![STUDIO SESSION:Musicians [from left] Pat Buckna, Loren Halloran, Marion Keller and Ray Harvey are working on a recording of a song written by Halloran.](https://www.vmcdn.ca/f/files/powellriverpeak/images/people/3029_buckna_studio.JPG;w=960;h=640;bgcolor=000000)
Gender-based violence, including murder, disproportionately affects women and girls. According to Statistics Canada, the homicide rate for Indigenous victims was seven times higher than the rate for non-Indigenous people in 2020.
Longtime singer/songwriter and musician Loren Halloran recently moved to the qathet region and is continuing his song project for one of two women who were murdered in Duncan in late 2011.
"I'd originally done a song called ‘Swept Away’ for Karrie Anne Stone, the first to be killed, to remember her," said Halloran. "This current song called, ‘On This Day’, is in remembrance of Tyeisha Jones, the other woman who was murdered by the same man."
Halloran is currently working with well-known qathet musician and producer Pat Buckna in his home studio in Westview, but will eventually travel to Buckna's studio on Texada Island, where they will record vocals and do some fine-tuning on the track.
"This was an international story," said Halloran. "The murderer was caught and is in prison."
Previously, Halloran wrote two songs, ‘Highway of Tears’, and ‘Swept Away’, to remember the missing and murdered women of Highway 16 in northern BC.
Halloran said both songs made it onto the Songwriters of BC compact disc (CD) in 2017. Money made from sales went to groups supporting women facing violence.
"I am an empath, and I have a heart for people and their pain and suffering," said Halloran. "I was going through a really bad, bitter divorce at the time, and I found that I gained strength by actually helping others with what they were going through.
"I wrote ‘Highway of Tears’ and ‘Swept Away’ for Karrie Anne, and now it's time to get this one finished."
Halloran said he wrote ‘On This Day’ years ago but out of respect for the Jones family's Indigenous cultural traditions, he delayed recording the song until now.
Ray Harvey, a guitarist and singer with Eagle Eyes, an Eagles tribute band, is also in the studio with Holloran playing guitar, along with local singer Marion Keller, who will be contributing harmony vocals on the song.
"We're recording some guitar breaks and we've laid down some basic tracks," said Buckna. "Now, we've got Loren's piano and some samples of some rain and thunder."
Buckna said he doesn't mind working on preliminary recordings in his home studio but, for most of the vocals, they will record them at his studio on Texada, where it's nice and quiet.
Halloran is planning to get a CD made for Jones' mother and upload the song in digital format to streaming services, and/or possibly YouTube, for the public.
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