David Francey (born 1954) is a Canadian

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

singer-songwriter. He is the recipient of three

Juno Awards The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...

and three

Canadian Folk Music Awards The Canadian Folk Music Awards are an annual music awards ceremony presenting awards in a variety of categories for achievements in both traditional and contemporary folk music, and other roots music genres, by Canadian musicians. The awards progr ...

Early life

Francey was born in

Ayrshire Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Àir, ) is a historic county and registration county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine and it borders the counties of Re ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. He immigrated to Canada with his family at age 12. He has no formal training in music." For David Francey, songs become 'new again ... every night'
Brad Wheeler, ''The Globe and Mail'', Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2011

Career

Francey worked as a rail yard worker and a carpenter for 20 years.
''Toronto Star'', Dec. 3, 2016 At age 45, he began a career in folk music, finding success on the folk festival circuit, where he continues to perform. Francey's experiences in working-class life strongly influenced his 1999 debut album, ''Torn Screen Door'', which featured the songs "Gypsy Boys", "Hard Steel Mill", "Working Poor", and "Torn Screen Door." Other musical themes include admiration of the natural beauty of the Canadian landscape and traditional folk themes of love and loss. From 1997 to 2004, Francey was accompanied on guitar by Canadian guitarist/producer Dave Clarke. During that period, Clarke co-produced Francey's first three albums, including the Juno-winning ''Far End of Summer ''and'' Skating Rink''. His 2004 album, ''The Waking Hour'', is a collaboration with traditional country artists

Kieran Kane Kieran Kane (born October 7, 1949) is an American country music artist, as well as the owner of Dead Reckoning Records, an independent record label. Between 1986 and 1990, he and Jamie O'Hara comprised The O'Kanes, a duo which charted seven si ...

Kevin Welch Kevin Stephen Welch (August 17, 1955) is an American country music artist. He has charted five singles on the '' Billboard'' Hot Country Songs charts and released eight studio albums. He is also one of the cofounders of the Dead Reckoning Reco ...

and

Fats Kaplin Fats Kaplin is an American musician, born in New York City. He is best known as a fiddler. He also plays guitar, button accordion, banjo, mandolin, steel guitar, an Arab oud, and a Turkish cümbüş, among others. He has worked with artists such as ...

, and includes some of his darker material, including "Wishing Well" about the execution of

Timothy McVeigh Timothy James McVeigh (April 23, 1968 – June 11, 2001) was an American domestic terrorist responsible for the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people, 19 of whom were children, injured more than 680 others, and destroyed one-third o ...

, and "Fourth of July", a political commentary on the post-

September 11 Events Pre-1600 * 9 – The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest ends: The Roman Empire suffers the greatest defeat of its history and the Rhine is established as the border between the Empire and the so-called barbarians for the next four hun ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. In 2004, David Francey won first prize of the Folk Category of the 9th Annual USA Songwriting Competition. Accompanied by fellow Canadian guitarist

Shane Simpson Shane Lee Simpson (born 1954 or 1955) is a Canadian politician, who served as Member of the Legislative Assembly, MLA for Vancouver-Hastings in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia from 2005 to 2020. He ...

until October 2006, Francey toured various locations across Canada, the United States, England, Scotland, and Australia. In October 2006, Francey toured with New Hampshire-based singer-songwriter Craig Werth, co-producer of Francey's 2007 release, ''Right of Passage.'' Noted Canadian guitarist Mark Westberg met Francey in 1999 at Bishop's University and accompanied him occasionally on tour until 2011, when he joined Francey as his primary guitarist. His 2009 album ''Seaway'' is a collaboration with Mike Ford, former member of

Moxy Früvous Moxy Früvous was a Canadian politically satirical folk-pop band from Thornhill, Ontario, Canada. The band was founded in 1989, and was active until 2001. Common themes in Früvous songs include Canada and the "human experience". History The b ...

. It is a collection of songs inspired by their voyage on M.S. Algoville. In 2010, his song "The Waking Hour" won the Session I Grand Prize in the Folk category in John Lennon Songwriting Contest. In 2011, he released an album, ''Late Edition''. In 2016, Francey won two Canadian Folk Music Awards, solo artist and contemporary album of the year, for his album ''Empty Train''.

Personal life

Francey currently lives in Elphin,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

with his wife Beth Girdler.

Awards and nominations

*Winner, 2002

Juno Award The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...

, Best Roots & Traditional Album - Solo, for ''Far End of Summer'' *Winner, 2002 Penguin Eggs Magazine's Album Of The Year - Solo, for ''Far End Of Summer'' *Winner, 2003 Penguin Eggs Magazine's Album Of The Year - Solo, for ''Skating Rink'' *Winner, 2004 Juno Award, Best Roots & Traditional Album - Solo, for ''Skating Rink'' *Winner, First Prize (Folk), 9th Annual USA Songwriting Competition *Nomination, 2005 Juno Award, Best Roots & Traditional Album - Solo, for ''The Waking Hour'' *Winner, 2007

, Best Singer - Contemporary, for ''Right of Passage'' *Winner, 2008 Juno Award, Best Roots & Traditional Album - Solo, for ''Right of Passage'' *Nomination, 2010 Canadian Folk Music Awards, Best Contemporary Album - Collaboration, for ''Seaway'' *Winner, 2010 7th Annual IAMA (International Acoustic Music Awards) *Nomination, 2011 Canadian Folk Music Awards, Solo Artist Of The Year *Nomination, 2011 Canadian Folk Music Awards, English Songwriter Of The Year *Nomination, 2012 Juno Award, Best Roots & Traditional Album - Solo, for ''Late Edition'' *Nomination, 2012 Juno Award, Best Music DVD Of The Year - ''Burning Bright'' *Nomination, 2014 Juno Award, Best Roots & Traditional Album - Solo, for ''So Say We All''

Discography

*''Torn Screen Door'' (1999) *''Far End of Summer'' (2001) *''Skating Rink'' (2003) *''The Waking Hour'' (2004) with

and

*''The First Set'' (2006) *''Carols for a Christmas Eve'' (2006) *''Right of Passage'' (2007) *''Seaway'' (2009) *''Late Edition'' (2011) *''So Say We All'' (2013) *''Empty Train'' (2016) *''The Broken Heart of Everything (2018)"Empty Train"
''Now Magazine'', Sarah Greene February 24, 2016 *''The Breath Between'' (2023)

References

External links

The Official David Francey Website2005 Biographical articleUSA Songwriting CompetitionJohn Lennon Songwriting Contest
{{DEFAULTSORT:Francey, David Living people 1954 births Canadian folk singer-songwriters Canadian male singer-songwriters Juno Award for Roots & Traditional Album of the Year – Solo winners People from East Ayrshire Scottish emigrants to Canada Canadian Folk Music Award winners Red House Records artists People from Lanark County