Songwriter has novel way to finance recordings - Canadian Tire money

Songwriter has novel way to finance recordings - Canadian Tire money. Corin Raymond has been collecting Canadian Tire money he will use to record his next two albums at the Rogue Studio, which takes Canadian Tire money at par. Photo/COURTESY

Raymond, who has a weekly gig at the Cameron House as a solo artist and also plays regularly with backing band the Sundowners, came upon the idea after co-writing a song titled 'Canadian Tire Money' with fellow songwriter Rob Vaarmeyer. As he played the song at live gigs, particularly during a tour in western Canada, he noticed it paid unique dividends.

"Whenever I played the song, Canadian Tire money started coming out of the woodwork," he said. "I played it in the Yukon and wound up taking home $22 in Canadian Tire money."

While he was happy to accept the donations, he had no idea he might eventually turn that generosity into recording sessions. It wasn't until mid-December that he realized he was sitting on a potential gold mine.

Raymond was speaking with James Paul of The Rogue studio about the Canadian Tire money the song was bringing in.

"He looked at me with a blank look and said, 'you know The Rogue has always accepted Canadian Tire money at par, right?'" Raymond said.

Since then, Raymond has put up a Youtube video called 'Canadian Tire Starter' and written about his goal of raising $10,000 in Canadian Tire money on his blog, www.dontspendithoney.com, the title of which is taken from the lyrics to his 'Canadian Tire Money' song.

That has led to a huge windfall, as people have started mailing him their Canadian Tire money. He quickly shot past the $300 mark with more and more coming in all the time.

"I have an email list about 2,500 people strong and I haven't even sent an email out yet," he said. "There's a blizzard of Canadian Tire money bills coming in. I get more envelopes every day."

Raymond is set to record a live double album with the Sundowners using Canadian Tire money, with additional funds going toward the recording of a new solo album.

Paul noted his studio has, indeed, always employed a policy of accepting Canadian Tire money at par. He said he has accepted as much as $600 or $700 in payment in Canadian Tire money at once in the past but said he expects Raymond to set the bar far higher.

"I think he'll probably blow (the old mark) away," he said. "There seems to be a lot of people talking about it."

The studio has no official cap on the amount of Canadian Tire money clients can spend, though Paul admitted that might need to be instituted should Raymond's efforts turn into a wider trend.

"We need to make sure the bottom line of the business is taken care of, but for now there's no cap," he said. "At any time, there's something you can use at Canadian Tire."

Corin Raymond and the Sundowners will play two gigs - both of which will be recorded live - at the Tranzac, 292 Brunswick Ave. at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 24 and Wednesday, Jan. 25. Tickets are $15 in advance at the Cameron House and Paradise Bound or $18 at the door. Guests are asked to bring along spare Canadian Tire money to the shows.

Raymond is also inviting people to mail their Canadian Tire money to his attention at 39 Oxford Street, Toronto, ON, M5T 1N8.

"I have this vision of a Fort Knox block of Canadian Tire money unlike anything anyone's seen before outside of the Canadian Tire mint," he said.