Braden Lam released his debut full length The Cloudmaker’s Cry on April 11, and, perhaps unsurprisingly, it is terrific.

Prior to the album, Braden released a couple EPs and a handful of singles to much acclaim - he’s been nominated for a bundle of awards, including several East Coast Music Awards, not the least of which was Songwriter of the Year.

Now, look, I don’t have a crystal ball in front of me, but I’m seeing some good things in store for this collection of tunes. And, as you’ll hear in our chat, Braden thinks so too.

He has put himself on a self-prescribed 3 by 30 regiment: 3 albums by the time he’s 30. And, if you ask him, he’ll be touring those albums through stadiums. Naturally. He has less than 3 years…and ticking,

The man dreams big and why not - he works as hard as he dreams. Braden has the songwriting skills, the stage presence, and the sheer drive to make it happen. For my money, he’s got as good a shot as anybody.

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When We Wake with Andrew Shaver is written, hosted, edited, and produced by Andrew Shaver. The weekly radio broadcast is syndicated on half a dozen stations across Canada.

Theme song Got You by Noah Reid

Julian Taylor is a Toronto based singer-songwriter and radio host extraordinaire.

He has been making music for over 30 years now. Speaking of 30, he's also managed to syndicate his radio show, the Julian Taylor Jukebox, on over 30 stations across North America.

Julian had a brush with major label stardom in the early oughts with his band Staggered Crossing, after which he went independent, and has been ever since. His most recent album, Pathways, earned Julian his 4th Juno nomination.

He is terrific songwriter and, as you’ll hear in our chat, a very thoughtful man. I could have spoken with Julian for days, but that would have gotten squarely in way of his major US tour with Matt Andersen.

In our chat, we talk about the stresses of life on the road, about how he stays happy and healthy being away from home for so long, about his beautiful new album Pathways, about how he feels he’s been writing the same song for years, and, of course about his love of radio.

That and much more in this episode of When We Wake with Julian Taylor.

juliantaylormusic.ca

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When We Wake with Andrew Shaver is written, hosted, edited, and produced by Andrew Shaver.

New episodes broadcast weekly on CKVE-FM (Saturdays 9:30-11AM ADT), CHMA-FM (Saturdays 11-Noon ADT), CKDU-FM (Mondays 9-10AM ADT), CFUR-FM (Mondays 7-8PM PST), and CFRC-FM (Tuesdays 10-11AM EST).

Theme song Got You by Noah Reid

On today’s episode, I chat with St. John’s, Newfoundland’s Nico Paulo.

Nico Paulo is a gem in the crown in Canadian songwriting. Her debut, self-tilted, album came out in April of 2023 on Halifax’s Forward Music Group to rave reviews, including this beauty from MTV: “your new favourite vocalist lives in Newfoundland.”

She sure does.

Although, Nico didn’t always call Newfoundland home. She was born in Toronto to Portuguese parents. But, by the time she was two, they’d moved back to Portugal. Nico found her way back to Toronto in 2014, around about the same time she started writing songs on the guitar. A trip east during the pandemic introduced her to the beauty of Newfoundland, and like others before her, and many since (including yours truly), she moved to the Maritimes.

In our chat, Nico talks about fighting through the feeling of being utterly stuck as a songwriter; about needing to release herself from the pressure of having to tell a full story in her songs, or as she puts it, build a castle around them; about how she didn’t even realize she had writer’s block until she got through it.

Nico’s new album Interval_o, is a gorgeous collection of songs, or as she calls them memories, inspired by a songwriting process that found her focusing less on story and more on layered melodies and mantra inspired lyrics.

I chat with Nico from her home St John’s with her newborn babe Salvador in her arms.

nicopaulo.com

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When We Wake with Andrew Shaver is written, hosted, edited, and produced by Andrew Shaver. New episodes broadcast weekly on CKVE-FM (Saturdays 9:30-11AM ADT), CKDU-FM (Mondays 9-10AM ADT), and CFRC-FM (Tuesdays 10-11AM EST).

Theme song Got You by Noah Reid

Kylie Fox is a singer-songwriter based in Fredericton, New Brunswick. Her latest album Sequoia was recorded in producer Daniel Ledwell’s idyllic lakeside studio just outside of Halifax.

The album is a terrific mix of tunes that runs the gamut stylistically: it’s jazzy at times, it’s folky at times, it’s a little like Sesame Street at times. And we get into that in our chat - what it was like for Kylie in the middle of a recording session to have her producer turn to her and say, you know what this reminds me of? Big Bird.

Kylie has also spent some time as a supply teacher. We talk about what it was like for her when her students found out that she wrote songs. Not only did she write songs but she recorded songs. Not only did she write and record songs but they were on YouTube. She must be famous right??

She was recently nominated for Solo Artist of the Year at the upcoming 2025 East Coast Music Awards, so, wait until the kids find out about that one.

kyliefox.ca

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When We Wake with Andrew Shaver is written, hosted, edited, and produced by Andrew Shaver. New episodes broadcast weekly on CKVE-FM (Saturdays 9:30-11AM ADT) & CKDU-FM (Mondays 9-10AM ADT)

Theme song Got You by Noah Reid

On today’s episode, I chat with the pride of (or, at least, one of the prides of) Prince Edward Island, Lennie Gallant.

Lennie Gallant is not only a member of the Order of Canada, but he's also had a song (Peter's Dream) inducted into the Canadian Songwriter’s Hall of Fame. My goodness, he’s almost royalty.

Speaking of which, in our chat, we talk about the origin of his last name, which has something to do with his great, great, great, great, (great?) grandfather and a discussion that he had with one of the kings of France named Louis. We also get into Lennie's friendship with the late great Jimmy Buffett, a man he met - where else? - in the Caribbean after having sailed there on a schooner from Nova Scotia, and, on which, he very nearly died. I have nightmares just thinking about it. Lennie also boasts a couple cowrites on Jimmy's final album, Equal Strain On All Parts, released posthumously.

Lennie is in the midst of a Christmas Tour through Eastern Canada and, of course, we chat about that as well.

lenniegallant.com

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With a family heritage that goes back to the early 18th century in Witless Bay, Newfoundland, Con O’Brien is one of the province’s great musical treasures.

He is the only remaining original member in The Irish Descendants, a band that was at the heart of bringing the traditional music of Newfoundland to the rest of Canada and, indeed, the world.

The Irish Descendants are celebrating 35 years of bringing their impeccable musicianship and vocal prowess to the adoring masses. Along the way, they’ve garnered a couple Gold albums, a Juno Award, and handful of East Coast Music Awards.

As with many people in Newfoundland, Con’s family business was in the fisheries, and by 10 years of age he was on the payroll. He grew up intending to go to Law School, following in the footsteps of an uncle who was a lawyer for the fishery. Warner Music had other plans for him.

I spoke to Con in between show dates on the 15th annual The Irish Descendant Christmas Tour through eastern Canada.

theirishdescendants.com

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Mike O’Brien grew up loving the process of writing a song. Or, as we find out in this chat, what he prefers to call making up a song.

He began his career in Toronto at the turn-of-the-century playing with his high schools pals, one of whom was Afie Jurvanen. Mike and Afie would go on to form the band Paso Mino, which became a go-to backing band in the early oughts Toronto indie rock scene, most notably for Jason Collett.

As we get into in today’s chat, when Afie left the band to join Leslie Feist, and ultimately go his own way as Bahamas, it left Mike with a little extra time on his hands. He used it wisely and formed, indie rock stalwarts, Zeus with fellow Paso Minite and Barrie ON, ex pat Carlin Nicholson.

More recently, over the pandemic, as things slowed down for all of us, Mike turned some of his songwriting attention to his first solo endeavour, under the moniker Meko Brain, the fruits of which released earlier this month as Wonderment. It is a stunning collection of a dozen (mostly) laid back acoustic tunes that I've had in my ears on more than a few crisp autumn walks down to the Dartmouth ferry.

Meko Brain Bandcamp

@meko.brain

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