Blair Packham rises and shines on his intimately rootsy and charmingly earthy new comeback album The Impossible Dream — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
After decades of rocking out in electric bands — most prominently beloved Canadian shoulda-beens The Jitters — the Toronto singer-songwriter has gone acoustic (well, mostly) for this long-overdue return. The cheekily titled Impossible Dream is his first full-length in nearly eight years, but thankfully the reults are well worth the wait (at least on this side of the ledger).
Anyone who has spent quality time with CanCon classics like Last Of The Red Hot Fools and Take Me As I Am knows that Packham has always been a first-class tunesmith and composer — a status that is only made more apparent by his decision to unplug the guitars, turn down the volume, restrain the rhythm section and put melody and lyrics smack-dab in the center of the spolight here. The results speak for themselves — in the form of 10 slices of impeccably crafted, superbly executed folk-pop, country-rock and rootsy soul whose moods range from jaunty and spry to sunny and optimistic to bittersweet and bruised. Filled with echoes of Barenaked Ladies, Elvis Costello, Ron Sexsmith, Jackson Browne, Warren Zevon and others — along with his own earlier work — The Impossible Dream offers a great opportunity to reintroduce yourself to a criminally underappreciated, veteran Canadian artist who’s still at the top of his game, and is ready to add a new chapter to his story.
As for why he made an acoustic album, well, the answer is simple: First and foremost, he’s a storyteller. His songs are stories of joy, triumph, heartbreak and loss. It comes naturally. “Like most people, I’ve had losses in my life, sadness that sometimes threatened to take over, but also, I’ve had lots of joy. And I wanted to make a really personal collection of songs that reflect those extremes,” he explains. “And since I’ve lately been playing acoustically in pretty small places, I’ve found it’s easy to do both… I also figured out that playing an acoustic guitar — unlike with a loud band — the words can usually be heard. I could tell stories with my songs. And in between songs, too.”
“I started playing solo occasionally in the late 1990s, and at first I just wasn’t very good. I think I was using the acoustic guitar to try to simulate the sound of a loud band behind me. But once I got comfortable with the extraordinary dynamic range, I realized that the acoustic guitar can still be powerful even if it’s quiet — maybe even especially when it’s quiet.”
It is, in essence, a return to his roots. “When I was a kid, I was a big fan of Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee. I loved their folk blues. I even met them once when I was 13, in the dressing room of the Riverboat coffeehouse in Yorkville. Their classic In London album was on my turntable as much as any rock music was. That same year, I went to see John Prine in concert at Massey Hall. Almost 3,000 people were mesmerized by this guy and his acoustic guitar; even at that age, I thought ‘I want to do that!’ ”
Blair was a teenage volunteer at the Mariposa Folk Festival from 1973-’80, where he heard all kinds of roots music, and met all kinds of folk heroes: “Bukka White, Mike and Peggy Seeger, Elizabeth Cotten, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, John Hammond Jr., David Bromberg, Rev. Dan Smith, Maria Muldaur, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Robert Junior Lockwood… these are just some of the legends that Mariposa hosted during those years,” he recalls. Blair was befriended by Blind John Davis, the Chicago piano player. They kept in touch for years; whenever John would come to Toronto to do a show, Blair would be there watching the pianist’s fingers work their magic.
The music he heard struck teenage Blair as particularly honest and glamour-free (which is its own kind of glamour), and he loved it. “Steve Goodman was another artist I heard at Mariposa, and his performing style — funny, vulnerable, cocky — influences me to this day.”
In 2019, Blair decided to start recording his latter-day acoustic storytelling songs, and now — one pandemic and some fitful starts and stops later — he has finally finished The Impossible Dream. “The album name? Honestly? It’s because I’m old,” he says with a laugh. “I mean, dreams of music stardom usually aren’t encouraged for anybody over 25, but I don’t know how to do anything else but make music, one way or another.
“I’m compulsive about writing songs. And I want people to hear them. Music is my everything. So I figured I’d acknowledge that my dream of people hearing my songs on a wider scale may well be impossible. But it’s a noble dream nonetheless: The pursuit of art, of truth, of getting your story out there, against all odds.” (The title is also a nod to Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quixote, the novel published in 1605 that depicts an old man who goes on a quest to battle imaginary dragons while living a life of romantic chivalry).
Packham knows a thing or two about musical quests. In the 1980s, he fronted The Jitters, who enjoyed three Top 20 singles in Canada and toured relentlessly. Blair has since released three albums as a solo artist, placing songs in or composing for TV shows and films like Dawson’s Creek, Hollywood North, NHL Tonight!, The Jane Show, Skin Deep, Beyblade and many more.
“I love writing music for TV and film,” says Blair. “There’s something invigorating about writing to a deadline.” But he acknowledges that writing songs is his true passion. “That, and performing live,” he says. “Playing for an audience of listeners is fantastic! Telling them stories, my stories, is so gratifying. I hope I’m never too old to do it.”
Listen to The Impossible Dream below and find Blair Packham on his website, Twitter and Facebook.
