For Immediate Release
Monday, September 10, 2012

Multi award-winning folk musician, Dave Gunning launches a “Penny Drive” to pay the Royal Canadian Mint a fee for his new album paying tribute to the Canadian penny

(Halifax, NS) – Multi award-winning, Nova Scotia-based musician Dave Gunning is launching a “Penny Drive” to cover an unforeseen fee to the Royal Canadian Mint as he releases his latest recording, No More Pennies on September 18. This album pays tribute to the Canadian penny and its legacy here in Canada.

“All summer, I’ve been mentioning the upcoming release ‘No More Pennies’ at my shows,” said Gunning. “Recently, I was approached by a fan that works for the Royal Canadian Mint. He thought that they might support the project and sell copies in their Ottawa gift shop. He pitched his idea to co-workers and soon contacted me, feeling terrible as I was soon to be in breach of copyright by using the image of our Canadian penny.”

With the CD already manufactured and in the process of being distributed, Gunning quickly contacted the Royal Canadian Mint in hopes they would endorse and support the recording.

“The woman in charge forwarded me an application and told me that my case would be discussed at a meeting. She ensured me that the Mint didn’t want me to incur any financial loss. She then phoned me to let me know that the Mint was going to make an exception allowing us to sell the initial run of units but that we would be required to pay a mechanical rights fee for every CD produced. The mechanical rate was quite high so I didn’t know if I would be able to produce another run of units in the future. That’s when we decided to do a ‘Penny Drive’ and collect $1,200 worth of pennies to cover the initial cost.”

On Thursday, Gunning spoke to CBC Mainstreet Halifax about his plan. The Royal Canadian Mint heard of this and quickly waived the initial fee but remained firm on future fees. Gunning is asking his fans to bring pennies to his album release shows this fall. Pennies raised will be paid to the Royal Canadian Mint for the next run of CDs and Gunning will make a donation of $1,200 to the IWK Children’s Hospital in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

The artwork for No More Pennies was designed with the intention to create a tasteful and meaningful package to pay respect to the ‘soon to be’ retired penny. It was designed by Gunning and Michael Wrycraft, a JUNO award-winning artist who has created over 500 CD packages for artists, including Stompin’ Tom, Ron Hynes, Gordon Lightfoot, Rita MacNeil, Murray McLauchlan and Bruce Cockburn.

“Over the years, my writing has mostly been in support of the underdogs of the world and working-class folks”, added Gunning. “The image on the front cover of the CD is of a person sitting at a lunch counter trying to scrape up enough change to pay for his cup of coffee. We’ve created sentimental images as a way of saying goodbye to Canada’s penny. On the back cover is a sunset with the sun as a penny setting below the horizon. On the inside of the package is a lithograph image of an old steam train, which is another important part of our vanishing Canadian heritage. The wheels of the train are little pennies.”

No More Pennies, Gunning’s 10th studio recording, features 12 original songs penned by Gunning and includes co-writes with George Canyon, David Francey, Bruce Guthro, Lennie Gallant, Jamie Robinson, Jim Dorie and Scottish songstress Karine Polwart.

A charismatic performer and world-class songwriter, Gunning has the magnetic gift of captivating audiences by painting pictures through his heartfelt stories and compelling songwriting, humorous lyrics and innovative musical arrangements.

Gunning has ten critically-acclaimed albums to his credit. His previous release, “… a tribute to John Allan Cameron” was honoured with a 2012 JUNO nomination and was the winner of two Canadian Folk Music Award nominations, in which he won two awards, including Traditional Singer of the Year and Best New Emerging Artist in November as well as two 2011 East Coast Music Awards (ECMA), including Roots Traditional Recording of the Year and Producer of the Year all for the same album.

Since debuting with Lost Tracks in 1997, he has released ten recordings, won six Music Nova Scotia Awards and five ECMA Awards. He also won the Indie International Songwriting Contest in the folk category for the song “Hard Workin’ Hands”, co-written with Ron Hynes.

For interview opportunities, contact:

Wendy Phillips, Phillips Public Relations Ltd.
(902) 492-0960 / wendy@pprl.ca