108 Mile Ranch resident Alex Poggenpohl has entered a song in a CBC Music/Hockey Night in Canada contest, and he’s crossing his fingers it will become the top song in the country.
If the song, Breakout (Hold the Line), is selected as the winner, Alex and his buddy Dave McArthur will get to record a studio version of their song with Canadian rocker Joel Plaskett.
Once that is done, they’ll join the Tragically Hip, Sam Roberts Band and Neil Young by having their song featured in a montage on Hockey Night in Canada.
The icing on the cake will be a trip to Lloydminster, Alta., where Alex and Dave perform live at the Scotiabank Hockey Day in Canada concert.
Alex says he found out about the contest while watching Hockey Night in Canada on Oct. 5 and immediately thought of the song he, Dave and another friend, Luke Matsuda, wrote four years ago.
“It made me smile and the very next day Dave got a hold of me because he saw it, too. He was excited and said, ‘We have to do this. We got the song so we have to put it in there’.”
They spent time putting the song together in Alex’s studio and entered the competition on Oct. 25.
We thought the sooner we got the song in the better.
Alex did the vocals and programmed the bass and drums, and Dave provided the guitar work.
Like Alex and Dave, Luke, who is originally from 100 Mile House, is also a songwriter, but he didn’t play on the track his friends sent in.
“He lives in Burnaby and we felt pressured to get the song in right away,” Alex explains.
“It’s too bad because he’s a wonderful musician and it would have been a better song if he was on it.”
Alex says Dave sent him a snippet of the song four years ago.
“He was playing in on his guitar and was humming along to it. Dave and Luke will do that, and most of the time, I won’t come up with anything. For some reason, that one called out to me and I just heard something right away.”
He notes they are all immersed in hockey – playing, coaching and watching the game. It took about a day, he says, adding it was clear the song had to be about hockey.
“But in writing it, I wanted to keep it open so it could be interpreted for any sport or life in general.”
Alex sent the work he and Dave did to Luke who added some lyrics to the song.
“So, we all did it together in a sense.”
Noting he doesn’t perform very often because he doesn’t have the gear, Alex says it would be great to win because they could record in a professional studio and perform live on Hockey Day in Canada.
Noting he received an e-mail from the Song Quest organizers stating they received the song from the Alex Poggenpohl Band, Alex says he’s also received a couple of personal e-mails. The 43-year-old adds he received one asking for more information about the band.
“We received an e-mail two or three days ago saying we were close to being in the top 50 in Canada, so that includes the number of plays, likes and votes the song got.”
He says the panel of judges – Plaskett and Sara Quin of Tegan and Sara, and singer-songwriter Chantal Kreviazuk, as well as former NHL players Theo Fleury and PJ Stock – will make the final decision.
“Ultimately, the judges are going to decide, so if you have the most votes or plays doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to win.”
Folks can listen to and vote for the song at http://music.cbc.ca/#/artists/Alex-Poggenpohl-Band, but your vote has to be by 8:59 Pacific Time today (Dec. 11).
