Julian Taylor reflects on finding himself with his new album, Pathways

The Block34:12Julian Taylor Speak on His Indigenous Ancestry, New Album and More on The Block

Toronto-based roots artist Julian Taylor has received several Juno nominations, a Canadian Folk Music Award and more over the course of his career. Now, the singer-songwriter (formerly of Staggered Crossing and the Julian Taylor Band) has leaned in even more into his brand of soulful folk music with a touch of blues, which can be heard on his newest album, Pathways.

Pathways, is an introspective collection of songs that showcase Taylor's knack for blending blues, folk and more into a rich tapestry of sounds that illustrates his perspective on love, kindness and finding oneself.

Taylor stopped by The Block for an interview about the new album, his Mohawk roots and his inspirations.

The full interview is available above and you can read an excerpt of the conversation below.

So listening to ["The Ridge"], it's just like you could close your eyes and all of the visual atmosphere just builds in your mind.

Funny you should say that. Every time I sing it, I close my eyes.

Do you?

Pretty much. It's one of those songs that, for me, makes time travel possible. And it's like my own private DeLorean, to be honest with you. It's about my childhood. And, I mean, we all know that music can take you back to places in your life and memories. But yeah, it just proves that our mind and memories are what really makes time travel possible. And I love that song. 

I love that song, too. Can you talk a little bit about those summers, though? It was actually a place called Maple Ridge, B.C., and that's where your grandparents lived?

They did, yes.

And you would go out there in the summer time, when school [was] out?

Yeah. So my mom's father, John, and my step grandmother, Carole, they lived out in Maple Ridge, B.C. 

John and Carole.

John and Carole. Yeah. So, [interestingly], before I was born, my mom and my dad had not spoken to each other for a little while. And then when I was born, my aunt and [my mom] really made a concerted effort to bring [my dad into] a part of our lives. And he did the same. 

Even though they weren't officially together, [were they] sort of like acting as a co-parent family type [of] situation?

They were not. 

No.

And at one point in time, they were. But my grandmother and my grandfather split while they were living in Regina. And my grandmother came back to Toronto with the girls and my grandfather went west. 

Okay.

Yeah, and so when we finally got to meet them, I was a really young child...and ever since then, we became the closest of two people that you could think of. 

Really? 

My grandfather and I, [yes].

It's interesting. The grandparent-grandchild relationship is a very special relationship. I remember one time I was in Mexico and I noticed a lot of grandparents with grandchildren. And a gentleman said to me, "They like it. They like being together." Like you saying that [is] just a special thing about grandparents and grandkids. 

[It's a] very interesting bond, yeah. I mean, he and I, and even since then, our lives have paralleled. A lot of things that have happened to us are very similar. 

And example of one thing [might] be...

Mostly, our spirituality and the way that he sort of instilled this wonderful vision and wonderful idea of the natural world and how everything's connected. And that has always stayed with me. You know, his grandfather was from Kahnawake and spoke full Mohawk, and then when he and I finally connected ... they had a very close relationship as well. So it sort of mirrored ours. And we could start there from the beginning. 

From the very beginning. Let's take you back to when you were four years old. So your father was a classical piano player. Was that an influence in you, finding your way into music, or did you kind of just discover that on your own?

I think it did. He still plays and he doesn't play professionally. He did compete professionally. But he's a professional photographer and has been since, you know, before I was born.

But he would come home, and I would know that he was home, because we had a piano in the house and he would sit down and play. So every time my father came home and [if] I had to be in bed, sometimes I would wait up. But as soon as I heard the ivories tickled, I knew he was home.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length. To hear the full interview, listen to The Block on CBC Music.