Coaldale born,Toronto based singer/ songwriter and 2008 Canadian Idol winner Theo Tams has been anything but idle since releasing his first post Idol 2009 CD “Give It All Away.”
He has been living in Toronto for the past six years, since Canadian Idol ended and has been making a living doing what he loves - making music.
He had one project fall through and has been writing lots of songs in addition to playing his country alternative folk band Beyond the Mountain and has just released his new EP “Back Pocket.”
“ I’ve been working on it for two and a half-years. Everything after Idol was such whirlwind, it was nice to just take a step back and take my time and write,” he said adding the writing process has been his primary focus.
“I wanted to move forward. I wanted to show my songwriting chops,” he said.
While most of the last album was co-written with other writers, he wanted to write the songs for the new EP by himself, though he ended up co-writing half of them with producer Tawgs Salter.
“He’s a really well rounded songwriter but as soon as I found he worked with Josh Groban, I was sold,” he said. He also wrote one song with Nathan Ferraro from the band the Midway State.
“ I wrote with him for the first record, but passed on the songs, so it was nice to reconnect with him,” he said.
He noted trying to write on his own was important.
“ It has always been important. I must have written thousands a of shitty songs. So this was about writing the right songs. I wanted the creative process to be organic and natural,” he said adding the EP is his most personal work.
“The first single ‘Stay’ was written during the darkest point in a relationship. ‘Steal your love away’ is about working for a relationship,” he said adding all of the songs are about the same relationship, though he isn’t saying who it is about.
“The songs are about the exact same person in the exact same relationship. But I’ll never tell. A few people think it’s about them, but that’s for me to tell,” he continued.
“ It’s very personal part of my life. It’s part of a journey,” he said adding finally releasing the EP has elicited a range of reactions.
“It feels good to finally be to the point of releasing it. It’s been exciting but also nerve-wracking. It’s been five years since I released the last album,” he said.
He said the long wait time between albums wasn’t due to distancing himself from Canadian Idol.
“ I can’t not look back and not speak of the experience with praise. And it would be naïve to say it wasn’t wonderful. but it has been a double edged sword to have an impact on my career and my music,” he continued.
“It allowed me to get my foot, but my big toe in the door of the music industry but I learned the real work began after the show,” he said.
“ But just the fact that I was born in Coaldale and grew up in Lethbridge and am making a living making music in the biggest city in Canada is huge.”
he has a couple of big shows happening in Toronto.
“I’m playing a gig with kd lang at the 519 Community Centre. It is for charity and invite only. So it will be super intimate. They do a lot of work in the gay village in Toronto, which I think is why they asked kd lang and myself, being two artists who are out. There is so many shows for charity, so you have to be little choosy and choose the ones that mean the most to you,” he continued.
He also has a big gig coming up on Nov. 20 — “It’s Always Something” — a variety show hosted by comedian Russell Peters to raise money for Gilda’s Club Greater Toronto which provides free social and emotional support programs for anyone touched by cancer.
“ It will be an amazing show. Steven Page who used to be in the Bare Naked Ladies and Colin Mochrie will be performing.”
He is also still recording.
“I’m in the studio recording more Christmas songs and I’m also recording the first project for my band Beyond the Mountain. It’s a folk, alternative project. It’s been an eye opening experience working with a band,” he said adding they play shows around Toronto.
“We play our material, and my solo material and Canadian Idol material. So that's been very fulfilling. One part of me loves playing pop music but another part of me enjoys playing folk music too. So I feel lucky to have struck a perfect, priceless balance.”
He tries to make it back to Southern Alberta at least once a year.
“I keep pretty busy. I try to make it back once a year, sometimes twice. I was going to make it home for Christmas, but my sister is getting married in January, so I’ll probably hold off until then,” he said adding he’d like to bring the band here.
“ We’ve talked about doing a smaller prairie tour to make it worthwhile. So it is definitely on the to do list,” he said.
“ I want to thank Coaldale and Lethbridge for all of their support. I feel so lucky to come from that community.”
A version of this story appears in the Oct. 8, 2014 edition of the Lethbridge Sun Times
