An extraordinary guitar player:
Born in Fort St. John, British Columbia and currently residing in Victoria, Calum Graham has been building a name for himself across the globe for the last 12 years with his passionate solo acoustic guitar prowess and was named one of the World’s Top 30 Guitarists under 30 by Acoustic Guitar Magazine.
Calum plays the Acoustic, Baritone, and Harp Guitar in his live set and his original melodies embraces elements of folk, world, soul, blues and jazz – all built upon the foundation of the fingerstyle technique.
Graham’s musical journey first took flight when he began playing the guitar at the age of 13. In the summer of 2010, Graham attended the Canadian Guitar Festival and entered the prestigious Canadian Fingerstyle Guitar Competition. Impressed with his original compositions, the judges awarded Graham with a first place finish; a feat no other teenager has accomplished in the history of the festival. The clip of his winning performance has now generated over 1 million views on YouTube. Shortly afterwards, he was invited to play at the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver, and again 2 years later at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
As Calum Graham’s name continued to grow in Alberta and across Canada for his guitar work and musicianship, Graham proved that his talent was not limited to his extraordinary ability to play the guitar. In 2011, Graham won the Canada’s Walk of Fame nationwide “A Song For Canada” contest based on his poetic acuteness. His winning poem was used in the song “I’m Here, (A Song For Canada)”. The song was performed by Chantal Kreviazuk and co-written by Graham, Raine Maida (Our Lady Peace) and Stephen Moccio (“I Believe”, 2010 Vancouver Olympics theme song/”Wrecking Ball” – Miley Cyrus)”.
In the late winter of 2012, and with two albums already under his belt, Graham teamed up with iconic Fingerstyle Guitarist Don Ross. The result was an instrumental acoustic duet album titled, “12:34”. Recorded at famed ‘Metalworks Studios’ (Toronto, ON), and released through CandyRat Records, the album featured six originals by Graham, three by Ross, and a cover of the OutKast hit song, “Hey Ya!”.
Not long after the release of “12:34”, Graham saw a loyal following begin to grow and it wasn’t long before his unique sound started to find a wide and appreciative audience.
In November of 2013, Graham released a solo instrumental album titled “Phoenix Rising” (CandyRat Records). The title track has already generated over 4 million views on YouTube, with other songs also notching impressive numbers. The success of the album enabled Graham to expand his global fanbase and he soon began touring internationally, both on his own and with the likes of Don Ross and Andy McKee.
With Graham bringing an innovative sound to the industry, it wasn’t long before Canada’s top booking agency, The Feldman Agency, also counted themselves a fan of Graham’s music. So much in fact, that in July 2014, they decided to partner Graham with renowned Canadian producer Gavin Brown (Billy Talent, Metric, The Tragically Hip) on his “Sessions X” series. The series was recorded at Toronto’s Five-Star “Noble Street Studios” and features Graham alongside a number of acclaimed musicians including; Tears For Fears, Feist, Three Days Grace, Metric, and Ron Sexsmith.
In September 2014, Graham teamed up with IMAX composer Steve Wood to write the musical score for ‘Humpbacks’, an underwater 3D adventure documentary for IMAX and other giant screen theatres. Narrated by acclaimed actor Ewan McGregor, the film is directed by Greg MacGillivray (“The Living Sea”, “Everest”), presented in association with Pacific Life and was released February 13, 2015 to IMAX theatres worldwide.
In 2016, Graham released his fifth studio album ‘Tabula Rasa’ which was crowd funded by fans across the globe and produced by world renowned Acoustic Guitarist, Antoine Dufour. Adding an extra dimension to his compositions, the album introduces Graham’s soulful vocals to his audience for the first time. The album was released in March 2016 and features a combination of his exemplary instrumental guitar work punctuated throughout with elements of folk, blues, and pop in his vocal songs with guest performances by Antoine Dufour and Bass Guitar Extraordinaire, Michael Manring.
In 2019, Graham released his sixth studio album ‘Thread of Creation’ featuring instrumental compositions written for the Acoustic, Baritone and Harp Guitar also featuring guest performances by Antoine Dufour and Michael Manring. Each song on this album is very diverse yet very personal and shows a real maturity, depth, and development in Calum’s songwriting.
Calum continues to tour throughout Canada, the US, and Europe, and is currently in the studio recording his seventh studio album and planning to release the new works in the coming months. (taken from his website)
And here´s his 4th solo-album:
isclosure – three days before I got this assignment, I saw Calum Graham on tour with Andy McKee in Pittsburgh. They say life is timing – for me, good timing! It was a great show, and being able to dig into Calum’s new CD Sympatheia has been a treat after hearing him live. He certainly has incorporated many of the sonic and melodic ideas of both McKee and perhaps the father of Canadian modern fingerstyle guitar Don Ross, with two-handed tapping, harmonics, and percussive use of the guitar body (and they all come as progeny of the late great Michael Hedges). What sets Graham a bit apart from others is his rich use of looping and high reverb to create ethereal musical portraits. The opening and title cut “Sympatheia” is a case in point – a simple single note expands into tapping, then other elements are added, even a saturated electric guitar part to blossom into a well-conceived song with a catchy melody. “Nebula” is a faint whisper of resonating and vibrant melodic lines shimmering in bright tones. “Song of the Forest” brings you right into the heart of a lush, verdant space with early morning light and mist as the sounds echo and shine. “Tranquaility” brings some eerie slide guitar and hints of “House of the Rising Sun” with its first phrase, backed by a simple picking riff. Graham’s electric guitar chops come out on “Rainy Day” as the water pours down while the foundation of the song repeats on acoustic. Graham’s vibe is natural and organic while using some technology to give us that experience. There are many who prefer just one guitar and one mic for solo acoustic guitar music (I personally love that sound). But Calum Graham shows us more fully the musical possibilities the guitar can reveal in all kinds of forms. (Kirk Albrecht)
Yes, this review despreesses exactly what I´m feeling when I´m listen to Calum´s music.
Personnel:
Calum Graham (guitar, all other instruments)
Tracklist:
01. Sympatheia 4.59
02. Nebula 1.52
03. Liorah’s Lullaby 4.52
04. Never Ending Sky 4.30
05. Kenshō 4.07
06. Song Of The Forest 3.30
07. Tranquaility 3.38
08. Ne Oublie 2.32
09. Journey Of Love 4.21
10. Kixston 4.53
11. Rainy Day 5.53
12. Feather 5.40
Music: Calum Graham
More from Calum Graham in this blog:
“Calum’s entry resonated strongly among the judges. His poem celebrates the cultural mosaic that is Canada. He has captured the diversity of this country – something that we as a nation are renowned for and proud of.” (Stephan Moccio)
“The most promising young guitarist I’ve seen. His command of the guitar is already really impressive!” (Andy McKee)
Live in 2022:
The official website:
An extraordinary guitar player:
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