I discovered the music of Toronto singer-songwriter Corin
Raymond in 2009 through a fine album called There will Always be a Small Time
and its title track which I described as “a near-perfect piece of songwriting
that captures the essence of why musicians are compelled to play music, of why
songwriters are compelled to write songs, of why they’re compelled to play
their music and perform their songs for whoever’s wanting or willing to listen,
and of why they make records to sell from the stage. It’s a song that
celebrates the human connections that are possible when real musicians play
real music for real people without any kind of corporate filters.”
For his latest album – Paper Nickels, a 2-CD live set
recorded with the Sundowners: Treasa Levasseur on accordion and piano, David
Baxter on guitar and mandolin, and Brian Kobayakawa on upright bass – Corin has
taken the small time to new heights by not only enlisting support by his fan
base to finance the album, something many artists now do, but by getting them
to do it by sending in their Canadian Tire money. He collected enough Canadian
Tire money – those paper nickels – to finance the two CDs within a hard cover
booklet that includes the story of the album (“The Great Canadian Tire Caper of
2012”), stories about the songs and their writers (only four of the 20 songs
were written or co-written by Corin) and the lyrics.
The songs Corin has chosen for this project are mostly
written by other songwriters working that same small time for the same kinds of
rewards and satisfaction that Corin referred to in that 2009 song.
While I enjoyed the album from start to finish, some of my
favourite tracks include Max Metrault’s “Anastasia,” a lovely postmodern love
song that makes you wonder what some of it is about while actually leaving no
doubt about what it all means; Scott Cook’s “The Lord Giveth (and the Landlord
Taketh Away”), an infectious ditty about little guys, big guys and the eternal
class struggle; “Nine Inch Nails,” by Ridley Bent and Dustin Bentall, a clever
little tune about music-crossed lovers; and David Ross Macdonald’s lovely “Time
to Leave,” in which the narrator offers sage advice to a friend, or perhaps to
himself, about recognizing the end of a relationship and the time to move on.
Another favourite is “Little Bird,” on which Treasa
Levasseur takes over the lead vocal for a beautiful version of Jonathan Byrd’s
heartfelt love song.
The Sundowners provide fine backup to Corin’s vocals and the
live recording has a friendly feels-like-you-there in the small club ambiance that
is helped by leaving in the between song patter.
--Mike Regenstreif
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