Halifax lawyer to receive Juno for decades of helping others achieve stardom

A Halifax lawyer who has played a behind-the-scenes role in the careers of musicians such as Sloan, Feist, The Rankin Family and Alvvays will be front and centre at next month's Juno Awards in Halifax when he receives a special achievement award.

Chip Sutherland, 60, will be honoured with the Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award that recognizes individuals whose work has helped develop the Canadian music industry.

"It's a really nice recognition to have, especially being from Halifax and to have it happen in Halifax," Sutherland told CBC News in a phone interview from Los Angeles.

Originally from Belleville, Ont., Sutherland moved to Halifax in 1985 to attend law school at Dalhousie University. He also played in bands, most notably Black Pool, which won an East Coast Music Award in 1991 for pop/rock recording of the year.

Sutherland left the band later that year as his law practice grew. He practised litigation and did work for school boards as well, but his entrance into entertainment law came when his friends from Sloan — which included former Black Pool bandmate Chris Murphy — needed legal help to sign a major record deal with Geffen Records in 1992.

"This is going from zero to 150 miles an hour in a month from a legal practice point of view," said Sutherland. "Normally you get sort of brought along, but there was nobody. Nobody practised entertainment law in Nova Scotia. There were some film and TV guys, but no music people."

That meant that when Halifax got dubbed as the next Seattle in the mid-1990s, and record labels flocked to the city to sign bands from the city's burgeoning alternative rock scene, Sutherland's legal and artist management services were in demand. Adding to that was interest in the region's Celtic music scene.

"For the East Coast, there were two distinct forks," said Sutherland. "One was Sloan, Jale, Eric's Trip, Thrush Hermit also came out of that. And then on the Celtic side, you had the Rankins, Ashley MacIsaac, Great Big Sea, Natalie MacMaster."

Chris Murphy said Sutherland has helped a lot of people, not just well-known acts.

"He basically helped all kinds of vulnerable and naive and well-meaning people in the East Coast and help them get their music out there and help them not get ripped off," said the Sloan bassist.

Murphy has regularly seen contracts sent to Sloan that Sutherland would rewrite to make them good for the artist.

Sutherland said there's a false narrative in the music business that contracts are industry standard.

"I'd be like, 'I don't care what you think your industry standard is, it's not our industry standard. Our industry standard is completely different and it involves us retaining ownership and doing it our way,'" said Sutherland.

Murphy credits the success of his career to advice Sutherland has provided over the years, including band members sharing earnings equally and having their own record label — Murderecords — to put music out on in case things went sour with Geffen, which is what happened.