Music
Press
The backstory for the love song which put Liz Coyles on the Degrassi radar is so sweet it should be an episode on the show.
“I’ve always written poetry,” says the CCH grad and UWO student. About 18 months ago, Coyles began to add music to her words.
Soon taking flight from a real-life romance, Butterflies was written for boyfriend and fellow UWO student Nick Trevail. Her love letter in music was about those butterflies that fly around inside when romance is fresh.
Like the best and truest love, it hit quickly. Emotional, heart-tugging and creative, it took about an hour to write.
The song helped take Coyles to UWO’s Western Idol 2010 title. There she met judge and UWO Don Wright music faculty student Michael Sonier.
Coyles and Sonier then teamed creatively to visit Toronto-area music producer and Degrassi ally Ron Lopata.
Butterflies soared to the top of the songs the two were pitching.
Lopata worked with them. Coyles sang. Sonier added a words-and-music phrase.
An hour later, Lopata was in touch with the Degrassi music team to tell them about this new gem.
“It was a very upbeat, poppy, good music song,” says Degrassi assistant music supervisor Jeremy von Hollen from the Toronto area. Degrassi loves to introduce new artists and new music to its fans and Butterflies was perfect for that.
Soon after, Butterflies was being heard in the background of Episode 11012 (Should’ve Said No Part I) as the characters Clare and Jake shared a tender kiss.
“It’s a Canadian show with Canadian actors . . . it’s so great to share it with everybody (here),” Coyles says.
Coyles is also discovering Degrassi is a world-wide hit.
She’s already been surprised to hear from U.S. fans in such places as Minnesota. - The London Free Press
While most of us have to work quite diligently to get what we want out of life, there always seem to be a select few people who are just born with “it”. You know, the ones who have everything fall into place as if it were magic, the people that are naturally talented, and the ones that couldn’t catch a streak of bad luck if it slapped them in the face. They seem to be made for something brilliant and we can’t help but love these people. Case and point: breakout singer, Liz Coyles.
The part-time, fourth-year University of Western Ontario student taught herself how to play the guitar just over a year ago, sang her heart out at Western Idol 2010, and last week her first single “Butterflies” was released on iTunes. Coyles is half magical, half (very) hard-working—and we couldn’t be prouder that she hails from London, Ontario. For as long as she has things falling into place, we’ll be working hard to help her succeed. - Premierlife.ca
Discography
"Butterflies" - single released Nov. 7th 2011 and reached #17 on the Canadian charts
"What Was I Thinking" - single released Oct. 9th, 2012
Photos
Bio
Acoustic folk/pop artist Liz Coyles is about as fast a rising star as they come - the first-prize winner of two music talent competitions, opening for several well-known artists and her first original song, “Butterflies,” being featured in the hit television show Degrassi: The Next Generation are pretty strong accomplishments in less than a year for this singer/songwriter hailing from London, ON.
Influenced by a range of classic singers from the late Etta James to Adele, Liz’s voice is soft yet soulful and her signature tone is subtle yet striking; there is definitely something original and refreshing about her sound. Heavily inspired by the cool, organic sounds of musicians from the U.K. such as The Kooks, Girls Aloud and Lily Allen, Liz is looking to make her mark by following her passion and true love for creating music that a wide range of people can relate to.
Being the young and fearless woman that she is, Liz’s story starts when she entered a music contest in October 2010 at her University called ‘Western Idol’. Based on the same rules & ideas of the widely popular ‘American Idol’ show, Liz blasted through the competition week after week to eventually be declared the winner. During this time, she met an up and coming aspiring producer/engineer by the name of Michael Sonier, who was also a music student at Western and had interned at various studios in Toronto.
The two together started to build a working relationship and began the creative process of writing and producing songs. Out of the many sessions that took place, a rough version of one of their tracks landed in the hands of music executive & producer Ron Lopata (Victoria Duffield, Tomi Swick & Lindi Ortega). Liz recalls their first meeting “I played a few songs that I’d written and right away he picked ‘Butterflies’ and he said, ‘Let’s work on this one.” With Ron’s expertise and special touch, he was able to help Liz and Mike turn the song from a rough demo into a hit song.
In June 2011, Liz’s success continued when she participated in another competition called ‘It’s Your Shot’ sponsored by Slaight Music & MapleMusic Recording, going up against 300 other entries from across Canada; Liz reigned supreme again winning this contest with her song ‘Butterfiles’. As part of her prize, Liz won the opportunity to record a 4-song demo with full press, publicity and radio promotion for the project.
Since then, Liz performs regularly with her backing band and has been on the same bill with artists such as Faber Drive, Kira Isabella, Jully Black, Serena Ryder and Randy Bachman. She has performed for the “Best Buddies” campaign put on by Chapters/Indigo and performed for the Canadian Troops in Afghanistan (2012). Most recently, Liz was the opening act for the K’naan/Sarah McLachlan concert at Massey Hall this September; as well as one of the main performer at this year’s Canada’s Walk of Fame 2012.
Currently, Liz is in the process of writing and recording her first body of work, which will contain a collection of songs that encompass elements from the pop, folk and soul genres combined with her signature unique and soulful voice. Liz is destined to be a world-wide superstar; she has the natural talent, ambition, image and dedication to enjoy a successful career as a singer, songwriter and performer.
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