“Voyageur In Song” is a concept record, inspired by the 64 pieces of Canadian history and culture built into the iconic Six String Nation Guitar nick-named Voyageur. As a transplanted Scot who now calls Canada home, I feel very fortunate to have taken this creative and culturally immersive journey with Voyageur.  The project came about after hearing Jowi Taylor’s inspiring multimedia presentation and being given the opportunity to spend time writing songs on Voyageur. The guitar pulled me to write in a way which was both very stirring and very quick. I sat down, put my arms around Voyageur and I asked her to tell me the stories in musical language. I kept listening to try and translate the emotion I felt from the stories inside so I could crack the code. Of everything I heard in the writing sessions, nothing was denied. It seemed to flow through me at en-lightening speed! It was uncanny and spiritual, like I was in service of something greater than myself. As I went hunting down the lyrics for these musical ideas, I had the opportunity to dig into some of the stories and history embedded in the guitar and gained a better understanding of the kind of diversity, pain and beauty that is Canada. It helped me grow in my relationship with my adopted country and in my relationship with myself. The songs that resulted included stories about a piece of Labradorite and it’s billion year journey; the historic & mysterious Massey Hall; the fascinating and tragic story of the Golden Spruce in Haida Gwai,; Canada’s champion Oyster Shucker Joe Labobe from PEI; and the Doukhobors’ brave passage from persecution in Russia to Saskatchewan.

Once written, as an artist I could hear exactly where these songs could go and continued to take them down that road working with my co-producer Justin Abedin and musicians Gary Craig, Drew Birston, Drew Jureca, Jaron Freeman-Fox, Scott Galloway & Kevin Turcotte. I was delighted when it was nominated for a Canadian Folk Music Contemporary Album of the Year Award in 2022. Check out the songs and extra video content here.