Raffoul's Western Skies takes prize

By Mark Ribble

LEAMINGTON — Billy Raffoul’s song, Western Skies, has taken the 16th annual SOCAN Songwriting Prize for 2021, edging out nine other nominees in the English language category.

The Leamington-born singer-songwriter was happy for the local support.

“The community in Leamington and the county really got behind it,” he said. “I’m so grateful to them.”

Raffoul said that most of the other competitors had huge online followings and he thought that would serve them well when the votes were counted.

But his local connection to his community, he feels, put him over the top.

“My family has been so amazing,” he said. “All of the support has been incredible.”

BILLY RAFFOUL

by Travis Latam

Billy is hoping to get in a couple of ‘tune-up’ gigs before heading to Europe for a fall tour which begins in Munich in October.

As for Western Skies, it delivers a timely message about the importance of fighting for common good in difficult times.

The music video, which is viewable on Youtube, was filmed on a friend’s tomato farm east of Leamington.

Raffoul is following in his father’s footsteps, as is his brother Peter.

Jody Raffoul’s influence is evident in his son’s music and the trio often play together.

“Songwriting has been a part of my life since the very beginning, and I am so fortunate to have grown up in a family full of artistic expression,” Raffoul said. “’Western Skies is a song about the imminent threat of climate change and our responsibility to future generations.”

For his efforts, Raffoul takes the top cash prize of $5,000, a Yamaha keyboard and a $500 gift card from Long & McQuade.

The SO-CAN Songwriting Prize is the only major songwriting award in Canada where fans vote to determine the winner. Ten outstanding songs created by Canadian songwriters over the past year are nominated by a panel of 15 esteemed music industry experts. The public is then invited to vote once a day for their favourite song for two weeks to determine the winner.

Voting this year was from June 17 to July 1.