Owen Sound

OWEN SOUND, the sound-performance poetry ensemble, began its life inspired by watching and hearing The Four Horsemen. In 1974 Michael Dean, David Penhale, Steven Smith (now Steven Ross Smith) and Richard Truhlar began workshopping ensemble sound poetry explorations in a Toronto framing studio on Dupont Street operated by poet and framer Brian Dedora. Dedora was initially involved in these explorations. Before the group had a name, the workshopping led to the collaborative composition of pieces suitable for performance, and in 1976 the quartet, now calling itself OWEN SOUND [sometimes O(we)n So(u)nd], began performing publicly at an event at Fat Alberts Coffee House in Toronto, Ontario. Over their nine years together, Owen Sound presented their works in over 30 performances, including events in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver, Amsterdam (Stedelijk Museum), London, UK (Canada House and the National Poetry Centre), and even in Owen Sound, Ontario.