David Porteous is a Canadian singer/songwriter, music producer, and documentary filmmaker from Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

.

David Porteous has written and recorded 23 music releases, had his first radio play on CBC Radio 2 at the age of 14, wrote music for an HBO pilot, and has released a documentary film entitled War Music. According to Sal Treppiedi of The Great Beyond Music Blog "This may be the hardest working musician you have never heard of."

One of David Porteous' biggest projects is War Music, a documentary feature and music release highlighting Porteous' solo journey across Europe as he followed the footsteps of soldiers who fought during World War Two. For 35 days, Porteous visited battlefields and cemeteries, interviewing veterans and survivors that he met along the way. He also carried a guitar and wrote/record music based on his experiences. War Music has been featured in part on CBC News: Sunday

CBC News: Sunday

CBC News: Sunday was a weekly television newsmagazine series in Canada, which aired on Sunday mornings on both CBC Newsworld and CBC Television...

. War Music was chosen as the Top Film Pick of the Day by blogTO.Janice Forsyth, host of the BBC's

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 The Movie Café said David Porteous is "not only a talented singer/songwriter, but a talented filmmaker."

In addition to War Music, Porteous is known for releasing unique kinds of music projects. In 2010, Porteous released a music project entitled Twelve Months, whereby he dared himself to write and record an EP

Extended play

An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...

 a month for an entire year straight, starting on his 25th birthday. The finished project features 70 songs and over 4 hours of material. Fourteen songs were made available for free download on David Porteous' website.

In late 2010 David Porteous was awarded First Place in The National Anthem Song Contest contest hosted by Mongrel Media

Mongrel Media

Mongrel Media is a Canadian film distributor established in 1994. It is also the exclusive Canadian theatrical distributor for Sony Pictures Classics and is represented in Quebec by Métropole Films Distribution.- External links :*...

. The contest was created in conjunction with the release of “Score: A Hockey Musical

Score: A Hockey Musical

Score: A Hockey Musical is a 2010 Canadian musical film, written and directed by Michael McGowan.-Synopsis:Seventeen-year old Farley Gordon has led a sheltered life, home-schooled and isolated by his parents. His closest friend is Eve, their next door neighbour. When his skill at hockey is...

”. David’s entry, “Go Canada Go” was a song he wrote and recorded in celebration of Canada’s 2010 Olympic Gold Medal Winning Hockey Teams. His song also received praise from Hockey Canada

Hockey Canada

Hockey Canada, formally known as the Canadian Hockey Association, is the national governing body of ice hockey in Canada and is a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation. Hockey Canada controls a vast majority of ice hockey in Canada, with a few exceptions...

, the official organization for Canada’s professional Hockey Teams.

Porteous has been chosen by NOW

NOW (magazine)

Now is a free weekly newspaper in Toronto, Canada. It was first printed on September 10, 1981 by Michael Hollett and Alice Klein. Now is an alternative weekly mixing arts and entertainment news with political coverage....

magazine as NXNE Critics Pick, has been featured during Canadian Music Week

Canadian Music Week

Canadian Music Week is an industry conference and music festival held over four days in various venues throughout Toronto, Ontario, Canada.-History:...

, CMJ Music Marathon

CMJ Music Marathon

CMJ Music Marathon & Film Festival is put on by CMJ Network. CMJ Music Marathon & Film Festival 2010 is scheduled for October 19–23 and will be headquartered at New York University and other downtown NYC venues.- History :...

 in New York, as well as features on the CBC

CBC Television

CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...

, BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

, The Toronto Star, and Inside Toronto.

In 2007 Porteous was nominated as 1 of 20 out 6000+ applications to become a torchbearer for the 2008 Summer Olympics

2008 Summer Olympics

The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...

 in Beijing.

David Porteous' cover of MGMT's

MGMT

MGMT is an American alternative rock band founded by Benjamin Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden. After the release of their first album, the members of their live band, Matthew Asti, James Richardson and Will Berman, joined the core band in the studio...

"Electric Feel" was chosen as the #3 cover song of 2008 by the well respected Cover Me Songs blog. The website wrote "There’s no way this should work, but it’s fantastic.". SeeWhatYouHear.Com also featured the cover on their website writing "Another unusual cover: here, Canadian songwriter David Porteous make the MGMT hit into something slow and serious, using just a grungey blues guitar sound a la The Black Keys...this works surprisingly well."

Awards and Features

First Prize : National Anthem Song Contest hosted by Mongrel Media

Runner-Up : The Framework Remix Contest 2010

War Music "Top Film Pick Of The Day" BlogTO

Honourable Mention : Billboard Song Contest for the War Music song "Cologne, Germany"

Official Olympic Torchbearer Nominee 2008 : Placed 7th out of 6000+ candidates

New World Thinker : Awarded by Lenovo Computers 2007

NOW Magazine Critic's Pick 2004

Special guest performer for the HBC Run For Canada, CMJ Music Marathon, Canadian Music Week, NXNE, War Child Canada, Nike Run.To, and Toronto Sick Kids Hospital Fundraiser

Maryon Drysdale Award in Toronto for Best Song 2001

Discography

• Ellingham Hall (2011)
• War Music (2010)
• Go Canada Go - Single (2010)
• The Black Hills (2010)
• Twelve Months (2010)
• Aberdeen E.P. (2008)
• Willowdale E.P. (2008)
• St. Charles E.P. (2008)
• Finding Peace On Isabella (2008)
• Without Any Warming E.P. (2007)
• Parliament (2007)
• No News E.P. (2006)
• Live In Toronto (2006)
• My Fallen Company (2005)
• Missing April (2004)
• Afternoon E.P. (2004)
• From the Walls (2003)
• Battalion (2002)
• Life After Digital E.P. (2001)
• The Mind's Eye (2001)
• My Travel E.P. (2001)
• Portrait-Robot E.P. (2000)
• The Kafka Networking (2000)
• Vota Idiota (1999)