{{Short description|Canadian musician}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Cindy Church | image = | origin = [[Bible Hill, Nova Scotia]], Canada | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1958}} | instrument = Vocals, guitar | genre = [[Country music|Country]], [[Folk music|folk]] | occupation = Singer-songwriter | years_active = 1987–present | label = [[Stony Plain Records|Stony Plain]] | associated_acts = [[Quartette (band)|Quartette]]<br />[[Ian Tyson]] <br />[[Lunch at Allen's]] | website = {{URL|cindychurch.com}} }}
'''Cindy Church''' (born 1958)<ref>[https://soundcloud.com/deannefitzpatrick/creativity-and-meaning-in-both-music-and-rug-hooking-with-singer-cindy-church "Episode 44 Singer, Cindy Church finds creativity and meaning in both music and rug hooking"]. ''Great Beauty Everyday'', [[Deanne Fitzpatrick]]. 22 March 2021</ref><ref>[https://vimeo.com/659742475 "Episode 77 Iconic Singer/Songwriter, Cindy Church joins us today for a special Christmas Live"]. ''Thursday Live'', Deanne Fitzpatrick. 23 December 2021</ref><ref>[https://www.dustydiscsradio.com/podcast/episode/79467e94/cindy-church "Cindy Church Interview"]. ''Liner Notes: Revealing Chats With Canada's Retro Music Makers'', Dan Hare. 15 December 2021</ref> is a Canadian [[country music|country]] and [[folk music|folk]] artist. Church released three studio albums on [[Stony Plain Records]] and was nominated for [[Juno Award for Country Recording of the Year|Best Country Female Vocalist]] at the [[Juno Award]]s in 1995 and 1996. She is also a member of the award-winning group [[Quartette (band)|Quartette]].
==Early life== Church grew up in Bible Hill, Nova Scotia.<ref>[https://www.thestar.com/life/homes/2010/07/15/airy_flat_hits_right_chord_with_country_songstress.html "Airy flat hits right chord with country songstress"]. ''Toronto Star'', David Hayes. 15 July 2010</ref><ref>[https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/music/2012/10/17/cindy_church_roots_queen_tries_out_jazz_and_sadness.html "Cindy Church, roots queen, tries out jazz and sadness"]. ''Toronto Star'', Peter Goddard. 17 October 2012</ref>
==Biography== In 1984, Cindy Church, along with guitarist Nathan Tinkham, joined [[Ian Tyson]]'s band, the Chinook Arch Riders. Church sang background vocals on three of Tyson's albums.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.telusplanet.net/public/budda/songwriter/CHURCH.htm|title=CHURCH|date=6 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606034646/http://www.telusplanet.net/public/budda/songwriter/CHURCH.htm |access-date=July 1, 2023|archive-date=6 June 2011 }}</ref> In 1987, Church and Tinkham joined the traditional country music trio [[Great Western Orchestra]] founded by Neil Bentley, Dave Hamilton and mandolinist David Wilkie.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.telusplanet.net/public/budda/songwriter/GWO.htm|title=GWO|date=6 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606035628/http://www.telusplanet.net/public/budda/songwriter/GWO.htm |access-date=July 1, 2023|archive-date=6 June 2011 }}</ref> The group recorded an album for [[Sony Music Canada]] and received a 1990 [[Juno Award]] nomination for [[Juno Award for Country Recording of the Year|Best Country Group or Duo]]. Church launched a solo career in 1992 with the release of the single "The Road to Home."<ref name="amg">{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/cindy-church-mn0000125450/biography|title=Cindy Church Biography, Songs, & Albums|website=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=July 1, 2023}}</ref> Her second single, "A Song for Brent," was recorded in honour of Brent Berezay, who became a [[paraplegic]] following a rodeo accident.<ref>[http://www.songforbrent.ca/index.php/about-song-for-brent] {{dead link|date=July 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Proceeds from the song went to the Song for Brent Society.
Church won Female Artist of the Year at the 1993 Alberta Country Music Awards.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://jam.canoe.com/Music/Pop_Encyclopedia/C/Church_Cindy.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160309160050/http://jam.canoe.com/Music/Pop_Encyclopedia/C/Church_Cindy.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=9 March 2016|title=CANOE – JAM! Music – Pop Encyclopedia – Church, Cindy|website=canoe.com|access-date=July 1, 2023}}</ref> That same year, she joined singer-songwriters [[Sylvia Tyson]], Caitlin Hanford and [[Colleen Peterson]] to form the country and folk music group [[Quartette (band)|Quartette]].<ref name="Einarson2001">{{cite book|author=John Einarson|title=Desperados: The Roots of Country Rock|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pydnobIDzJEC&pg=PA233|date=January 2001|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-0-8154-1065-2|pages=233–}}</ref><ref name="Schneider2010">{{cite book|author=Jason Schneider|title=Whispering Pines: The Northern Roots of American Music... from Hank Snow to the Band|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c--zNXu1v74C&pg=RA1-PT149|date=15 December 2010|publisher=ECW Press|isbn=978-1-55490-552-2|pages=1–}}</ref>
Church was named best country artist at the Alberta Recording Industry Awards in 1994;<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/473940910/ "Mercy - Arden collects half a dozen ARIAs"]. ''Edmonton Journal'', Edmonton, Alberta, 30 May 1994, p. 12</ref> that year Quartette won the [[Canadian Country Music Association]]'s award for Vocal Collaboration of the Year. The group received three consecutive Juno Award nominations for Best Country Group or Duo from 1995 to 1997. Peterson was forced to leave the group when she was diagnosed with cancer in 1996. She chose her friend [[Gwen Swick]] to fill in for her.
Church issued her debut solo album, ''Love on the Range'', in 1994.<ref name="amg" /> Included was the Top 20 single "Rockabilly Heart." She received a nomination from the Canadian Country Music Association for Female Artist of the Year, and was also nominated for [[Juno Award for Country Recording of the Year|Best Country Female Vocalist]] at the Juno Awards in 1995 and 1996.<ref name="amg" /> Her second studio album, ''Just a Little Rain'', was released in 1995.<ref name="Inc.1995">{{cite book|author=Larry LeBlanc|title=Stony Plain's Church revives folk with 'Just a Little Rain'work=Billboard|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xgsEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA24|date=19 August 1995|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc.|pages=24–|issn=0006-2510}}</ref>
Church's eponymous third album was released in 1996. The album featured a duet with Ian Tyson on a song written by Tyson, "What Does She See." The collaboration resulted in a 1998 Juno Award nomination for Best Country Group or Duo. Church continues to perform as a member of Quartette, who issued their sixth studio album, ''Down at the Fair'', in 2007. She is also a member of the group [[Lunch At Allen's]] and performs in a tribute to [[Hoagy Carmichael]], "The Nearness of You."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.quartette.com/church.html|title=Quartette - Cindy Church|website=Quartette.com|access-date=July 1, 2023}}</ref>
During the summer of 2016, Church was performing with singers [[Marc Jordan]], [[Murray McLauchlan]] and [[Ian Thomas (Canadian musician)|Ian Thomas]] in the group [[Lunch At Allen's]], in a number of towns and small cities in Ontario, Canada.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2016/06/10/lunch-at-allens-brings-talented-musicians-back-to-barrie |title=Lunch At Allen's brings talented musicians back to Barrie |last=Doolan |first=Susan |date=10 June 2016 |website=Barrie Examiner |access-date=13 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160611140030/http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2016/06/10/lunch-at-allens-brings-talented-musicians-back-to-barrie |archive-date=11 June 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> She also continued her participation in Quartette with a month-long December tour.<ref>[https://ottawacitizen.com/entertainment/local-arts/a-quartette-christmas-with-sylvia-tyson-and-friends "A Quartette Christmas with Sylvia Tyson and friends"]. ''Ottawa Citizen'', Lynn Saxberg, 16 December 2016</ref>
==Discography== ===Albums=== {| class="wikitable" ! Year ! Title |- | 1994 | ''Love on the Range'' |- | 1995 | ''Just a Little Rain'' |- | 1996 | ''Cindy Church'' |- | 2012 | ''Sad Songs Make Me Happy'' |}
===Singles=== {| class="wikitable" |- ! Year ! Single ! width="45"| <small>CAN Country</small> ! Album |- | 1992 | "The Road to Home" | align="center"| — | ''Love on the Range'' |- | 1993 | "A Song for Brent" | align="center"| 19 | Non-album song |- | rowspan="3"| 1994 | "Rockabilly Heart" | align="center"| 19 | rowspan="4"| ''Love on the Range'' |- | "Love on the Range" | align="center"| 43 |- | "This October Day" | align="center"| 32 |- | rowspan="3"| 1995 | "My Wishing Room" | align="center"| — |- | "Still a Fool" | align="center"| 40 | rowspan="4"| ''Just a Little Rain'' |- | "Trying to Rope the Wind" | align="center"| 50 |- | rowspan="3"| 1996 | "Never Got Over You" | align="center"| 60 |- | "Sleeping Alone" | align="center"| 68 |- | "Sweet Dreams of You" | align="center"| 72 | rowspan="5"| ''Cindy Church'' |- | rowspan="2"| 1997 | "My Baby" | align="center"| 54 |- | "[[Lover Please]]" | align="center"| 44 |- | rowspan="2"| 1998 | "Wichita" | align="center"| — |- | "Whispering Pines" | align="center"| — |- | align="center" colspan="10" style="font-size:8pt"| "—" denotes the single failed to chart or not released |- |}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.cindychurch.com Official Site] * {{IMDb name|nm2474541}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Church, Cindy}} [[Category:1958 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Canadian women singer-songwriters]] [[Category:Canadian women country singers]] [[Category:Quartette (band) members]] [[Category:Canadian country singer-songwriters]] [[Category:Canadian folk singer-songwriters]] [[Category:Musicians from Nova Scotia]]