Living the life you’re meant to, or that
feels true to one’s self, doesn’t mean doing
it alone. Friendship and mentorship
are as key in music as they are in any
profession. For Prince, that came from
Scott Nolan.
“Scott is a very inspiring man. Years
before we had a proper friendship, I
was just an admirer of what he was
doing and seeing what one man can
do redefined. I was always listening to
music and experiencing music in a band
setting, a heavy rock setting, wanting
that distortion pedal board and big
guitars and amps. As I grew away from
that, seeing Scott do what he does really
showed me that I could present my
songs like that,” Prince says.
Nolan is a Winnipeg-based musician,
producer, and owner of the Song
Shop studio. He also produced most of
Earthly Days and half of Reliever.
“We did an Idle No More benefit
concert together, because Scott is a
huge advocate for all the issues and
things pertaining to First Nations people
in this country and is such a great friend.
It started from that moment. That was
seven years ago or so now and in the
first few years, we didn’t do anything
pertaining to music. We didn’t rush to
the studio or write any songs together.
I was just happy to have a friend who
was great at music and showing me the
ropes and introducing me to the Times
Changed High and Lonesome Club and
how the community is in Winnipeg,”
Prince says. “More than anything, I felt
a joy and excitement to jump onboard
and be a part of that community, to just
belong to it.”
36 CANADIAN MUSICIAN
William
Prince
PHOTO: BNB STUDIOS
It’s Nolan who Prince credits most
with helping him find the musical flourishes
for Earthly Days that felt true to the
songs he’d written. He also gave Prince
the confidence to keep it stripped back
and vulnerable when that felt best, like
on “The Carny” or “Bloom.”
When Earthly Days was released on
Dec. 11, 2015 via Six Shooter Records, it
didn’t make Prince an instant star; rather,
the trajectory of its popularity seemed
almost old-school, building steadily over
a few years and bucking the current
reality of buzz-boom-bust amidst an
ocean of constant new releases. That
is also part of the reason for Reliever’s
five-year wait.
“Considering it felt like 29 years for
the first one, it didn’t feel like that long of
a wait for the second,” the artist notes. “I
was in no rush. I was enjoying getting to
travel endlessly to different places and
play these shows for new audiences
who were just getting to discover the
record and playing ‘Breathless.’ Today,
people are still hearing ‘Breathless’ for
the first time!”
At large industry events, forests weep at
the number of business cards handed
about. The vast majority of those
introductions are quickly forgotten and
don’t lead to anything important. The
Juno Awards Gala is one such event.
The televised Juno Awards Broadcast on
the Sunday may be a bigger spectacle,
but the Saturday night industry gala is
arguably more important – the Canadian
music industry’s most influential people
all in the same room, along with some of
their international colleagues.
That night in 2017, Prince got up on
stage to perform during the In Memoriam
segment. No band, just him and an
acoustic guitar singing “Breathless.” In
the audience was Daniel Glass, founder
of Glassnote Records (Mumford & Sons,
Phoenix, CHVRCHES).
“When I saw him perform at the
Juno Awards, the soulfulness of his
voice moved me and I knew that together
we could make magic,” Glass would
later say after signing Prince to a record
and publishing contract.
“It was such a flash when it happened,”
Prince says about meeting Glass
that night. “My agent was there and he’s
the one that kind of leaned over and
said, ‘Hey, do you realize who that was
that left their card here for you?’ And I
didn’t at the time… I didn’t think anything
too much of it, because a lot of those
things happen and sometimes don’t go
anywhere. Like, ‘Oh hey, congratulations!
Here’s my card and should you ever
be viable one day, maybe we can work
together and do something.’ I still had a
long road to go.”
This wasn’t one of those time,
though. Glass was serious. Over the
next few weeks, he was emailing and
calling Prince’s management and trying
to get the ball rolling on a deal.
“They really came to bat for me and
signed me up like any other artist that
they’d been passionate about and I got
to go to New York and meet them for
the first time and signed a deal,” Prince
says. “It’s been this ongoing, growing
friendship. I love to say that it’s ‘nothing
more than it ain’t, and nothing more
than it is.’ That’s a lyrics idea I’ve been
playing with for the last little bit. I like the
realness there. They’re proud of me and
they love the pace at which my audience
is growing. For them to give me the trust
of just, ‘Hey, what do you need to make
a record? Okay, go do it.’ That being
there, I realize that’s a huge privilege and
a win for anybody striving to put their
art out.”
After signing Prince, Glassnote
re-released Earthly Days to the international
market in 2018 and gave him
whatever time and resources he needed
for its follow-up. Part of that was
splitting recording sessions between
working with Nolan at the Song Shop in
Winnipeg and heading down to Nashville