Musician-songwriter collaborating on Morinville for Hockeyville song

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Above is a video interview with Ed Bulger as well as a sneak peek at the upcoming Morinville for Hockeyville song Bulger is co-writing with Paul Smith.

by Stephen Dafoe

It’s been a half-century since Morinville musician-songwriter Ed Bulger began singing alongside his mother and the rest of her family. The musician, entertainer and songwriter’s love of music has not decreased over the past 50 years; it has intensified.

“I just love music. It’s a passion, regardless of whether I can play or not,” Bulger said. “Just having music around is a must have. I’m not the only person. It’s probably universal for a lot of people as well.”

Starting from singing at his mother’s knee, Bulger’s love or words and music expanded as he learned to create music on his own. “It was cool as you got older and started figuring some instruments out; you could develop your own music as well, or mimic something that you really liked. That kept me going after that. I got stuck on that path.”

Bulger has composed many songs over the years, the best known locally being Morinville’s Centennial Song. The musician penned the song back in 2011 and performed it during the St. Jean Baptiste Festival that year.

“They had a slogan – Our Community, Our Heritage, Our Pride,” Bulger recalled. “That’s all they had given me initially.” Bulger played off Morinville French and German heritage and gave the song a European street cafe flavour.

From history to hockey

Recently Bulger was asked if he would put pen to paper to create a song for the Morinville for Kraft Hockeyville 2015 campaign started by Morinville Kings’ president and local realtor Wayne Gatza.

Bulger is teaming up with musician Paul Smith for the new song. The two musicians put their heads together over two nights and got the music and lyrics together. They will spend the rest of the week and weekend recording and producing the track.

“People have different ways of writing a song,” Bulger said of the process. “I’m typically going to write lyrics first or at least have a shell of the lyrics that I want. If someone says, they have a certain feel they want, a certain style or genre of music that they want, you don’t necessarily want to have that constrict your lyrics.”

With respect to writing a song to help Kraft select Morinville as the next Kraft Hockeyville, Bulger said the recipe was simple. “We want to tell Kraft and the rest of the country we love the game,” Bulger said, adding the lyrics needed to reflect what appeals to everyone. “Number one, and I wrote this in the song; it’s got to be fun. That’s what you’ve always got to focus on.”

Beyond the fun side of hockey, Bulger and Smith’s song speaks to the universal nature of hockey. “Everybody can play hockey,” he said. “Whether you are a great skater or whether you can’t skate a lick, you’re just going to play in the park behind the community rec centre or the middle of the street.”

It was those initial thoughts on hockey and Morinville’s love for the game that Bulger and Smith used to assemble the short song. Once completed the song will be used to promote the community’s Kraft Hockeyville bid and at upcoming playoff games.

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1 Comment

  1. Ed and Paul, we are so fortunate to have such talent,how proud we are that you are contributing in such a great way in Morinvilles bid , thankyou also Wayne for your nomination . I don’t think we can lose….so please vote

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