Glenn Sutter

"Right from song one of his third album, Let the Dog Run, Sutter sings of knowing and understanding our place in the world … As he says in Lay Me Down, maybe we don’t have to hunt so hard for paradise, it could be right in front of us." - Bill Robertson - Dec 2015 

Glenn Sutter, a Saskatchewan folk-rocker is gearing up to release his third album entitled Let The Dog Run. Glenn’s music is “based on personal insights and experiences and uses nature as a guided imagery to explore broad ideas.” To say Glenn is a refreshing and sophisticated addition to the Canadian music scene is an understatement. We got the chance to catch up with Glenn to talk music and inspiration... - Heather Young, Nov 2015

Glenn Sutter is ready to unveil his latest album, Let The Dog Run, at a CD release party on Nov. 21 at The Artful Dodger. Sutter explained in a media release that the album strikes a balance between worldly concerns, self-reflection and resilience. - Leader-post, Nov. 2015

For some songwriters, combining music with social and environmental activism is a natural fit. But that isn't the case for Glenn Sutter, a Regina-based folk recording artist and a strong proponent of environmental sustainability... - Terrence McEachern - Leader-post, Oct 2014

Saturday was another great night at the Artful Dodger. Glenn Sutter performed with Rebecca Lascue, Michael Paul and Mark Ceaser and, Regina, you would've been so proud. The four musicians shared the stage and the microphones for much of the two-set show, moving from instrument to instrument, showing amazing showmanship on everything they picked up (up to and including the saw solo by Mark Ceaser) and trading off vocal duties (though even Rebecca would probably contest that she talked the most).

In case you missed the night, which is really a shame, you can (and should) check the musicians out and listen to some of their music... - RAGE Regina

As a biologist, Glenn Sutter knows that understanding human behaviour, let alone changing it, would be difficult.

So Sutter has turned to music in an effort to inspire consumer change that would in turn have a positive effect on the environment.

On Saturday, Sutter will be playing a candlelit concert during Earth Hour, where he will be releasing his third album, Sweet Happiness.

Earth Hour happens between 8: 30 p.m. and 9: 30 p.m. on Saturday, with people throughout the world encouraged to shut off all their lights and electronic devices for that hour.

Earth Hour began in Sydney in 2007, when 2.2 million homes and businesses switched off their lights for one hour.

In 2008, the event had grown into a global sustainability movement, with 50 million people switching off their lights. Global landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Rome's Colosseum, Australia's Sydney Opera House and the Coca-Cola billboard in New York's Times Square all stood in darkness.

Organizers of Earth Hour say that switching off one's lights is a vote for Earth, and that leaving them on is a vote for global warming.

This winter, Sutter has been busy touring his new album across the province, having had the opportunity to play several house concerts.

"It was the first time I ventured away," the Regina-based Sutter said about his first music tour, which included a dodgy drive through a snowstorm to play a show in Winnipeg. Despite the weather, the show had to go on.

While performing in new venues, Sutter quickly real-ized the value of the art of improvisation. When playing at bars where crowds were there more for the drink than the act, Sutter switched from his usual folk originals to rock covers to draw in the crowd.

During the house concerts he did, he said he had some very nice moments.

"I can see how people can have great road stories now," Sutter said, adding that most people he met on the road, were great, while others he wondered why they were in show business at all.

Sutter said his tour wouldn't have been possible without having a supportive wife and great kids.

As someone who came to his recent music career later in life, releasing his first album, All You Need, in 2008, Sutter is proud of all that he has accomplished in such a short time.

His music has been featured on many daytime radio programs, including community radio shows in Regina and Moose Jaw, and a provincial Earth Day show on CBC Radio One.

In 2010, Sutter received nationwide acclaim when his tune Weight of the World was chosen winner and official Saskatchewan Song on David Suzuki's Playlist for the Planet on CBC Radio Three.

Over the years his song writing has also matured, said Sutter, who has begun to write with what he calls "funky" time signatures.

Saturday's show will feature acoustic music during Earth Hour with Sutter playing with a full band once the power is turned back on. He's looking forward to playing with a full band, something he doesn't often get a chance to do when he's touring.

"A full band has a vibrant energy," Sutter said. "When you're playing acoustically you're connecting with the audience in a more intimate way. People respond differently when you have a band behind you."

Sutter said his new CD is about searching and discovering happiness. It was recorded with a band live off the floor. - Regina Leader-Post (March 2012)

Glenn Sutter offers a refreshing element to the music scene. His music reflects the respect in his heart for nature, good clean living, and pure loving. In interviews with Glenn, one will be hard-pressed to meet a more genuine, thoughtful, rich personality. Not one to hold back for the sake of political-correctness, his messages are courageous and ring with truth.His album "Sweet Happiness" also tackles the flip-side of happiness, such as the songs "Poor Little Man", "Insane", "Days of Loneliness". We are reminded that ups-and-downs are natural cycles in a full, well-lived life. If we had more Glenn Sutters in our world, it would be a better place!
Miss Marilyn, "In the Music Spotlight" on 91.3FM Regina Community Radio
- CDBaby (Feb 2012)

Glenn has a great talent for songwriting and his latest album touches on several different genres with an honesty and intensity that shows his true craft. The album is written from the heart and Glenn's passion is evident on each track. It's easy to tell Glenn is infuenced by legendary songwriters like John Hiatt & Steve Earle and this is a great listen for fans of "story songs."
Darcy, Guitar Town Radio Show, CKCU 93.1 FM ,Ottawa, Ontario
- CDBaby (Feb 2012)

Buzzcity recently had a coffee with Regina songwriter, singer, and versatile musician, Glenn Sutter, who has just released his third CD called “Sweet Happiness.” We met in the vault at Atlantis on Hamilton St. and Victoria Ave.

Sutter’s appeal has been steadily growing for the past few years starting from the release of his first CD “All You Need” in 2008 which earned him critical acclaim, a fair amount of air time, and the Saskatchewan track on David Suzuki's Playlist for the Planet. He is also known for his 2010 release “Seeds” - a collaboration with Brett Dolter (B.D. Willoughby, Library Voices) to raise money for the North Central Community Gardens. Since then, he’s been performing more locally, he’s touring a bit, and he’s growing a fan base.

Sutter’s genre on this one is folk-rock (sort-of), and the CD was recorded, mixed and mastered by the best. Moreover, he is backed, on most tracks, by people of extraordinary talent who dwell among us and may even live in your neighbourhood. As for Sutter himself, he has been on the music scene for over 20 years in Ottawa and Winnipeg and has been settled here for some time. He backs other local artists and they back him.

An observer of nature, both human and otherwise, Sutter brings a keen awareness as an ecologist (he’s Doctor Glenn at the RSM) and as an artist to this album. As for his message? Sutter smiles. “I don’t like message songs,” he says.

Check out the interview video: he’s got lots to say there, plus a live performance of one of his original songs - 'Seems Like Yesterday'. - BuzzCity - Jan 2012

The Playlist for the Planet is another example of how the music community believes we need to do more to protect the environment. I hope the songs … inspire you to make changes that will bring about a healthier world. -David Suzuki

"Like a great many good ideas that I get the credit for, this one came from my wife,” admits David Suzuki with characteristic good humour. The idea was to seek out an anthem for the environment, a powerful song or group of songs that would inspire people to action. “There’s something about music that cuts through everything and goes straight for your heart,” Suzuki explains.

The search for an environmental anthem became a national quest run by the David Suzuki Foundation. Musicians across the country submitted songs with environmental themes to a special website on CBC Radio 3. Then, through a combination of public voting and jury selection, one song was chosen from each province, and one from the North, to become part of the Playlist for the Planet. In addition to the 11 provincial and territorial winners, an array of well-known songwriters and bands was invited to donate songs – from those familiarly associated with the movement (Bruce Cockburn and Gordon Lightfoot), to less obvious contributors, such as hip-hop artist K-OS, country-music sensation Jessie Farrell, Inuit throat singer Tanya Tagaq, and household names such as Joel Plaskett, Broken Social Scene, DOA and Rush.

“There has been a perception of the environmental movement as a fringe group, you know, the tree-hugging image, and that the music about it was similar,” says Panos Grames, co-ordinator of the Playlist for the Planet project at the David Suzuki Foundation. “One of the things we wanted to show was that music with environmental themes is actually much more broadly based; you find it in all genres, from all ages and in such diverse styles. We wanted the Playlist to crash the stereotypes a bit.”

Grames, who worked as a professional musician for over a decade, notes that music has been a common thread in many social-action movements. According to Grames, musicians are usually among the first to step up and support causes such as AIDS awareness and famine relief. He also notes that the ecological crisis is not a problem with nature, but with how humans relate to nature. The arts, he says, provide a means to strengthen this relationship. “We can touch on issues differently, more easily, in an artistic context. Music can speak to environmental issues in an emotional and spiritual way more than [the David Suzuki Foundation] can as a science- based organization.”

Jack Lavoie, whose song “Heal” was chosen to represent the province of Quebec, agrees. “Music is the best vehicle for reaching the hearts of people. We can reach people rationally with information, but it’s slow progress. This gets catapulted with music as an emotional vehicle,” he says. Lavoie began writing “Heal” several years before the competition, but was unsatisfied with its poor-old-miserable-me tone and message. So he did some research on the David Suzuki Foundation website and found that its message was one of empowerment and personal involvement, “not the doom and gloom I’d been in.” Lavoie went back to “Heal,” altered the pitch, tone and lyrics, and in the fall of 2009, offered the song to the David Suzuki Foundation as a theme. “They wrote back and said they’d get it into the right hands, and then the competition came about six months later.” Lavoie is pleased that his “theme song” is now part of a bigger project with such a broad range of artists and styles. “If we’re lucky, this is step one in building social change,” he says.

I went to the city when all the trees were gone and I lay there on her asphalt lawn She cried out a thousand days of hurricanes and floods Her face ran with tears, and the streets ran with blood Fur coats and sushi boats and diesel in the air -Danny Michel,“Feather Fur & Fin”

Keith MacPherson of the Manitoba musical duo Keith and Renée shares a similar vision. “Music is a great opportunity to inspire people to take responsibility for the planet. [It] is a powerful medium that speaks to people on a soul level.” Like Lavoie, Keith and Renée wrote their song “The One” long before the Playlist competition while volunteering with the humanitarian organization Free The Children in Kenya. Over their two-month stay, Keith and Renée devoted themselves to both helping with clean-water projects and offering music whenever they could, much to the delight of the local people.

Shortly after their stint in Kenya, the duo was invited to perform in Dubai. “So there we were, suddenly among some of the world’s richest people, and what we found was that the music spoke just as readily to them as it had to the people in Kenya, and that these boundaries we put between ourselves don’t really exist,” MacPherson says. “The power of our Playlist song ‘The One’ is its message that we are all connected and we all have a respons - Alternatives Magazine (Jul/Aug 2011)

Glenn Sutter and Brett Dolter are putting music to a good cause. The two artists are releasing a CD, called Seeds, to raise money for the North Central Community Gardens that provide low-income families with free fresh produce.

"It's a privilege to be able to do something for them," said Sutter, who hopes to raise $1,500 through CD sales.

The music on the album was recorded live at a benefit concert the two musicians put on in April to mark the 40th anniversary of Earth Day at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum where Sutter, a scientist by day, is head of the biology and environmental studies unit. Sutter met Dolter through work. Dolter, who teaches ecological economics at the University of Regina, has taken his classes on tours of the museum.

When Dolter and Sutter realized they were both musicians, they decided to get together and jam. Eventually they came up with the idea of doing a fundraiser. Dolter suggested they raise money for the community gardens, because of its positive effect on the community, which he and his students observed firsthand when they volunteered there.

"The gardens are a great way to bring people together," said Dolter.

Seeds will be released the same night Dolter, formerly the lead guitarist in Library Voices, is releasing two other solo projects -- Sunrise and Rock Hard. Sunrise is an EP featuring three new songs by Dolter, who has plans to release a full-length album next spring.

The other CD he is releasing, Rock Hard, is a compilation of curling songs he and some friends put together under the name The Rusty Howards. The band is named after Russ Howard, an Olympic curler known for his loud, gravelly voice.

Dolter left Library Voices a year ago to get ready to return to graduate school. He will be going to the University of Victoria this fall to get a master's degree in economics and has plans to do a PhD someday.
Dolter already has a masters in resource management and environmental studies from UBC.

Despite his academic career path, Dolter will keep his musical ambitions alive by using the summer months to tour. Dolter said he is following a long line of musicians who have had dual careers in both music and academia. One such musician, said Dolter, is Caribou who has a PhD in mathematics and won the prestigious Polaris Music Prize.

Fellow academic Sutter said he finds music has been a great way to explore intellectual topics. "I don't mean that I write songs that say we should do this or that," said Sutter. "I don't want to preach."
Instead, he said his music is about emotional connections with others and how people relate. He said the interconnectedness of humans can inspire environmental change.

Sutter used to play in bands in high school and university, but took a hiatus from music to build his scientific career and raise a family. He only took up music again seriously in the last three years after taking a songwriting workshop in Emma Lake.

"I found I still had an itch to scratch," said Sutter. - Regina Leader-Post (July 2010)

Meet Glenn Sutter ... an accomplished musician whose song "Weight of the World" has been included on CBC Radio 3's Playlist for the Planet.

Glenn will perform on March 26 at an Earth Hour celebration and fundraiser at Artesian, which just so happens to coincide with David Suzuki's 75th birthday.

PD: You must be pretty excited about the upcoming Earth Hour celebration.

Oh yeah! Anything connected with Suzuki is big. Suzuki has done amazing work. My hat is always off to him. We're going to have greetings from David via videotape, and Severn Cullis-Suzuki is going to check in via Skype, so it's a direct connection to him and his family. I think it's going to be fun.

PD: Tell us more about your song.

It was one of those songs that just came flooding out. I remember thinking about Neil Young's "Keep On Rocking In The Free World" and what an incredible song that is - all about social justice. I wanted to have a song of my own to remind me of all the stuff that we have to keep dealing with, because it's not going away and it'll probably never go away. There's always going to be a need to reflect on how we really want to live.

PD: When you consider how so much of the economic boom in Saskatchewan is reliant on doing really bad things to the earth, are there days when you wake up and just feel like going back to bed?

No, I have a dog [laughs]. He knows how to live in the moment.

It's a big pit of despair if we want to jump into it and it's hard to get out of, but I've also found ways to skirt around it. I ride my bike to work every day of the year that I can. And I look around and see so many examples of people taking action and challenging stupid decisions. There's lots of room for hope in that.

PD: What are the local environmental movements that you find the most hopeful?

I like that there's a regular Green Drinks happening. That's a great way for people to gather and network. It's too easy to be conquered by feeling divided, so things that bring people together are always helpful.

I'm also plugged into the education networks. There's a regional centre of expertise on education for sustainable development that's been sanctioned by the UN. So there's high-profile stuff happening in town.

PD: What local environmental issues do you think people should be aware of, but maybe aren't?

The big ones for me locally are around fresh water [and] the need to support community-based organic agriculture. Urban design is huge because, unless we get smart around the way we're crafting some local developments in Regina and Saskatoon, that's what the next generation is going to be lumbered with. I talk with so many people who want to do things differently but they're constrained - by the transportation grid or whatever. When we're constrained by design, we're forced to use an energy system that's archaic. We can go after the deeper, harder-to-get-at oil supplies, and we probably will, but we've got so many other options for energy: solar, geothermal... There should be incentives to design and develop those things.

The environment always has to be accounted for. Look at Japan - how could they think about an energy system that's subject to those kinds of shocks? And the widespread effects, and the human misery? That should be a wake-up call.

We're running a big experiment, this living in cities, and the cities aren't going to go away. That's where we need education - to step up and recognize that these are the real issues that have to be addressed.

Glenn Sutter will perform at Artesian (2627 13th Ave. at Angus St.) with Rebecca Lascue, Michael Paul, and David j Taylor on Saturday March 26.
- Prairie Dog