Steven Taetz, Alberta-born gay dance music singer-songwriter, is talking to us from New York, from where he’s embarking on a North American tour of...country bars?
"I moved out to Toronto about 8 years ago, and once I was there I was collaborating with dance (music) artists in that area. Over the last 6 years or so, we released electronic-dance music, both in Canada and the US, and to a large part in Europe, actually. I had producer(s) working with me: they would do the instrumental, and I would write the melody.
"I’ve been writing, to a large part, for myself to be featured as a vocalist on those releases, but also for other artists: Roberta Carter-Harrison (of the Wild Strawberries) appeared on a few tracks with me, and I’ve written for a Brazilian artist, Amannda: she’s been on the Billboard (charts) a few times, and I’ve written all of the singles on her new album.
"It’s been a fun process over the last 10 years, trying to figure out my place in the songwriting community... When I left Calgary, I was really interested in electronic music, but I’ve been trained classically, and grew up with acoustic music. It was a fun tangent, but now I think it’s nice to be back with something more organic."
Taetz doesn’t totally philosophize by saying he has ‘grown up’ musically, but he does pun that he feels like he’s getting back to his roots. Given the country-folk-roots flavour of his current self-titled CD, and its ambitious collaboration with earthy musicians from every part of Canada, we’ll allow him the little joke.
Taetz describes a personal growth from Grande Prairie to California and then back to Calgary, where his interest in dance music flourished, but not his success. This stimulated his voyage to Toronto. Music in the Adult Contemporary genre, like James Taylor, Carole King, etc., provided him performance opportunities while attending the University of Calgary. This fanned the singing flame which has never left him, and gives him a foot to stand on with the styles and performers that worked with him on his latest pan-Canadian collaboration.
It goes like this:
"3 years ago, when I was making the transition to acoustic music, I was trying to think how best to (re-)learn the songwriting process, and get to the heart of how to tell that story as a singer/songwriter might. So I began to approach artists from across Canada, focusing on choosing 1 from each province, and writing with each of those artists.
"In writing with those folks, I tried to tell a story from the point of view of someone from PEI, or how we could integrate something that was of interest or special about (other Canadian areas). Without trying to say there’s maple syrup in my coffee, or specifically talking about Quebec, or something like that."
Steve mentions that, despite this reluctance to sink into ‘Canadiana Vignettes’ stories, something like the Northwest Territories’ midnight sun has relevance to the people living there which overcomes the stereotypical images of Canadian popular music. Presumably, when Snowbirds first came out, Anne Murray was breaking some new ground with it. But Steve sounds like he would like to avoid the well-worn paths of such musics.
"I don’t think that there’s such a thing as a dance or folk-music writer exclusively: there’s a lot of transitions. You’ll see takeaway sessions or acoustic sessions where a dance (music) artist is becoming that ‘acoustic’ artist, whether they had intended to or not. And there’s a lot of ‘folk’ or ‘roots’ artists doing the opposite.
"I think one of the largest takeaways for me in this process was being able to collaborate with other people to tell one storyline that resonated with me, and hopefully resonates with others. I know I also have a knee-jerk reaction when I see someone saying ‘gay artist’... Elton John, I think, really paved the way by being an artist who was ‘gay’: he had a persona that could go so many different ways, literally. For myself, as an artist, I think I appreciate music most when it resonates with other people, when it can be universal, and doesn’t have to be just specific to that artist.
"I think from the time I left Calgary, 7, 8 years ago now, there’s much more cultural appreciation: there’s the (Peace) Bridge that’s been built; the Glenbow (Museum) has been quite open to some major artists; the Folk Festival has become its own beast, which is fantastic; electronic music has been firmly established there; and I can’t sing Calgary’s praises more! ... The reason I’m hoping to wrap up this album-walk in Calgary was a coming-home, and the whole topic of this album is relating to travel and homecoming, and the importance of returning to our loved ones."
Steve mentions Calgary because he’s bringing this pop-roots mix to the Ironwood Stage & Grill on December 3rd. And, speaking of loved ones, when you see the show you can congratulate him on the marriage vows he just exchanged with his own loved one. May good fortune smile upon you!