With the festive season right around the corner, CanoeFM is once again recruiting the jolliest County-based kids to help spread Christmas cheer over the ho-ho-holidays.
The non-profit radio station is looking for youthful singers who want to participate in this year’s Christmas Kids’ Project, with three popular yuletide carols to be recorded and played on-air.
Now in its third year, the initiative is designed to inspire community, bring people together, and generate excitement for the most wonderful time of year, said Laurie Sweig, lead volunteer at The Studio – the professional recording space located inside CanoeFM’s Haliburton office.
“We are so fortunate to have a recording studio like this in the County. The equipment is top-notch, and we’ve got a volunteer team of knowledgeable individuals who love producing music for musicians of varying calibres,” Sweig said. “The Kids’ Christmas Project is an opportunity to demonstrate how a community can come together and create magic that can be shared, thanks to technology, throughout the world.”
The studio was a $70,000 investment, with half coming from a Community Radio Fund of Canada Grant. It opened in February 2023. It’s fitted with acoustic wall panels, new speakers, and computer set-up with access to editing programs, such as Logic Pro. For $20 an hour, locals can rent the space out and record songs, podcasts, instrumental pieces, or keepsakes for family and friends.
This year’s festive lineup features classics We Wish You a Merry Christmas, Deck the Halls, and O Christmas Tree. Sweig said she hopes to have between 15 and 20 children participate. Recordings are set to take place in late October.
It won’t be a free-for-all – Sweig said in most cases children will be allotted a time to come into the studio to individually sing songs. Once all the recording is done, volunteers will edit, mix and master the finished pieces before broadcasting.
“Our goal is to create the most fun Christmas songs ever recorded,” Sweig said.
Station manager Roxanne Casey said the program has been a big hit in recent years, with many kids using it as their excuse to begin the big Christmas countdown.
“There’s so much laughter – the kids have a blast, and I know the parents enjoy it as well,” Casey said. “Families loved getting a copy of the songs, and I know from my own grandkids, it was fun waiting to hear them on the radio.”
Casey added it’s a good way to introduce youth to CanoeFM and its range of community programs and initiatives.
Anyone interested in participating can contact thestudio@canoefm.com. Project packages containing everything kids need to rehearse prior to recording, will be available for pick-up from the station.
