East Coast musicians mourn 'tireless and dedicated friend' Lynn Horne

A Halifax-based music promoter hailed as a "champion" for East Coast musicians in Canada has died. 

Lynn Horne managed and promoted a slew of successful musicians and shows over several decades, including Ron Hynes, The Trews, and Charlie A'Court. 

A'Court met her in the 1990s when he was just 20 and writing a music column for the Truro Daily News. Horne sent him press releases and set up interviews. The two shared Truro, N.S., roots and became friends.

"We discovered that we shared a sense of humour and that put us on the path of lifelong friends," he told CBC's Mainstreet Friday. 

Horne helped him launch his own career when he released his first album in 2002. He said she opened many doors for him. 

"We worked on countless projects right up until she decided to retire in 2017 and spend her remaining time focusing on her health and her family — and welcoming her little granddaughter," A'Court said. "She worried for her artists in the way a mother worries for her children."

'She watched me grow up'

A'Court said Horne's professionalism and ethics drew many artists into her orbit. "She watched me grow up to become a husband and a father, and would often check in with me on that," he said. 

He credits her with saving Ron Hynes's career as he struggled with his health.

"She always preferred if not face to face, then talk over the phone and share a laugh," A'Court said. "And she always delivered. I never once felt like Lynn didn't succeed at what she put her mind to."

Newfoundland's Catherine Allan and Andrew O'Brien perform as Fortunate Ones. And they called Horne a champion for acts like theirs. 

Dean Stairs, chair of the board for the East Coast Music Awards, said Horne represented "the very best" of Atlantic Canada's music industry. 

"She cared deeply about the people behind the art and always took the time to carefully listen to everyone she met," Stairs wrote on the ECMA website. "She was a passionate advocate for the East Coast music industry."

In April 2018, she was awarded the ECMA's Dr. Helen Creighton Lifetime Achievement Award for having a "profound and lasting effect" on the music industry. 

The organizers of the Stan Rogers Folk Festival hosted a benefit concert for Horne in 2017 after she was diagnosed with cancer. At the time, they called her a "tireless and dedicated friend" and a key supporter of the festival since its beginning. 

Tributes poured in Friday as news of her passing spread on social media. 

Singer/songwriter Christina Martin said Horne was always a welcome sight at music events. 

Lennie Gallant said she brought a "pure heart" to music promotion and to him, sounded like "a sweet, tender and slightly melancholy melody."