For a Region of over half a million people, Durham, while strong on musicians, is weak on music-related infrastructure. Fortunately it is in a period of transition. Culture is registering on the radar of those elected to office and the political will to facilitate such a transition is becoming apparent.
We live in a vast beautiful landscape with Lake Ontario to the south, the Oak Ridges Moraine halfway, extending to Lake Scugog and Lake Simcoe and into cottage country. It’s a land that appeals to the sportsman and a land that inspires artists. Musicians have begun to sing its praises and it has become the keeper of the Canadian Sound, that folk and country rock tradition associated with these few acres of snow.
While a songwriter such as Timber Timbre of Brooklin will find his muse in the Purple Woods, Cuff The Duke can find her among the factories and suburban streets of Oshawa, and Evening Hymns can meet her on rambles around his hometown of Orono. These three acts are not only considered amongst the finest Durham has to offer, but among the best in Canada. Timber Timbre’s self-titled release is on many Best of 2009 lists. Evening Hymns has been surprising critics with his album Spirit Guides (which includes a five minute recording of a thunderstorm midway) and Wayne Petti of Cuff The Duke has been asked to join Canadian Walk of Famers Blue Rodeo as a vocalist on their current tour.
Durham is well known for the calibre of its talent – Feist has the Baird brothers of Oshawa in her band and the influential Broken Social Scene was co-founded by Brendan Canning of Ajax. Other stars are Sum 41, K-Os, Protest The Hero and of course Neil Young who spent a pivotal part of his youth in Pickering. It was among the fields, woods and distant train sounds of Taunton Road that Young first turned on to music.
But the key element common to too many of Durham Region’s musicians, beyond their affection for the folk tradition, is that they all must be movin’ on as the song goes. There is insufficient reason for them to reside in the area. There is little to no work in their field and with Toronto an hour’s drive away at most they leave and contribute vastly to its position as the centre of the music industry in Canada. According to some studies Toronto is only second to Nashville in its music related infrastructure. In fact, many former Durham residents are the reason for this success.
Yet the proximity of Toronto is both a bane and a balm. Who wouldn’t wish to stay where their inspiration is most potent. Who wouldn’t rather travel trails instead of traffic jams. Who wouldn’t choose to set up shop among such beauty as can be found here in Durham Region. No-one from Durham Region would choose to leave when they have the best of both worlds; a city on the doorstep and the great swaths of the untouched North as a backyard.
This is where the art of transition occurs for this Region. While music is ethereal the transition must be material in the form of support for venues, concert theatres, and studios. A concerted effort by Regional officials to include the area’s artists in public events of all descriptions would set the stage.
Fortunately those folks have taken the first steps and we are now well on the road to fulfilling Durham’s true potential.
