With his new album, Lest We Forget II, musician Tim Lawson is fulfilling his own goals of promoting remembrance and helping veterans. Half of the proceeds from this CD, released this fall, will be donated to the Royal Canadian Legion Poppy Fund.

“It’s been a dream of mine to have a full album of war-themed songs, but rather than depress anybody, to use them to let people know what happened,” says Lawson.

His late father, Tom, was a colonel during WW II. And his late grandfather, businessman and philanthropist Ray Lawson, served as lieutenant-governor of Ontario from 1946 to 1952. The Legion’s Hon. Ray Lawson Branch – where Tim is a member- in Chatham, Ontario, is named after him.

Born in 1953, Tim Lawson spent his first 25 years in Ontario. Although he started to play the guitar at age 10, he put aside his musical aspirations until 1991. In the meantime he relocated to Vancouver, worked in printing, bred Arabian Horses and operated an ice cream company.

Since then, Tim Lawson has established his own music and book publishing business, Timberholme. Lest We Forget II consists of 12 songs inspired by wartime, six of which are new and six of which were taken from previous albums. Lawson sings and plays guitar backed by a band. “There’s stuff here that people who are 85 will like, and that 15-year-olds will like. I try to put a contemporary light on things and use the music as a bridge for all generations.”

Lawson drew from a WW I pilot’s log in which the writer describes how his unit was all but obliterated after six months in action. In another song, The Quiet Canadian, Lawson pays tribute to his late family friend, Sir William Stephenson, the Winnipeg native who became the WW II spymaster with the code name Intrepid.

Lawson’s first mini-album, Les We Forget, raised $10,000 for the Legions’ Poppy Fund when it came out in 2000. The Poppy Fund serves to provide assistance to veterans and their families across Canada. “This time, we have the potential to make a substantially higher amount,” he says. Timberholme will donate $5 to the Poppy Fund for every $10 CD sold. His publicity manager, Anya Wilson, says the album will be available through the Timberholme website www.lestweforget2002.com and major music stores. Individual Legion branches are being asked to sell the record with the $5 going to their Poppy Funds. When costs are factored in, Timberholme is likely to take a bit of a hit. “The idea is not to make money for the company,” explains Lawson. “This will be a charitable thing for us.”

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