Jayden Grahlman
Jayden Grahlman will be playing the patio at Captains Corner from six to nine this Thursday, Aug. 25th. His sound will be competing across the Market Square with another exceptional local talent, Drew McIvor, but Drew’s show at Terrace Thursdays is already sold out so fans of excellent music can migrate across the street.
In Meaford there is a small coterie of performers that get out often to play, catching the opportunity at both the open mic stages and at a variety of gigs. Each of them has something special to offer and, playing as often as they do, they are getting better all the time. One of these is Jayden Grahlman.
In addition to being an excellent guitarist, Jayden is a bright ray of sunshine everywhere he goes, with a disposition that makes you feel good just to speak to him. And while he’s made his reputation locally as a guitar player, he is also a great songwriter. These days he has added teacher to his resume, passing on his skills to young local players who want to learn guitar or ukulele.
To say Jayden is a rising star seems almost redundant. He was a rising star half a decade ago and now, at least to his fans throughout this area, he is gloriously and brilliantly a stellar presence. But he’s young and with his talent and his constant application of it in live gigs, the idea of him gradually ascending to the constellation of Canadian music legends seems only a matter of time.
He was still in high school when he began gigging locally and playing in several bands. He was the winner of Ontario’s best rural youth guitar player in 2012 and Winner of Summer folk’s youth discovery in 2013. The only young local entertainer that can be said to be his equal is Jay Sauce, and that’s because it’s him in another guise.
In addition to solo and band gigs he has even participated in a live play, called “The Portrait” which was mounted in 2014 in Owen Sound.
His personal list of influences is instructive because the hallmark of any good musician is how well he listens and Jayden has listened well to influences as diverse as Willie Nelson, Metallica, Peter Tosh and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, as well as to every musician that plays the local scene. His ability to listen is well demonstrated when he accompanies someone at an open mic, even when he is unfamiliar with their style or songs, in a way that greatly enhances the performance.
A great performer blends equal parts technical prowess and originality but always the most important element is charisma, and Jayden’s sunny personality projects that in spades.
Here in Meaford he takes monthly turns hosting the open mic at The Barn on Sundays (and if he’s not hosting, he’s likely to turn up to play). He’s also a favourite at Ted’s Range Road Diner and he has often been Chris Scerri’s co-host at his Tuesday night open mic nights at The Leeky Canoe.
He’s so good that he deserves two rather than just one video example. Check these out and then go to You Tube to hear many more.
First, back when he was young, he already displayed his prodigious instrumental skills with The Tall Fiddler.
And more recently, his songwriting is the focus of a video called “Divin’ In”:
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is awesome, keep it up!