Calgary,
14
May
2020
|
14:39
America/Denver

One Day Soon project aims to lift Calgarians' spirit

When words fail, music speaks. At least that’s what The City felt when it pooled its internal creative talents to give back to Calgarians for all they have done to limit the spread of COVID-19.

Joni Delaurier, a communications professional who works with the Calgary Emergency Management Agency (CEMA), also moonlights as an award-winning songwriter and accomplished singer on the country/roots music scene. In addition to writing top-40 hits (such as “Pickup Truck”, sung by Shane Yellowbird which she co-wrote with her husband Troy Kokol), Joni has previously been nominated for ‘Single of the Year’ at the Canadian Country Music Awards, SOCAN’s ‘Video of the Year’ and ‘Songwriter of the Year.'

On her first days off after the initial State of Local Emergency, Joni found herself - guitar in hand - reflecting on the things we’re all missing out on and have previously taken for granted. “I wanted to write something that would cheer me up, to remind my friends that one day we will get back to normal,” she said. “We all need something a little less heavy to look forward to.”

She recorded it in her home studio and shared it with Chief Tom Sampson back in the office.

“When I first heard this song, it really struck me,” said Chief Tom Sampson with CEMA. “In the flurry of my day-to-day work, pausing for a couple of minutes and taking in the song and imagery, had me realize just how much we’ve all been missing out on since this all started. It wasn’t until that moment that I fully realized just how hard this has been on us all, and how much we’ve missed out on over the last few months.”

The creation of the video was very much a team effort, and the talented creative folks from The City’s Customer Service and Communications business unit played a big role. The opportunity to work on something a little lighter, fun and uplifting was also a highlight for the team.

Delaurier will post the song on streaming platforms and will donate any proceeds from streaming revenues to the United Way of Calgary’s COVID-19 Community Response fund, funds which will stay in Calgary for Calgarians.

Highlighting the many things we all can look forward to getting back to doing in Calgary, ‘One Day Soon’ captures Calgary’s incredible spirit, resilience, and community strength.

Watch One Day Soon here!