Jana: Most writers agree…the process is different for every song - some songs pour out and others have to be pulled. Do you have some memorable pouring or pulling stories?

It sat around for about five years until Ken Mellons recorded it on his Epic album, then seven years later Gretchen Wilson asked Ken if he had any songs to pitch to her and he gave her his two albums. The rest is history, that's how Gretchen found the song, cut it and put it on her current 'All Jacked Up' album. Potentially, my biggest cut to date all came from an hour and a half of writing and a half hour in the studio. Go figure. But having said that, those quickly written songs that have had any success have been few and far between for me. As far as pulling them out an inch at a time stories, I have too many of those to tell, but one thing is for sure, when you know it's a worthwhile idea, I feel a good writer is one who is driven to stick with it, not sell out because it's not coming easily, then re-write if it's still not there, and never give up on it until it is as good as he or she can make it. Sometimes it's a long and frustrating process but a rewarding one.

Jana: Your first song topic was about the Vikings landing in Newfoundland, Canada. Over the years, have you found matters of the heart to be your most inspirational or successful?
Cyril: Yes, I think you have to write about something that is of interest to the masses and something that everyone can relate to and is affected by everyday and what bigger issue in people's lives is there than love and relationships. We never tire of hearing about someone being touched by love whether it's a child, parent, friend or lover, whether it's a tragedy or a miracle. I guess we look at how that differs to, or parallels our own lives, and it affects us by arousing our inner feelings and makes it personal and in some way the song becomes about us and we feel the pain, happiness or tragedy of the song. You have to pull the listener in and keep them there for three minutes and then make them want to come back and hear it again. You can only write so many songs about my old yellow car, or about a gambler (both great songs) but once you've heard those stories, you've heard them, especially when written as well as those two songs were written. On the other hand, there are so many emotions stirred up when we talk about love, life and relationships and how the way someone acts or what they say to that other person can bring to the surface how fragile and vulnerable we all are, so when written with care, a new story is born.

Jana: Your writing career has spanned decades. How have changes in your life changed your writing?
Cyril: I hope the one thing that I have learned from writing hundreds of songs over the past 25 years or so is, to only write about something compelling enough that after you labour over it, then re-write, and then re-write again has the potential to be a great song with the capability of touching a lot of people time and time again and no matter how many times you listen to it, still feels fresh and still moves you. When you've done that then you know you've done your job and written something worthwhile. Those songs stand up and speak for themselves and eventually after many years of writing I found that when I would go into my catalogue to pitch songs to artists I absolutely knew why some songs jumped out at me and the diddy's fell victim to the FF button. I guess my writing has evolved with years of just doing it, in a word, experience.

Jana: Who was/were the most inspirational to you, your music and how?
Cyril: I guess my parents were my first influence, they owned and operated a music store and I started working there in sales and teaching guitar while in school and started playing in local bands. I went on to manage one of the stores after high school but I wasn't cut out for retail and had to move on but I think when they introduced me to music they stirred an interest in me that became the main focus in my life to this day. After that, I had lots of heroes from Jerry Reed to The Eagles and on and on, my influences changed as I grew.

Jana: They say, you can't write what you don't know. How much of your songs are a product of your imagination and not your experience.
Cyril: I think it's a mixture in most cases. I think every writer has to have an active imagination but I want the story to be believable and one that somewhere in the world is probably happening to someone right now. It doesn't have to be me and rarely is, so I try to imagine that if I was the person in the situation, how I would feel and react to it. I certainly don't sit down and try to write songs about my own life, they would be way too boring.

Jana: Being honest, what is your worst song topic?
Cyril: Topics or ideas that have no real meat to them but for some reason get written over and over, like we've never heard that idea in a song before. Or, redneck songs with corny titles like "Billy's got his beer goggles on" and last but not least, those novelty songs that are supposed to be funny but aren't. Really, how many times can you laugh at the same joke.

Jana: Is there one song, yours or that of another artist, that sums up who you are, or how you view your life? Okay, put it this way. What songs would you want played at your funeral ?
Cyril: Just make them all mine, and make sure a SOCAN rep is there logging it.

Jana: Did you have any surprise hits?
Cyril: Any hits I have had were a surprise. Seriously though, I knew I had a shot with songs like "From Zero To Sixty", "I Read Lips" and "Lying Here With You" (Thomas Wade and Wayward), "Something Undeniable", "What's Not to Love", "Better Off Broken", "Cool Summer Night" (Lisa Brokop). I also thought I had a shot with "Keep Mom And Dad In Love" with Lisa and Hal Ketchum, but it didn't even make the top 10, or my single with Keith Urban and the Ranch called "Just Some Love", he changed labels just after it was released and the song was history within a couple of weeks. So you can never count on anything, politics and factors far beyond our control can change the course of a potential hit so they are all surprises when they happen, in my mind. Now Johnny Reid's next single that I wrote with him called "Time Flies" to me is a potential hit for him but all I can do is wait and see how it plays out. I have however, had some great cuts that were surprises, like my song "Secret" on Reba's last album. I dropped a copy off the day I left Nashville in a drop box on Buddy's Cannon's front porch and got a call the day after I arrived back in Peterborough that Reba was cutting it the following Monday, which she did and the album just went platinum. My Gretchen cut was another fairy tale story with her finding it herself on a Ken Mellons album, that doesn't happen every day believe me.

Jana: If you knew then what you know now, how would you guide your career differently?
Cyril: I would spend more time schmoozing…I hate it though, much rather be writing but I've seen what it has done for other writers and I should have balanced my career a little better that way. P.S. I always wanted to be a better writer than schmoozer anyway.

Jana: If you were asked to teach a course on songwriting, what would be your top 3 do's and don'ts.
Cyril: Use and trust your imagination and emotions first, then balance it off with the craft. Get your thoughts and feelings out on paper and then step back, look at it again and let the craft of songwriting step in when you rewrite but DON'T rewrite until you write yourself right out of the song, learn when to be satisfied that the song is finished. Listen to hits and try to figure out why they were hits but DON'T try to write that same idea, find an idea that has as powerful a meaning or groove or whatever but make it your own, remember you heard that other hit and so did millions of other people so it's old news. Write up, in other words try to surround yourself with writers that in your mind can teach you or help you in your weakest area and yet still compliment what you do best. If you are a lyricist first then find a great melody writer to work with, if you do both equally well in your mind, write with someone who has had some commercial success writing for a variety of artists, not just themselves, writers whose songs have reached a lot of ears in the industry and still had success. DON'T settle for mediocrity and DON'T after writing your first few songs think you know it all, you DON'T. Of course, learn the basics of rhythm, rhyme, format, melody, etc. first.

Jana: Tell us about your current projects.
Cyril: Same as last year, try like hell to write a hit and have fun doing it because the fun may be all I get out of it, unless of course Lady Luck smiles on me, and if she does and opportunity knocks, it's up to me to have the goods.

Jana: A great many artist say their favorite song is the one they just finished, which means, they believe, they get better and better. If you looked back at your earlier writing , how would you critique it? How would you change it?
Cyril: I made all the mistakes a new writer makes, boring subject matter, diddy's, songs that resembled something else, like the old saying " I heard it, I liked it, so I wrote it". Being afraid to be original and not being sensible enough to know that what people want to hear is something they can relate to, not something that only means something to me personally, and realizing there is nothing wrong with the word commercial when it comes to writing songs, as long as they are good. There are very few songs that reach #1 status that are not commercially written songs. But having said that, I went through what I had to, kind of going to school and I think every writer has to go to school in a sense and develop at their own pace and in their own way and the ones who are not dedicated fall by the wayside and give up. I didn't so, I wouldn't change a thing.

Jana: Is there anything you would change in the music industry if you could and why?
Cyril: Ban those redneck songs, I know, I know, it's not going to happen. Somehow convince people to buy more records, and that's a tough one too, but most of all find a way to give new artists a better shot. The internet is helping in some cases but it would be nice if radio stepped up to the plate and contributed a little, now I'm really dreaming.

Jana: How do you think today's music reflects our culture?
Cyril: I think as it always has, we write about what is around us and affecting our lives at the time, during the Second World War for example, all those great songs that became standards were written to pump up people's spirits, give them hope and inspiration and a little laughter in a period when there wasn't much to laugh about and I think today just as they did, we write about our current day to day life styles and values, like after 9-11, look at all the patriotic songs that were written, we're just reacting to the times

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