Heather Valley is an Americana singer-songwriter based in Hamilton, Ontario. After escaping a star-crossed romance with an American con man, she left her career as a lawyer to become a musician.
Her debut album "Desert Message" was released in November 2019 and was named the best album & song of 2019 by altcountry.nl. It was reviewed in the Philadelphia Inquirer, charted #5 in Canada on the earshot! roots chart and was featured on the CBC and by many other resources.
Each week the GCCB seeks to inspire its community with its content and just enough 'maple syrup'.
GCCB: What /and or who inspired you to follow your path?
HV: "I was never supposed to be doing this. In fact, I had built my life in a very different, conventional way. I went to school, became a lawyer, and founded a practice that was becoming very successful, before having a complete breakdown. My life as a lawyer was very lonely. I would record and post covers of songs occasionally, and that was how the man of my dreams found me. He was a Florida boy by way of Louisiana. We met in New York State and fell in love. He was supposed to move to Canada to be with me, but then everything went wrong. As it turns out, he was a con man who was arrested in front of me at the border. But then he came back... After a few unbelievable years, I had a mental breakdown just days after his second arrest, and I was taken off work by my doctor. As I was picking up the pieces, I realized that the only thing I found value in anymore was music. It seemed noble enough to dedicate my life to. So now I make music to transform my pain into beauty and help people get through the hard times in their own lives. It is extremely meaningful to come down off the stage after a performance, and have someone in the audience approach me, thank me for my honesty and divulge their own story of heartbreak. I really appreciate their trust and treasure their willingness to take that journey of honesty and healing with me."
Our community enjoys learning about others' achievements.
GCCB: What do you consider your greatest achievement to date?
HV: "I released my first album in November 2019. It was named the Best Album of 2019 by the top alt country blog in the Netherlands, charted #5 in Canada, and was reviewed well in the Philadelphia Inquirer. I am extremely proud of this as an independent artist who only started down this musical path one year before. I have also had my song writing praised by Alan Cross for Global News and the Edge 102.1 FM which was a real trip after growing up listening to him on the radio!"
Canada has been built upon its people taking on a variety of roles to get things done (for example, the hockey coach who is also the postal worker and who serves on the Board of the local Food Bank).
GCCB: What do you think people would be surprised to learn you have also done to get to where you are today and how did it benefit you?
HV: "People may be surprised to learn that I'm a Canadian National Championship Cross-Country Skier, that I held a federal SSHRC grant when I completed my Master of Arts in Public Issues Anthropology, and that I graduated in the top 10% of my class from Western Law. All of these things helped me build the strong focus and character I have today that I bring to my song writing and approach to music."
The GCCB is proud to be able to celebrate a range of Great Canadians and help share their stories with others to inform, to motivate, to inspire and to caffeinate their days!
GCCB: Tell us about something you have coming up that you'd like our community to be aware of and that you'd like them to share with others.
HV: "When the borders were closed I was on a writing retreat in West Virginia. I drove 9 hours to get back to Canada, but since I have roommates at my home in Hamilton, and a friend offered me to quarantine at the century farm he had recently inherited. So I went out to this haunted farm and lived with ten cats for the next 4 months. This time was essential to my ongoing healing process, but I was very isolated. I started playing my favourite covers for comfort, and then I decided to record them, and this turned into an album. Wildflower Radio is a collection of covers and one original song which will be released this fall. It was created by a collective of musicians from Hamilton, Toronto and Philadelphia who contributed tracks from their home studios social isolation style, and was mixed and mastered by my friend Nimal Agalawatte (of Basement Revolver) in Hamilton, Ontario. The first single Emily came out in July and is currently #1 by a landslide on the London Canada Indie Music Video Chart, and I'm so excited to share the rest of the album soon."
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