When Ira Pettle turned up at Norman Foote’s house for their first co-writing session, he came with a binder full of song ideas and a lifelong dream.
Pettle might be well-known around Whistler as DJ Ira—performing for kids and leading them in workshops and at events—but for more than 30 years, he has also harboured a dream of releasing an album filled with original music.
“It really begins with me as a kid, having this dream to create original music,” Pettle says. “My life unfolding in parallel with that kind of performance art, but not quite. I always carry that. I’m just one step off my dream … Fast-forward all these years later, still thinking about it, still writing lyrics and coming up with song ideas and melodies and writing them all down, keeping this secret log of creative passion, just continuing to roll out. Thirty five years later, the pandemic hits.”
That time offered a pause and a break from Pettle’s multiple projects, and he decided to look at that music again.
While he had some experience with music as a DJ and performer, he realized it might be wise to turn to an expert for help. So, he reached out to Foote, a Juno-nominated veteran children’s performer. Foote listened to his songs and agreed to help.
“I had a lot of respect for him as an entertainer and his ability to work with kids and older crowds as well,” Foote says. “I had respect there. I didn’t know what to expect when I heard his music and then when I heard it—they were songs that were being sketched out, some needed completion, but the bones were started.”
For the first of many writing sessions, Pettle brought about 20 song ideas to pitch and Foote was drawn to a selection of them.
“We were meeting up a couple times a week to just work the tunes and we were fleshing them out for a bunch of months before we went to the studio,” Pettle says.
When Foote told him it was time to record, he was a little taken aback.
“The struggle is, I’ve been doing a version of my music, my passion, for, like, 30 years on my own,” he says. “So I’m very much a solo act. Bridging that gap and taking on a partner was very difficult. It was very integral for me—and this was a practice I did early on—to say yes to his suggestions, to really try on what he was saying rather than come back with my protective, creative disagreement. I just had to constantly remind myself to try it on.”
With so much experience in the music industry, Foote was also able to suggest two producers—Bill Buckingham and Andreas Schuld—as well as musicians for different songs.
In the end, the album, A Little Bit, is a collection of 10 songs that hop from pop to rock to ballad and back again, geared towards both children and adults.
“We did a lot of experimenting,” Foote says. “I’m very proud of the material.”
For Pettle, everything that comes next is nerve-racking but exciting.
“It’s kind of like shedding an old skin and coming back new, a new skin, or Chapter 2, Act 2, Ira 2.0,” he says. “It’s almost like a calling, and it’s all unfolding now.”
To help support the self-funded venture (which included everything from studio time to hiring musicians), Pettle has launched a Kickstarter campaign in the hopes of raising $54,000. That crowd-funding campaign is all-or-nothing, meaning if he doesn’t reach his goal by Jan. 3, he won’t receive any of the donations.
The primary reason he chose the platform because it’s largely used for creative endeavours, but also “I’ve always been up for the challenge,” he says.
“Then there’s a faith in my community, my world, my dream. My vision for what this is says, ‘raising $54,000 is actually not going to be a problem at all.’”
On top of the campaign, he’s set to host an album release party on Dec. 30 at 6:30 p.m. (doors at 6 p.m.) at the Whistler Conference Centre. (Tickets are by donation at eventbrite.ca/e/ira-pettle-album-release-concert-tickets-479492323447.)
Then, in 2023, he hopes to tour the new record and produce videos for it.
It might technically be a children’s album, but Pettle hopes it appeals to people of all ages.
“There are extremely deep-level messages in every song, and heart and soul in every song,” he says. “There’s morality, my morality at the time in every song. So that speaks to whoever hears it as that.”
To donate to the Kickstarter campaign, visit kickstarter.com/projects/irapettle/ira-pettle-a-little-bit/description.
