“It takes years to learn how to play like yourself”. I don’t know who said that. I think it was Miles Davis, but I could be wrong. It’s true, though. It takes years to fully develop any kind of creative voice. Painters, writers, musicians — all kinds of “creators” take the same journey. Basically, whether you’re making stuff or just making stuff up, it takes awhile to find a groove and figure out what “your thing” is.

I was six years old the first time I walked into a recording studio. A classmate’s mother sang commercial jingles, and she took a bunch of us kids along to watch. I instantly felt at home. Growing up in Toronto, a diverse, multicultural city, in a family that was itself diverse, I was exposed to all kinds of music, regardless of genre. In our house, it was common to hear Barbra Streisand followed by the Rolling Stones. Motown played alongside AC/DC. Charles Aznavour and The Pointer Sisters lived next door to Carole King on the shelf. (Later, I moved Whitney Houston, Anita Baker, Prince, and RUN- D.M.C., among many others, into that neighbourhood). As a second-grader, I thought that John Lennon was the mayor. One of my relatives bore a passing resemblance to Dionne Warwick; my five-year-old brain conflated them. In my mind, music was the foundation of everything that was important.

DATE/TIME: July 04, 2023, 7:30 PM
Tickets start at $67.25
VENUE: Royal Theatre – 805 Broughton St