protection and promotion of music copyrights. Prior to SOCAN, Sue was the executive director of the B.C. Country Music Association and is currently serving on the Board of Directors of that association. Today, Sue handles administration for SueCo music publishing a company she jointly owns with her husband Ron Irving.
Songs from the SueCo Music catalogue have been recorded by artists in Canada, the U.S. Europe, South Africa, Japan and S.E. Asia. With her own keen sense of ‘what works’ in a song Sue is applying her administrative and creative skills in establishing SueCo Music as an internationally recognized music publishing company. She also works with Ron in leading workshops and seminars focusing on songwriting and music publishing.
