Since discovering the music of Toronto, ON artist Julian Taylor back in the summer of 2017, we’ve been huge fans – and have more than enjoyed his progressive musical journey from those early rock-soul-funk roots into an Americana-folk troubadour as we navigated through a global pandemic. Such progression does not necessarily imply a permanent shift from one entity to the other, and as fans of this outstanding singer-songwriter can attest, Julian’s music has always been in a constant state of flux, yet firmly grounded and interwoven with his deeply personal Indigenous heritage.
We were fortunate to catch up with Julian Taylor twice last year, as he performed some solo-acoustic shows (for us, one in Ontario and another in Virginia) to share music from his two pandemic-era folk album releases (“The Ridge (2020)” and “Beyond The Reservoir (2022)” collectively) – and marveled at how easily he could toggle between genres at the blink of an eye. These solo-acoustic variations gave us a completely unique perspective of the recognizable earlier material yet simultaneously left us longing to see this artist perform with his full band in tow once more.
With plans to be in southern Ontario during the US Thanksgiving holiday week, fate clearly intervened when discovering an announcement that the Julian Taylor Band show would be returning to Mills Hardware in Hamilton, ON. Being one of our favorite music venues and taking place on Thanksgiving Day too (can you believe that?), we recalled that Julian last played this room in October 2017! We know that – because we were there – and hey, if Julian and his band were willing to make a repeat appearance, then why shouldn’t we? Tickets bought!
Joined on stage by bandmates David Engle (keyboards), Steve Pelletier (bass/vocals), and Jeremy Elliott (drums/vocals), Julian (vocals/guitars) would deliver a well-curated 12-track set list over an 80-minute duration. And with an early emphasis on his later material, it was wonderful to hear these songs with the additional instrumentation and vocal harmonies. The outro to “The Ridge,” in particular – where the gradual lessening of intensity from the drums, guitar and bass allowed Dave’s final keystrokes to shine.
“Welcome to Mills Hardware! Hello, Hamilton, Steel Town, what’s going on,” Julian stated, before leading into a tale about “Wide Awake,” the song that would follow. “This is the first song that I wrote on my record Beyond the Reservoir. It opened the floodgates – there’s always one. This song is about gratitude, mostly for the people that have put up with me for my entire life. My family is the most important thing to me in the world, and travelling around the world, I haven’t seen them a lot, so it hits here…” [taps heart] “…But some of them are in the crowd tonight and it’s wonderful to see them.”
Having encouraged the audience to add harmonies on the always delightful “Ballad of a Young Troubadour,” Julian would invite Bob Sumner, Etienne Tremblay, and Kendel Carson (the trio were the opening act) to the stage during “Carry Me Home,” accompanying Steve and Jeremy with the vocal harmonies – this was a true once-in-a-lifetime moment. Thanking everybody following the song, Julian would accidently mispronounce a word – only to run with his faux pas, much to everybody’s delight. “Super fun stuff, right? I like when the super stun – super fun – super stun – it’s all the same shit. Super stun and super fun are the same thing,” he joked. “I hope that when you go home, if there’s anything that you’ve learned from … coming to this show, is that super stun and super fun are the same. Nothing else! Don’t take anything home with you other than that. I’m just trying to do both at the same time, always.”
Some of our fondest memories from Julian’s two solo-acoustic shows last year were the addition of tunes into his set that we had not previously heard live. Notably, “Glass House” (from the 2016 “Desert Star” album) at the ON show, and “Georgia Moon” (from his Staggered Crossing days, and prior to the release as a single last year) in VA. At Mills Hardware, Julian would discuss his Indigenous heritage, before sharing a stunning solo performance of “Stolen Lands” (from “Beyond The Reservoir”).
“All of it is true,” he offered. “My grandfather did cry in his chair because he couldn’t speak his own language. We did have a loss in our family when a close family friend’s son was shot by the Toronto police. And this land was stolen, and people were stolen and brought to this land.” “This land is your land / This land is my land / This land was made for you and me / A poor choice of words by Woody Guthrie / This land was taken, and now everyone sees.” “This is a song I am so proud of. I hope you are proud of me for writing it, but more importantly, I hope that it makes you think. And if Woody Guthrie was alive, he’d say the same.”
Providing the feel-good factor down the stretch, Julian and his bandmates took us on a journey down Mills Hardware 2017 memory lane, firing on all cylinders with the sultry overtones of “Bobbi Champagne” (a personal favorite – thanks Julian) and progressing with minimal pause into “Just A Little Bit” – which had several in attendance congregating around the stage area to dance the night away. And with cries for ‘one more song’ once the band exited the stage, everybody was rewarded with a long and lively version of “Zero To Eleven.” Once again, the Julian Taylor Band delivered – and once again, we departed Mills Hardware following a super stun – super fun time, ever optimistic that another opportunity to do this over will present itself again soon.
Set List:
- The Ridge
- Wide Awake
- Ballad Of A Young Troubadour
- Carry Me Home
- 100 Proof
- Stolen Lands
- Seeds
- Sweeter
- Back Again
- Bobbi Champagne
- Just A Little Bit
Encore:
- Zero To Eleven
The British guy that crossed the ocean and crash landed in central Pennsylvania (to quote Greg Keelor, “And I wonder what am I doing here?”). As the youngest of four siblings, exposure to music from a very early age nurtured my passion and appreciation for many musical genres. Continuing to discover some amazingly diverse and talented musicians based in Canada, I gravitate to live music experiences and remain devoted to spreading the word about such a vibrant music scene.
