Folk Legend Sylvia Tyson to Release Final Album In November

Today - on her 83rd birthday - after a decade lay-off from recording on her own, Sylvia Tyson announces the release on November 3rd, 2023 of her most powerful, and most incisive recording to date, At The End Of The Day, on Stony Plain Records – and shares that this will be her final album.

“It was time,” says the beloved Canadian artist, renowned for her independence, intelligence, and songwriting prowess. “It is kind of a gathering of all of the things that I wanted to record, but never got around to.  I just felt that it was time to record.  I really feel that this may be the best album that I have ever done.”

With her final studio album, the aptly titled recording combines an intensely personal artistry with a broader vision of a public figure at peace with her ordered life as a songwriter, and as an artist.  For a woman who has lived a public life for decades, Tyson is the most private of household names.

“It’s the good times I remember at the end of the day,” sings Tyson on the new album, a collection of songs that look back across a life well-lived, while offering advice for those just starting out on their own unique journeys.

Tyson’s impact on popular culture has been immeasurable. A pillar of the Greenwich Village folk scene from the late ’50s through the ’60s as half of the groundbreaking Ian & Sylvia, the duo headlined NYC’s Carnegie Hall and topped the Billboard charts, all while championing Village contemporaries Bob Dylan and Gordon Lightfoot by being the first popular artists to record their songs.  

Moreover, Sylvia’s own song, “You Were On My Mind,” and Ian’s “Four Strong Winds” became standards that were covered by dozens of popular artists.  Throughout the sixties and early seventies, Ian & Sylvia produced thirteen popular albums and toured extensively in North America and Europe, sharing their manager, Albert Grossman, with such luminaries as Bob Dylan, Peter Paul and Mary, The Band, and Janis Joplin. The duo were equally influential in the country genre with their band, Great Speckled Bird. 

On At The End of The Day, Tyson sings of memories, family histories, and lost loves, while also offering pragmatic how-to’s on handling love and tough times. It mixes the good with the bad, the bitter with the sweet, all topped off with healthy sprinkle of realism, as evidenced on the introspective, waltzing opener “Sweet Agony."

The album takes us from warm kitchens to post-war Berlin to rain-slicked streets to bluesy cabarets to lush gardens. It’s a record Tyson could only write now, after a lifetime of honing her craft and studying human nature as a revered songwriter, broadcaster, and author.

At The End Of The Day was produced by long-time friend Danny Greenspoon, and recorded at the Canterbury Music Company Studios in Toronto, and mixed at The Audio Truck in Toronto.  Backing was provided by Davide DiRenzo (drums), Charles James (bass), Jason Fowler (guitar), John Sheard (piano), Drew Jurecka (violin, mandolin); and Denis Keldie, and Mark Lalama (both on accordion, and B3 organ).

Among Tyson’s circle of co-writers for the album are the late Shirley Eikhard, Joan Besen, Cindy Church, and Chris Whiteley; all long-time friends.

Throughout her career, Tyson has composed numerous enduring songs. Her repertoire includes: "You Were On My Mind" - a cover by the California pop quintet We Five reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1965; "River Road," recorded by Crystal Gayle in 1980; “Yesterday’s Dreams,” recorded by Nana Mouskouri.  

Ian & Sylvia classics she wrote include "Woman's World,” "Sleep on My Shoulder,” “Love Is a Fire," "Same Old Thing,” “Denim Blue Eyes,” “Pepere's Mill,” and "I Walk These Rails,” songs that have touched and inspired fans, songwriters, and musicians the world over. 

Although she enjoyed performing, Tyson admits the romance of the road is gone for her. “I’m not looking for things to do,” she says laughing. “I can’t work at the same kind of intensity as I used to.”

In recognition of her trailblazing solo career, Tyson has been honored with a bevy of prestigious awards. She was made a member of the Order of Canada in 1994. In 2003, Tyson was inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame. In 2019, Tyson was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Tyson has continued to have a long and successful solo career. She’s recorded 10 albums, written more than 200 songs, and has for the last 20 years also recorded and performed with three other well-known Canadian female singer-songwriters in a group called Quartette. She’s also had a long and distinguished radio and television career, both in music and in documentaries, and inspired a dazzling array of contemporary recording artists.

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