The Scarborough duo of Dala, which opened for Tom Cochrane and Red Rider during their March national cross-Canada tour, including Massey Hall in Toronto, have one huge gig lined up.
Comprised of former Mary Ward Catholic high school students Sheila Carabine and Amanda Walther, Dala were commissioned to write a special song for the third annual Music Monday, which will be held throughout Canada Monday, May 7.
Dala will perform the song, which they wrote last year, live at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, and singing along with them at the same time will be literally hundreds of thousands of Canadian school kids.
Organized by the Coalition for Music Education in Canada, last year’s participation rate topped 500,000 students from more than 1,300 schools, with all of Canada’s provinces and territories represented.
Dozens of schools throughout Scarborough and Toronto have already signed up, and schools can sign up right until May 7, which would also make them eligible for two prize packages.
Dala is still riding high after their well-received debut album Angels and Thieves sparked much video and radio rotation in Toronto for their self-penned hit Twenty Something.
Their followup album through Universal Canada is slated for a Tuesday, Aug. 7 summer release.
Dala participated in the first national Music Monday, but just as performers, singing Twenty Something.
The organizers then commissioned them to write and perform a Music Monday song.
“We’d never been commissioned to write a piece before. It was quite an undertaking,” said Carabine, adding they’re looking forward to the gig.
“The last time we went to Ottawa for it (Music Monday), I was surprised they had this big screen set up and a lot of the schools were live via satellite so we may get to see some of the kids from, who knows where, Yukon, B.C. It’s going to be quite a thrill.”
Dala has had one trial run with the song at a Mississauga school.
“All the little kids started to sing along, and I almost had tears in my eyes,” Carabine said. “It was the most overwhelmingly beautiful thing. There’s nothing like little senior kindergarten (students) in velcro shoes singing along, they’re so cute.”
One Scarborough school will also get a little help as they work on learning the song in time for Music Monday.
Dala will be going back to Carabine’s old elementary school, Holy Spirit, on Thursday.
“My two brothers and I all went through from junior kindergarten to Grade 8.”
They’ll perform Our Song for the school, and give a concert for the whole school followed by some more selections for the older grades.
Visit http://coalitionformusiced.ca for a complete list of participating schools, to sign your school up or to listen to Our Song.
The pair said they were thrilled to open for Cochrane’s Red Rider tour, which culminated in the Toronto Massy Hall gig on March 31.
“It was the highlight of my career as a musician and I know I speak for Amanda I’m sure. It was amazing,” Carabine said.
Making it even more exciting, Carabine said, was they got to perform with, and not just open for, the Canadian rock icon.
“We actually sang backup. You know the backup vocals on Life is a Highway. We sang those. We sang backup on about 11 of his songs. We were on stage for most of the night.
“We sang about three songs all around one microphone, kind of in the style of the Carter/Cash family, so that was a real thrill. We called that the hootenany section of the evening. And that was the highlight for me. That was amazing.
“He’s just the most generous performer. He’s such a legend and he was so generous with the stage, and he talked to us on stage and he invited his audience to get to know us – we were so fortunate.”
