TUNESMITH

g, and the craft of songwriting. I invite artists to either showcase their own new or established material, or interpret covers, standards, or songs they believe should be considered standards, in an intimate environment that does not judge whether the music is original or part of the already existing great songbook. Years ago, when I was a web designer at Sony Music Canada for artists Céline Dion, Glenn Gould, Leonard Cohen, Our Lady Peace, Chantal Kreviazuk, and The Philosopher Kings, I was like a deer caught in the headlights, surrounded by such lofty talent. Fortunately during this era, I met the most-recorded bassist in pop history, Carol Kaye. When I told her I was also a musician, she said that any musician worth their salt has at least one hundred standards in his or her back pocket. Then one can play anything. The challenge was given, and I had my work cut out for me. I took this advice to heart. In addition to developing my own songs over the years, I chose to also delve deeply into popular music, searching to understand the construction of stellar songs by artists like Brian Wilson, Lennon and McCartney, Buddy Holly, and Elvis Costello, to name a few, distilling these pieces down to piano and voice. I wryly list these bespectacled artists here because they are illustrated in my daydream image above, yet there are so many more from which to choose, and artists who play this monthly event will curate selections for our audiences to discover and enjoy. I believe a live setting in a delightful room such as the Backroom at The Imperial Pub is a wonderful place to praise the “tower of song,” a lyric and song title gifted to us by that late, great monk from Mount Baldy you may have heard of: Leonard Cohen.

—Michael Thorner 03.14.18