Biography:

I suppose it all starts at home. I was blessed to have been born into a musical family; both of my parents had grown up in musical families of their own, both studied piano as children and enjoyed singing (Dad was a tenor in our local United Church choir when I was in short pants in Sunday school).

In Montreal’s English Protestant public elementary schools in those days (mid –‘60s), we used to sing ‘God Save the Queen’ at the beginning of each day, followed by a few hymns. Standing up and singing out was a highlight of my day.
As the fourth of 5 children, I profited from the musical influences of my older siblings, who brought amazing records into my life at an early age. During lunchtime breaks from school I would spin my oldest brother’s King Crimson, Iron Butterfly, Led Zepplin and Guess Who records on our little record player, lip-syncing and air-performing every instrument. This was 1969 or ’70; I was 9 or 10 years old.

By my early teens, my sister (who was 2 years older than I) was several years into studying piano. I spent countless hours on the bench beside her, studying her hands and the notation. A gifted and natural musician, she would practice her classical pieces first and then reward herself by playing and improvising on ‘boogie-woogie’ patterns she had learned from our English Uncle Denis. Around this time, my older brother Darryl got his first acoustic guitar. Thus began early efforts at 3-part harmonies, my brother, my sister and I.

Having eschewed formal music lessons early on, at 14 years old I received a Hohner harmonica as a birthday gift. Shortly after mastering ‘Old Suzanna’ (a little less quickly than my sister), Stevie Wonder released ‘Boogie on Raggae Woman’ complete with his slick and funky chromatic harp playing. I was stunned; where was he finding those notes? Thank God there was Bob Dylan’s harp. This I could cover. These mid-teen years led me to the harp playing of John Mayall, Howlin’ Wolf and Magic Dick and his Lickin’ Stick, as well as to my first garage bands.

Late teens led to meeting more musicians and skipping college classes to jam. My girlfriend at the time, Sue had a beautiful classical guitar and a huge 3 ringed-binder filled with songs and tablature that we would play and sing together. We argued a lot about timing, pitch and tuning (we were clearly destined to marry). She introduced me to serious choral singing and to the basics of music notation. Around this time, I bought my first guitar and began writing my first songs.

Sue also introduced me to musical friends, including David Armstrong who had a gigging cover band. Though they were not looking for a harp player, somehow an audition landed me in the band, Thyme. We had a good run for a few years, playing high schools, town fairs and a few bars (including an infamous run at the ‘Edgewater Hotel’), while studying at university. David and I eventually split the band and lived together near the Montreal Forum while we finished our undergraduate degrees, looking to evolve to the next stage musically. Grad school would take us each in different directions (and to different cities) at the end of that year together; thus ended a cherished musical relationship.

Marriage, starting a family and a career pushed music aside for a few years in my mid-to-later 20s. But during those early married years, we were graced to live in a very low-rent apartment one floor above the legendary folk musician, Penny Lang – who, as it happened, was preparing a comeback after having been off the scene for a decade or so. Her new melodies would waft up through the floor boards and lull my first born to sleep at night. When she was ready to head out to play the first folk festival of her comeback (the Sudbury Folk Fest), she had to ask to borrow my guitar as she did not have one of her own at the time… Those years on Walkley Avenue showed me that humble surroundings could produce great and lasting music.

The late 80s found me at the National Film Board of Canada, a vibrant public cultural agency filled with artists and bureaucrats elbowing one another. A hot-bed of creativity and can-do attitude, it was at the NFB in early ‘90s that I met Steven Morris and, shortly thereafter, animator/filmmaker George Ungar. Thus began a very creative and productive, decade long musical adventure. After adding Mathieu Boutin to the ensemble, we eventually became ‘the reluctants’. An underground, experimental mixture of folk, rock, blues and spoken word emerged over those years, where the only rule was that each member was required to bring something new to each rehearsal session. Over time, this practise served us well, yielding 3 studio albums of unique and original material. Eventually, creative differences developed. Ultimately, I quit the band and it dissolved.

At around this same time, I started experimenting with a home studio set-up, writing and recording on my own, occasionally inviting a few special guests to lend their support. Since that time, I’ve managed to write, record, produce and release 2 studio albums (‘Take Me Home’ and ‘Sweet Dreamer’), along with a live concert album, numerous videos and a variety of live performances. At the time of this writing, the third studio album is nearing completion.

Trevor Grigg
Montreal,
January 2014