Rory Taillon might only be 25 years old but there is an old rock and roll soul lurking within him.
With his new record It’s Not Black & White, the Oshawa, Ontario based singer-songwriter conveys an undeniable sense of urgency through his music. But he also wants to give the listener pause for thought, as evidenced by the title of his latest record.
Rory comes to New Brunswick for three shows, starting on May 21 at Sackville’s Bridge Street Café (8 Bridge St.) before hitting Moncton’s Plan b Lounge (212 St. George St.) on Thursday May 22 and Tuesday May 27.
Rory spoke with The MusicNerd Chronicles last week about where his love of classic rock music comes from and how people often jump to conclusions without knowing the full story:
Listening to the songs on It’s Not Black & White, you can hear a definite influence of classic rock running through your songs. Where did your love of that music come from?
My father is a total classic rock nut. He was always playing Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin when I was growing up. I wasn’t initially into it when I was younger. I sang in choirs and listened to a lot of pop music. But once I got to high school, I started to branch out and sing in rock bands. I picked up a Jimi Hendrix record and was just blown away by the passion that he brought to the music. It seemed like a good fit for my own music.
The title of your record seems to speak volumes in terms of being a general commentary on the way people think these days. Too many people feel as though there is no middle ground when it comes to just about everything and they see things, for lack of a better term, in black and white.
Funny enough, I didn’t intentionally set out to accomplish that with this record. The songs aren’t all about the same thing or share similar outcomes or anything like that. With just about anything these days, whether we are talking about the environment or mental illness, there is always what you see and what you hear but we often miss what is in between. Things don’t affect any two people the exact same way.
This is going to be your third tour of Atlantic Canada. What keeps you coming back?
I love it there. It seems as though people in Atlantic Canada just seem to like and appreciate music more than other parts of the country. People on the East Coast seem to be more willing to go see someone they might not be familiar with than in larger cities. Plus it is always just so much fun. Why wouldn’t I want to come back?
http://youtu.be/gKPWw_5F4C4