Langley's musical story teller
Proceeds from Tim Lawson's latest CD are being donated
to help AIDS sufferers
John GORDON/Langley
Times
Tim Lawson enjoys
life on his Langley acreage,
but he hasn't forgotten there are people far less fortunate.
By Brenda Anderson
Times Reporter
Tim Lawson has another story to tell. This time, the Langley
singer/songwriter, who has long supported Canada's war veterans
through his music and publishing company, has turned his
eye toward a disease-ravaged continent on the far side of
the world.
Lawson is currently promoting his newest CD, So Many Stories.
He plans to donate $5 from every disc sold to help fight
the AIDS pandemic sweeping across Sub-Saharan Africa, and
killing more than two million people per year.
"My priority is to raise awareness, so I try to stay
well informed," says the artist, seated in his recording
studio on the 10-acre South Langley property he calls home.
"I didn't realize AIDS wasn't under control,"
he admits. "I was so consumed with post 9-11 (issues)."
"It's a dream of mine to make money doing music and
then give the money away," says the former owner of
a Baskin Robbins ice cream franchise.
As to why Lawson feels the need to advocate through his
music, the artist replies, simply: "I've always felt
I'm being guided."
Perhaps there was a guiding force at work the day he turned
on the TV and saw David Suzuki profiling Stephen Lewis,
a Canadian AIDS/HIV activist and UN special envoy working
in Africa.
Lewis' stories and the startling statistics he quoted during
the one-hour Nature of Things program shook Lawson to the
core.
"So much suffering goes on and will continue into the
foreseeable future," he says.
"It just ripped my heart out."
But the singer was also moved by the hope Lewis expressed,
that people with the deadly disease needn't suffer as they
do.
Soon after watching the program Lawson sat down and began
writing his single Why Me? which he dedicated to Lewis and
the U.N.
Through their work in Africa, Lewis and his foundation are
helping women and children who are dying of AIDS or have
been orphaned by the disease.
They work to ease the suffering of dying women, help the
orphans they leave behind and assist groups of people living
with HIV/AIDS to raise awareness and help eliminate the
stigma associated with the disease.
"There are so many reasons to hope. Every day there
are more reasons to hope," says Lawson.
Despite the serious subjects he takes on, the musician is,
at heart, a happy man.
"I believe in everyday laughter," he says with
a grin.
And why not? In his recording studio which sits next to
a large koi pond, Lawson points out that he is surrounded
by inspiration, when it comes time to sit down and write.
On the opposite side of the fish pond, to the north of his
house an unlikely little grove of palm trees thrives in
the centre of his back lawn.
Lawson planted them to find out whether they would survive.
And up against the side of the house, a stand of bamboo
looks equally out of place in the Canadian climate.
But in gardening as in life, Lawson believes one must at
least try, take some chances, even when the odds don't look
too favourable.
"The bottom line seems so obvious - people should not
be suffering, and, if they are, we have to help them,"
states Lawson.
There is no shame in being moved to tears by the state of
the world, he says.
"Like Gordon Lightfoot, I'm proud of every tear I've
cried."
When Lawson, whose voice resembles the warm rich timbre
of Lightfoot's, penned the first single Why Me? The song
all but wrote itself.
Lawson wrote the song, using what he describes as "strange
tuning," in three hours and never changed it, the musician
reports. "I felt good about it."
Marketing the CD has been the toughest part, he explains.
"We're not Bryan Adams."
With some of his previous efforts, Lawson marketed them
through different retail outlets and gave store owners $5
from each sale. Then he had a better idea: "Why not
give to the Stephen Lewis Foundation?"
Lawson has long worked at raising awareness, through his
music, of the contribution Canada's war veterans have made
to this country.
His publishing company, Timberholme Books, has produced
volumes on Canada's veterans, as well as on the history
of this nation's gold rush and a biography of Sir William
Stephenson, a Winnipeg-born spy who has served as the model
for various fictional spies, including Bond, James Bond.
Now that Lawson has turned his attention to helping the
Stephen Lewis Foundation, he is working not only to get
money to the organization, but to spread the word about
the important work it does.
Lewis has three main goals, he would like to see met by
2010, reports Lawson.
The first is universal availability of contraception for
women, so they can choose for themselves whether to become
pregnant; the second is for all orphans to be looked after;
and, third, that by 2010, Africa's foreign debt will be
forgiven.
"We have all the knowledge we need," to accomplish
these goals, notes Lawson, "but to do it, there must
be a quantum leap in financial resources."
To purchase a copy of So Many Stories, by the Tim Lawson
band, visit their Web site at www.timlawson.com.
© Copyright 2004 Langley Times
