Kat Harlton
Lead Photo provided via PR team
Four Chords and The Truth, a quarterly series of “in the semi-round” sessions with world class songwriters, is returning with a sold-out show at its brand new home on the fourth floor of the Allied Music Centre at the incredible TD Music Hall in Toronto.
The Four Chords and The Truth: The Fourth Floor Confessions show will take place on May 25th from 7pm-9pm EST (doors 6pm), and will be hosted by Nova Scotia-born, Toronto-based singer-songwriter, songwriter advocate, series founder and curator, Andrea England.
The show’s lineup will include performances from incredible award-winning Canadian songwriters such as CCMA and CMA Ontario Award-winning Robyn Ottolini, JUNO Award-nominated and Canadian Folk Music Award-winning Julian Taylor, and chart-topping singer-songwriter Liz Rodrigues, along with some special surprise guests. The series is also introducing the TikTok Seat, in which a songwriter breaking on TikTok’s entertainment platform is invited by England to join the round for one song.
Andrea started the series in 2018, and after 6 wonderful years, 21 unforgettable shows, and over 100+ award-winning songwriters at the Dakota Tavern, all shows of the Four Chords and The Truth series sold out in advance or at the door. Due to the sell-out success and demand for the previous dates, and this May 25th date, more shows are being planned for later this year and into 2024 at the series’ new venue in TD Music Hall.
Andrea England successfully works in two different music worlds, recording and performing as an award-winning roots/country artist, while earning a UK Gold record placing songs with pop stars and country artists. She was inspired by the “in the round” sessions she experienced on Canada’s east coast and in Nashville to establish a series of her own in Toronto with a greater range of musical genres.
I had the opportunity to chat with Andrea about the series history, what we can expect and what’s next.
Kat: Can you introduce yourself and briefly tell us about the Four Chords and The Truth series and how it came about?
Andrea: I’m a Toronto-based singer-songwriter originally from Nova Scotia. I write for my own projects and also for and with other artists; and given the way songwriting works, many of the songs we write don’t get heard unless they’re recorded and released; and even then, people may not know who wrote them or what inspired them. Songwriter “rounds” as they’re called in Nashville, feature songwriters telling these stories but are often limited to country songs; so I wanted to share songs & songwriters from multiple genres. Harlan Howard said that a country song is “Three Chords and the Truth,” so to feature other genres, I needed another chord: so, in 2015, “Four Chords and the Truth” was born.
Kat: After 6 years, 21 unforgettable shows, and over 100+ award-winning songwriters at the Dakota Tavern, the series has moved to a new home. Why did you decide to move the series to Allied Music Centre’s TD Music Hall?
Andrea: Before TD Music Hall existed, I didn’t really see any other venue in the city that worked as well for our show as the Dakota, both in terms of size, vibe, and artistic credibility; but by 2019 we began to outgrow it in terms of capacity. When, during the pandemic, the folks at Massey let me know that they were introducing a new state of the art 300-500 capacity venue within the Allied Music Centre, it felt “meant to be” – I knew this could enable me to take FCATT – not only to a bigger capacity venue – but to a world class facility and a brand also synonymous with quality music.
Kat: The series’ first show at TD Music Hall will take place on May 25th. What can people expect from the Four Chords and The Truth: The Fourth Floor Confessions and how will the TikTok Seat be involved?
Andrea: It’s a great line-up of established songwriters from multiple genres: CCMA and CMA Ontario Award-winning Robyn Ottolini, ECMA “Song of the Year” Award-winner Adam Baldwin, JUNO Award-nominated and Canadian Folk Music Award-winning Julian Taylor, and chart-topping singer-songwriter Liz Rodrigues. I’ll also be sharing songs from my upcoming release. As for TikTok, always invite an emerging songwriter to join the round for a song, so we’re putting a slight spin on that by inviting a songwriter breaking on their immensely popular entertainment platform to join us.
Kat: What’s ahead for the Four Chords and The Truth series in 2023?
Andrea: We’ll be introducing some great new FCATT merch and announcing Fall and Spring dates!
Connect With Four Chords and The Truth
Instagram: @Fourchordsandthetruth
Facebook: /fourchordsandthetruth
Twitter: @Fourchordstruth
Website: https://fourchordsandthetruth.com