THE CANADIAN COUNTRY MUSIC HALL OF FAME 2003

“Magical” is the word that most people use to describe Sylvia Tyson. Very few artists have created a musical legacy that has achieved long-standing international success. Sylvia became one of the music world’s most recognizable and respected names in the early 1960’s as half of one of the biggest music acts in the business.

She then established a distinguished solo career, and is also known today as one of the Canadian vocal divas within the award winning group “Quartette”. She has graced our country’s recordings for four decades, writing classic songs and making music that has made this Chatham, Ontario native an international star, and a Canadian treasure. As one half of the Folk Country duo “Ian & Sylvia”, she recorded 13 albums and helped change what the world was listening to. The album most revered today: “Great Speckled Bird” is now acknowledged as the beginning of a Country Rock sound that led to an evolution, still at the core of Country radio playlists.

Sylvia Tyson is a recipient of the Order of Canada. She treasures many awards and is a member to the Juno Awards Canadian Music Hall of Fame. In the mid 70’s, Sylvia Tyson went on to release many critically acclaimed solo albums and host award winning radio and television programs such as the Roots series “Touch The Earth”.

With three of Canada’s purest voices today, (Caitlin Hanford, Cindy Church, Gwen Swick), Sylvia performs as a member of “Quartette” and also continues with solo projects, including her much lauded one woman theatrical tour: “River Road & Other Stories”.

Sylvia Tyson is credited in helping give Canada its classic ‘Folk’ sound and this wonderful (Canadian) singer songwriter has helped shape our incredible Canadian musical history. Thousands of fans throughout the world grew up with her beautiful image and her sweet voice. She is a testament to Canada’s cool, laid back, County-Roots beginnings. Sylvia Tyson’s induction to the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame is in recognition of her outstanding achievements as an artist and her tremendous contribution to the music industry internationally.

CANADA'S QUEEN OF FOLK GETS HER DUE
Amy Cameron in ‘Closing Notes' for Mcleans Magazine - September 8, 2003

Pictures of crows crowd the wall of Sylvia Tyson's dining room. They are stark images - paintings and drawing that are all inky black and grey shadows, mysterious and somehow exquisite. "I think of them as the bikers of the bird world," jokes the internationally renowned Toronto-based folksinger and songwriter. It's an unusual fixation. But since the breakup of her marriage to Ian Tyson in the mid-70's, and the dissolution of their powerhouse folk due, Ian & Sylvia, Tyson has been diligently going her own way. And this December at the 27th annual Canadian Country Music Awards, Shania Twain will present Tyson with the Hall of Fame Award. "People thought it odd that we (Ian & Sylvia) didn't receive it together," said Tyson, 62, "But we've been apart much longer than we were together."

A striking woman, Tyson - who is also a member of Quartette which includes singer-songwriters Cindy Church, Caitlin Hanford and Gwen Swick - is more uncomfortable under scrutiny than one might expect from a seasoned performer. Slow to divulge details of her life, Tyson admits that she's "scaling back" on touring for her own music in order to work on a book of fiction she's been writing for six months. "I thought that things were going to slow down at this age but they're not," she says. "So now I'm being more selective and self-protective." But as quiet as she is Tyson offers no illusions about what she loves. "I think of myself as a writer first," she says. Her favourite part of the day is composing songs or sentences in her mind while on early morning walks through Toronto's ravines. Like the crows she adores, Tyson paints an exquisite picture.