Mick Dalla-Vee is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

singer, songwriter, producer, engineer, multi-instrumentalist.

Early days

He moved to

Western Canada Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West, or Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a list of regions of Canada, Canadian region that includes the four western provinces and t ...

, after leaving Bawating High School from

Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario Sault Ste. Marie ( ) is a city in northern Ontario, Canada, on the north shore of the St. Mary's River directly across from its "twin city," Sault Ste. Marie, in the state of Michigan. The city's population was 72,051 at the 2021 census, makin ...

, with the band Shama. Shama toured Western Canada and was managed by Bruce Allen (

Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born November 5, 1959) is a British and Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and photographer. He is estimated to have sold between 75 million and more than 100 million album, records and Single (music), si ...

Martina McBride Martina Mariea McBride (née Schiff, July 29, 1966) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She is known for her soprano singing range and her country pop material. McBride was born in Sharon, Kansas, and relocated to Nashville, T ...

) before disbanding. From that point he became the lead guitarist of Trama, managed by Sam Feldman (

Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan Mitchell (née Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and painter. As one of the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitch ...

Diana Krall Diana Jean Krall (born November 16, 1964) is a Canadian jazz pianist and singer known for her contralto vocals. She has sold more than 15 million albums worldwide, including over six million in the US. On December 11, 2009, ''Billboard (magazi ...

), then on to playing bass for the band

Paradox A paradox is a logically self-contradictory statement or a statement that runs contrary to one's expectation. It is a statement that, despite apparently valid reasoning from true or apparently true premises, leads to a seemingly self-contradictor ...

which evolved into his current band

Cease & Desist A cease and desist letter is a document sent by one party, often a business, to warn another party that they believe the other party is committing an unlawful act, such as copyright infringement, and that they will take legal action if the other ...

. Cease & Desist has been described as "one of Vancouver's most popular club bands" by the rock music critic of ''

The Province ''The Province'' is a daily newspaper published in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format in British Columbia by Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network, alongside the ''Vancouver Sun'' broadsheet newspaper. Together, they ...

''. He also played the part of

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

in a Beatles cover band, Revolver, that was put together for

Expo 86 The 1986 World Exposition on Transportation and Communication, or simply Expo 86, was a world's fair held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from May 2 until October 13, 1986. The fair, the theme of which was "Transportation and Communicatio ...

, and played occasionally throughout the subsequent decade.

Songwriting

Mick has written or co-written many songs on albums for artists as diverse as country music's Brent Howard and Canada's Singing Cowgirl: Marilyn Faye Parney, the heavy rock sounds of Blackstone (released on the Delinquent label in Canada), the soul/R&B sounds of 'j.c. neill', Belinda Metz and new singing sensation 'Emily Jordan' to the 'smooth jazz' sounds of internationally acclaimed Lori Paul. He co-wrote ten of the eleven songs on Paul's album ''Vanity Press''. His first country song 'The Wrangler' reached the country top 30 charts right across Canada. It also achieved 'Heavy Rotation' on C.M.T., Canada's country music video channel. One of the songs from Mick's 'A Whistler Christmas' album entitled, 'All I Want is You at Christmastime' has been recorded and released by Canadian country star, Brent Howard and has also been sent to be recorded by 'Art Garfunkel' for a compilation Christmas album due in the not too distant future. He has also written music for movies, television, videos, video games and promotional spots. His writing styles run the gamut from 'Smooth Jazz' to 'Heavy Thrash'. (A Whistler Christmas and Dalla-Vee's original Christmas songs are often heard on Canadian radio during their Christmas music programming.)

Producing

Aside from producing himself in an array of projects such as 1994's ''A Whistler Christmas'' album, he runs his own studio 'Millennia Sound Design', producing and engineering for artists like: Randy Bachman, Emily Jordan, j.c. neill, Lori Paul, Hello Beautiful amongst others. He has ongoing contracts with The National Braille Factory, and has provided theme music and soundscapes for two network television series and Simon Fraser University. Randy Bachman's new CD "Jazzthing" had some work done on it at "Millennia Sound Design".

Vocals

Dalla-Vee has contributed to projects as diverse as, the multi platinum heavy rock of the

Mötley Crüe Mötley Crüe is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Hollywood, California, in 1981 by bassist Nikki Sixx and drummer Tommy Lee, with guitarist Mick Mars and lead vocalist Vince Neil joining right after. The band has sol ...

album ''A Decade of Decadence'' to the country/rockabilly sounds of Brent Howard and Southern Cherry to Colin Arthur Wiebe. Canadian legends, Trooper and The Powder Blues Band have also used Mick's voice for recordings. He has worked extensively as a studio session singer/musician, with his talent of many voices being used on a worldwide 'Karaoke' album package marketed over the dreaded U.S. infomercial. He has sung a number of commercial jingles for radio and television.

Awards

Having recorded with a host of other Canadian and international recording acts such as

Randy Bachman Randolph Charles Bachman ( ; born September 27, 1943) is a Canadian guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He was a founding member of the bands The Guess Who and Bachman–Turner Overdrive. He was the writer and singer of several hit rock songs, ...

(of the band The Guess Who and Bachman Turner Overdrive), Mick was awarded a 'Gold Record' for his work on the 'Trooper' album 'Last of the Gypsies' in 1991. In 2011-2012 Mick received first a Gold Status award then a Platinum status award for The Live DVD: Bachman & Turner Live at The Roseland Ballroom in New York City. The guest performer with the band for that show and DVD was Paul Shaffer of The Late Show with David Letterman. Mick also earned a Platinum status for the DVD ‘Randy Bachman’s Vinyl Tap’ which was filmed during the cross Canada tour of the show by the same name. Mick is the featured vocalist as well as bass player in Randy's live band. In 1997, he received the Saskatchewan Album of the Year Award for his song writing/musician contributions to an album with proceeds going to people affected with

multiple sclerosis Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease resulting in damage to myelinthe insulating covers of nerve cellsin the brain and spinal cord. As a demyelinating disease, MS disrupts the nervous system's ability to Action potential, transmit ...

Live

He keeps an extremely steady schedule playing guitar, bass and keyboards with his main band, Cease and Desist, and its new show "Atlantic Crossing". He is the bass player/vocalist with Canadian Rock Legend,

's band. Bachman’s 2003 - 2007 foray in the jazz world with his CD's, ‘Jazz Thing (1 & 2)’ features Dalla-Vee on the ‘upright bass’ and vocals. He plays mandolin, banjo, acoustic guitars and harmonica in the Brent Howard and Southern Cherry band, and has toured as

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

in 'Revolver - The Worlds Best Beatles Show'. Mick also appears as 'Elton John' in the hit show, Elton and Billy: Live. Dalla-Vee played keyboards with the R&B Grammy Award winning sensation, Melanie Fiona.

Affiliations

A longtime member of the

Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) is a non-profit organization responsible for promoting Canadian music and artists. It is famous for its Juno Awards, which recognize achievements in the music industry of popular song ...

, he has sat on the panel as a judge for Canada's

Juno Awards The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's music industry. The Grammy Awards are the United S ...

(Canada's Version of The

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

's). He was on the board of directors of the Pacific Music Industry Association for 3 years, and is also chair of The Carolyn Foundation Musician's Assistance Society; a non-profit organization he and colleagues set-up in the wake of his daughter Carolyn's sudden death in November 1999.

References

External links

Cease & DesistMick Dalla-Vee
official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Dalla-Vee, Mick Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Canadian rock guitarists Canadian rock bass guitarists