Several years ago, Jason Murphy of the band Shipyard Kitchen Party, penned “This Ain’t A House”, a song inspired by the work of Collingwood Women’s Shelter, My Friend’s House and the ‘Me Too’ movement.
“The song came together in my head quickly,” says Murphy. “I brought it to the band and we all liked it. But my voice just didn’t sound right for it. We meant to work on it more with our lead female vocalist Sacha Law. But we got busy with other projects and the song went on the backburner.”
During the Covid crisis, Shipyard guitarist John Eaton was taking note of the celebrities and musicians uniting to release videos of socially distanced performances. “With organizations like My Friend’s House struggling to raise awareness and funds, we started thinking that maybe this was the time to record the song, using it as a way to bring the music community together and support a great cause. “
Eaton reached out to videographer Ryan MacIntyre and Villa Sound Recording Studio’s, Adam Fair. Both immediately agreed to donate their expertise to capture the audio and visuals of the song. Next Eaton put together a collection of talented musicians to record the track, including pianist Angie Nussie, violinist Victoria Yeh, guitarist Derek McLean, bass player, Doug Smith and drummer Darrell Dennis.
For the singers, Eaton recruited a cast of some of Georgian Bay’s best vocal talent to support Shipyard’s Sacha Law; including Marcia Alderson of the band Motown and Marley, recording artist Emily Chambers, Ella Baker, Mollie Fisher and Melanie Case.
“It was the easiest project I’ve ever pitched,” says Eaton. “There is so much admiration in this community for My Friend’s House. Everyone jumped to help out and soon we had more than a dozen artists involved in making ‘This Ain’t a House’ come to life.”
The single and video for the song were released today.
The Town of Collingwood will feature the song in its International Women’s Day celebrations and My Friend’s House will feature it on its various platforms and advertising.