Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Jerry Leger: Toronto Mike'd #1370
Episode Date: November 21, 2023In this 1370th episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike chats with singer songwriter Jerry Leger about his music and relationships with Ron Sexsmith, Josh Finlayson from Skydiggers and Michael Timmins from C...owboy Junkies. Jerry plays live in the TMDS studio, too! Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, Ridley Funeral Home, Electronic Products Recycling Association, Raymond James Canada and Moneris. If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Toronto Mike at mike@torontomike.com
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Welcome to episode 1370 of Toronto Mic'd.
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Today, making his Toronto mic debut is Jerry Legere.
Jerry Legere.
How did I do with my Legere?
You got it, man.
You got it.
And I said this earlier, you're missing an E because I used to work with a guy with my Legere you got it man you got it and I said this earlier
you're missing an E
because I used to work
with a guy named
Tim Legere
I know him
no I don't
you know how I know
you don't know him
he's got an E
you're missing the E
what happened to the E
at the end of Legere
well that's Legere's
don't stick together
that's what good waffles do
well I think
I think what happened
is what happens with a lot of
Last names through time
Is that
They evolve from family to family
And at some point
Along the way
Become pronounced differently
And then it sticks
And then everyone in that family pronounces it like that
And actually
I remember years ago,
because there's Ray Legere, who's...
Does he have an E at the end?
He has an E at the end, and he is an East Coaster.
But his dad did not have the E at the end,
and they still pronounced it Legere.
And he added, if i'm getting the story right
he added an e because he was sick of people mispronouncing it so i'm not the only one what
do you get do you get legger do you get leaguer depends on what country i'm in really what about
in america how do they in america i'm ledger yeah i can see that yeah um and most parts in Canada, I'm Léger for sure. Right. Right.
Léger is the answer.
Yeah.
But it's,
I've been many different things.
Well,
it's interesting.
Last names.
Like you could have a last name like Santa Maria and you could pronounce it.
St.
Marie.
Like that happens,
right?
Yeah.
St.
Louis.
St.
All right. Jerry Léger,
uh,
honored to have you here.
I saw you brought a guitar.
We're going to get into it.
We're going to have a great chat.
But before we go any further, we have fresh cans of Great Lakes beer.
You got the wonderful premium lager there.
So when you open it, open it right on the mic.
Okay.
All right.
Oh, that's the best sound in the world.
I'm now going to crack open a burst because I'm bursting with excitement
to talk about music with you.
All right, so cheers to you, Jerry.
Cheers, man.
Thanks for having me on.
You're young.
I mean, I don't know what I expected.
You're not yet 40.
I would put you at about 35, 36.
I'm 38.
Okay, well, you do have some white in the beard.
I do, yeah, yeah.
Okay, and you're going to have a lot more soon.
Is that the goal?
Because I feel like guys who do what you do,
you're kind of a country alt-rock, folksy thing you're doing,
and we're going to listen to a lot of your music,
and maybe you'll even play live,
but you need white in the beard.
I don't think anyone will take you seriously
until there's white in the beard.
Well, you know, it's just happened.
So I'm in my Christofferson years.
Yeah.
But yeah, yeah.
I kind of knew I was going to go gray relatively early
because, you know, my dad and my brothers,
I knew it was coming.
I mean, it looks like you too i mean you
look like a young guy but i got many years on you uh when did you start going gray oh 21 yeah there
you go my my first gray hair i think i was like 25 and it just gradually it you know it ramps it
up do you have any kids no kids because i put accelerate yeah i feel like i was hanging in
there yeah the kid
number three
showed up and
then suddenly
there goes all
the pigmentation.
I think it's just
the stress of the
industry probably.
Well, I want to
get all the real,
I'm hoping you'll
just spill the beans
on the real talk,
but I want to
shout out an
FOTM who
connected us.
Let's pay our
respect.
Let's drink to
Cam Carpenter.
Can we do that?
What do you think
of Cam Carpenter?
Cam's a great guy.
I might take a sip first, though.
Take your sip.
You know, as I told my guest yesterday,
and I'll bring her up later, Michelle McAdory,
I'm going to start riding the silence on Toronto Mike.
So don't be afraid of a nice, comfortable silence.
Yeah.
Well, you know, Cam, I met him when I was a teenager he's an east ender i'm an east ender
i always have been and you know still am and no shame in that you sound like you're a little
nervous to tell me that uh because i'm a west ender oh no no there's some good people out east
right no no no no that's not it's not like that although I do remember somebody telling me to stay in the East End.
Don't cross Young Street.
You can still
play Massing Hall. I thought it was kind of cool. It was like the Warriors
or something, you know? I had this chat with
Blair Packham just, was that last
week? Oh, what a week. Okay, last week.
Blair Packham lives in the East End. Yeah, I know Blair.
Yeah, we had the same discussion about how
some of his friends won't visit him.
We don't go to the East End.
Yeah, I mean, that's what, I mean, I actually only just mentioned that I've always been in the East End
because being in Toronto, and especially if you've lived here all your life,
you tend to move around a lot.
So you're in the West End, you're in North York, you're in the East End, you're in, you know.
But I've always just stayed relatively in the same uh neighborhood you know so and you
know you named your new album dawnlands yeah dawnlands or dawnlands i mean west i would say
dawnlands but i mean well you know your new standard i don't really know i mean uh you'd
have to ask uh mr dawnlands do you know him personally uh look at me assuming it's a male it could be
mrs donlands how do we know i don't know i've uh yeah who is mr christy he made good cookies
you just don't mail him you asshole yeah yeah you know not you're in the west end now we had a
water tower i remember that it's still there well they you know what they did the water tower thing it's
still there i think they made it like they designated a historical building like you can't
even tear it down but they did take off the branding for mr christie like they slapped some
kind of like a piece of like paper over the mr christie logo okay but we all know what was there
right mr kitty and that is the part of the city well there's a couple of west end parts that smell
pretty damn good but it used to smell like
baking of cookies when
you kind of pass and we're talking
how would you describe that
Humber Bay Shores I know I'm the West
Ender I'm the one you should be I wish the Humber
smelled like cookies that'd be great
you know what parts of the Humber
unfortunately like really shitty cookies
yeah yeah those are terrible
terrible cookies that smell like the hunger.
The no-name cookies.
So Cam Carpenter passed on your contact and just said,
hey man, you should talk to Jerry Legere.
I've just known him for years.
And I signed one stipulation.
Okay, so I want to know how you know Cam.
Spend a minute on Cam.
Cam actually, I'm legally obligated to speak about Cam for 4.5 minutes.
But I do want to say, when I was trying to figure out how to say the name
Legere, because I wasn't sure how to
nail it and I learned and then I practiced.
But I saw you were on
cue with Gian Gomeschi. So at the
end of this conversation...
At the end of this conversation
you're going to tell me who
did the better interview. Gian Gomeschi
when he was on cue
or Toronto Mike as he is now on Toronto Mike.
Okay.
You don't do it now.
No.
Unless I've already passed him.
How did he do?
He sounded so pretentious.
Like, I thought you might sound good.
Like, like he saw you and said, that guy might sound good live.
And then you met his high expectations and he was just like, he was going to anoint you.
Oh, you were worthy of my
time on the public airwaves here with the public broadcaster like how was that experience being on
cue with gian comashi well i mean it was so long ago i remember i mean i was i was happy to be on
it for the you know the opportunity you need to raise awareness about your great music so people will seek it out.
Yeah, I mean, my memory is just that I was like how I am right now,
which is just me.
I just showed up and, you know, answered his questions,
played my songs and took off, you know, so.
Did he give you a beer?
There's no beer.
There is coffee.
That's not beer.
Yeah, well, CBC, I'm not sure what...
The rules are...
Do they keep the fridge full?
I'm not really sure.
Are they allowed to give you beer on the public...
Maybe you're not allowed...
I bet you there's a CRTC rule that says you can't drink on the public airwaves.
Maybe when you're getting paid for it, too.
I don't know how it works.
Hey, if you lived your whole life and never crossed Yonge Street,
you never went west of Yonge Street, you never went west
of Yonge Street, you could still play
Massey Hall. Yeah.
Have you ever played Massey Hall before?
Uh,
this past Saturday. You're not sure?
Well. Oh, because it's in the past tense.
Okay, let me preface this again. Let's pretend
we're talking about area. Yeah, I don't know what we're, yeah, exactly.
I know, I'm such an idiot.
November 18th happened.
So you played Massey Hall for the first time last week.
Yes.
Or whatever, the 18th.
I couldn't.
I was in Montreal.
I actually was going to go to this show.
And I'm going to play a jam from this guy.
But Don Stevenson came over.
And you know Don, right?
Yeah, yeah.
He's a good buddy.
And he's from Moby Grape.
Now I'm a Moby Grape expert.
Like, I'm just going to drop Moby Grape.
Shout out to Wise Blight who noticed I'm now talking about Moby Blake. Moby Grape. Now I'm a Moby Grape expert. Like I'm just going to drop. Love Moby Grape. Shout out to Wise Blight
who noticed
I'm now talking about Moby Blake.
Moby Blake.
You know what I mean, Blake?
I'm now,
this beer is good.
I'm now talking about Moby Grape
like I'm a lifelong expert
because I listen to my guests.
Like when Dawn is educating me
on a Moby Grape,
I soak,
I drink it in
and I do become,
here it is.
I'll show you quick.
So you're a fan of music,
but that's a buskin in the subway.
That's a Don Stevenson.
Are you on this album by Don Stevenson?
No,
I'm on,
I'm on a new record that he's recorded.
Uh,
I think we'll be out.
I don't know.
Probably next year at some point.
And so,
sorry,
coming in hot here.
Uh, apologies, but I want to play a bit of this and then we'll get back to Massey Hall. next year at some point. Oh, sorry. Coming in hot here.
Apologies.
But I want to play a bit of this and then we'll get back
to Massey Hall.
It's been two nights too long
I'm just now walking home
I hope I don't wake you up
To see my tired, sad eyes
But it's no big surprise
I'm halfway till gone
I'll let it brew in the background.
I want to ask you about this.
So this is actually a song by you, Jerry,
featuring Don Stevenson.
Yeah, it's a single that we put out a few years ago.
And yeah, I wrote it in an Everly Brothers kind of vein
and always planned to sing it with somebody.
And, you know, I was just hanging out with Don and just asked if he wanted to be part of it.
And he did. And we just, you know, in one session with our friend Tim Oveconi, we just knocked it out.
Amazing. I mean, did you know he was the drummer for Moby Grape?
Oh, yeah. No know i'm the expert
yeah yeah yeah yeah no i mean when i met don i i uh i was very uh surprised that he was living
in toronto i mean i i just didn't expect that uh because he's right california or he's been
playing i mean yeah he's from seattle uh but yeah Seattle. But yeah, he's been playing a fair bit,
or at least before the pandemic.
But at the time I met him,
I wasn't aware of him playing around town,
so he seemed pretty under the radar.
He's busking in the subways.
Yeah, that guy busking in the subways.
He actually was.
He still does. Yeah, he still does.
Yeah. And he loves it. And, uh, well, he loves music. It's very inspiring. He just loves
to be doing it. And I mean, that's really inspiring to see somebody that has, you know,
been through a lot and through a lot and what the industry was in the late 60s and expectations and
all kinds of just life you know over over the years you know so it's uh
he's still just so has like beautiful energy and and uh excitement for for music so
you have something in common with Don Stevenson
that you both, believe it or not,
even though he's got a couple years on you.
A couple years, right?
He's so old, he's got a couple years on Gear Joyce.
But you and him made your Massey Hall debuts together
just on the weekend.
Please tell me, how was it?
Again, I was in Montreal.
I couldn't attend.
I wanted to go.
Because I also had Sylvia Tyson on the show. i had dawn stevens and sylvia tyson i'm like i gotta go to this this celebration of the last waltz tell me what i missed
yeah it was a very special night um a lot of great performers uh the official tribute band band
uh chess fever i mean they played for five hours you know went an
hour over uh uh wait wait but many many artists on this bill the whole thing was five hours yeah
yeah that's yeah yeah that happens when you put all these uh all these great musicians that's
right yeah and i did you know i was doing the whole Dylan portion. So I did six songs. Three of them were with Don, him and I.
We did Forever Young together, which, you know, which meant a lot.
You know, it made a lot of sense, you know, the way that we split the verses and sing on the choruses together.
And yeah, I mean, it was just a really special night i mean when i
walked out on on stage though it was to be honest because i've been you know i'm uh it was just a
stage i'm now i'm now on a stage and i'm playing with the band and i'm i'm doing my thing you
weren't overwhelmed by the fact that like there's probably no better venue in this country to play. Yeah. Of course, of course I agree with that. And of course it's been,
you know, I've wanted to play there forever. I mean, it's our musical church, but you know,
if you're distracted by that, you're going to go out there and like, what's the first line,
you know? And so when they call my name, I just walked out there and, you know, we're off to the races.
But for the last song, I shall be released, you know,
the whole fantastic lineup came up on stage.
And, you know, I did a verse, Don did a verse,
and we all sang the choruses together.
That was the point where I kind of looked up
and looked around the room and looked on the stage at everyone.
And that was the moment where it was like, oh, this is pretty cool.
This is, we're at Massey Hall and we're doing this beautiful thing.
Did you, can you tell me, what did Sylvia Tyson play?
Because they wanted her to play Four Strong Winds because Neil Young plays Four Strong
Winds during the last Waltz.
But she was going to do this, like she was leaning towards doing a song that she wrote because of course Ian wrote Four Strong Winds during the last Waltz. But she was going to do, she was leaning towards doing a song that she wrote
because, of course, Ian wrote Four Strong Winds.
What do you know? Can you tell me?
She did Four Strong Winds.
Okay, so she succumbed to the pressure.
Alright.
Yeah, they played a little bit of
one of the ones that she wrote
when she was coming on stage,
which is a beautiful song.
What is it again?
It's the one that,
it was a huge hit for another band in the 60s, actually. Yeah, you know what?
It's a great song.
In that other band,
I can never remember the name.
It's slipping my mind at the moment.
Did you make this,
were you also struggling,
it's You Were On My Mind is the name of the song.
That's it, yeah.
You Were On My Mind.
You Were On My Mind. That's a great song, yeah. You were on my mind. You were on...
That's a great song, yeah.
Oh, wonderful.
As her accountant told her,
please more of those
because that did very well for her.
And I was curious,
so by the way,
you sang that very well.
Have you considered singing for a living?
Like, could you?
And here, and again,
we're going to bounce around.
I'm going to play some old stuff.
I have some people you work with
that I'm going to play some of their stuff
and get you,
we're going to have a great time and we'll see if there's time
maybe you'll even play something but uh can you make a living as a singer like you again you're
not even 40 years old you thinking like oh i should have been an accountant myself like are
you any regrets no i don't have you're gonna sell the beer when i give you this beer to take home
do you sell that to make rent or you don't i don't have any regrets and and uh you know what can i say i mean i just work hard and you know i'm i'm
i'm always thankful uh you know levels of success it's so especially as you get older you know the
way you judge success um you know leonard cohen always had a great response to that because you
know he he struggled for a while before he got into the music biz and that had its waves.
And he said, you know, success to me is just surviving.
And, you know, I write songs.
I'm able to put out records on a regular basis and I tour a lot and the lights
stay on and I have a roof over my head. You're living the dream. I managed to stay in
Toronto while doing it so. Well you had to move to the east now. Well no I never
moved see forgot it. I've always been in the east then but but yeah uh
yeah I mean I'm able to make a living at it.
It's not really something that I question.
You don't need a yacht, right?
I need a yacht and I need a Rolls Royce and I need caviar for breakfast.
You have reasonable things that make you happy.
Good songs aren't born out of that.
Right.
By the way, the band that we cannot remember the name of,
their name is We Five. that we cannot remember the name of,
their name is We Five.
So I never remember that name because I can't name another song from We Five.
I should dig into their wiki page and find out.
But they did take,
You Were On My Mind,
they took it to number four.
Okay, okay.
I couldn't remember if it was like
the New Seekers or something.
Yeah, great song though.
But she succumbed
and she ended up singing,
uh,
four strong winds,
which makes complete sense for that event.
So that event was a big success.
You've now played Massey Hall.
Awesome.
And Don Stevenson,
uh,
I would wish I was there just to see him make his Massey Hall debut at
whatever he is,
82,
83,
82,
I think.
Yeah.
And I mean,
Scarlett Rivera on,
on violin.
I mean, that was a thrill for me. Cause the first time I think. Yeah, and I mean, Scarlett Rivera on violin. I mean, that was a thrill for me
because the first time I heard Bob Dylan
was my dad playing the Hard Rain live album,
which was from the second leg of the Rolling Thunder tour.
So I've heard her playing all my life, pretty much.
So that was cool. I really enjoyed that as well. I've heard her playing all my life pretty much. And, and, uh,
so that was cool.
You know, I really enjoyed that as well.
And,
uh,
uh,
we sing,
uh,
uh,
Roy Orbison's crying acapella backstage.
Cause afterwards she was like,
I really love your voice.
Like you could sing.
Do you ever sing Roy Orbison?
And I'm like,
I wouldn't even touch that.
You know,
Roy is,
is just such a beautiful
singer. And, and, uh, but then we started singing, crying, which is, you know, she sounded great.
Did you know the video for I Drove All Night, this video, the Roy Orbison video featured
Jason Priestley? No, I didn't know that. I didn't, I've never seen that video.
I'm only bringing it up because he was my most recent guest.
So you are now following in the heels, following Jason Priestley.
Okay.
Rough going.
So I'm going to play some earlier stuff.
I got new stuff.
I have, again, I have some music from artists that have been involved in your career,
your wonderful career in music.
But I want to play some Jerry LaGere.
Let's drink to Isabella in a room full of repairs.
Cover the bruises and scratches from the wild and restless years.
By the time those glasses reach our lips
You'll be wondering why we're here
The confusion works through her mind
Like the light shines through her hair
She says I'm beautiful and wonderful
In a fragile voice well aged
I've lived and learned every word on
every worn out page
I was once the one
you worried about
I was once that girl you craved
Now I'm standing here
all by myself and I
don't need to be saved
Life's long dirty road loved me and broke this heart in two
I smiled and frowned up and down the town and I hurt my eyes with truth
I found the places where you meet, but people never leave too soon
They wait till you're weak and sick and you sleep in the cold
cold room
I was young
when I left
home
I wrestled
I'm enjoying
the story here
who's on strings
there
it's uh
James McKay
on uh
on fiddle
yeah
this song is
called Isabella.
I haven't heard it in a while.
Yeah, I cherry picked some.
I quickly did my homework.
Much like I am now a Moby Grape expert,
I'm now going to be a Jerry
Legere expert, but I
quite like this song.
Thank you. And you sound
older than your age. I don't know
how long ago this goes.
Approximately when do you record this?
I had to guess.
I think it was 2010.
Okay, so you're a very young man.
I'm like 25 or something.
Well, it was a lot of late nights.
I remember recording that record and playing until 2 in the morning
and then going to the studio at 10 the next morning.
And see, you kind of get that, you know, and I don't think I was I think I take better care of myself now.
So, you know, I think my voice was even a little more raspier when I was in my 20s.
Wow, you're doing it backwards.
Yeah, I'm doing it backwards.
Yeah, I think you learn,
you have more control of your voice and what you're doing as the years go by.
Did you always want to be in music?
Do you remember when you were a kid?
What's your origin story?
It's just you grew up around music? Yeah, come from you know a family that loves music that still listens to a
lot of music and uh you know three older brothers uh so you know i could be a good vacuum for what
they were listening to and i also was somebody that liked my parents record collection you know so that was
great for me as well but what did your parents uh have in that records collection uh well my dad
had well bob dylan uh the who the kinks stones life foot uh it's easy when your parents like
good music it's easy to enjoy their music and my my mom still is a huge Beatles and John Lennon in particular fan.
So I grew up on John Lennon's solo records as well as the Beatles.
And I mean, that would have been my first obsession.
You know, as long as I can remember,
I've been obsessed with the Beatles and John Lennon.
So I just, that's the other cool thing, man.
That's like, you know, when I'm far away from home on tour, I'm doing this or that, you know,
especially these days, I try to, you know, every so often stop and be like, you know,
especially if I'm having like a bad day or something shitty happens.
It's like, you know especially if I'm having like a bad day or something shitty happens it's like you know what
this is actually what I always wanted to do from like since I was a little kid what I was dying to
do to just like get through school so I could just go both feet into this you know it's like this is
what I've always wanted you know so good bad and the, you know? Oh no, no doubt. No doubt.
So again,
sometime I'm going to play some of you.
I've got a few jams,
particularly some new songs from Dawnlands.
And I'm going to like choice jams from artists that are,
it seemed to be involved in your career.
And I thought we'll listen to a little of this gentleman and talk about him.
He's also an FOTM.
Jerry,
Jerry,
you're now an FOTM friend of Toronto Mike.
I know it doesn't seem that way,
but maybe it's the perfect day.
Even though the bills are piling,
maybe lady luck ain't smiling
But if we'd only open our eyes
We'd see the blessings in disguise
And all the rain clouds are fountains
Though our troubles seem like mountains
There's gold in them hills
There's gold in them hills
So don't lose heart I'm actually curious about the ongoing history of Jerry Legere and Ron Sexsmith.
Like, how do you meet Ron?
I know he's involved in your musical life since the get-go, essentially,
but talk to me about Ron Sexsmith.
Well, I first met him, I was working,
maybe I was like 17 or so.
I was working at a home hardware.
And he lived in the neighborhood at the time and came in.
I recognized him.
I remember really loving this song.
That song called This Song.
It opens the Blue Boy record that he put out with Steve Earle produced.
And I love that song
I remember seeing that video a lot on
Much Music
for anyone old enough listening to this
that remembers Much Music
I didn't know
that I would you know
take Much Music for granted until
you know the last few years but
but you raise a good point there
which is now you have to kind
of seek out much music and we used to just flip it on yeah like you have to it's it's another
obstacle it's like you have to bring these music videos to people you know it's like much music
like i mean when i was a little kid i thought sloan was the biggest band in the world and they
weren't but they seemed like it to me because they
were on much music all the time so dude you and i might have you know a decade and more on you but
i felt the same way like there are a lot of these now a lot of these bands that come in my basement
yeah and i'm like you know like rusty i say a lot of talking oh yeah rusty i remember rusty
yeah i remember those videos too yeah oh yeah wake me or
whatever i just did like a dude if you're bored man i just dropped like an hour all about just
about rusty's wake me yeah it's the deepest dive and the first time i heard about the deers you
know i thought that was really cool and that guy just came here with hawksley work okay shout out
to hawk who's also an fm murray Lightburn. That's right, yeah. Right.
Yeah.
Okay.
Yeah, so, yeah, Ron came in,
and I gave him my demo CD, you know,
because I spent my teenage years recording on, like,
a four-track that my brother gave me,
and it was such a great tool because um it was
exciting to to write a song and then you hear it come to life and add things to it because you had
four tracks so you could overdub like a second guitar or harmonies and i'd always run them
through like delay and reverb pedals and uh and that would motivate me to write more songs.
Like I started off, I mean, by the time I was, you know, 18,
I'd already written like a couple hundred songs.
Not to say that they were good, but they were just, you know,
it was just a very exciting thing.
And I gave him a copy of it.
And sure enough, the next time I saw him, he was like,
oh, I copy of it. And sure enough, the next time I saw him, he was like, Oh, I really liked it. And, and he said that it reminded him of, of, uh, one of, you know,
a friend of his that, that he really loved, uh, who turned out to be Kev Harness. And, uh, I,
you know, I didn't, he moved, uh, uh, yeah, he moved into a different neighborhood and I didn't see him again for
maybe like a year or two. And, um, yeah. And then by that time I had recorded my first album,
which I'm sure we'll get to all this, uh, with, uh, Timbo Vakani, who is playing.
We're getting there right now, Jerry. This is it. This is the moment. So Tim Oveconi, you know, playing in Ron's band for many years.
And that kind of like reignited something because Tim played the record, you know, in the tour van when they were on the road.
And Ron was like, oh, this is, you know, I like this because he thought it was, you know, not that maybe it wasn't like, you know, a masterpiece, but he could hear that I was doing my own thing and didn't really care what other people thought.
You know, you could kind of gather that already that maybe I was, you know, starting a journey where I was going to be doing my own thing,
which, you know, I'm proud to say that.
That's what I've done this whole time,
which it's been almost 20 years now.
So you got a Tim Bovacanti,
and you throw in a little Don Kerr,
and then next thing you know,
you've got Farewell Ghost Town, your sophomore record,
and Ron Sexsmith featured there on piano, right?
Yeah, he played on like half the record
which was really cool at that time.
I remember going to the studio
when he
because he didn't record on the island
with us. We record most of the record
on the island. Wolf Island? Where are you?
It was Toronto Island.
Toronto Island. Not Wolf Island?
No, I was there. Chris Brown?
I was there in June, yeah.
Wolf Island.
That's kind of its own thing.
Stephen Stanley, I think, does all his stuff there now.
That's right, yeah.
There's a whole scene on Wolf Island.
Yeah, this was the gas station, the studio that,
it was actually the last,
my record was the last record that Don Kerr recorded there
before he kind of parted ways from gas station
and started his own home studio
uh the rooster i think um but yeah anyways when ron was at uh at dawn's when he was in the very
early stages of this home studio being put together and he was doing the the piano overdubs
i also remember like bob d Dylan's Modern Times just came out
because I picked it up on the way, you know.
It's interesting different memories you have.
That's like a memory that sticks in my head
that like I picked up the new Bob Dylan record
on the way to Don's, you know.
Yeah, well, you know, music's a soundtrack to your life, right?
Yeah.
Or as they said on CJCL when I was growing up,
it's the music of your life.
So it, yeah, absolutely.
You remember where you were
when you heard a song.
You remember where you were
when you picked up
a certain album.
Well, it's funny.
It's funny because when I,
when I try to think about
different times in my life,
I, I, I, I remember,
well, what record was I working on
at that time?
You know, that's how I'm able
to like figure out what,
you know, relative, you know,
relative,
you know,
well,
that must've been this year.
Cause I put this album out or something.
You know,
that's sort of like a measuring tape for you,
Jerry,
to find out,
you know,
where was I in life?
And I'm just going to take this opportunity to give you measuring tape.
Oh,
from Ridley funeral home.
You never know what you need to measure.
And I just want to shout out Ridley Funeral Home pillars of this community
you gotta make sure
the coffin fits
well dude I know you're an east ender but if you ever
want to be treated by the good people
at Ridley Funeral Home here in the west end
I think the people who love you and care for you
will venture west of Yonge for that occasion
yeah I don't want to see them just yet
but definitely
at some point
i'll get there first don't you worry about it okay so again sprinkle any i love ron sexsmith
so anything you want to say about ron sexsmith here and there just do it but i'm going to
introduce another uh artist that people listen you know let us listen to what i'm gonna see
these guys on the weekend so i'm gonna see these guys on Saturday. So they're top of mind for me, Jerry.
And this might be one of the greatest songs of all time.
I will give you everything that you've ever wanted.
With this promise, I will bring you home again.
I will give you anything if you don't demand it
with one
promise I will
make you mine
again
I will
give you everything
that you
ever wanted
I will give you everything.
Don't you wish you wrote this song?
Oh, yeah.
I mean, it's such a great tune.
I mean, that whole record, that first record's great.
Absolutely. At some point early in your career, you strike up a friendship with Josh Finlayson
from Sky Diggers. How does he help you out at, I don't know, mid to late 2000s there?
Well, you know, much like Ron and Timbo Vakani, he was one of those early supporters that, you know, heard something in what I was doing.
And yeah, and we ended up making a great record that was also co-produced by Timbo Makani.
by Tim O'Conney.
And I don't know.
I just, I loved, you know,
I like being surrounded by good people.
And Josh has such a great heart, you know, and also, you know, I have a lot of respect for Sky Diggers.
And yeah, and we were just on the same page of the kind of record we wanted to make
I actually wanted to make a record that
had that feel
of those early Lifefoot records
those United Artists 60s records where they
sound so full but they were very acoustic
like a couple acoustics and a bass
and that was kind of the template
that we went for going in
to make that record
You, Me and and the horse.
That's the record we made.
You, me, and the horse.
Now, Josh is not yet an FOTM, but we should fix that.
But Andy Mays is.
And when I listen to it, I'm like,
let me turn it up for a moment here. I will give you everything that you've ever wanted.
I will give you everything.
I will give you
So it's interesting, when I hear the, you know, Andy and Josh there
and that great Sky Diggers song, which I'll hear live on Saturday,
it reminds me a little of the aforementioned Stephen Stanley
and Ron Hawkins in, like, Bleed a Little While,
Bleed a Little While Tonight.
Like, when I hear Bleed a Little While Tonight
and their voices, the way they kind of intertwine,
just gorgeous.
Okay, so we've heard now Ron Sexsmith.
Now we've played some Sky Diggers.
I could go anywhere from here,
but I think I'm going to just get here
because this will definitely bridge us to the new album.
But I want to hear...
definitely bridges to the new album.
But I want to hear some cowboy junkies
who were discussed early and often
yesterday with Michelle McAdory
from Crash Vegas. Wouldn't turn around and break it
And anyone who's ever played a part
Wouldn't turn around and hate it
Sweet Jane
Sweet Jane
Sweet Jane
Sweet, sweet Jane
Waiting for Jimmy down in the alley
Waiting there for him to come back home Waiting down on the corner
Thinking of ways to get back home
Sweet Jim
Jerry, talk to me about future FOTM, Michael Timmons.
Oh, nice. Is he coming on?
I say that arrogantly because I have sent him an email, a formal invitation.
I can mention it as well.
We'll do that. Let's make it happen. It's long overdue.
Yeah.
Well, I mean, I first met Mike through Josh, actually.
I went to their old, to Cowboy Junkies' old studio space, and I was just recording some demos, you know, with Josh there.
And, you know, long story story short a couple years later um i was going to see skydiggers at
hughes room and i ran into noel webb the drummer on the way there and he was telling me that you
know oh mike has this new new studio it's just you know a few hours down from hughes room like
because i was looking at making a new record at that point and and so he suggested like oh we'd check it out I think it you know we just
made a record there and it's a cool space and so yeah I went there you know maybe even the next day
yeah yeah yeah it was yeah it was the summer of yeah 2013 and we just talked about what kind of records we like making and how we
like making them and I gave him a couple of my records I'd put out since the last time I'd seen
him and, you know, and before I left he was like, yeah, you know, let's make a record and you know and then like whatever a week later or something
like that i you know signed on the dotted line and that was kind of the beginning of that uh
the beginning of a beautiful friendship yeah definitely definitely early riser that's the uh
the 2014 album that uh michael timmons uh you can call him mike am i allowed to call him mike or is
he michael i always notice he's listed as Michael Timmons.
I mean, I've always called him Mike.
When he comes over, I'm going to call him Mike.
Yeah, see how it goes.
I did a couple of bad times that happened.
Michael Landsberg told me,
Mike is the name of the guy who fixes his car.
He's Michael Landsberg.
Well, that guy's important.
You need a good mechanic.
I like the Mike who fixes my car better than those fucking pretentious Michaels out there,
sons of bitches.
And then Michael Williams came over and he told me, Mike is the thing I speak into.
He's Michael Williams.
Yeah.
So now I've got this like complex about, you know, at least you're just Jerry, right?
And Jerry, is that like Geraldo?
Gerald.
Gerald, of course.
Yeah, yeah.
I was named after my brother's, or my brother, my dad's brother who passed away.
So it was like a tribute to him.
But I've always gone by Jerry.
But can I ask, so Gerald has a G, but Jerry's with a J.
Yeah.
Did you consider Jerry a G?
Well, it's very confusing, right?
did you consider Jerry it's very confusing right
it's my last name
you know
there's a lot of craziness
but I don't know
you considered rebranding
is it too late
I think you just have to blame my parents for that
because they would have been the ones
that taught me how to spell my name
Jerry with a J
so we'll get them on
and you can ask them these questions.
How did life change?
Well, I'll stick to the music.
You stick to the music.
I'll put them on the other mics.
Yeah, exactly.
But how did your life change?
And I'll get back to Michael Timmons.
Don't worry.
Future FOT at Michael Timmons.
How did your life change
when Jerry Seinfeld became famous?
Because you're of an age that you were alive
before he was a household name.
Yeah.
I love that show.
But did,
you know,
Jerry,
I don't remember anything changing though,
but nothing changed.
Like no one would quote.
I'm trying to think,
Jerry,
I don't know if there's any good quotes about Jerry.
I'm trying to think.
It's gold.
Yeah.
Do people come up to you when you have a new album and go,
it's gold,
Jerry,
it's gold.
It hasn't happened until now.
That's a bad sign. It means it's not great. Not great's gold. It hasn't happened until now. It should happen more often. That's a bad sign.
It means it's not great.
Not great, Al.
Okay, so back to what matters here.
Michael Timmons here.
Because this is like a common theme now
for the next decade of your musical life
is Michael Timmons.
He seems to be a great influence on you.
And he's even like, I mean,
to fast forward a little bit
because I want to get to the new album,
Nonsense and Heartache, right? That's a double album that's also michael timmons produced like you should write down all the things michael timmons has done with you since yeah and that was
his idea you know how often does that happen when somebody you know who runs a label comes to you
and says you know you want to make a double album? Usually it's the artist
trying to, and the label's like, are you nuts? Even Lucinda Williams, that's why she left Lost
Highway, because she wanted to make a double record, and they told her she was crazy, so she
left and started her own label. But he, you know, his instincts were probably correct. You were on
the Polaris Music Prize longer list, the longer list.
We've got to differentiate here, not the short list.
But here's an interesting quote.
If you look into the life of Jerry Legere,
you learn that. I remember that. I know.
I'm here to educate you on your life here.
This album,
this double album, produced by Michael
Timmons, and I do want to
remind me to get back. I want to ask you about
Cowboy Junkies, because we had a good chat about them a couple.
Yeah, it was.
Yeah.
See, because I recorded twice yesterday,
my brain thinks Michelle McAdory was here
a couple of days ago,
but she was here yesterday.
I just did two yesterday.
And because I did the two,
I feel like, oh yeah,
Jason Priestley was yesterday.
Michelle McAdory was two days ago,
but that is erroneous.
Correct.
They were both yesterday.
But this is from the German edition of Rolling Stone.
So Rolling Stone must have editions for different countries.
Your album, Nonsense and Heartache,
received high praise in the German edition of Rolling Stone.
It went to number three on the Rolling Stone album charts.
The reaction in Europe particularly,
maybe we don't appreciate great music here,
and there's a case to be said for that, by the way.
Just ask Danko Jones.
But man, the response in Europe,
including the UK, to these albums,
you were right there, you were in the Take Root Festival.
What the hell was the Take Root Festival?
Do you remember that? Yeah, that's a festival in Groningen. We actually did was the Take Root Festival? Oh, that's just... Do you remember that?
Yeah, that's a festival in Groningen. We actually
did again. Where is it? It's in Groningen,
Netherlands. See, you just assume
when you say Groningen that we all know that's in
the Netherlands. Only Lee Bay Fumpkin knew that.
Oh, okay. Groningen. Okay, well,
you know, I did
okay in geography. Okay, I only know Rotterdam
and Amsterdam, and then I get a little
hazy. Yeah, So it's a festival
there.
Yeah, it's just a great festival.
But Kurt Weill, I mean, shout out to Dave
Hodge who's here next week. Kurt Weill,
a big favorite of him. Nico Case,
Father John Misty, you know,
Shaky Graves. That is a great name
for an artist. I'm not sure I know any Shaky
Graves jams, but that's a pretty cool name.
Well, I think the first time we played was uh it was kind of cool because it had uh it had that bill
you know and then we were just you know nobody really knew us we were the only canadian act on
the bill and definitely the lesser known uh but that Nonsense and Heartache record
was re-released overseas
a year after
it was
relatively
ignored here
Is that frustrating though?
Well I mean it is frustrating because
but it's just
I mean it's just like anywhere there's it's just, I mean, it's just like anywhere.
There's just a bit of a game involved.
And I don't know.
I mean, I did okay in geography, but I was pretty shit in gym.
So, but yeah, it was re-released overseas.
And, you know, we've consistently toured over there since then.
And, you know, it's been really nice.
It's been really nice to see those audiences build and let the records, you know, sell more and more with every release.
Amazing.
Yeah, it's nice.
and it's, yeah, it's nice.
Yeah, so that record, you know, even though it was a double record
and it, you know, probably scared some people here overseas,
it kind of made them more interested of like,
what's this all about?
So, yeah, so it did open a lot of doors, that record.
You, you know, the late, great Norm Macdonald,
wonderful Canadian comic,
he always said, Germans love Jerry Legere.
Yeah, I heard him say that.
He said that all the time.
This was like a catchphrase.
Yeah, well, he had it tattooed, I think, didn't he?
Germans love Jerry Legere, but we love you too.
Yeah, well, he was buried with one of my records,
which is really nice.
Which one?
Nonsense and Heartache.
Of course.
He was wrapped in it.
It was a double record, so.
All right, let's get, so again,
we're coming to the current, but let's pre-COVID.
So pre-COVID, we're now late 2019.
Time out for tomorrow.
Another Michael Timmons production.
I'm telling you, this guy's all over your songbook
the last decade.
And again, if I may,
the German edition of Rolling Stone,
all over it,
calling it a masterpiece,
4.5 out of 5.
Now, this is Mike interjecting.
The masterpiece albums I love
are 5 out of 5, okay?
4.5 out of 5 is not a masterpiece.
No?
I don't think so. What do you think?
If you would call an album a masterpiece, are you going
to give it anything less than a perfect score?
What's a masterpiece?
That's Beethoven territory.
I have no idea, man.
I guess when you have your magazine
and you start reviewing records
then you'll
make sure that...
You're five out of five in my books here.
Have you liked that record?
I'm still like diving into my Jerry Maguire songbook here.
But bottom line is great music,
another great production by Michael Timmons.
Yeah.
Another thing, just a little side note.
I'm sure you already know this, but there's a lot of cases with magazines
where somebody reviews the record,
the writer reviews the record,
but the editor is allowed to change the ratings.
Is that right?
Is that how they can change headlines?
No, that's a true thing.
That's actually a real thing.
A writer could give a record 10 out of 10 That's actually a true... No, that's a true thing. That's actually a real thing that they...
A writer could give a record 10 out of 10
and the editor might bring it down to 7,
but the actual review stays the same.
That's a real thing, yeah.
Oh, that sucks.
Can I ask you about the Delphi's?
Because I was reading up on the Delphi's.
It's like you've got this side project going on.
Can you tell us about the Delphi's?
Yeah, Delphi's is just a wild rock and roll record. Well, the first record is very,
well, the records are very spontaneous. You know, the idea was I wanted to start something that
didn't have any pressure or any, you know, obligation or any expectations.
It's just about getting together.
And I wrote these songs specifically for the band
that were just, some of them were kind of outrageous,
like rocking in the funeral home.
Shout out to Ridley Funeral Home.
And yeah, there we go.
I think they like it.
Some funeral directors have really liked that song.
You know, just stuff like that uh and and i i didn't want the anyone really knowing the songs um so it would be like a huge group of us and just kind of feeding off each other and and uh
and our shows are like that too every show is different um yeah it was just something that that i wanted to have
the the there's nothing there's no like weight on my shoulders with it it was just about
having fun you know like i remember the first uh proper show that we played as the delphi's
you know i said something like you know if you like. If you don't, we don't really care.
Like, I'm not even sure you're even there, you know?
Yeah, it was for, and it still is.
I mean, we still, that's our, like,
when we're not on tour,
that's pretty much what we're doing in Toronto. Exactly.
Like, who's the cast of many, cast of many.
It's a rotating cast.
It's an eclectic Motley Crue.
Yeah, it's just been a lot of...
I mean, the first record had 13 people on it.
Some of the shows have had even more than that.
And I'm hoping in the new year
that we're going to do another record as the Psych Fies.
I love it.
I love the idea of making art not for commercial consumption.
Not that it's not for commercial consumption, but not giving a shit
how it
ranks on a chart or how much
money it makes or whatever.
You're creating art for yourself, essentially.
And you're sharing it with us
because we can appreciate it
or not, and you don't care.
It's just fun. It's just fun, and I'm
here to have fun most of the time.
I did notice, because i'm about
to play a new song from the new album the dawn lands but i noticed you did have a single called
jumped in the humber again a michael timmons production with you and your band the situation
jump did you ever jump in the humber it's just written as like a kind of like a mob story, you know, like a mafia movie that was never that never was filmed.
You know, it's just it's that kind of song.
You know, was he, you know, did he jump in the Humber?
Was he pushed?
You know, it's it's just it carries that story.
And at the end of the song, you know, the, before the cops there,
the guy grabs his wallet and all that shit and takes off, you know,
it's just, um, yeah,
it was just kind of like a fun writing, like a mini screenplay, you know,
I liked it. It's fun to do. I mean, I, I didn't really plan to do that.
It's just the songs come out,
you know,
in different ways.
And that one came out in,
in that way.
So.
Love it.
Okay.
We're going to play some new music and then I have some more gifts for you.
And then I want to hear more about the Dawnlands.
And then maybe if you play something that would be like amazing,
like no pressure.
You don't have to sing for your supper.
Cause I do have supper for you by the way.
Yeah.
Well,
I would, I would do this song. Sure. have supper for you by the way yeah well I would
I would do this song
sure
good because you brought
the you know
in the pouring rain
you brought a guitar
and everything like that
I do have my last
again I don't want to
sound obsessed
with your name
you know I'm picking
on the G
where's the E
then Gerald
why is Jerry
with a G
J not a G
like what an asshole
but I have a question
about your
podcast right
that's what
did I pronounce it
all right
but my problem my question is your middle name.
Okay, because Michael Timmons is a Michael,
but you can call him Mike.
I'm a Michael.
People call me Mike.
My issue is how do you spell Michael in your name?
Well, that's like more of a, yeah,
that's like a, I guess like a French way.
E-A-L, I'm not sure.
So I know how this works
because I've had kids.
Like somebody has to file the paperwork
and then you get the birth certificate.
Is there any chance,
because just to let people know,
it's M-I-C-H-E-A-L.
But of course, as a Michael,
I learned very young.
It's M-I-C-H-A-E-L.
Is it possible one of your parents
who submitted that form
just simply inverted the E and A by accident?
I have no idea.
Again, you'd have to get them on the
podcast, man. That's my
question because Michael is misspelled.
Is it?
Thanks for letting me know.
Spell it as it is on your driver's license.
How do you spell Michael?
What is Michael spelt like on your driver's license?
It's E-A-L.
I know how to
spell Michael, but I know that
my middle name is spelled differently.
But thanks for...
I didn't know that this podcast was
about my first
middle and last name. I thought it was about...
Did I criticize all three?
Yeah, I thought we were
talking about the records, but
apparently you don't want to.
Doing it right now.
Three hours ahead of midnight.
I'm sorry.
Drew you the way I last remembered Forgot everything up till then
Was love something that we measured
When we were acting more than friends
I'm drawn to the light When we were acting more than friends
I'm drawn to the light
I got a stake in the cause
I love to see the sunshine pouring down
Your ever flowing on and off. And I will be your connector.
Three hours ahead of midnight.
Take my hand and we'll see this through.
Three hours ahead of midnight.
Take my hand and we'll see this through.
Three hours ahead of midnight.
And let's not bury the lead, Jerry,
because you worked with another FOTM on this new album,
The Dawnlands.
Shout out to Mark Howard.
You worked with Mark on this.
Yeah, I mean.
He's amazing.
I think he's amazing.
What was it like working with Mark Howard?
Yeah, it was great. You know, we just went in and knocked it out in five days which I like because I do
you know all my records we've done for the most part live in the studio and
yeah it just really worked very well it was you know we chose the right songs
for the record and it came out sounding
how I hoped it would, which is, you know, I'm familiar with a lot of the records that he's
worked on and I wanted to get that sound for this particular record. And yeah, that's what we got.
He's worked with some of the greats i mean
not just bob dylan and and of that ilk but the tragically hip yeah right right i mean i would
he he made a he made a record uh real gone uh by tom waits and that was uh yeah that was a pretty
important record for me when that came out.
So, and Lucinda Williams' World Without Tears, which is a beautiful record.
And beautiful sounding record.
That was definitely one of those records where I was like, yeah, I want to do something like that.
And you're right, your voice is aging in reverse.
You sound younger on this track than you did earlier.
If you hear it in the headphones. So whatever you've, if you quit smoking, I don't know what you did, but it track than you did earlier. If you hear it in the headphones.
So whatever you've,
if you quit smoking,
I don't know what you did,
but it's working for your voice.
Yeah.
And you're happy with the, the new album,
The Dawnlands.
Yeah.
I mean,
the response has been great,
you know,
cause it's,
it's a different record.
I knew that I loved it. I really didn't know. Um,
I mean, you can never predict how people react to certain albums. Um, and, and, and it just,
it just goes at its own pace and it's in its own dimension and it's not a rock and roll record.
dimension and it's not a rock and roll record. It's just its own thing. And, and so I, you know,
I wasn't sure how, uh, you know, some people react to it, but, uh, but it's been great, you know, cause all the reviews and, you know, fan reaction have been, you know, pretty much how I've reacted to it.
So that's got to feel good, right?
That feels great.
Like when you present your art to the world,
you bury yourself, you know, your soul basically.
Like it takes some courage to say, this is my art.
And then you got to brace yourself like, oh man, your art's shitty, man.
Like this is garbage.
But then when people are like, this is beautiful, it must feel great.
Well, you know, I've beautiful, it must feel great. Well,
you know,
I've been doing it a long time.
You gotta have,
uh,
you gotta have thick skin and,
and I've just always,
I've never made a record I didn't want to make.
So,
uh,
I've always felt great depending.
It doesn't matter if,
you know,
someone likes it or doesn't like it.
Cause it's just,
you know,
that's just how it goes. I want you to wait for me, but I want you to go on, as I so, you're carrying me, you're Is that so? You carried me
You carried me
Is that so?
You carried me
You carried me
Remember the last time
The night time after
You saved my life
you didn't just stand there
I want you to wait for me
I want you to go
is that so
you carried me you carried me Is that so? You carry me
You carry me
Is that so?
You carry me
You carry me
And I know
When I get tired
And I can't fool you
when I get
wired
I'm on the next
move
you carry me Jerry you carry me
I just realized why it's called Donlands.
I should have asked you why it's called Donlands.
I now know the answer, but I feel like people would rather hear it from you than from me.
Why did you name it Donlands?
Yeah, we recorded the record in a studio
that's inside what used to be the old Donlands Theatre on Donlands Avenue.
So I've always liked records that have one word titles and it seemed to fit.
And yeah, we also have a bit of a bond with Donlands because there's a bar there, the only cafe at Danforth and Donlands. When I got the band together
in 2004,
the first time we played in front of people
was at the only.
Yeah, so just it felt like
a good title.
Yeah, that's about it.
Well, that's a great story. I love the Toronto stuff.
Love it. And I will tell people that jerrylegere.bandcamp.com
is where you can go to get all the albums.
But Don Lands, of course, you can pick it up now.
And I love that what I would recommend
is you get the vinyl for $35.
It's a great Christmas gift for anyone,
a holiday gift for anyone you care about.
Get Don Lands.
Yeah.
Yeah, and we're doing a release show
for it
that's
Massey's
new
new room
TD Music Hall
I don't know
when this air
this air is
going to drop
right away
so November 29
yeah yeah
this is going to drop
November 21
going to drop
right away
okay cool
unless you
beat me up
for making fun of your name and then I might
move on to it. Yeah, maybe we'll cut that out.
November.
I would never dare. Okay, people need to know
I am mentally ill. I need help. Okay.
So, and I
just remembered you told me when we first engaged
you mentioned you actually heard Ron Sexsmith
on Toronto Mic'd. So it's kind of cool
that you've heard it. Yeah, exactly.
But he wasn't here. I'll tell you, Ron
wasn't here. Yeah, it was like a Zoom or
something, right? It was a pandemic recording.
He was in like Stratford or something down the street
from Peter Mansbridge. I think I had him yell
to Peter out the window or something like that
but I did tell Ron
next time in the studio so
we will get that Ron Sexsmith.
And I did have Kurt Swinghammer here.
And of course, there was the Sexhammer duo thing for a bit.
Do you remember Sexhammer?
No.
Okay, that was like the Kurt Swinghammer.
And he was like the chocolate.
And Ron Sexsmith was like the peanut butter.
And they all got mixed up.
Okay, how are you feeling?
So I feel like i had i think
i had gian gomeshi beat until i i pointed out your middle name was misspelled but i only said
that as a michael well it's only misspelled because you feel it's misspelled i should say
it's not misspelled it's spelled differently than me and michael timmon so that's me like showing my
like air you know my way or the highway so again it rose by any
and dame michelle's missing an a yes well he's an asshole see that's okay i'm okay oh that's okay
all right that's okay okay well i'll try to sell more records no you don't have to sell any records
uh you just create beautiful art that's all we want you to do and i will say that if you did
like if we had fisticuffs, I think it would
maybe get picked up and then create some
awareness. Like we could
throw down and then they'll be like, this
cool singer-songwriter came on a podcast
and they threw down over his name,
his spelling, and it would help Donlands
I feel, raise awareness.
Think about it. Yeah.
Yeah, I will.
And I'll let you win.
That way,
if I do lose naturally,
they'll think I let you win.
See, I've covered all my bases.
Perfect sportsman.
How are you feeling about playing something now?
Yeah, yeah.
With your mood level.
Okay.
So why don't you get ready
and I will shout out
some sponsors of Toronto Mic'd
and thank them
for helping to make this happen.
And then, you know, you got two mics,
so you can aim this wherever you want.
And I'll turn on this mic.
What is that, green?
Okay, so yeah, you can take off your headphones
and do your thing.
So while Jerry gets his guitar and gets set up here,
I'm going to introduce the third mic.
I want to tell people about Yes We Are Open,
an award-winning podcast hosted by FOTM Al Grego.
He went east this time, but the good news about Al is he's here tomorrow.
So tomorrow, we'll learn more about Yes, We Are Open, the fifth season.
He's going to tell us about the great, inspiring small business owners
he's talked to for season five, and we'll hear some choice jams
and just see what's new with al grego his side hustle podcast
recently uh landed their white whale so we'll get that scoop from al tomorrow the advantaged
investor is a podcast from raymond james canada it offers valuable perspective for canadian
investors who want to remain knowledgeable informed and focused on long-term success. Jerry, do you like Italian food?
Yeah.
Would you take home with you compliments of Palma Pasta?
Would you take home a frozen lasagna?
I'd love to.
Well, you have to say yes because I'm forcing it on you because you're going to love it.
It's wonderful.
And you can write me later and say it's the best lasagna that you've ever had. And I'll just let you know, Jerry, because I don't know what you're doing on Saturday, December 9th,
but you are absolutely invited to TMLX 14
at Palma's Kitchen in Mississauga.
And we're all going to collect there
from noon to 3 p.m.
That's a Saturday.
It is the 9th of December.
It is noon to 3.
And we'll have fresh craft beer from Great Lakes.
And I'm sending some home with you, Jerry.
And also we'll have fresh pasta from Palma Pasta.
It's going to be a great time.
Everybody should come, including you, Jerry.
And last but not least,
recyclemyelectronics.ca.
That's where you go if you have any old electronics.
Maybe your old four-track recorder died,
and you don't throw that in the garbage
because those chemicals end up in our landfill.
You go to recyclemyelectronics.ca,
type in your address, and it says,
oh, two blocks away, we have a depot.
You drop it off, and they properly recycle it.
Okay, so where are we at?
Yeah, we can aim that anywhere you want.
Jerry's just setting up.
Sounds good.
Yeah, get comfortable.
And you know what? I like to record it on my phone as well Jerry so I'm just going to get my phone here
and then I will shut the hell up so we can hear
from the singer, songwriter himself අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි අපි Love and faith
I want to see them on my track
I gave it all away
Then I wanted it back
Every joker wants a laugh
Every go-getter takes a stab
I feel my tension
shift
see the
pendulum lift
in a room
where I sit
to sort
me out
you can't win
when you You can't win When you don't know what you're fighting for
Journey of a bullet
Reason for a scar
And the way we are portrayed
what's
real
who's to say
these
thoughts are swirling
round
both feet on
bleeding ground
but help
is what I found
To sort me out
Out on the homestretch
And on the scheme
I knew it was you
Standing there I knew it was you standing there
By the records and magazines
If dreams are made for two
Well tell me, how did we do?
Dancing eyes in cobalt blue
Starlit
sky above
the spruce
And here you are
right on cue
to sort me
out so so chariot's amazing, buddy.
You're so freaking talented.
Thanks, man.
How annoying.
That was so good.
Thanks for doing that, man.
You earned that lasagna like a champ.
Dude.
Thanks.
On the way out here,
so we already shouted out the event on November 29th
at TD Music Hall,
which is like a part of Massey's new room there.
It's called TD Music Hall.
November 29th, that's amazing.
And will Ron Sexsmith make the trip from Stratford for that?
Do you know?
He actually emailed me.
He's doing, I think, a house show or a private event or something.
So he won't be there, but we'll have,
uh,
yeah,
yeah. He,
he surprised me at a show that I did in November.
It was nice to see him and his,
uh,
his wife,
Colleen.
Um,
yeah,
but,
uh,
but yeah,
I mean,
there'll be,
uh,
lots of other friends,
uh,
roaming around that room as well.
So that I'm sure you'll recognize.
Amazing.
And what's next for you,
Jay?
You're already working on new stuff.
You mentioned,
what's the name?
Again,
you call these things like there's the lo-fis and the,
the,
sorry,
the del-fis,
but there's different fis,
like there's different variants,
right?
Yeah.
I want to have a whole collection of them one day.
We did one called the bop fis,
which was recited poetry um and with
uh with jazz backing um yeah i mean i that always goes on the back burner if we're you know if i'm
making one of my own records but uh i think january we might do a psych fives record. Uh, and yeah, while we were on tour, uh, in, in, uh, Europe, I just got
back a week ago. Um, we ended up, uh, going into a studio in Cologne there and doing some recording
that that's, uh, you know, I mean, who knows that that's, that's just a back pocket thing,
you know,
but,
uh,
but yeah,
Don Lange just came out October 27th.
So there'll be more,
um,
we'll be returning to the,
haven't announced anything yet,
but we're returning to the UK in May and Scandinavia,
which we,
we haven't,
uh,
uh,
played in a couple of years.
Um,
so looking forward to that.
Yeah.
How did this compare to Q with Gian Gomeschi?
Well, this one is, you know, it just happened.
So I think my memory of it is more intact.
You need to process it?
But yeah, I mean, you know,
it's interviews are interviews,
you know,
some of them are good and some of them are bad and some of them are in the
middle.
So that's,
uh,
you know,
that's,
where's this one falling before I hit some lowest of the low,
I need to know out of 10,
10 being the greatest experience ever.
One being what a waste of my time.
I don't of my gas.
I don't like ratings.
But I definitely enjoyed being here.
So thanks for having me on.
Well, thanks for doing this, man.
I'm glad I got to meet you.
Thanks, Cam Carpenter.
I almost called him Cam Carpenter.
Shout out to Cam Carpenter.
He's everywhere, this guy.
He's all over.
Every time I show up somewhere, Cam's lurking somewhere.
So he's a hardworking guy.
Yeah, definitely.
And he knows good music, too.
And he said, hey, Jerry Legere.
Certainly helps Sloan a lot.
Sloan, I mean, I'm like you.
To me, Sloan was like bigger than Led Zeppelin.
It's like these guys are world beaters.
I will see.
Well, Coax Me was the number one record in my mind.
Chart Attack, agreed with you, and I love it too.
I will say I will see Chris Murphy in the Trans-Canada Highwaymen.
I'm seeing them in December.
I think it's at the Horseshoe.
And so I'll get, you know, a quarter of Sloan in my diet in December.
Nice.
I'm looking forward to that.
Congrats and good luck with everything, man.
Thank you.
Keep it up.
You're creating good music.
Thanks a lot. I hope to hear something. Maybe Dawnlands came and good luck with everything, man. Thank you. Keep it up. You're creating good music. Thanks a lot.
I hope to hear something.
Maybe Donlands came out too late actually in the year,
but when Dave Hodge puts out his hundred songs of 2023,
if it's missing Donlands,
it's because he hasn't heard it yet.
Maybe it'll make his 2024 list.
So keep it up.
Thanks for doing this.
You're now an FOTM.
Great.
Thanks.
Thanks for having me and that
brings us to the end
of our 1370th
show you can follow
me I'm on Twitter and
Blue Sky I'm at
Toronto Mike and again go to
I would recommend and I'll let Jerry
promote something else but
Jerry Legere
L-E-G-E-R
dot bandcamp dot com
is where you can pick up his fine
music. Is there anywhere else you want to send
people? I guess
just the website, Jerry Legere dot
com that has, you know, upcoming dates
and whatnot.
And much
love to everyone who made this possible.
That is Great Lakes Brewery.
Did I tell you you're bringing some cans home with you?
Ooh.
Yeah.
Thank you.
Bring some home for later.
Thanks to you and Great Lakes.
Shout out to Great Lakes Brewery.
And of course, Palma Pasta.
I've got the lasagna for you.
I forgot to give you this on the show, but we're still recording.
Okay.
Moneris not only wants you to listen to season five of Yes, We Are Open,
but they want you to know you can do it on this smart speaker.
It's a wireless speaker.
Oh, I needed one of those, actually.
So thank you.
And it sounds great, too.
Perfect.
So take that home with you as well.
Ridley Funeral Home.
I mentioned Maneris.
And, of course, Raymond James Canada and EPRA.
They're the good people behind RecycleMyElectronics.ca.
See you all tomorrow when Al Grego drops by.
He'll kick out jams from related to season five of Yes, We Are Open.
See you all then. That's true, yes I do I know it's true, yeah I know it's true
How about you?
I'm picking up trash and then putting down roads
And they're broken in stocks, the class struggle explodes
And I play this guitar just the best that I can
Maybe I'm not and maybe I am
But who gives a damn
Because everything is coming up
Rosy and gray
Yeah, the wind is cold
But the smell of snow warms me today
And your smile is fine And it's just like mine The wind is cold, but the smell of snow warms me today.
And your smile is fine, and it's just like mine, and it won't go away.
Because everything is rosy and gray.
Well, I've kissed you in France, and I've kissed you in Spain.