Four albums, sharing the stage with considerable Canadian talent and winning the Canadian Guitar Festival when his age was affixed with the suffix ‘teen’ all adds up to some heavy bragging weight for 22-year-old singer/songwriter Calum Graham.
Graham will be joining fingerstyle heavyweight Don Ross at Legacy Guitar and Coffee House for an 8 p.m. performance Jan. 24. The duo will be promoting their 2013 release, 12:34.
Fortunately, bragging doesn’t seem to be on the priority list for the level-headed musician, who relocated from his hometown of High River to Toronto a little over a year ago (returning home in the summer to perform for flood relief aid and help his family repair the damage done to their home from the flood).
While fingerstyle and classical guitar remain close to his heart, Graham has decided to take some time to branch out his musical flavour.
“Like Neil Young said, ‘The only time they should put me in a box is when I’m dead’…because I am so young, I have so much potential to explore.”
This includes putting together a blues-funk-soul Motown revue — something Graham is in the works of doing, with plans to write and record a full-length album that will feature his lead vocals and lead guitar (electric). This, all between regular gigs, promoting two albums: 12:34 and his third solo release, Phoenix Rising.
Graham also won the ‘Song for Canada’ contest, which led to a recording opportunity with Chantal Kreviazuk, Raine Maida (Our Lady Peace) and Stephen Moccio.
His work with Ross has been met with positive reviews, including a feature in Guitar Player magazine (December 2013 edition), an American publication that features high profile and normally electric players.
Graham signed to Candyrat Records last year, an indie U.S. label and online store featuring acoustic musicians worldwide; the label distributed the duo’s album, as well as Graham’s latest solo project.
For the last couple of years, Graham has been stretching out his vocals and building his chops on the mic.
“My guitar playing is at a higher level than my singing, but I always hear from fans that I should sing more…I’ll be a work in progress until the day I die.”
Sporting his Stonebridge acoustic, Graham is looking forward to returning to Cochrane for an evening of fingerstyle delights with Ross.
Learn more at calumgraham.com.
