artists, most are up-and-coming artists. I’ve written for some great talent, such as country artists Tyler Lorette, Kendra Gabrielle, as well as Dave from Faber Drive, but also pop and pop-punk artists like Suckerpunch! Spotlight on Business: Tell us about the first time you ever heard one of your songs on the radio. What song was it? What ran through your mind? Elyse Saunders: The first time I heard myself on the radio, I was home with my family, and we were waiting for it to come on the radio. It was my single called Nobody’s Watching, from my first project. It was so cool to hear myself for the very first time on my local hometown station, KX 105 New Country FM. It felt amazing to have their hometown support and to know that they’re one of our major country stations in Canada, and once they’re on board, other country stations follow, which led to that song being the first time I charted. I grew up listening to the radio and hearing everyone I looked up to, so as a young girl from a small town, hearing myself come on after Martina McBride at the time was very cool. It’s a pretty exhilarating feeling when it happens, even now after hearing my music on the radio so many times. To know a piece of your heart is out there, connecting with listeners and hopefully helping them through something happening in their lives, is pretty special.
Spotlight on Business: Tell us about the first song you wrote, the first gig you played, and when you discovered that you might want to make a career out of music. Elyse Saunders: I wrote my first song when I was around six years old. I remember writing about sunshine, being outside playing with my friends, – I always loved nature, the birds, the butterflies, and all the beautiful things. Songwriting came pretty naturally for me. My first paid gig was in front of 10,000 people at a hometown festival called Peterborough Musicfest, and I had opened up for Deric Ruttan. I went from one extreme to the other – singing competitions with no pay to opening in front of this incredible artist for a lot of people. It was a huge testament to myself at the time that if I could get out there and sing in front of 10,000 people at just 16 years old, then I could do anything. I came alive on that stage, and to see the impact that my music had that day made me feel like it was my purpose. Spotlight on Business: Not only are you an amazing performer, but you have also written songs for other artists? With whom have you collaborated? How many songs have you penned for other artists to date? How do you determine which songs you keep and offer to other artists? Elyse Saunders: It’s a combination of two things - sometimes when I’m writing for myself with a group of collaborators, and we get to the end of the session, I might love the song, but know that it’s not necessarily for me, and another artist would be best suited for it. I’ll put those in the bank so I can pitch those to other artists and have had cuts that way. But, there are also times when I get to sit down with the artist, get to know their story, their voice, and write for them about a topic that they want to write about and it’s my favorite way to get songs cut. So, it can go both ways when offering songs to other artists. I know when a song is written for me by how much it lights me up. I’ve had about twenty cuts with other
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Spotlight on Business: Do you prefer performing live or recording? Why? Elyse Saunders: They’re both amazing, and
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