Born in Cameroon, Clerel moved to North America with his family after high school and, at the time, thought that he was probably going to be a doctor.  Spoiler alert right here off the top: he is not a doctor. He was, however, a chemist for short spell before deciding to give songwriting a go. And as much as I know a good doctor is not to be overlooked, having Clerel operating in this world as a songwriter is sweet, sweet medicine for us all. In our chat we talk about Clerel’s childhood in Cameroon, where every high schooler’s final exam results are read out over national radio; about ..read more

Wyatt C. Louis is a Métis Cree singer-songwriter from Treaty 6 territory who calls Red Deer, Alberta home. And, man, can he write a tune. I spoke with Wyatt in between his tour dates as he criss crossed North America with Noah Reid. In our chat, we speak about the importance of taking care of one’s mental health, especially when when one is on the road...criss crossing North America, with or without Noah Reid; how Wyatt uses memories of singing in a choir as a kid to help overcome stage fright as an adult; the importance of his father in his life and his musical career, and so much more. I enj ..read more

My guest on today’s episode, Montreal’s Loryn Taggart, released her debut full length album, the at once tender and beautifully bombastic, Lost Art of Pulling Through at the end of September.  In our chat, we speak about the circuitous route she took recording it, her time spent as David Bowie, couch surfing across the States, and the death of her father.  Loryn has said that she didn’t want the album to sound like the grief she was going through while she was writing and recording it, but, rather, a celebration.  And boy, she’s done just that. I was so pleased to be able to spe ..read more

There are just some singers that, as soon as they open their mouth and sing, make you think, my god, this could only be that one person. And that's the situation with my guest this episode, Aysanabee. From the moment I heard the songs from his formidable debut album Watin, I was struck by the power of his songwriting and by the incredible shape his voice gives to the songs. Aysanabee just released his follow up to Watin, a six song EP entitled Here and Now. We talk about it in our chat today, as well as the origins of his name, the reggae songs he was writing as a twelve year old, and the near ..read more

Born and raised in Salluit, a small village in Nunavik which is only accessible by plane, Elisapie is an emblematic Canadian Inuk singer-songwriter. Now based in Montreal, the Juno Award winner recently released her fourth solo record, the incredibly moving Inuktitut. On this album, she covers ten classic rock and pop songs translated into Inuktitut, her mother tongue. She's stripped them down to their essence and rebuilt them into renditions that, to a song, rival the original recordings. As you'll hear in our chat, when I asked her how she went about choosing the songs, she said that if i ..read more

Halifax Nova Scotia's Lance Sampson, aka Aquakulture, is a man who wears many hats. He's an award winning songwriter and musician, he's a red seal plumber, he's a father, a husband, and, as I found out in this chat, a devoted historian. One of the things I really love about doing these interviews is that I never really know where the person with whom I am about to speak is going to be when we connect. And that's exactly what happened here. It doesn't really matter which direction I thought the interview was going to go in, because when I got on the line with Lance Sampson it was clear from ..read more

This past March, Murray A. Lightburn, the longtime frontman of Montreal art rock superstars The Dears, released his 2nd solo album, the deeply personal, Once Upon a Time in Montreal. The album, which Murray has described as an audio version of a biopic, was inspired by the death of his father, a saxophonist who immigrated to Quebec from Belize in the 1960’s to be with a girl. That girl happened to be Murray’s mother, and, well, they just happened to be married for 56 years, until his father passed in April 2020. It was a very real pleasure to get to chat with Murray about his father, his mot ..read more

From where I’m sitting today, which is to say the east coast of Canada, Jenn Grant hardly needs an introduction. Born on Prince Edward Island, she’s long called Nova Scotia home. She lives with her partner in both music and in life, producer Daniel Ledwell, and their two boys on Lake Echo...actually I think it’s on Lake Martin, and we get into that. She recently released her 8th album, the hotly anticipated, Champagne Problems. It features 12 new tracks - 12 Canadian indie music dream collaborations. It sees the Juno nominee (and East Coast Music Award winner) sharing the co-writing and v ..read more

Lindsay Ontario's Darryl James, aka Close Kicks, put out his second EP Colours earlier this spring. I had a terrific time chatting with him about it and other things, over Zoom in the days following the album's release. You might know Darryl as the bassist, and one of the songwriters, in The Strumbellas. Aaaand, I know you know The Strumbellas... I got guns in my head and they won't go / Spirits in my head and they... You know the one. Or, sure, maybe you already know him as Close Kicks, the moniker he uses for his solo releases. Either way, I'm thrilled for you to listen to this episode ..read more

Winnipeg’s Grant Davidson, aka Slow Leaves released his 5th album, entitled Meantime, June 30, 2023. I had the great good fortune to chat over Zoom with Grant in the lead up to its release. He was immensely forthcoming. Open. Honest. And very funny. We chat about his path to songwriting and the decision to finally give in and do it for real, followed by the constant nagging need to justify that decision to himself; the challenge as a man to show your vulnerability and weakness; the origins of his moniker Slow Leaves; how the photo on the cover of Meantime came to be, and so much more. I had a ..read more