Jay Semko
Encyclopedia
Jay Semko is a singer/songwriter and bassist
with Canadian
band, The Northern Pikes
. He is also a music composer
for numerous film and television productions, most notably the successful Canadian television series Due South
. Semko has been nominated for a Juno Award
eight times as a member of the Northern Pikes, and also been nominated twice for a Gemini Award
and received two awards from the Canadian Music Publishers Association for his songwriting.
As a songwriter, Semko has co-written in Nashville
and Canada with such writers as Willie Mack
, Gilles Godard, Andrew Fromm, Roger Springer
, Larry Haack, Jack Lenz
, Tim Taylor, Steve Fox
, Daryl Burgess, Sean Hogan
, Paul Gross
, and David Keeley. He has recorded with other artists including Garth Hudson
(of The Band
), the late Stan Celeste (of Jackson Browne
& Crosby, Stills and Nash), John Sebastian
(of The Lovin' Spoonful
), Crystal Taliefero
(of Bruce Springsteen
& John Mellencamp
), Margo Timmins
(of Cowboy Junkies
), Bob Egan (of Wilco
& Blue Rodeo
), Ashley MacIsaac
, and Serena Ryder
. He has toured with such artists as Bruce Hornsby
, Robert Palmer, Tom Cochrane
and Peter Frampton
.
In addition, Semko's voice can be heard as the narrator
for a number of documentaries, television and radio commercials, and has been involved in other projects including writing the music for a permanent installation at Saskatchewan
's Western Development Museum. Semko has also co-produced a number of other artists, including Screwtape Lewis and Kim Fontaine. Since 2009, Semko has performed at the International Folk Alliance Conference in Memphis, TN, South By Southwest in Austin, TX, and was a finalist in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest Gospel/Inspirational Category for "Jesus Is Gonna Help Me"
Semko released his most recent, self-titled album in August 2010 on Busted Flat Records
, distributed through Universal Music in Canada. Semko's entire solo catalogue has now been re-released through Busted Flat. In November, 2010, Busted Flat Records
released "Heartaches & Numbers", the first album from Semko Fontaine Taylor, a Saskatchewan folk/roots trio consisting of Jay Semko
, Kim Fontaine and David J. Taylor. Semko's most recent projects include composing the score for "Dust Up", a six-part reality TV series airing on History Television, and touring across Canada in support of his latest album. Semko was nominated in June, 2011 for Songwriter of the Year in the Western Canadian Music Awards for "Before You Leave Canada", a song from the 2010 "Jay Semko" album.
Bassist
A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
with Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
band, The Northern Pikes
The Northern Pikes
The Northern Pikes are a Canadian rock band formed in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in 1984. The original members were Bryan Potvin, Jay Semko, Merl Bryck and Glen Hollingshead. Hollingshead left the band in 1985, and was replaced by Don Schmid in 1986...
. He is also a music composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
for numerous film and television productions, most notably the successful Canadian television series Due South
Due South
Due South is a Canadian crime drama series with elements of comedy. The series was created by Paul Haggis, produced by Alliance Communications, and stars Paul Gross, David Marciano, and latterly Callum Keith Rennie...
. Semko has been nominated for a Juno Award
Juno Award
The Juno Awards are presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music...
eight times as a member of the Northern Pikes, and also been nominated twice for a Gemini Award
Gemini Award
The Gemini Awards are annual television broadcasting industry awards in Canada.First awarded in 1986, the Geminis celebrate the achievements of TV members of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. Essentially, it presents awards for the best television productions in Canada. Awards are...
and received two awards from the Canadian Music Publishers Association for his songwriting.
Biography
Semko's first solo album, Mouse was released in 1995 following the (at-that-time) end of The Northern Pikes in late 1993. During this time, Semko was music composer for the Due South television series, (Pilot movie and 66 episodes 1994-1998, with co-composers Jack Lenz and John McCarthy), for which he received two Gemini Award nominations (1995 and 1996 - Best Original Score in a Dramatic Series). He subsequently has scored numerous other television series and films (see IMDB resume), and has released five solo albums. The Northern Pikes reunited in 1999, and continue to record and perform.As a songwriter, Semko has co-written in Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
and Canada with such writers as Willie Mack
Willie Mack
Willie Mack is a country music singer-songwriter born in Tulsa, Oklahoma and raised in Chico, Texas. He has had his songs recorded by Sara Evans, Collin Raye, The Oak Ridge Boys and Mark Wills, among others...
, Gilles Godard, Andrew Fromm, Roger Springer
Roger Springer
Roger Springer is an American country music artist. Springer's only single as a solo artist, "The Right One Left," was released in 1992 on MCA Nashville and peaked at #69 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.In 1998, Springer formed the country music trio Springer! with Shara...
, Larry Haack, Jack Lenz
Jack Lenz
Jack Lenz is a Canadian Bahá'í composer. He has written, performed, and produced music for film, television, and theatre, along with working on non-soundtrack album ventures. He is also the founder of Live Unity Enterprises, an organization devoted to the production of music for the Bahá'í...
, Tim Taylor, Steve Fox
Steve Fox (musician)
Steve Fox is a Canadian singer/songwriter. He was born in Brampton, Ontario and raised in Coquitlam, British Columbia, a suburb of Vancouver. He then moved to Toronto in the early 1980s to pursue a career in music...
, Daryl Burgess, Sean Hogan
Sean Hogan
Sean Hogan is a Canadian country music singer-songwriter.-Biography:Born in Sarnia, Ontario, Hogan attended Fanshawe College in London, Ontario, studying music. In 2003 he won the Roots Artist of the Year at the Canadian Country Music Awards and he has also won the Independent Male Artist of the...
, Paul Gross
Paul Gross
Paul Michael Gross is a Canadian actor, producer, director, singer and writer born in Calgary, Alberta. He is known for his lead role as Constable Benton Fraser in the television series Due South as well as his 2008 war film Passchendaele, which he wrote, produced, directed, and starred in...
, and David Keeley. He has recorded with other artists including Garth Hudson
Garth Hudson
Eric Garth Hudson is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist. As the organist, keyboardist and saxophonist for Canadian-American rock group The Band, he was a principal architect of the group's unique sound...
(of The Band
The Band
The Band was an acclaimed and influential roots rock group. The original group consisted of Rick Danko , Garth Hudson , Richard Manuel , and Robbie Robertson , and Levon Helm...
), the late Stan Celeste (of Jackson Browne
Jackson Browne
Jackson Browne is an American singer-songwriter and musician who has sold over 17 million albums in the United States alone....
& Crosby, Stills and Nash), John Sebastian
John Sebastian
John Benson Sebastian Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and autoharpist. He is best known as a founder of The Lovin' Spoonful, a band inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000...
(of The Lovin' Spoonful
The Lovin' Spoonful
The Lovin' Spoonful is an American pop rock band of the 1960s, named to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. When asked about his band, leader John Sebastian said it sounded like a combination of "Mississippi John Hurt and Chuck Berry," prompting his friend, Fritz Richmond, to suggest the name...
), Crystal Taliefero
Crystal Taliefero
Crystal Taliefero is an American multi-instrumentalist and vocalist. Since 1989 she has been a touring and recording member of the Billy Joel Band...
(of Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
& John Mellencamp
John Mellencamp
John Mellencamp, previously known by the stage names Johnny Cougar, John Cougar, and John Cougar Mellencamp, is an American rock singer-songwriter, musician, painter and occasional actor known for his catchy, populist brand of heartland rock that eschews synthesizers and other artificial sounds...
), Margo Timmins
Margo Timmins
Margo Timmins is the lead vocalist of the Canadian band Cowboy Junkies. She is the sister of Michael Timmins, the band's lead guitarist and Peter Timmins, the band's drummer...
(of Cowboy Junkies
Cowboy Junkies
Cowboy Junkies are a Canadian alternative country/blues/folk rock band. The group was formed in Toronto in 1985 by Margo Timmins , Michael Timmins , Peter Timmins and Alan Anton ....
), Bob Egan (of Wilco
Wilco
Wilco is an American alternative rock band based in Chicago, Illinois. The band was formed in 1994 by the remaining members of alternative country group Uncle Tupelo following singer Jay Farrar's departure. Wilco's lineup has changed frequently, with only singer Jeff Tweedy and bassist John...
& Blue Rodeo
Blue Rodeo
Blue Rodeo is a Canadian pop and country rock band, which was formed in 1984 in Toronto, Ontario. They have been signed with Warner Music Group since their debut album Outskirts in March 1987...
), Ashley MacIsaac
Ashley MacIsaac
Ashley Dwayne MacIsaac is a Canadian professional fiddler from Cape Breton Island.His album Hi™ How Are You Today?, featuring the hit single "Sleepy Maggie", with vocals in Scottish Gaelic by Mary Jane Lamond was released in 1995...
, and Serena Ryder
Serena Ryder
Serena Ryder is a Juno Award-winning Canadian singer-songwriter raised in Millbrook, Ontario.Ranging musically between folk, roots, country, and adult contemporary music, Ryder possesses a five-octave range...
. He has toured with such artists as Bruce Hornsby
Bruce Hornsby
Bruce Randall Hornsby is an American singer, pianist, accordion player, and songwriter. Known for the spontaneity and creativity of his live performances, Hornsby draws frequently from classical, jazz, bluegrass, folk, Motown, rock, blues, and jam band musical traditions with his songwriting and...
, Robert Palmer, Tom Cochrane
Tom Cochrane
Tom Cochrane, OC Canadian musician and humanitarian, best known for his hit songs "Life Is a Highway", "Lunatic Fringe", "Human Race" and "I Wish You Well". Cochrane fronted the Canadian rock band Red Rider and has won seven Juno Awards...
and Peter Frampton
Peter Frampton
Peter Kenneth Frampton is an English musician, singer, producer, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist. He was previously associated with the bands Humble Pie and The Herd. Frampton's international breakthrough album was his live release, Frampton Comes Alive!. The album sold over 6 million copies...
.
In addition, Semko's voice can be heard as the narrator
Narrator
A narrator is, within any story , the fictional or non-fictional, personal or impersonal entity who tells the story to the audience. When the narrator is also a character within the story, he or she is sometimes known as the viewpoint character. The narrator is one of three entities responsible for...
for a number of documentaries, television and radio commercials, and has been involved in other projects including writing the music for a permanent installation at Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
's Western Development Museum. Semko has also co-produced a number of other artists, including Screwtape Lewis and Kim Fontaine. Since 2009, Semko has performed at the International Folk Alliance Conference in Memphis, TN, South By Southwest in Austin, TX, and was a finalist in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest Gospel/Inspirational Category for "Jesus Is Gonna Help Me"
Semko released his most recent, self-titled album in August 2010 on Busted Flat Records
Busted Flat Records
Busted Flat Records is a critically acclaimed independent music label founded in 2002 by Mark Logan and based in Kitchener, Canada. Musicians on the roster include blues artist, Matt Andersen , as well as Paul MacLeod, Brock...
, distributed through Universal Music in Canada. Semko's entire solo catalogue has now been re-released through Busted Flat. In November, 2010, Busted Flat Records
Busted Flat Records
Busted Flat Records is a critically acclaimed independent music label founded in 2002 by Mark Logan and based in Kitchener, Canada. Musicians on the roster include blues artist, Matt Andersen , as well as Paul MacLeod, Brock...
released "Heartaches & Numbers", the first album from Semko Fontaine Taylor, a Saskatchewan folk/roots trio consisting of Jay Semko
Jay Semko
Jay Semko is a singer/songwriter and bassist with Canadian band, The Northern Pikes. He is also a music composer for numerous film and television productions, most notably the successful Canadian television series Due South...
, Kim Fontaine and David J. Taylor. Semko's most recent projects include composing the score for "Dust Up", a six-part reality TV series airing on History Television, and touring across Canada in support of his latest album. Semko was nominated in June, 2011 for Songwriter of the Year in the Western Canadian Music Awards for "Before You Leave Canada", a song from the 2010 "Jay Semko" album.
Albums
| Year | Album |
|---|---|
| 1995 | Mouse |
| 2005 | Love Will Set You Free(3 song EP) |
| 2006 | Redberry |
| 2006 | Merry Christmas |
| 2007 | Live at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum |
| 2008 | International Superstar |
| 2010 | Jay Semko |
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart Positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAN AC | CAN | |||
| 1995 | "Strawberry Girl" | 22 | — | Mouse |
| 1996 | "Times Change" | — | 36 | |
| 2008 | "She Won't Be Lonely Long" | — | — | International Superstar |
| 2010 | "Comeback Kid" | — | — | Jay Semko |
| "Let's Wake Up the Moon" | — | — | ||
| 2011 | "Nobody's Watching" | — | — | |
| "That Kind of Blue" | — | — | ||
| "Party in the Parking Lot" | — | — | TBD |
External links
- Jay Semko - Official Website
- Innerviews interview with Jay Semko
- Busted Flat Records - Record Label