By Jim Barber
First, we need to set the scene.
Thanks to former U.S. President John F. Kennedy (elected in 1960), not only were tens of millions of his fellow Americans inspired to reach beyond their own limitations and literally shoot for the moon and stars, but so was much of the rest of the world. The notion of humans slipping the surly bonds of earth’s gravity and sailing through the icy blackness of space in search of strange new worlds was the stuff of dime novel science fiction. But Kennedy’s bold statement, in a speech in September of 1962 that Americans would touch an extraterrestrial body – the moon – propelled science, technology, and the imagination of kids throughout the world into a new stratosphere.
Propelled by massive rockets, gripped by a sense of wonder, an unrivalled spirit of adventure, but also an all-too-present understanding of the immense danger of other-worldly travel, the astronauts who embarked on these missions of exploration and scientific achievement became true-to-life heroes. John Glenn, Neil Armstrong, Jim Lovell, and Sally Ride have been commemorated by film, books, stamps and more for generations. In Canada, youngsters could look up to, and strive to emulate the likes of Marc Garneau, Roberta Bondar and Chris Hadfield for their exploits on various space shuttle voyages.
Now, with the advent of NASA’s Artemis II space mission , for the first time in 50 years, residents of earth will traverse the 385,000 kilometres to visit the moon on their 10-day mission. After a couple of technical delays, the spacecraft is expected to launch from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida in March. On board, besides three intrepid American spacefarers representing NASA, will be a Canadian – Mission Specialist Col. Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency.
Not only will Hansen’s family, friends and millions of Canadians be cheering him on, but one friend of the family has been so inspired by his story, and the incredible opportunity that awaits him (he is the first ever Canadian to go to the moon), they decided to write, record and release a special song.
London resident, and acclaimed Canadian pop/rock singer/songwriter Emm Gryner co-wrote and recorded ‘Touch the Sky,’ which was released as a stand-alone single and video on Jan. 23. All proceeds from the sale of the song go to support the work of the Bluewater Health Foundation, raising funds to support medical care in Sarnia, Ontario.
The process leading to the song began when Gryner had befriended Hansen’s wife Catherine, a noted gynecologist through their mutual involvement in a women’s group called Coralus (https://www.coralus.world/) .
“When you’re talking about all the stuff going on in the world, it’s one of these saving graces where women and non-binary people can come together and raise money for companies and organizations that champion the U.N.’s global goals. So, it’s like good vibes all around, and they also really care about indigenous issues. A friend from that group said she would love for me to meet her friend Catherine, who is an esteemed gynecologist. She’s like a world expert on menopause. So, there was a lot to talk about. When we got talking and she said, ‘yeah, my husband’s going to the moon.’ And I thought that was so cool. And we kept talking about the fact that it would be nice if there was a song to commemorate this. That’s how it started and then meeting and talking to the CSA [Canadian Space Agency] came much later, as did navigating actually how to release a song that is inspired by a CSA astronaut. But initially I realized there was a lot to think about. It’s not about just throwing a new single out into the world,” Gryner said.
“Anytime anyone has a project or a mission on this scale it’s a big deal. But this mission in particular, Artemis II, is actually travelling further into space than we’ve gone in a long time. Having a Canadian on this big a mission is kind of unbelievable. I think Jeremy has become this kind of symbol, but I don’t know if everyone even realizes the significance of it yet. If you compare it to all the other news, it really stands out, or it should. That’s why this is so exciting because I think if you look at it through a childlike lens it’s amazing. I know I was dreaming about space as a little kid. And this story, this mission is one of those incredible things that can take your mind off all the other stuff.”
The purpose of the song, and how it has been received can be interpreted, as it is by the author of this piece, to be a bit of a celebration of what was seemingly a lost, more innocent time. A time when the achievement of humankind, especially as the species reached for the stars, crossed all barriers of race, gender, national borders, political affiliation and age generating excitement, inciting innovation and emulation by generations who followed.
These days, a spaceship crewed by human beings has become relatively commonplace in the age of space shuttles, space stations, and to some degree that naïve and wholesome sense of striving to be better has been replaced by crass cynicism and indifference thanks, in no small part, to the egomaniacal endeavours of billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. The days of Buzz Aldrin and later Julie Payette have been replaced by TikTok and Snapchat shorts and reels of ‘celebrities’ such as Katy Perry, Michael Strahan and others taking a trip to the stars for the purposes of social media hits, instead of ‘exploring strange new worlds’ and actually advancing science.
But ‘Touch The Sky’ shunts aside all of the noise over Blue Origin and the like. Instead, the song pivots the listener back to engaging their imagination, invoking a possibly long-forgotten appreciation and awesome sense of wonder and idealism sparked by the Apollo missions of the 1960s and early 1970s, and later by the advent of the Space Shuttle Columbia and its sister vessels. The song is an edifying celebration of a remarkable endeavour based on the tenets of rationality, empiricism, evidence-based science, and human achievement – all things that should be able to cross the various artificial divides that have been entrenched into our human society and culture.
Gryner and her co-writers have woven a tale of one person’s dreams, and how they’ve come to life in such an awe-inspiring manner, with a larger overarching context – a tribute to Canada’s impactful place in the history of space science and travel, and the values of peaceful collaboration, shared commitment to improving our world, which have come to define the country in all of its endeavours.
It is both inspirational and aspirational – an affirmation not only of Hansen’s remarkable journey and the breathtaking adventure that awaits him, but because it’s been a long time, in Gryner’s estimation, since there was something like this mission with the potential of uniting people in a demonstrably positive, inspirational manner – much in the way the first missions to the moon in the late-1960s and the early Space Shuttle journeys did.
“Right now, there’s this trend going on where everyone’s talking about 2016 online, because apparently that was when we last felt happy. But to me, the 1980s were that. We had movies that made us feel good, music that was ridiculous, like, ridiculously excessive with all the big choruses and big hair. And we kind of had heroes to follow. I think this seems so beautiful and simple, talking about Jeremy’s life and his mission and their family. It’s all so lovely and wholesome and I wanted to capture that. And I want it to also be a love song, but also an anthem for the country because I think we really do want that these days. We need peace and love and harmony and to be swept away by these amazing things that people are doing. It’s like, an opportunity for everyone to go back to how we thought as a child and to look at something like a rocket to the moon through childlike eyes. It’s way more than just a current event and something in the news, I think,” Gryner said.
Gryner worked on the song closely with her musical and life partner, poet/producer Michael Holmes, as well as top Toronto session songwriter/producer and Juno winner Steve MacKinnon (Serena Ryder, Marc Jordan).
“I am just so into the way he plays. When I was putting this song together and thinking about who I wanted to work with, I started to think about great Canadian musicians who are especially great pianists and keyboard people. And I’ve always, in the back of my mind, thought about Steve MacKinnon, who is not a household name to a lot of people. But when I moved to Toronto as a 20-year-old or whatever, he was running a jingle house and producing Marc Jordan. And Stu Brawley, who produced my Original Leap Year album [1997], was working for Steve so I got this glimpse of how someone can have a career in music both commercially, but also still making records,” she said.
“But more than that, I just loved his musical mind. I knew if I could do something with him, it’s going to be great. And then this project was just, like glaring at me. And I thought, well maybe I could get him to do this. But the thing is, with someone like Steve MacKinnon, you kind of have to have some coin to work with him. He was actually won over by Jeremy himself, and just the story of the mission, I think, and he got on board. He came up with this first part of the chorus and then I filled in a part of that chorus, the ‘nothing can stop us’ 1980s kind of part of it,” she explained.
“Then we just went back and forth. We did some Zoom sessions where my partner Michael, who wrote my Business and Pleasure album [2023] with me, added some lyrics and weighed in musically as well. And we all worked really hard, starting in April [of 2025] to get something that was good. And again, working with someone like Mac – I call him Mac – you just push to be your best right? So, melodically it had to make sense, it had to keep moving, it had to be really evoking the spirit of this mission, Jeremy’s mission, and his life. We tapped into the story of him growing up on a farm and having this huge dream and following it through. And also, he’s a lovely person. When you meet him, he’s so, and I hate to say this phrase, but I’m going to say it, down to earth.
“So, Mac sent this little nugget of an idea for a chorus, which is great when someone can start a song that way, because it defines the whole song. And it also gives us somewhere to go. We went back and forth quite a bit. I remember Michael and I had a ton of other things to do, but then it was like, ‘oh yeah, we’ve got to get back to the song.’ We needed to get something to Mac that was good enough for him to get the next thing back to us. It was a bit like ping pong. We weren’t ever in the same room because Mac’s in Port Hope, Ontario. We had maybe one or two Zoom sessions where we wrote together, which is kind of crazy to do, and something I don’t do very much. I know people do it all the time, like seasoned writers. And eventually we just hit a point where we said, ‘yeah, I think that we have it.’ So, it definitely couldn’t have happened without Mac and his mind for orchestration, changing keys and just, you know, taking it where it needed to go.”
The funding for the project was raised through Kickstarter and as mentioned above, all proceeds going to support medical care in Gryner’s hometown of Sarnia.
“The timing of this project was interesting because everyone had already given for the two records that I am currently working on and which are in progress. But then I had to step out of my solo record job to kind of do this. I realized pretty early on, because we are involved with an astronaut here, it’s not anything that anyone wants to make money off. We just wanted to make music and celebrate Jeremy. So, I’ve chosen the Sarnia Bluewater Health Foundation to give all the proceeds to, which feels good. Because health care workers work miracles and astronauts work miracles too. I’m really lucky because without the fans supporting this project as well as my albums, it wouldn’t have happened. I’ve actually burned a hundred special CDs of the song which I am going to send to them,” she said.
“I like Kickstarter because it’s really the only platform where you can raise money for a record now that is trustworthy. You’re able to really interact with the fans in a transparent way and show them what you’re doing. They’ve all had this single for a while before we officially released it on Jan. 23. I just released the video to them too because I want them to feel like they’re a part of this and I hope they do. Especially as an indie artist, I actually can’t do my records without these supporters, and Kickstarter makes it possible.”
The two new albums Gryner is talking about represent two of the primary facets and creative outlets of the three-time Juno nominee. One is a new ‘solo’ record and the other is the first album from her new hard rock/metal project, Ovary Axe (see Music Life Magazine’s feature article about this here: https://www.musiclifemagazine.net/emm-gryner-unleashes-heavy-message-with-new-metal-band-ovary-axe/). Releases of the albums will be staggered. Keep your eyes peeled to www.musiclifemagazine.net for more information on these projects.
Gryner also participated in recordings for the debut, self-titled album by British band KillerStar, featuring veteran musicians/songwriters Rob Fleming and James Sedge, former collaborators of the legendary David Bowie. Many other former alumni of Bowie’s band appear on the album, including Gryner, Mike Garson, Earl Slick, Mark Plati and more.
“I’m playing in London, England in early March opening for KillerStar for their album release shows. So, I’m supporting them, and then there’s one Ovary Axe show confirmed at Lee’s Palace in Toronto on May 16. My band is another great Canadian Power trio. I am singing and playing bass, and I have Tim Timleck on drums and Keegan Hornbosel, who’s this 20 year old guitar wizard. There will be other dates for the band, and other Emm solo dates coming for the rest of the year,” she said.
For more information, visit https://www.emmgryner.com.
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