Ottawa-based, classically-trained singer-songwriter, Rory Taillon has teamed up with us, at Canadian Beats to unveil the video for his newest single, “Welcome”. The song is from his acclaimed album Drifting, which came out during COVID in 2020, when all touring was halted, and the potential for a widespread campaign was shuttered.
The hope is that the “Welcome” video will ease his disappointment and make up for lost time. A heartfelt, meditative piece, the song, and album are available on all major platforms.
The video for “Welcome” was recorded live in Ottawa by Jeff Watkins of Loretta Media. As a single viewing will tell, Rory Taillon is a committed, engaging artist who sings his truth from a wellspring of deep emotion. He’s clearly the real deal, and one to watch.
The sweeping span of his dynamic vocals are especially evident on “Welcome.” The arrangement of the song moves from a delicate whisper to a flat-out scream – literally. In between, he deftly employs looping technique to develop that slow crescendo, layering guitar parts, the beat, and exquisite four-part vocal harmonies.
Says Taillon,
“I was trying to work through the idea of dealing with my own struggles with mental health by imagery in songwriting. I felt like my personality was split between the person I was normally, and the person who was consumed by the darkness. The song never went anywhere when I originally wrote it until one night I was a little bored and could feel the mental health habits creeping in. I set up my loop pedal and started building layers through guitar parts, percussion and heavily stacked vocal harmonies. I eventually ended up at the loop combination that is now at the climax of the final song, and turned it up really loud and sat in it. ‘Welcome’ was the first song off of my album that was written and it set the tone for the writing of the rest of the album.”
Check out the video below, and find out more about Rory via our mini-interview.
First off, care to introduce yourself to our readers?
My name is Rory Taillon and I am an alternative-folk musician currently residing in the Ottawa area.
You released your latest single, “Welcome” earlier this year, care to share a bit about the writing process?
Welcome was the first song that I wrote for my latest album and I feel like it set the tone for writing the rest of the record. I wanted to write a song about how it felt dealing with my mental health challenges and feeling like I was two people sometimes because of those issues. This song was born out of my frustration of feeling stuck with these thoughts and feelings and this other version of myself that I was constantly working on overcoming. Once I had the bones of the song complete I wanted to make it epic with a lot of vocal harmonies, so I sat one night with my loop pedal working on the layers for the climax of the song until I had the combination of voices and harmonies that are now on the final track.
You have just unveiled a video for your single, “Welcome”, what can you tell us about the making of the video?
I really enjoy watching live videos myself. I love seeing the musician perform their song and to get to see how they play them – as a fan I find that fascinating. I wanted to approach the video for Welcome this way to show the looping layers that go into performing the tune live. I also just find the song a lot of fun to perform because there’s always a risk that I might not hit one of the loops properly and it could all fall apart, but when you succeed it’s a great feeling to have that wall of sound projecting at the audience. When I recorded my last two albums I did them live off the floor so I wanted the video to have the same feel and Jeff Watkins was up for the challenge.
You recorded the video live in Ottawa with Jeff Watkins of Loretta Media, what was the highlight of the experience?
Jeff and I met at a shoot for a live sessions series I performed at when I first moved to Ottawa in 2017. We always talked about working on something together and when I found out he did live performance music videos with his company Loretta Media, we decided to take a run at Welcome. It was really great to set up and perform in his recording space in an old home in Ottawa. The vibe was perfect and Jeff was great to work with. The whole experience was a highlight and he made it really easy to perform at my best for the session.
What’s next for you in 2022?
I am going to the east coast of Canada for a tour in early April of this year. This will be my first time out that way since COVID started, so I’m really looking forward to seeing everyone out there again. I would like to continue to tour this summer if it is still safe to travel. I had to cancel my release tour for my last album and I am hoping to rebook that and get back out on the road to share my music with everyone.