It’s safe to say that most young music lovers wouldn’t mind modelling their sound, style and image after a limelight-lover like Justin Bieber, but instrumental guitarist Calum Graham has taken a road less travelled in the world of musical notoriety.
With a hyper-rhythmic, finger-pick guitar style, the young virtuoso has a sound that tempers a deep understanding of music that far surpasses his actual age. Graham plays at Communitea Café, Friday (Aug. 30) at 8:30 p.m.
At 17 years of age, Graham released his first studio album, entitled Sunny Side Up, and was the grand prize winner of the Calgary Stampede Talent Search in that same year.
Starting down the musical path at age 13, Graham was raised in an arts-centric environment and attributes any success he’s had to that early encouragement.
“I grew up in an artistic family and my mom actually paints with her feet,” Graham said.
“She also taught choir for a number of years and my dad would always play guitar when he got home from work. Eventually, I got him to show me the chords and how to play them and I started playing all the time and after a while, he stopped playing guitar when I got better than him.”
As Graham kept honing his craft, he met a few people along the way who continually encouraged him to pursue his musical dreams.
One of those musical figures was acoustic-guitar legend Don Ross, who recently collaborated on Graham’s latest record, titled 12:34.
“Listening to Don was huge and instrumental for me, and I mean that with no pun intended,” Graham said with a laugh.
“I also listened to punk rock and all sorts of different things and I just found a way to infuse all of that in there. Even now, I listen to lots of music and finger style guitar has a way of letting you incorporate so many styles – jazz, blues, folk, pop. It’s kind of universal that way.”
Wanting to release a full-length record that features his own vocals, Graham is constantly trying to challenge himself musically.
“I don’t want people to put me into a box as just a guitar player, so I’m working on that right now and writing a song for it as we speak,” he said.
Graham’s effervescent, plucky sound has little need for a rhythm section, as it incorporates several different instruments at the same time.
“It’s sort of like you have the bass line and the rhythm and the melody going all at once,” Graham said.
“It’s really cool in that way. You can fit a lot in to this style.”
With extensive touring plans on the horizon, including a full tour of the U.S., Canada, Europe and Asia with Ross, the busy 21-year-old has moved to Toronto to try and create more musical inroads.
“I got a studio apartment in Toronto just to get out and live there,” he added.
“I lived in Alberta for so long and I thought it would be good to try something out, so for the next year, I’m going to be out there, collaborating and meeting all different kinds of people. Don lives about two blocks from me now, so we hang out quite a bit and like a sponge, I learn everything I can from him.”
Among other accolades, Graham was also a representative for Alberta music at both the Vancouver Olympics in 2010 and the London Olympics in 2012.
“I’ve been so grateful to have those opportunities being an Alberta citizen, and just living here,” he said.
“The Alberta Foundation for the Arts funded me going to the Olympics in Vancouver and last year in London, and I got to do some backpacking and performing. So that was great. It’s really amazing and humbling to have so many opportunities so early in my career.”
Titling the latest record was somewhat of a mystical practice for Graham, as he began seeing the same four numbers on clocks on many different occasions.
“Sometimes people see 11:11 everywhere or some other random sequence of numbers,” Graham added.
“But for the last three years or so, I’ve seen 12:34 almost every day on the clock so it’s just kind of a cool little sign, and I take it to mean that I’m right where I’m supposed to be and I don’t know if it’s a spiritual thing, but it fit perfect for the album.”
Graham is excited to play in Canmore again, as it has been quite a few years since he has graced the cozy atmosphere of Communitea Café.
“I played Communitea Café and it’s a great little place and I can’t wait to play there again. I love how in Canmore you’re so close to the outdoors and to nature all the time.”
