Wil - By December - ibreakstrings

WIL
IN THIS TOGETHER  - MARCH 2010

You could say Wil Mimnaugh was always destined to be a musician. Born into a musical family, Wils mother was always singing along to the coveted record player or belting out duets accompanied by Wils father on guitar. Songs rhythms were stomped out on the kitchen floor late into the weekend nights. Tunes from the likes of Hank Williams and Simon and Garfunkel were in-house performance staples. “An Evening With John Denver” played on repeat by virtue of being stuck in the 8-track player of the station wagon. Laughing and loving music as a family, the Mimnaughs were in it together.

Before reaching his teens, Wil would try to hammer out songs on his fathers Yamaki acoustic guitar describing it as “awkward”- like “holding a pile of loose lumber in my arms.” His Father – also a self-taught player would spend time trying to teach his son how to be comfortable with that pile of lumber. On Christmas morning in 1981, beneath the tree, Wil found his very own Fender acoustic guitar. It would ignite the fire of the singer-songwriter forming inside him.

His early performance career consisted largely of covers. Five nights a week, anywhere in Calgary he could claim a stage, Wil refined the craft of performing and playing live. Starting with his takes on songs from bands like The Verve, Pearl Jam and the Violent Femmes, he soon realized the next logical move was to pen his own tunes. Busting out that very Fender acoustic, Wil set about writing his debut album, Both Hands.

Both Hands was an entirely indie-affair. Born of honest ideas, bound by friends and sold in heaps off the same stages Wil commanded with bee-buzzing guitar strokes. The man works a guitar so hard, it inches toward igniting during a set. Often times, it relents to the strain of such fierce play by popping off a string or two, as if to wave a white flag of surrender if only for a moment, until Wil conducts it back into motion. By way of momentum and Wil’s dynamic performances, Both Hands racked up over 6,000 sales off Canadian stages alone. With a stretch of his tour legs, there was a van, his wife, a drummer and a dog; playing hundreds of shows across the country and experiencing all that goes with touring life; vehicle breakdowns, broken guitars (and strings..) busted trailers and break-ins: thousands of miles of experience were clocked on the Wil performance odometer.
“Best. Acoustic. Guitar. Player. Ever.” Raved Chartattack in a 2008 CMW live review. “No joke —
this man is gifted. He was doing things with his hands that most people wouldn't be able to pull
off after a lifetime of practice. He can perfectly tune a guitar to any configuration in less than 10 seconds. He can make that one instrument sound like an entire band.” 
http://www.chartattack.com/reviews/54261/wil-cmw-2008

The Both Hands album connected Wil to a major label deal with EMI. The label took on distribution for the record and signed on to make another – By December (Dave MacKinnon of The Fembots produced). These records kept the doors and roads open for more touring and offering shared stages with artists such as  Matthew Good, Gomez, Serena Ryder and state side theater dates with Feist.

Last year, it came time to think about making a new record. Major label downsizing cut Wil free to return to what he truly and honestly connected to - his valued management team, close friends, like writing partner, Jeff Leitl and his ultimate friend of 22 years, his partner and wife, Caroline. They “hunkered down” in their cabin in the woods and Wil wrote the most honest, heartfelt and optimistic record to date, aptly called, In This Together.

In the summer of 2009 Wil and In This Together album producer, Bruce Leitl (Jann Arden, Wil’s debut, Both Hands) moved the songs from the cabin to refine the intimate tracks at Audities Studios in Calgary, Alberta. From there, on to Quad Studios in Nashville, Tennessee to see some of the songs more fully realized and lushly accompanied by top notch studio players.

“Nashville yielded some incredible performances by some incredible people. Bruce and I had agreed that letting the performers be free with the songs was the best approach as opposed to giving them a specific map that could not be wavered from,” Wil said.

The end result is an album that embraces the full spectrum of sound and standout tracks like, UhOh!, Together and Baby Baby. On this record, Wil has moved away from the heavier side of life and love while retaining his very direct lyrical and vocal style. He has made every effort to let the songs drive the arrangements and instrumentation without trying to appease or work to a specific genre, audience or market. The lilting If You Want Me, Too written in an evening with friend Shaun Verreault feels heavy in subject matter, but light and positive in its execution.

In This Together is an album of personal stories connecting life, love and Wils ongoing relationship with music. After more then 10 years of touring, Wil has returned to some of the core themes that brought his debut album Both Hands into being. He is, however, taking a definite step forward in his growth as a songwriter, singer and musician.  Transitioning from the darker imagery and tones of his second album, By December, Wil has found in his third album, a lighter stride.

“This year has been amazing for me in that I discovered news ways to open up my mind and heart to experiences which allowed the writing and collaboration process to flourish. As well, I concentrated on finding new ways of improving as a live performer and song writer,” reflected Wil.
"The result is that I find myself content with a mastered record, ready artwork and the stirring excitement of knowing I am about to soon share these songs.
Having chosen this love as a career has come with a great deal of hardship - unlike anything else in life I’ve known - but I have also felt a lifetime of gratification already. I never took this on for great fame and/or fortune; I simply feel I have no other choice as I have found my passion and cannot ignore it.  I have the love, understanding and infinite support of friends and family. I am a very lucky man.”
IN THIS TOGETHER – MARCH 2010
www.ibreakstrings.com




























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 My Father played guitar and sang songs by the likes of Hank Williams and Simon and Garfunkel, my Mother occasionally sang as well and quite well I might add, our home always had a record playing, even our brown station wagon had an 8 track with “An Evening With John Denver” seemingly stuck in it and my sister and I would sing along to the entire thing. On weekends the record player was turned up and accompanied by my parents, they would sing at the top of their lungs and stomp out rythm on the kitchen floor for hours, laughing and loving. I can remember playing my Father’s Yamaki acoustic guitar, it felt like trying to hold a stack of lumber whilst sitting it was so awkward, i was only about 8 or 9? A few years later on a Christmas morning i found a guitar case under the tree, empty but a good start, when we all sat around for the opening of gifts, my father then presented me with the guitar to put in the case, i still have that Fender acoustic guitar.

 Eventually I started to perform in front of people singing everything i could and really liked , from covers of Pearl Jam and the Violent Femmes to Johnny Horton and the Waterboys, eventually played covers 5 nights a week in bars all over Calgary throughout the 90’s, found a voice, found some words and wrote my first full length record “ Both Hands “ on that same Fender guitar by the way. The Both Hands record was indipendantly made entirley with friends Dan McManus, Bruce Leitl, Johnny Iaquinta, Ted Osler of 6 Degrees Studios and Jared Kuemper who produced and mixed the record, I also co-wrote with Jeff Leitl and designed with Kelly Pearn, the record went on to sell over 6 thousand copies from the sides of stages. We then drove out to Toronto and performed to a very sparse room for the NXNE conference, it was a 20 minute set that i performed with my first “band” addition and drummer at the time Micheal Bressanutti, the set felt like 5 seconds, Dean Cameron was in the room and immediatly called us the next morning to discuss our possible future with EMI. They picked up Both Hands for distribution and i recorded my next record ( By December ) with EMI and producer Dave Mackinnon.

 I have since played hundreds of shows ( usually only with a drummer ) driven thousands of miles, broken trailers, guitars and countless strings as well as gained a shit load of experience, knowleage and fans, and with the ongoing and powerful support of people beliving in what it is I have been put here on this earth to do, i now find my self sitting here in January of 2010 writing this Bio with a new record completed ( In This Together ) which I had spent the winter of 09’ writing here at home in the woods of Vancouver Island with my friend and wife of 22 years Caroline at my side, this  record was made by and with my friends, Dan McManus, Bruce Leitl, jeff Leitl, 6 Degrees Studios and Kelly pearn with tremendous support and help from Reid Brodylo and Carri Clarke.

 It has been a year since i sat down here at my home in the woods of Vancouver Island to write this new record. I remember it well as it had snowed over 3 feet and stayed for a long while which was very different for a winter here, my friend Jeff called it  
“ Hunkerin’ Down “. The days were certainly short of light which had inspired allot of the songs subject matter, especially the track If You Want Me Too which i had written with a really swell guy by the name of ShaunVerreault, he had come out here for an evening and the song was born. I had eventually had about 25 plus demos, i would send the demos to my manager Dan Mcmanus and co-writing friend Jeff Leitl on what seemed to be a regular basis, they would always take the time to listen to them no matter how hectic their own lives, i think there must be over 10 versions of some of these songs all titled “ final one! “ on our computers. Any hoops, we eventully all agreed along with producer Bruce Leitl ( jeff’s brother ) that we had strong ebnough songs for a record, so Bruce and i sat down in Calgary for pre-production and soon we were off to Nahville to begin. Nashville yielded some incredible performances by some incredible people, Bruce and I had agreed that letting the performers be free with the songs was the best approach as appose to gving them a specific map that could not be wavered from. Then e headed back to Calgary for more tracking at the 6 Degrees Studios and Audities Foundation to finally have 11 songs finished and ready to be mixed, mastered and put on a record for the public to take in. 

I am here at home in the winter again yet with a mastered record with artwork ready. It has been a truly amazing year of experiences by way of many amzing shows performed and learning how to open my head and heart more to new ideas and ways of improving as a performer and song writer.
“In this Together” is a collection of stories that will garner interest from new fans while satisfying a strong base of fan support that Wil has developed across Canada over the last 10 years. Recorded in Nashville and Calgary with co-producer partner Bruce Leitl (Jann Arden/SheDaisy/Wil’s debut album) “In This Together” is both a return to the dramatic tones of Wil’s debut album Both Hands and a definite step forward in the growth of Wil as a songwriter, singer and musician.  Transitioning from the darker imagery of his second album, By December, Wil has found a lighter stride.  With songs like UhOh, Together and Baby Baby, Wil has moved away from the heavier side of life and love while retaining his very direct lyrical and vocal stylings.   From the writing stage through the recording, tracking and vocals there has been an effort to let the songs drive the arrangements and instrumentation without trying to appease or work to a specific genre, audience or market.  The result is an album with a diversity of acoustic rock roots and alt country textures with a mainstream accessibility.  “In this Together” is Wil’s best album and through his renowned live performances he is excited to take these new songs on the road.

 Having chosen this love as a career has had a great deal of hardships, not unlike anything in life, yet has also seen a lifetime of gratification and i still have another half of it yet to live. I had never taken this on for great fame and or fortune, it is simply because i had no other choice as i have found my passion and cannot ignore it no matter how much sense i try to throw at it, yet all of this is actually impossible without the love, understanding and infinate support of friends and family, there is no other way i could possibly put it other than stating that I am a very lucky man, i am a lucky man that we are in this together.


For more information on Wil visit
http://www.ibreakstrings.com
http//www.myspace.com/wilibreakstrings
facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Wil/13504171698?ref