Bob Wiseman

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Bob Wiseman
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Bob Wiseman
Background information
Born1962 (age 61–62)
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Origin Toronto, Ontario, Canada
GenresRock, country, jazz, folk, improvisational
Occupation(s)Musician, songwriter, producer, filmmaker, actor
Instrument(s)Piano, keyboard, guitar, accordion, vocals
Years active1984–present
Website bobwiseman.ca

Robert Neil Wiseman (born 1962) is a film composer, songwriter, author and music teacher. [1] Wiseman discovered or produced many artists including Ron Sexsmith, The Lowest of the Low, Bruce McCulloch of Kids in the Hall, Anhai, and former Canadian member of parliament Andrew Cash. He is a founding member of Blue Rodeo with whom he won 5 Juno Awards. [2] [3]

Contents

Career

In the 1980s Wiseman played at open stages in Toronto where he started producing friends Bob Snider, Kyp Harness, Ron Sexsmith, Sahara Spracklin and Sam Larkin. He joined Blue Rodeo in 1984 and quit in 1992 to follow a solo career. [4]

Wiseman's songs often incorporate new musical elements and explicit political themes. Guest contributors on his 13 albums include Daniel Lanois, Mary Margaret O'Hara, Eugene Chadbourne, Edie Brickell, Ron Sexsmith, Jane Siberry, Basia Bulat and Serena Ryder.

In 2009 a 20th anniversary edition of In Her Dream was released by the Blocks Recording Club and the songs were performed live by various friends including Ron Sexsmith, Geoff Berner, Owen Pallett, Kyp Harness, The Phonemes, Picastro, Michael Holt, Maggie MacDonald, UIC, Henri Faberge, and Don Christensen. In 2006 Wiseman and his partner, Magali Meagher, were accompaniment for Daniel Johnston. Wiseman was also a member of Slutarded, Black Eyes, The Hidden Cameras and Dick Duck & the Dorks.

Some of his better known songs include "White Dress" – a song about sexual assault, recorded by Serena Ryder, "What the Astronaut Noticed and Then Suggested" which was the theme song for the CBC Television series Material World , and "Maureen".

Touring and theatre

In 2009 Wiseman created Actionable, [5] [6] a PowerPoint presentation utilizing Super 8, video and live accompaniment on accordion and guitar which he presented in 2010 at the Uno Festival in Victoria as well as Fringe Festival circuits.

Wiseman collaborated theatrically with Scott Thompson of The Kids in the Hall , creating and touring Scottastrophe also with Anand Rajaram on award-winning Cowboys and Indians and with Sean Dixon for Barbara Gowdy's story The White Bone adaptation, with The Madawaska String Quartet and with Maggie MacDonald and Stephanie Markowitz writing the music for their play The Rat King.

Wiseman toured with Feist, Final Fantasy, Ron Sexsmith, and Scott Thompson and was a guest performer with Wilco, The Wallflowers, Eugene Chadbourne, Jimmy Carl Black (of Frank Zappa), Edie Brickell, Michelle Wright, Ashley MacIsaac & Garland Jeffries. Videos on YouTube of Wiseman songs performed with Feist ("You Don't Love Me"), Serena Ryder ("White Dress") Sexsmith ("All The Trees)".

Artists who covered Wiseman's songs include The Madawaska String Quartet, UIC, Leah Abramson, The Bourbon Tabernacle Choir, Michael Holt, Change of Heart, Magali Meagher, Tom St. Louis, Ben Bootsma and The Blind Venetians.

Wiseman makes super 8 films and videos that he accompanies live on accordion, guitar or piano. He tours/ performs with these films in Europe, United States, New Zealand and Canada subtitling them when necessary. Wiseman is the only live musician on John Oswald's 1988 release Plunderphonics . He was on the board of directors for LIFT, TAIS, The Tranzac & the Blocks Recording Club label in Toronto. In 2019 he obtained his master's degree in Environmental Studies from York University and currently is in the PhD program at the International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation.

Production

Wiseman started producing records in the 1980s, his debut "Wet Water" charted No. 4 on CKLN-FM at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute. Soon he was arranging and recording many friends like Ron Sexsmith, Sam Larkin, Kyp Harness, Sahara Spracklin and UIC. The record he produced for Ron Sexsmith "Grand Opera Lane" was rejected by Canadian A&R representatives. Through persistence he managed to get it to Todd Sullivan at Geffen Records in Los Angeles, who eventually gave it to Ronnie Vance in the publishing department which led to a deal for Ron Sexsmith with Interscope. Other notable clients were Kid in the Hall Bruce McCulloch, with whom Wiseman produced and co-wrote much of his Atlantic Records release Shame Based Man (listed as No. 24 on Spin Magazine's top comedy albums of all time). [7] Other artists Wiseman has produced include Edie Brickell, Canadian Member of Parliament Andrew Cash, Knitting Factory Recording Artist Carmaig de Forest, Robert Priest, Anhai, Friendly Rich, Jess Reimer, Katie Crown, Bourbon Tabernacle Choir, Eugene Chadbourne, and Bob Snider.

Author

Radio scores

Film scores

Television scores

Theatre scores

Production discography

Selected releases

Production

Solo discography

Film and videography

A retrospective of his films and videos were shown in 2010 both in Kuopio, Finland and in Genoa, Italy at the Associazione Culturale Disorderdrama.

Personal life

Wiseman attended Joseph Wolinsky Collegiate, École River Heights, Grant Park, Argyle Alternative High School in Winnipeg, Manitoba and holds a Masters of Environmental Studies from York University. Currently a 2024 PhD candidate at the International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation.

Awards

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References

  1. ↑ Armstrong, Denis Sun Media (30 September 2009). "Artist: Wiseman, Bob > The many faces of Bob Wiseman". jam.canoe.ca. Jam!. Archived from the original on 15 January 2013. Retrieved 4 March 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. ↑ Keast, James (March 2005). "Music School > MEET & GREET > Mar 2005". Exclaim! . Toronto: 1059434 Ontario Inc. ISSN   1207-6600. Archived from the original on 6 April 2011. Retrieved 4 March 2011.
  3. ↑ Schwartzman, Lisa. "Bob Wiseman Biography". allmusic.com. Allmusic . Retrieved 4 March 2011.
  4. ↑ LeBlanc, Larry (4 July 1992). "Wiseman rides in to solo career" - Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 47. ISSN   0006-2510.
  5. ↑ "Actionable:music is at its beautiful core". Plank Magazine. 24 May 2010.
  6. ↑
  7. ↑ "SPIN's 40 Greatest Comedy Albums Of All Time". SPIN. 1 November 2011.
  8. ↑ "12 Canadian books coming out in July we can't wait to read". CBC Books . 7 July 2020. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  9. ↑ "*In her dream (sound recording): Bob Wiseman sings Wrench Tuttle / [all songs written by Wiseman-Tuttle]", collectionscanada.gc.ca, Ottawa: Library and Archives Canada, OCLC   25529378, AMICUS No. 19537810, retrieved 4 March 2011.
  10. ↑ Liss, Sarah (29 July 2009). "What about Bob? Toronto music MVP re-releases his dreamy debut on Blocks Recording Club". Eye Weekly . ISSN   1192-6074. Archived from the original on 10 July 2011. Retrieved 4 March 2011.
  11. ↑ "Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet - ChartAttack's Top 100 Canadian Albums of All Time".
  12. ↑ "City of Wood - Bob Wiseman - Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic.
  13. ↑ "Libelous, by bob wiseman".
  14. ↑ "Benjamin Boles's Top 10 Discs". NOW Toronto. 28 December 2006.
  15. ↑ Berry, Dave (15 May 2007). "He would not feel so all abandoned, everybody must get Bob Wiseman". Vue Weekly. Archived from the original on 29 August 2013.
  16. ↑ "Bob Wiseman The Legend". Exclaim!.
  17. ↑ "'Muzzling' of Canadian government scientists sent before Information Commissioner Suzanne Legault". Toronto Star. 15 March 2013.
  18. ↑ "Artist Summary - The JUNO Awards".
  19. ↑ "Juno Awards Database". junoawards.ca. Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 4 March 2011.
  20. ↑ "CBC Music".
  21. ↑ "Best of Winners - Archived copy". NOW Toronto. Archived from the original on 19 November 2013. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
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