When I get in contact with singer-songwriter Julian Taylor, it’s early January and he’s in Kelowna, British Columbia, wrapping up a well-deserved holiday break with his family. He’s in between two halves of a Canadian tour, and later in the day he’ll fly home to Toronto and begin prepping for the second leg of shows, including a stop at the Kingston Grand Theatre on January 15.

It’s late morning in BC and Julian is warm, engaging, and sounds well-rested in the face of the shows ahead. 

Julian is no stranger in the Canadian music scene, and he’s no stranger to touring. Music has always been a part of his life, from his childhood to co-founding the alt-rock outfit Staggered Crossing in 1995. Over the last decade and a half, he’s developed a diverse body of solo work that draws from both his wide musical interests and his experiences as an Afro-Indigenous artist. He’s won a Canadian Folk Music Award and has earned nominations for multiple Junos and the Polaris Music Prize longlist. He’s taken to more stages than he can count, but there’s something different about this tour. 

Julian is co-headlining these shows with fellow singer-songwriter and close friend Logan Staats. Logan grew up on Six Nations of the Grand River Territory, a First Nations reserve near Brantford, Ontario, and like Julian, music has always been a driving force in his life. After gaining critical buzz with his band Ghost Town Orchestra, Logan went on to win CTV’s The Launch in 2018, earning him a chart-topping single the same year. His most recent record, 2023’s A Light in the Attic, is a roots record with gripping lyrics about First Nations sovereignty and reclaiming Indigenous identity. 

This tour, dubbed Songs & Stories, incorporates Julian and Logan’s mutual passion for storytelling and connection. The shows are intimate, fully acoustic, and spotlight not only the messages in the songs, but the deep connection between the two artists. They play songs together, and take turns playing the last set of the night. There’s a clear consideration and intention behind this tour, and it’s an intention born from respect and affection, one that’s clear even through the brassy timbre of a phone call.

Peter Sanfilippo:  Something that I'm finding very interesting about the tour is the way that it's been described up to this point. In a piece I was reading from Logan not too long ago, he described the tour as, to quote him, “two brothers on a journey.” Can you tell me a bit about what kicked off this journey for the two of you?

Julian Taylor:  Logan and I have known each other for quite some time, since about, I guess maybe 2015. We ran into each other at the Indigenous Music Awards in Winnipeg. That was the first time I met him. Then after that, our paths really didn't cross until a little later. We ended up sharing some of our biggest career moments together, like performing at the Juno Awards with Allison Russell and Aysanabee, William Prince, and Shawnee Kish, to going down to Los Angeles with Allison to perform at the Robbie Robertson tribute there, which is crazy. The other thing that we've also done, we did a BC tour about two years ago, just he and I like this particular tour, and that sort of was the catalyst for this. But we've become very close friends and brothers. I mean, he is one of my favorite people on the planet and really, really do love and respect him and his family and him saying that is rightfully so. I think that, as two people trying to find their way in the music business, as two people trying to find their way through family, as two people trying to find their way through culture, all sorts of things, it's really nice that we both have each other.

PS:  I think the idea of a co-headlining tour is also exciting.

JT:  We switch back and forth, like he'll open and I'll close and then the next night it'll be vice versa.

PS:  I think it's interesting because this particular partnership and this tour feels especially poignant. As a listener, I find co-headlining tours tend to draw comparisons of the music of the two artists. And in the case of you and Logan, you have a lot of shared musical DNA, with backgrounds in alt rock between Staggered Crossing and Ghost Town Orchestra. But there's also your shared Mohawk ancestry. And there's a very diverse body of work there, but across your music, there's themes of identity, of healing, and of belonging. How much does your shared background affect your approach with this tour?

JT:  Good question. I think that it goes back to learning from one another. I mean, both of our experiences are very different. Logan grew up on the Res, I did not. And we have this wonderful way of being able to accept one another and accept others. To be honest with you, I think that it's a really important thing that you don't see all the time. And I think that there's an interesting quote. I don't know who said it, but the quote sort of goes like this. I may not have it verbatim, but the idea is that your ancestors were waiting for someone just like you to come along. They prayed for you to come along, and when you came along it was because of their prayers. So I think that that goes down to everybody. It doesn't have to be someone who is of indigenous heritage. It can be anybody. It can be someone who is of Celtic heritage. When you share that sort of bond, it's a very easy thing to connect with. It can be difficult too, because we live in a world where things are so polarized. But when you get past that polarization and feel that bond, it's because of the blood and it's because of those prayers.

PS:  That's a really beautiful way of putting that.

JT:  I think that's the only way to look at it. It's certainly the way that I've always looked at it, from every family member. So happy to have them, so happy that they came to be.

PS:  I haven't heard that quote before. I really like that. And I also, like you mentioned, there's sort of a commonality between the two of you, even though obviously different upbringings, like between growing up in Toronto versus Six Nations of the Grand River. How have those commonalities and different life experiences impacted the way you two work together, or see each other and your work?

JT:  Yeah, I mean, we're family. That's how I see it. And I'm pretty sure if you asked Logan the same question, he would have stayed the same. And that's a beautiful thing to be able to say because of our ancestors, because of the way we came to be. Because I have a different lived experience and because he has one that is different from mine. It's a very wonderful opportunity to learn from each other and to share those experiences. And I think that it doesn't only happen in music. It happens in our conversations and they’re our conversations, you know, nobody else’s.

PS:  You're at this halfway point in the tour after already going out west with shows in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and BC. And you've had this opportunity to both share your experience, but also your music and your stories both separate and together on this tour. Have there been any unexpected little moments of synergy between the two of you during either rehearsals or on stage?

JT:  Yeah, there's always something. I mean, we went. We've been learning a couple tracks together. Like, we wrote a song together which hopefully will come out in the new year. Oh, wait, we are in the New Year.

PS:  It's like three weeks before [the new dates] really starts catching.

JT:  Yeah, there you go. Okay. I gotta remember to write that. 20-26. Got it. But, yeah, we wrote a song together, which is, I guess the biggest moments of synergy you could have. And we've also been covering a Willie Dunn song on stage together, which has been really great. So yeah, for sure. Writing a song together, I don't know if it gets any bigger than that.

PS:  I was going to ask this later, but since you've brought it up, are there any sort of projects that are in the works? Or will the two of you produce an album together? What are your thoughts at this point?

JT:  Well, we definitely will record the song that we wrote together, and we've talked about recording that Willie Dunn song as well, because a friend of ours out on the East Coast, Alan Syliboy, is working on a tribute album to Willie alongside Willie's daughter. So hopefully that comes to fruition when we get those things happening. But that's about it at the moment.

PS:  Which Willie Dunn song are you doing?

JT:  Oh, I can't tell you that. *laughs*

PS:  The fact that it's any Willie Dunn song, I'm excited now.

JT:  Yeah, it's cool. It's cool. We have a good time with it, too.

PS:  Just to kind of change gears back to the tour, what have been some of your favorite moments on the tour so far?

JT:  Well, some of the favorite moments have been sharing the stage with Logan at the end, for sure. Having both our families on the road was really exciting as well and cool. Having our dogs interact with one another. I think that one conversation he and I had in a steam room after going to the gym was really cool, too. So it doesn't really have to be musical moments and whatnot. We had a moment where his car broke down and we all helped him out. You know, just things like that. Like regular stuff. Go out to lunch and waited for the car to get towed and blah, blah, blah, and make sure that everyone's okay and looked after and safe.

PS:  It's so nice to hear those stories because as a listener, as a concert-goer, these are the things you don't ever really get to hear much about, you know, these little moments.

JT:  Real human moments, right?

PS:  Now, a big focus of this tour has been storytelling. Storytelling is also a really significant part of your songwriting and of Logan's songwriting. Like, I think of A Light in the Attic with songs like “Deadman” and “I Wish I Knew Your Name” and The Ridge with songs like “Ballad of a Young Troubadour.”

JT:  Sure.

PS:  What stories do you want to tell on this tour? And what is the sort of message that you want to impart on an audience?

JT:  Well, I can only speak for myself, but for me, the themes that still run really true in my music are the themes that I'm trying to get across. I'm also trying to get across some sort of universal message that keeps us connected to one another, closer to one another, and learning from one another. So I try to find a balance with all of my work to create that sort of space for people. You know, I always say that music's not a competition, it's a rescue mission. And I think that it's one of the things that keeps us connected to ourselves. It's one of the ancient things that we can. Music's in our bones, it's in our blood, it's in our body. We are music. And I think that it's one of the ancient truths that still exists today that keeps us connected to that. It's a harmonizing sort of thing. I don't know if that makes sense, but that's how I feel about it.

PS:  I think that makes absolute sense. The sort of “universality.” Is that even a word?

JT:  I don’t know, but if Beatlemania is, then “universality” is a word too.

PS:  *Laughs* Thank you. At its best, and I think at its core, it transcends the divisions that we tend to focus on

JT:  100%.

PS:  And I think it's such an interesting quote, too, the way you put that. I was reading another piece where Logan had described his music as “making road tripping music for those traveling the red road, the path towards reconnecting and relearning Indigenous ways.” And he described it as like the medicine inside of music. It's very interesting to hear you describe music in such similar terms, in the same sort of healing and connection element.

JT:  Yeah, I guess I've never heard him say that, but there you go. I guess it's, we’re quite close in our belief system.

PS:  Have you gotten the chance to speak with fans or get to chat with people after the show is on this tour?

JT:  Yeah. Sometimes we'll end up at the merch booth and some people meet us there and we'll chat with them. Yeah.

PS:  Are people coming to you with these kinds of stories as well, of their own experiences? 

JT:  Some people. Yeah, some people have. I've actually met a couple of people who are Afro-Indigenous who have come to the show, like myself, which is pretty nice. And then some people are just there to learn and also just to sing and hang out and laugh as well. Because, I mean, it's not all serious, you know, it is serious, but it's not all serious. You know, it runs the whole circle and gamut of what life is. Can't help it. It’s just the way.

PS:  It sounds like the message is being imparted on the audience. 

JT:  It always is. It can't help itself. And that has nothing to do with either of us or anybody in the audience. It has to do with the fact that, like I said, it's real. It's truth. 

PS:  I've got a question that's sort of got a bit of a preamble. It's just something I've been thinking about. We've talked a bit about that, sort of, universal connection that people get to experience through music. The sort of power of live performance, in building community and connecting with people. A couple of months ago, I interviewed Elisapie. Are you familiar with her music? 

JT:  I know her, yeah. 

PS:  And she actually also played The Grand and had mentioned this sort of a similar notion of the collective experience. This opportunity for people, complete strangers, to have this unifying experience. And since your days in Staggered Crossing, you've played quite a few shows. 

JT:  Yeah. I don't even know how many. 

PS:  Have you found that it's always been that experience, or do you find that there's almost more of an appetite today than before for those connections? The sort of communal experience of a concert. 

JT:  I think they always were that. I think that there's a different definition now. So I think that the definition has changed where there's a bit more of an openness towards feeling that way and calling it that. But I believe that it was always a communal experience and a spiritual experience that people were having at shows. I just think that the definitions have changed a little bit. 

PS:  Why do you feel that the definition has changed? 

JT:  I think that the world's changed. I think people have changed. I think people are more open to, for example, let's say, let's use a cliché like men unable to express their feelings back in the day and now they are. It's okay, you know what I mean? Or mental illness was frowned upon. Things are more open to another sort of definition, another way of looking at it and calling it something else, which it always was. So for music, music was always communal, always spiritual, always connected. But I think that people are a little bit more open to saying that that's what it was. Instead of like, oh, I went to a rock show and rocked out. Does that make sense?

PS:  Yeah, it absolutely does. I think there's, like, a vulnerability involved that's becoming more exposed or it's becoming more talked about. 

JT:  Accepted. 

PS:  Yeah, accepted. There we go. 

JT:  Yeah. Yeah. 

PS:  In Kingston, we have a pretty wide range of musicians from people that have been playing for years to people just starting out to, you know, like university and high school age people that are just kind of getting into it now. Do you have any advice for young musicians? 

JT:  For young musicians, I think the only advice that I could give them at this point in time that's coming to me would be to set your sights on what it is that you want to achieve and to believe that you can achieve that. For example, Babe Ruth, you know, calling a shot, pointing into the sky where he was going to hit the ball. I think that's what people need to do with things that they're passionate about. And you know, it could have totally gone the other way. Maybe he wouldn't have hit the ball there, but because he manifested that, because he believed in that he was able to do that. And I think that any young person setting out to start on their musical journey, if they believe that they can do this and they will and they can. 

PS:  I like the Babe Ruth analogy. I think like there’s almost, well I think “audacity” has a negative connotation, but like, that willingness to do something audacious and then actually go through with it. 

JT:  Totally. Yeah. 

PS:  And in a way I think that kind of ties in with what we've been talking about. It's like, to express yourself and to sort of tell stories and to connect with people through music, there's a vulnerability involved and there's almost an audacious quality to it. 

JT:  It's a little bit of everything. Yeah. But the most important thing, I think, for myself is to try to do my best, to own my own truth. There's no stories that I can tell if I can't do that. 

Julian Taylor and Logan Staats bring their Songs & Stories tour to Kingston Grand Theatre on Thursday, January 15. Details and tickets available here.