Birdsong artist Terry Witzu opens up about songwriting after a six-year hiatus. Producer Ted Adler shares how there is no communication barrier when musicians use music as their language for both in-studio production and healing.

I first met Terry Witzu at a coffeeshop in Ottawa in February 2024, after he had applied for a Birdsong New Music Grant, which finances indie song production from individuals diagnosed with mental illness.

What strikes me on this cold, wintery morning, after I pick him up from his small apartment in Vanier, Ottawa’s east end, is how excited he is about addressing all things music. He tells me how much he loves so many musical genres and name-drops bands I’ve never heard of for over an hour.

Terry’s manner is engaging and articulate and his music stories are fabulous and fascinating. He also tells me he has a lot of musical equipment at his place but had not played music or composed in over six years!” That gets me.