Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Lori Cullen: Toronto Mike'd Podcast Episode 1498

Episode Date: May 29, 2024

In this 1498th episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike chats with singer Lori Cullen about singing for Drake, performing on Owen Pallett's He Poos Clouds, working with Ron Sexsmith, living with Kurt Swinghammer and their meeting at Blair Packham's house. Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, Ridley Funeral Home, The Advantaged Investor podcast from Raymond James Canada, The Yes, We Are Open podcast from Moneris, The Toronto Maple Leafs Baseball Team and RecycleMyElectronics.ca. If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Toronto Mike at [e-mail]

Laurie, did you sing for Drake? Oh, I did. I did. Last Christmas, I sang at his house on Christmas Day. Okay, let's get the details here. So, Drake invited you to his home on the bridal path to sing on Christmas Day. Yeah, he was having his family and friends over, about 25 25 people and my piano player Aaron Davis

We probably know holic old Rio Aaron Davis. Of course. She was a morning show host on CHFI for years Laurie See how the different Aaron Davis. I'm doing a joke. She's an Aaron Davis tip. All right. Well, there's you know, there's a few Okay, so Aaron Davis plays piano gave me a call Yeah a few. Okay, so Aaron Davis plays piano. Gave me a call. Yeah, gave me a call and said, you know, we just got a gig at Drake's house. Come prepared for the best paying gig of your life. Can you tell me how Drake treated you? Like, did you have any interaction with Drake? Of course. Yeah, it was, I was in, it was his family Christmas. He, he's the first person that greeted me after the, the handlers or whatever. And he came up to me, he had a broken leg and a cast.

I think that's why it all happened kind of last minute. He came up to me, he was really kind, shook my hand and then shook Aaron's hand and welcomed us, big smile, really warm feeling when you meet him. And then I said to him, Oh, do you live here? And, uh, he smiled and then he left. And then Aaron Davis, my piano player said, was that Drake? Well, that's funny.

That was funny. Yeah. And, uh, yeah, we played, uh, for like four hours, Christmas songs, pop songs. Um, and he was really, really into it actually. And it was a real trip. Only. Only what?

I only have an A game. That's not what I heard. I don't have a B game. And turn off your ringer please. This is a professional operation here. Ah. Operation Welcome to episode 1498 of Toronto miked

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our electronics of the past. Season 6 of Yes We Are Open, an award-winning Monaris podcast hosted by FOTML Grego and Ridley Funeral Home, pillars of the community since 1921. Today making her Toronto mic debut is Lori Cullen. Welcome Lori. Welcome. Who's Lori Cullen? Who is Laurie Cullen? Welcome Laurie. Welcome. Who's Laurie Cullen? Who's Laurie, who is Randy River? And what is he doing to our clones? Who is Laurie Cullen?

That's the only question. And then I'm gonna go for a bike ride and I'll come back and listen to this episode to learn. Who is Laurie Cullen? That's how much you care. You're actually gonna leave. I would never do that. But I do wanna ask you why you were asking me,

like telling me what songs to play. Whose show is this, Lori? Is this a Toronto lorried or is this Toronto mic'd? What's going on here? You know, I just like to have a say in my future and you know, what happens to me since I biked all the way here. Well, I'm glad you biked. I'm really excited when I see somebody has biked here. I try to bike everywhere I can. How far was it kilometer wise approximately? Oh, I don't know. You don't have to, you don't track your rides with an app or anything.

I don't track my rides with an app. It took me like an hour, but I stopped and took a picture. You meandered. I did. Okay. I'm going to guess you were about 15 K is my guess. That's just a guess. Pretty good. Yeah. Excellent. Good job. And I'm going to guess you were about 15K is my guess. That's just a guess. Pretty good. Yeah. Excellent. Good job. And then I have to go home.

So then it's even better than a good job. Yeah. You're going to do 30K at least today. Thank you. Thank you. Amazing. Amazing. I'm excited to talk to you. Let's shout out the person who connected us. Do you want to guess who that is? Ron Sexsmith.

Oh, I love Ron Sexsmith. Do you know Ron Sexsmith? Oh, I love Ron Sexsmith. Do you know Ron Sexsmith? See, now people are going to like, why are we continuing a conversation we had in the house that belongs to Blair Packham? Blair Packham. I'm just teasing you. Well Blair Packham had a house party like a couple of weekends ago and I somehow got

an invitation and you were there. So this is our second ever meeting because we met at Blair Packham's house. You looked better at the party, actually. How do I look today? Because I want to talk about how you look. Well, the party was dark. OK, this is after one. So when you go on CBC, so let's say you're booked on a CBC program.

Do you tell the producer of the CBC program what songs they should play? Or do you just come there to talk? 100 percent. You do? Yeah. That's why you don't get invited on the CBC program, what songs they should play. Or do you just come there to talk? 100%. You do? Yeah. That's why you don't get invited on the CBC. That's right. So my wife was giving me a hard time, Monica. She was at the same house party where we met you

because like I said, you were, oh, Lori Cullen is coming on Wednesday. Like this is like yesterday. And she said, Who's Lori Cullen? No, she said, Oh, the woman you thought was in her sixties. And then I said, no, that's not fair.

Here's why I want to no, that's not fair. Here's why I want to say this is not fair. You're going to tell this story. Yeah, because it just happened. But this is in my defense. I did not think I'm looking at you now. I do not think you're in your sixties. I came up like, how old are you?

And you said you were in your sixties and I believed you. And that's very different than me thinking you're in your sixties. I just believed you when you said you were in your sixties, but you're not in your sixties. No, you asked me how old I was and I said 62, thinking that you were gonna laugh and then say how good I looked for 62. You do look good for 62. But you didn't, you just said, I don't know what you said. But I, you know, I believed you, so I want to say hello to

those on the live stream. That's live.torontomike.com and a shout out to Jeremy Hopkins who says good morning to you, Laurie. Oh, Jeremy. Jeremy spoken. Let's, uh, shall we've shouted out Blair Packham. Did you have a good time? Uh, I play her pack themselves at that party. I always have good time at Blair Packham's house. How do you know Blair? I, oh my God, how do I not have good time at Blair Packham's house. How do you know Blair? I, oh my God, how do I not, have I ever not known Blair's? How do you not know Blair? I not know Blair before I was like 24. I met Blair, I don't, I worked with him for a bit in like music, in the music

jingly world kind of like as an admin person. And then, uh, And then he learned you have a person and then and then he learned you have a perfect voice and then you learned to have a perfect voice and then he kept me in the admin position and can I compliment your voice now I have been listening to a lot of Laurie Cullen oh I don't here's what I'm gonna let's be gonna be very honest in the show I don't think you're a big-known name like I don't think the average schlub on the subway, don't cry, the average

schlub on the subways might not know the name Lori Cullen, but if anyone took the time to listen to some Lori Cullen, they would come out thinking, Lori has the voice of an angel. Yes, I've heard that. I know. Do you agree? When you listen back to your voice, do you think I have the voice of an angel? That is, that is, I am an angel, yeah. A lot of ground to cover. And there will be a lot of music and I don't worry

because I think one of the things you said before I started was like, you're gonna play songs for my new, yes, I have like three songs from the new album loaded up. I have some older stuff. We're gonna walk through everything. Right. I kind of wanna know everything about you,

but we've shouted out Blair Packer, but there's another FOTM we should shout out off the top because you are anyway, not Ron Sexsmith. We'll get back to him. Okay. But speaking of Ron Sexsmith and what is it? Sexhammer. We have an interesting relationship between you who are now an FOTM and another FOTM who biked here, Kurt Swinghammer.

What is your relationship with Kurt Swinghammer? He is my... Lover? Well, he's my domestic partner. He's my 20 year old relationship. He's the love of my life and the father of my child. That's a fun fact. Yeah.

Like that's very close. So you live with Kurt Swinghammer and you your co-parenting with Kurt Swinghammer Do you kiss him on the mouth like open mouth kisses? Yep. What a lucky guy. Yep What a lucky guy and he never leaves the house actually he doesn't leave the house unless he's biking here That's right. Otherwise, he's just at home. Well, I did not see him making art working through his trauma working for it I was Kurt Swinghammer very talented if you want to hear more about Kurt swing hammer, find the current swing hammer episode of Toronto, Mike, we covered everything. He's kind of amazing.

This is the Lori Cullen episode of Toronto Mike. I have kind words for you from another FOTM, a member of the gravel berries. Have you ever heard of Paul Meyers? Oh yeah. I've heard of Paul Meyers. Paul writes Lori has a perfect voice. What? Yeah. He says this. This is like a literally a Paul Myers quote. Laurie has a perfect voice. Where'd you get that quote from? From him. This is his quote. Can I put

that on my website? Yeah, of course. When did he quote? Did he? Oh, yeah. I mean, I, do you think I'd lie to you? Like, do you think I'd put like, Paul might hear this? I don't think I just invent a quote from Paul Mard. I don't think he's right though. Okay. What's wrong with your voice? Let's talk about that and we'll play some of your voice. We've teased people enough. It's not, I mean, it's not perfect, but it's pretty. How could you improve your voice? Should we play some of you and then talk more about like,

Yeah, okay. When you wanted to sing. It's not good about it, sure. That's comfortable. So, okay. So we've talked about Ron Saksmith and we talked about Kurt Swinghammer. So let's start with this, just to let people hear your voice. And you can talk over this and we'll listen to it. This is, um, the sun was a tangerine. It's pretty perfect. I'll be the judge of that. It's pretty perfect.

I'll be the judge of that. This is Kurt Swinghammer music. And Ron Sexsmith lyrics. Look at that. Mia Sheard, Jen Foster, Bee Gees. 7-4 So there you go, just a little taste, okay? Just a taste. And that's it. So Ron Sexsmith wrote the lyrics, Kurt Swinghammer's music, your voice, what a combination. Yeah.

How often do you collaborate with the man you live with and great FOTM Ron Sexsmith? Well, for those of you who are in the know, Ron and Kurt are kind of like best friends. So Ron was, before he moved to Stratford, at my house a lot. So we spent a lot of time together. And so after I had Kurt's baby and I was going crazy, they were like, let me write you, let, one night we were drinking and they came up with this idea of writing me a record Because I was complaining about having no identity anymore because all I was doing was Raising this child and so then they wrote me a record

What was the name of this record? We called it sex myth swing hammer songs Cuz I want to capitalize on all the, you know, the white men that we can. How old is your child? Your son? He's 11. 11 years old. Okay.

Congratulations. You're, you're, you're, you're swing hammer son there. It's amazing. And I know you've been open because I know blood wonder, for example, you're, you're quite open about, you know, your journey to motherhood. Yeah. It wasn't all wine and roses. You're not supposed to drink when you're on a journey to motherhood. As a mother, you're not supposed to drink? As a mother, you should drink. I'll send you home with some booze, don't worry.

But, you know, do you mind just sharing a little bit off the top? Yeah, we decided to have a kid and it wasn't easy. It was a true modern pregnancy, you know, too much plastic in your blood and it takes 11 IUIs to get her done and some of them didn't make it. And then we got one perfect one that came out. But now he's really annoying because he's 11. But it was worth it.

It was worth it, yeah. I was worried about that. So the plastic and the blood. I read this morning that there has been more plastic produced in the last 15 years than in the history of the world prior to that. I believe it. Yeah. A lot of plastic. That's a lot of IU eyes. Well, you know, I feel bad now. Maybe I won't give you a fact. I won't give you. I just want you to know what I'm not giving you. I'm not giving you this plastic measuring tape from Ridley funeral home because you don't need more plastic.

I certainly don't. Shout out to Ridley Funeral Home. But the booze I'm going to give you, fresh craft beer from a local independent craft brewery. They're fiercely independent Great Lakes Brewery. They sent over some fresh craft beer that you're welcome to bring home to so you can continue your boozing. Thank you. That's really sweet. And maybe next time you had a Blair Packham party,

you can bring those Great Lakes beers and be the head of the party. I actually need beers because I have a, I'm really into gardening and I have a snail problem. So I just read that if I put a little beer in a tin, I can get rid of the snails. So I'll just put a few sips in the tin. I don't care what you do with the beer. Like if the snails enjoy it or if you enjoy it

or Kurt enjoys it or your 11 year old enjoys it, like you know that's your call. But you're bringing home some fresh craft beer. And Lori, I'm just telling you and Kurt, you know that 11 year old, leave them. I know bring them. I'm changing my mind on this. You should all come to Great Lakes Brewery on June 27th. That's kind of about a month away. June 27th from 6 to 9 p.m. is TMLX 15 and Palma Pasta is going to feed you. So you're going to get a complimentary pasta and your first beer is on the house and you can hang with me and you'll have a great time. I hope Blair can make it. Oh, Blair has a thing and you're going to have to choose probably between Blair's thing and my thing. And I'm just saying you

should choose my thing. Does he have any pasta and beer? It is. Oh he's probably gonna give you nothing. Well the choice has been made. What song are they gonna play of mine at each event? Well I'm gonna play only uh Lori Cohen music so okay so we're walking through this but do you mind if I uh go back to the beginning so you're from Mississauga. Yep. Okay. At what point in your upbringing do you realize you have this musical talent? Oh yeah. Uh, kind of later, like maybe 18, I was a really big music fan. I was obsessed with music. What kind of music? Like, uh, I really liked Toronto local music. I was really into the Berenike ladies and the Waltons and Lois of the low Waltons are Saskatchewan right well but they yeah sure okay

but but but but but but but you know what I mean I'm very fascinated a lot played your naked ladies and Lois of the low are two local bands who really broke on 102.1 CF and why like those are two bands that were really broke by local radio back when local radio would break local bands and that was a really cool time in music as far as i'm concerned. Yeah for sure for sure I was really into spirit of the west too and uh, I used to drive to mississauga and come and see shows and And it was uh, I you know, I had album covers painted on my cargo jacket and I was a real music nerd fan girl Did you like change of heart?

No, no, you weren't an Ian Blurden head. I wasn't actually no, I think I was uh, yeah, that was not sorry Yeah, we're gonna run down. What about Hayden? Sure, I'm seeing him tonight. So I'm just actually curious Hayden was good. Hey, you're husband. You're not married, right? You're Married, but yeah, you're like common law or whatever. Your partner sang in the chorus for If I Had a Million Dollars. Am I right about that? Oh, I don't know.

Like you don't know this? I don't know. Why do I think he's, you know, if I had a million dollars, like there's a bunch of voices in that mix. I don't think no of Kurt would have gone to that. Cause I know Blair's in that group. Blair's probably in it.

Well, I'm in the Lovers in a Dangerous Time music video, right? Okay, slow the fuck down, Lori. Now I'm gonna start recording, okay? I have finally learned. Because that video is iconic. Like this is the Grace Bruce Colburn cover, Bare Naked Ladies do a great job.

Where do we see you in? Are you at A&A asking for an autograph? Yeah, I'm at A&A, yeah. I showed up there, I was such a hardcore Bear Naked Ladies fan. I showed up there. And I lived in Mississauga and I drove to Scarborough. And I got there at 4am. They said that they were gonna they were gonna be a call at like seven or 8am. But if you get there early, you're more

likely to be in there. So I go there for like a true crazy person. And it was cold. It was winter. Are you friends with any members of Bare Naked Ladies? I am now, thank God. Or even former members? Because I know how close Blair is with former member Stephen Page, for example. But but who are you? I know Stephen. I've done I've done some gigs with Stephen. He's he's a gas. I really enjoy him. I see Jim quite a bit because he's often on his bike in my neighborhood and he invited He invites me to party sometimes. I don't get invited to those ones. Well, you just got to be a bit a bit nicer Well, I was literally this morning. I was chatting with Tyler Stewart Tyler. I yes Tyler. I've gone to his pool

He's I love him. Okay, I them all, I don't really know Ed. You know Ed I don't know either. Ed's an enigma wrapped in a riddle. He's the one I don't know. And Kevin, and Kevin, I know Kevin, I see Kevin. Kevin's a sweetheart. Yeah, he comes to my parties for 10 minutes. He's lovely.

He is lovely, okay. He's got places to go is what I'm saying. So you're in Mississauga, you're a big fan of kind of, and now that I realize you're not in your 60s, I realize we have similar like touch points here. So now I relate a little better to you. So we're like in this, we're listening to the same music and you're digging this and then at some point

you're discovering that, oh, you can go to downtown Toronto and play at these coffee shops and stuff. What's that like? That's right, yeah. My first gig was at the Elma Combo. It was an open stage and I was playing with my boyfriend at the time and he was playing bass and I had the cable in the wrong fret and he played the, we played the whole song, not adjusting to that. So

I left the Elma Combo in tears saying to him, I'm not cut out for music. I thought I was good, but I don't know what I'm doing. And that was my very first gig. And then I started playing at the Free Times Open Stage and then I started hosting the Open Stage and met a whole, you know, crew of folks, including Ron and Kurt actually at the Free Times. Okay, look, it changed your life. Yeah, the Free Times. Have you won any Junos? Important question, Laurie.

No. But how many nominations? Approximately. You couldn't possibly keep track of them all because you got a Juno nom for Calling for Rain. I did. Yeah. I lost to Diana Kroll.

What? We played Laurie. We played her husband's music on Toronto Mike yesterday when Simon Head was kicking out the jams because you know, she's married to Elvis Costello. Did you know that? I know that's wild. He's married to Chris swing hammer. I know. Who are you married to? That's what I want to know. How did you get this show? Monica, get down here and sing for us. Let's see how you do here. Okay. So you're nominated. You lose to us. No, no shame in losing to Diana.

Crawl there, but calling for rain, but I'm going to play a song. If you don't mind. Yeah, yeah, sure. We'll get to your new stuff. No, I'm not going to Diana Carl there, but calling for rain. But I'm going to play a song if you don't mind. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sure. Jazzy. We'll get to your new stuff. No, I'm not going to play a song from that, actually. I'm going to play something different because I want to ask you about this. No, we'll have to wait a bit to hear your voice, actually. But you can talk over this. Do you know what I'm playing? How's that for the first question?

No idea. OK, good. We'll find out. Oh, no, I do. What are we playing? We'll see if you're right. Final Fantasy. It's okay. And a chest is full to bursting With thoughts of an evening Nobody, nobody, nobody will ever know who's talking She's got a heart that'll never melt She's got a heart that'll never, never melt

Never, never melt Heals up, heals up all the dawn I keep your feelings low That's me. I can feel the angel from here. Listen to me, this album got the wonderful title, He Poos Clouds. Yeah. It won the first Polaris Prize. But you sure, sure bet he did. He's genius. He's amazing. Owen Pellet. Yeah.

So tell me how did this come to be? He just heard you and said, I want that voice. I want those distinctive vocals on my album. He poos clouds. He he heard my my record Uneven Hill that I did in whatever year that was and he really dug it and so he saw me at Ideal Coffee in Kensington and we had a chat and he asked me to come and sing on his record and I went down to a studio in Kenya on Queen Street and he knew exactly what he wanted

that guy was a great session and yeah I'm very proud of that. So how many cuts on that album feature your voice? Do you remember? No clue. No clue, but this is the opening track and I pulled it because I could hear some Laurie Cullen in the mix. And yeah, it's all excellent and very talented person. And he wanted a voice of an angel and he said, oh, I can't get my voice of an angel.

I'll get Laurie instead. Exactly, boom. Ron Sexsmith wasn't available. We need more, well there's, we need more Laurie, Ron Sexsmith collaborations. More, more Sexsmith in her diet for sure here. I felt bad for Ron Sexsmith when they had at Massey Hall they had the Gordon Lightfoot tribute and it's weird how, so what are your thoughts on that like why was he slighted like how would you skip Ron Sexman the biggest Gordon Lightfoot fan

we know I actually I really have no idea I figure it must have been I don't know political or personal or like I I really don't know I wish I had the inside scoop to share here exclusively with you but it was a mistake as well. Let's call a brawn and find out what's going on there. That was unfortunate, but Gordon Lightfoot speaking of him, you do cover a Gordon Lightfoot jam on that certain chartreuse. How do you say that word? Chartreuse. Okay. I would color. Okay. It's a color. Cause I've been thinking chantreuse, but it's not.

Yeah. You know, in hindsight, it wasn't the best album title. It's not, you know what? I don't even knowouse, but it's not. It's Shartouse. Yeah, you know, in hindsight, it wasn't the best album title. It's not, you know what? I don't even know how to spell it. It's no He Poos Clouds, okay? He Poos Clouds is a great- I know, He Poos Shartouse Crowds. Shartouse, blah, exactly. Which Gordon Lightfoot song did you cover?

I've covered a lot of Gordon Lightfoot songs. For like 20 years, I did this annual show called The Way We Feel, which we honored Gordon Lightfoot at Hughes Room for like sometimes four nights in a row. And Gordon would come. Shout out to Jane Harbury. Exactly. Always.

Every day. Shout out to her. She sends me messages on Instagram every day. Does she send everybody else messages on Instagram? Like personal messages? No, no, no. Like this is a funny cat thing or this is a funny bird thing. Are you following her on Facebook?

I think so, but she sends them via messenger. Oh, no, I haven't opted in for that service. I just assumed she was sending them to everybody. I had her over here and I wanted to talk quite a bit about the Riverboat Cafe because I'm fascinated of the history of the folk scene in Yorkville that we missed. OK, now it's just expensive clothing and stuff, but it was like a cool scene going on here, and she was there for it. And it took a long time to get her to... I'm listening in the background. This is... Okay, so a little noise here. Speck, I'm going

to ask you about a different Canadian artist who was playing that Yorkville scene in a minute, but it took us... It took about an hour to get Jane to Canada because we were, you know, she was telling me this story of how she was in England. So I feel like I need, I need a, I need another go with Jane where we just talk about the River Bowl Cafe. You could have another go with Jane.

I think I could arrange that for sure here. I could send her a Instagram message. I'm gonna start. So, okay. I know you can't. I'm going to play another. Okay. We've talked. Great. We're all in life. You forgot that part. Okay. Go back to Gordon Lightfoot.

And then I want to ask you about another great Canadian singer songwriter. Okay. No, you're going to talk to me about Gordon Lightfoot. Oh, I have to say I did. Okay. So, but then you, I thought you were going to play something. No, no. See, this is it. You don't get to decide what I play. I'll play what I want to play but I do want to play a song by different because I'm gonna run up and grab my beverage which I realized I didn't bring

down so I'm gonna start this you're gonna listen you can talk and I will find out later what you said you could say anything you want and I listen. Is it good to say something because it keeps people listening or? I just I don't care like whatever you don't have to say anything. Oh, this is right back. I'll just cry Rose and flows of angel hair Ice cream castles in the air Feathered canyons everywhere I've looked at clouds that way But now they only block the sun They rain and snow on everyone So many things I would have done

But clouds got in my way I've looked at clouds from both sides now From up and down and still somehow It's clouds, illusions I recall. I really know no clouds at all. Beautiful, Lori. Sounds nice. Beautiful, beautiful.

There's a comment on the livestream that hearing your voice on this cover of Joni Mitchell's Both Sides Now, you sound a little bit like, again this is from J-Ho, you sound a little bit like 1990s Jane Siberee. Oh, that's nice. Jane is a huge influence for me. Tell me about Jane Siberee, who I was introduced to Jane by Blair Packham as well. Yeah, yeah. So that's, yeah, tell me about Jane.

I'm just such a fan of Jane and I've had I had sort of some of the most spiritual moments of my life actually listening to her music like literally walking on a bridge in the rain with my headphones after my mother died and feeling the presence of my mother through Jane's voice. I know wow I know my condolences No, she's I mean to say that You know that anyone thinks of Jane when they hear me sing is a real compliment Yeah, Jane Sibri has she been on the show yeah Blair introduced me to her and she came on the show? Yeah, Blair introduced me to her and she came on the show and it was kind of wild to be honest.

She's wild. Well, it's just we had a, actually maybe I'll, my apologies to Joni Mitchell who I'm going to have you speak a little bit more about in a moment here, but I'm going to see if I have in my soundboard my Jane Sibere clip one second here. Yeah, I'll stay tuned for that. You stay tuned. Okay, so this is kind of an interesting moment with me and Jane Sibere recently. So I'll bring down your cover of Both Sides Now, which I think might be, is it, you know, she's such an amazing singer-songwriter, but that might be my favorite Joni Mitchell song, Both Sides Now. It's hard to beat that. Sure, yeah, that's fine fine do you have a favorite no okay so now bringing down we

should say that's Ari Posner playing piano yes you should say a lot he's gorgeous he's beautiful me player and human here's a little bit of me and Jane you ready and then I want to want your comments on this okay it's important okay I'm listening do you Jane remember who directed the video for Mimi on the beach? Yes, it was dick. I think dick is of some some name That I can't remember I'm sorry, but okay. Well, let me jog your memory just because I was watching it recently And I saw the last name

Olexiak And I saw the last name, Oleksiak. So Oleksiak, and then I did a little Googling because I know an Oleksiak, I know a couple of Oleksiaks. And one happens to be the most decorated Canadian Olympian of all time. And then another is an NHL player. But it turns out the director of that video is the father of Penny Oleksiak, the Olympic swimmer. Wow, she wasn't born when we needed a Mimi. No, no. For the surfboard, that's too bad. No, but that's kind of a wild little coincidence, right? It's kind of wild that the person who directed your biggest, well, it's debatable, but your

first big single was eventually would father the most decorated Olympian in the history of this country. Okay. I don't find it that interesting. No. Okay. Yes. Okay.

It's moderately interesting, but not a huge thing. I wouldn't say. Okay. So my question, this has become a, yeah, this has become like a touch point where it gets referenced a lot. It was really memorable actually. So that's why I have it loaded up. How did that make you feel? Okay. So then I, if you listen to the full episode, I will, I actually revisit it with her because I kind of can't get past the fact. She just finds it moderately interesting. And I, cause the here, so even if you're not a sports fan, are you a sports fan? Uh, when my kid is. Okay. Sure. Some, some, some of it, not all of it. But even if you don't give a shit about sports, and I know there's a lot of wonderful people, a lot of great artists that don't give a shit, like Jane Sibber, it doesn't give a shit about

sports. You can still appreciate the fact that every four years, there's a summer Olympics and every four years is a winter Olympics and the world's greatest athletes get together and compete. This has been going on since Greece, I don't know, whenever over a hundred years ago. And you can appreciate that in the history of our country competing in the Olympics, Canada, the person who has won the most medals in the Olympics

is a great swimmer She's gonna be swimming in Paris this summer so she could actually add to this total Penny Olexiak has more medals than any other Canadian in the history of the Olympics and Penny Olexiak's dad directed the video for Mimi on the beach How is that not a fucking fun fact? I'm asking you Lori. That is the funnest of facts. That is absolutely a fun fact, right? Well, be honest with me. Um, I sure, I mean,

don't worry about what Jane said. Tell me what Lori's. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think probably if she was on your show, she probably wanted to talk about her video and not about sports. Irrelevant. Irrelevant. Merely the fact that, first of all, it's related to her freedom of career. It wasn't interesting to her. So what do you want?

You want me to convince you that it should have been interesting to her? Okay, let me do it this way. Let's say I don't give a fuck about F1 car racing, okay? I never tune in. I don't care. People talk about it. I'm like, oh, that's nice. I don't care. People talk about, I'm like, oh, that's nice. I'm glad you enjoy this. And the cars race around and they give it whatever. I personally don't give a shit. But if you told me that the person who directed

the Lori Cullen video would go on to become the greatest Canadian F1 racer since, you know, Jill Villeneuve of all time, let's just say, yeah, I knew the name Joe Vinnie. That's how much I know though. But I would be, even though I don't care about auto racing, I would have the wherewithal to basically acknowledge the fact that's absolutely a fun fact. Yes, you're correct. Thank you. You're so difficult for you, Lori, Lori.

No, it's not. You are so right. And she is, she doesn't know where it's at. You're just saying that because, you know, I control what songs I play, and I'm going to withhold the news stuff. I just want you to be okay. I just want you to be okay. Are we okay?

Let me ask you, Barack Obama was president in the United States for eight years. Beautiful. Cried. Had beautiful romantic dreams about Barack Obama. I want to talk about Barack Obama for a moment because I know you have a wonderful tribute to Obama that I am going to play. Oh, that's right. Yeah, you forgot you did that?

Well, I mean, yeah, sure. So Barack Obama president for eight years and then that was followed. It's rather jarring in retrospect, but it was followed by four years of Donald Trump as president in the United States of America. So I'm just curious what were your thoughts about Obama's presidency and when it came to an end because there's a two-term limit it had to come to an end and then the Republicans won the next election we all remember this. What were your thoughts and then I'm gonna play a little bit of this tribute to Obama that you recorded? Well my main thought about Obama was that I really wanted to sleep with him

But I knew that that probably wasn't gonna happen But you get a whole you get I don't know I'm not gonna ask any personal questions I've got an open relationship, but you get a hall pass for president hundred percent Hundred percent, but if Hillary had won could Kurtz with could Kurtz swingham or sleep with Hillary Clinton What's the maybe not sleep with her, maybe just like... Well what are you doing with Obama? You know, to get back. Oh, and Hillary's husband knows blow jobs. Exactly. You know what I'm saying? Okay, so you wanted to sleep with Obama. I still probably do. That's all I really want to say about

it. Okay, let me play this and then we'll pick it up. A lot of ground to cover here. really want to say about it. Okay. Let me play this and then we'll pick it up. A lot of ground to cover here. This part sounds like walk on by. Yeah, back right. Very back rack inspired swing hammer, right? He knows back. But I mean, the song isn't really inspired by Obama. The music video was. OK, tell me, because I thought it isn't really inspired by Obama. The music video was. Okay, tell me because I thought it was a tribute to Barack Obama.

No, that's not correct. I mean, it's called Don't Go Yet because you wanted him to have a third term. Ron wrote these lyrics, we remember, from this project and this was him knowing our relationship and the whole record is about Kurt and my relationship. So I think at this when the album was coming out coming out there was a lot of Barack Obama in the ether and Kurt knew that I wanted him. You wanted to sleep with Barack Obama. And so I think Kurt took it as an opportunity to try to make a statement because he's an amazing artist and so he made it about Barack Obama. So

the video is really where you're gonna think about think about Barack Obama. Okay, nice song though. And yeah, I do like the Baccarat and I now remember now Blair came over and told this great story about when Burt Baccarat was in town. Oh, he was asked to entertain. Yeah, and Kurt's in that story too. And it's just just a great story. It's a great story. Okay, give me a little, before we get to the new stuff, give me a little 101 on your relationship with Kurt. Like, when do you meet him? Was it love at first sight?

I mean, you guys have been together a long time now, and you have a wonderful 11-year-old son. Yeah, I met Kurt at the Free Times with Ron, and I saw him in the music scene, you know, here and there and I always thought he was super cute. I was always amazed at how straight his back was. Like when he sat in a chair and now you've just adjusted. Posture, posture.

Yeah, now I'm self-conscious about my terrible posture. I remember at Say What just looking at him from the back and just looking at the size of his shoulders and how straight he was and thinking I gotta make babies with this man. Like I need that spine in my DNA purse. So it was pretty quick actually and he's a bit older than me because I'm not 62. You're not 62. So what is the age difference between you and Barack Obama? I mean, I mean Kurt Swinghamer. Exactly. 62 years. 16 years difference. So whatever.

But you notice that more now than you used to? No, because I have just a small little seven years between my wife and I noticed it's more a little bit more apparent like as I approach 50 it's just that is that is correct that is correct. So so back to when I met it. Yeah. I know I you know so here I was I'm this suburban you know woman who came into music quite late and I'm playing the free times open stage and I kind of hook up a bit with Kurt and he takes me to his house and he's hand painted his walls, you

know, with every corner and there's like, you know, iconic Toronto art and like his covers on Now magazine and I just was like, oh my God, like how did I get here? And I felt madly in love with Kurt. You were smitten. So smitten. You know, I wanted to be him, you know, which is often how love starts, right? You want something that that person has. You want that for yourself, in yourself. And really, you did that because the way that you do that is you're like, I want that man's

seed in me and I want his baby. That's right. And I want him to make all my music videos and introduce me to the Bare-Naked Ladies and teach me how to barbecue salmon and you know. Wow. It's beautiful really. It is beautiful. It is beautiful. It's really. I think next time like you come on maybe you and Kurt come on and kick out the jams at some point like we have you on together. I'll see what I can do. See what you can do. See what strings you can pull on that. I'll just have Blair arrange it. But the problem is, is when Kurt leaves, I like to have the place

to myself. So if I come with him, then... You can take different routes, like different cycling, different cycling routes, and you can look at your birds. Because when I saw you, you were like just down the street and you were on an app Identifying a bird and I think your first words to me with here were to compliment the birds in the neighborhood I mean, this is like you live in paradise. We're in Etobicoke, right? This is south Etobicoke You're south of the lakeshore now. This is where you go to die. It's so beautiful. That's the plan man That's why Ridley funeral home is at 14th and Lakeshore.

And you can measure it all with this. How long it takes you to... What will you measure with your plastic measuring tape? This is a bit weird. Ridley Funeral Home measuring tape. Like you're going to measure how much time you have or how big the coffin is. What's happening? You're the artist, Lori.

That's the whole idea. What will you measure? That is wild. What will you measure? What will you measure? Hey, well, let's do this now, okay? And you know- Am I gonna get to do this a second time? Yeah.

You made a comment. Yeah, of course. I just said I wanted to invite you and Kurt over together. That is your second time. I literally, literally, you know, I recorded it. You can listen back and go, oh, he just said that. Wow, okay. Will you ever listen back to this?

Like, some people are like, I can't listen to myself. And some people are like, I can't wait to hear how that sounds. I'm not gonna listen to this ever. Okay, good. Then I can say terrible things about you and you won't remember. Okay. Maybe a comment at Blair's house that you don't want stuff. I know you're very, you're an environmentalist, like, and I respect this. Trying I'm full of contradictions, but I'm trying I offered you a Bluetooth speaker from an heiress you remember this at Blair's house I said you're gonna get a Bluetooth and you said don't give me a speaker I don't need any stuff and I'm think I was thinking to myself lady. You don't have to fucking take the speaker I know I'm giving you the speaker. You don't have to take the speaker I won't be offended if you don't take the speaker But the reason I was going to give you that speaker, which I'm now going to keep for myself,

is unless you want it. Maybe your 11 year old wants it. Like that's a quality Bluetooth speaker that Blair Packham has and he uses. I know, but Kurt was on here and you gave him one. And then he gave it to the little one. Okay, so you don't need another one. But I could re-gift it, I suppose.

What's up to you? You're stressing me out here. I just wanted you to know you can subscribe to yes We are open which is an award-winning podcast from mineras and al grego has been having great conversations with small business owners They're inspiring stories and al was here two days ago, and he was kicking out jams Related to episodes from season six of yes, we Open. So with that speaker, you could listen to. That is nice. Yes, we are open.

I could bring it to the beach. Bring it to the beach. What neighborhood? Like where do we find the swing hammer Cullen household? Dufferin Grove. Yeah. So the Dufferin Beach. Dufferin Beach.

Exactly. You know, I'll meet you at Sunnyside you guys will record there that's kind of in the middle maybe okay so I'm gonna give you a wonderful book that you can regift or you can keep and read it's a history of the Toronto Maple Leafs baseball team because it's such a wild history. I go I went I was there at the opener come on. I was at the opener. Yeah well I was at the opener. Blair was at the hill under the tree. Hey can I ask you about that? No I didn't see it. It's called fill the hill. So I'm going to be there on Sunday. That's June 2nd, if you're listening. And I will be throwing out the first pitch at about 145. If I can look into the hill and see Laurie Cullen there, it'll be like that scene from the natural when Glenn Close stands up. I know you don't know what I'm talking about, but it would mean a lot to me if when I'm throwing out the first pitch, I look into the hill and then there's Lori standing up, like it would be wild.

So I'm going to record live from just beyond the left field fence. And if you were at Christie Pitts on Sunday and you made your way to this table where I'm recording and I saw you, I would throw you on the mic to ask you what you thought of my pitch. Okay. Well, I, uh, there's a chance I could do that. Okay. I love it. Check my calendar.

Better than a no. Okay. So you got the history and it's really nice. You really have it together. You're very good at this. One thing here too. Uh, there's an, you know, you, you are like an indie artist, right? You, uh, you put out your own.

So I root for the indie artists for some very obvious reasons, but there are writers and authors who are self-publishing their book, and it's like they're indie authors. And there's a gentleman named Bruce Dobegin who wrote a book with his son, and they're just self-publishing. So I didn't take a dime from these people,

but I am, and it's underneath this book. What is under the book? Okay, it's called Deal With It. Deal With It. It's the trades that stunned the NHL. Did you give this to Jane? No, because Jane was remote and she got nothing. Like literally you have to visit me.

She's got a song called the hockey song. Do you know that song? You know, doesn't she like, hello out there, we're on the air, it's hockey night to night. No, different one. You play it next time you have her on, you should play it. Well, she was on a Tulan Island when I had her on. Do we need to talk about, we want to talk about Bruce more? Uh, no, I just want you to know that that book exists and now you have a copy you could

bring home. Maybe you'll enjoy that. But I do want to ask you a little bit about that, that May 12th hockey game. Okay. This is just ask you what you think of this and then we'll get back to your music and we'll play the new and then we'll get back to your music And we'll play the new music and we'll talk about the Thunder in the Bay Yeah, the Thunder and the Bay come on. It's good title rights better than chartreuse much better title way better It's no guy who poos or whatever, but it's clouds who poo. It's pretty good now. This is out June 7th It's called the Thunder in the Bay. All of these songs were created by you

and James de Pino. Did I say your last name? De Pino. Pino. Pino. And again, Portuguese. We're going to play some cuts from that and talk more about that. It's beautiful stuff. But on May 12th at Christie Pitts, I worked very hard behind the scenes to get Rick Emmett to come out because I wanted to honor Rick Emmett because when Rick Emmett from Triumph and you and I are similar age so we're kind of late for Rick Emmett like try Miss Triumph completely. Missed it. Me too. We missed it but you know I you know I also missed the Beatles and I learned about them too okay.

Right. So because I have these. Priorities. Yeah. But Rick Emmett I wanted he was on Toronto Mike and he talked about his slow pitch career and he seemed to light up when he talks about his baseball career like he loved playing baseball So I thought I went to the owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs baseball team and I said look He's a world-renowned guitar hero and he fucking was a member of triumph, which was a big fucking rock and roll band huge Absolutely, and I said let's honor this, like get him to throw the first pitch and

let's give him some swag and just, you know, make them feel like a fucking million bucks. But the great Rick Emmett lives in Burlington and he didn't want to make his way into the city to go to Christian Blue or traffic traffic. So guess what I did? You took the game to him. Yeah. We played in Burlington for one day only.

I didn't take the game to him, but I did talk talk to my friend Blair Packham. Oh, and I said Blair Good FOTM Blair. I need a favor. The Blair's a sweetheart. Do we agree on that? Of course? Okay, no dirt on Blair today, please. Well, what dirt is there on Blair is a sweetheart zero. I said Blair I need a favor. It's like Mike. What do you need anything? I said I need you to said, Blair, I need a favor. It's like, Mike, what do you need? Anything. I said, I need you to drive from East York to Burlington, pick them up, pick up Rick Emmett and deliver him to Christian Bluer for one 45 so he can be honored.

You know what? Blair did it. Of course he did. Isn't that amazing? What a sweetheart. I'm glad you agree with me. Okay. Now that's a fun fact.

So I want to thank Blair from my heart But I'm trying to get Blair to come on my mic on June 2nd Hopefully he can make it out to the game He won't have to go to Burlington this time just come straight to Christie Pitts and then we can talk about all of this But do you want me to put a good word in for you? I want you and Blair on the mic at the same time. I want to talk to Blair like why did you bring this woman into my life? Shout out to Scooter Dobson who listens to Toronto Mike and told me when he heard that Laurie Cullen was making her Toronto Mike debut, he wrote on Twitter, that will be a

good one. Well, there you go. Is it over? Do we know if it was good? No, it's not over yet. Why do you describe this as you, I was reading a lot of interviews with you and doing my homework because I'm the Brian Linehan of podcasters. You described your, do you like Brian Linehan?

You know, my mother told me... This is a weird story. My mom told me when I was little that he jumped into a pool with no water. Is that not weird? But we don't know that's true. No, it's not true. Okay. But that's what she told me about him. And I always believed that that was something that happened

That's funny any chance your partner designed that logo. This is a much music thing I'm poor. Is there any chance he designed that logo? I don't think so Okay, cuz I know he did some like much music stuff He did but I don't okay. So You described your childhood in Mississauga as complicated in a nutshell What are we talking about that makes your childhood in Mississauga as complicated. In a nutshell, what are we talking about that makes your childhood in Mississauga complicated? I was told all childhoods in Mississauga were great. There's no complications.

Yeah. Well, I mean, how do you put it in a nutshell, really? Well, that's your job. We have time. That is my job. You know, I had a kind of a messed up, a messed up, my parents were struggling. They were sort of strugglers, like some mental health, some addiction,

a lot of pain and weirdness, some fun, for sure, some fun. But it wasn't so easy. And I think that's why, well, I know that's why I turned to music. And this is a time when there was less like less support for such because there were more stigma, more stigma attached to such struggles. Yeah, for sure. For sure. Today, I feel like it's we treat it so differently, like, oh, like, oh, there's

a there's an illness we need to treat here. There's a there's a disease that we can get you as a medical help for, etc, etc. But back then, it was like, you know, suck it up and plow through and all that nonsense yeah definitely my father was a was a real drinker and he would go out he would go out to bars only drink at bars every second night of my life and he and then he would drive home wasted and he would drive home and then he would often bring people home like random people from the bar and he would have mustard fights in parking lots and and he loses false teeth and he went to he once went to the mall dressed as a

shower just only wearing a shower curtain oh and the cops brought him home you know so you're you're colorful no No, and that's gonna be tough to kind of be a witness to that as a young woman. But also, you know, those are also fun stories. So it was also actually fun. Okay, so never a dull moment. Never a dull moment. Well, yeah. And then you essentially you'll seek the solace of the Toronto coffee shops where you could go and that perfect voice could be put on display. Exactly. Find my angel. Get my angel on. And then when you do find an older gentleman who you love his spine, again, not to go oedipus on you, but there's a father figure

role. Kurt Swinghammer. Do you mind if we spend 30 minutes talking about that? Okay. Cause that's a pretty big, uh, age difference. Uh, there is a little, there's always going to be a little, uh, bit of, uh, not, you're, you're attraction to somebody who can symbolize your father. Well, they always say you want to get a better version. You're going to find someone who's a little similar, but a better version. And so I, you know, I took that to heart. I, yeah, there's clear, clearly there's issues, clearly. Do we? That's what you're here for. This is cheaper than therapy. Remember that. Okay. So last song before the new album, because I do want to ask you about this one, because it's very pretty. And you don't look like you're in your sixties.

because it's very pretty. And you don't look like you're in your 60s. Just want you to know that. I had a garden and never weeded it I took an apple just in time I found love in the fall And it didn't hurt at all I found sunlight and flowers Saw the sun shower Is this song about Kurt Swinghammer? Oh, it's so beautiful. That's Chris Dedrick. That voice. Yeah.

Is this from Buttercup Bugle? Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's not my song. That's a Free Design song. Well Chris is from Free Design, right? Yeah, yeah. He produced and did all the horn and vocal arrangements for that record. It's very pretty.

It's kind of jazzy and it's got this like, it's got that ambiance to it. What I'm curious about on the business side of things, cause you gotta eat, you gotta live, right? We can't all just be. Is how it relates to hockey? Everything ties back to hockey here. Okay. But somehow this initiates,

and this is what I was reading in my research, a licensing deal with a Japanese label called Nature Bliss. Yeah, I had a label in Japan and they put it on... Yeah, it did well. I mean, the free design is really well known in Japan, more than Canada. So yeah, that label took it on and then put a subsequent record on. And who knows, I might do something with them again, but I've never been to Japan. But I've got a label there.

I heard you're big in Japan. I'm big in Japan. You're big in Japan. Okay. Tell me, as we segue to the new stuff here, and this is out June 7th, the thunder and the bay. When you decide you're going to put together a new collection of art, a new release, what is your process? Are you writing these songs? I'm curious how you create this Thunder in the Bay. Well, every record kind of comes together differently. In the past, they often start with me and my guitar. This one is quite unique in that I've been working with this producer, James

Dupino, who was hiring me actually to sing on some of his material and then we did a Sundays, you know that band, the Sundays, 90s Sundays, we did a cover and it was really enjoyable and so I think one of us said, maybe I said to him, why don't you send me some of these sort of more computer music, electronic music, and see if we can do some writing together. And really quickly it started to work. And within a year, we had recorded this whole record kind of remotely, him in his studio and me in my studio,

and then passing tracks on to a few special Toronto guests. And it was a real whirlwind, like some of the most creative time I've ever had in my life actually this past year making this music with him. And as we play a couple of cuts from this new release, will you name check these Toronto musicians who might have contributed in some fashion to all of this good stuff? Yeah, well, we certainly have Kurt on there and we've got Rich Brown, who is really one of the best bass players in the world. And that's not just my opinion. And Kevin Fox, who you probably know, I imagine he sat in his chair before.

Not yet. Yeah, he's a brilliant, brilliant guy. And William Spirandi, this amazing trumpet player who I've known for decades, who often plays at the reservoir, quite often, he plays a lot of trumpet on it. And Tom Gill, who is just like the coolest, the coolest guy. It's ever-running This is the way that we know We turn the light Way down low Is it all stopping, the coming days When the well has run dry

New sun will come Bring blue sky What if we try too hard? This is its own test From colder we get If time were gone Someone took the first step I'm going to be a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a

little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a Laurie, this is dreamy. It's pretty yeah, it's like dreaming 90s pop, but also hopefully something different.

I feel like this, this is the kind of music they license for these Netflix shows or whatever. Well, this is the dream board. You just hit on my dream board. Well, I can hear like, I mean, even on Netflix,, I feel like Grey's Anatomy needs this in the background. Oh my God. You're like the third person who said that to me. Are they listening, Grey? Are you listening?

Is it Shonda Rhimes? Who do we have to contact? Shonda, yes. Shonda. Good, good. Come on, Shonda. Or maybe... At Shonda Rhimes.

So, what's the name of this song? This is called All Fine. What's the name of this song? This is called All Fine. And any anecdotes about composing this song from the new album? Well the whole album, there's sort of a theme in this whole album, you know, but anyone can think about whatever they want, but to me it's like a metaphoric drive up to Thunder Bay, that was the whole idea. I was going to ask you about that title, The Thunder in the Bay. So there's just a lot of themes there. It's almost like kind of like a romance. It's like a romantic drive where the destination is to Thunder Bay and the sleeping giant is the

lover, is the romance, is where you're trying to get to. So a song like this is just something, you know, that you might feel or or see as you're going through, like the Canadian shield or something. Fascinating. Little Madonna. Seriously. Little Madonna? Seriously? Yeah! I'm diggin' it. Cool. Oh, DJ. We should just listen to every song and you kind talk over it and give us the pop-up video fun facts.

I think this is a particularly good mix. I have to say, James did a really nice job on this mix. He really knows how to mix my vocals in a way that I've never heard anybody do before. Yeah, it sounds different than, this is like a departure for you. Yeah, it's my 62 year old departure. Better late than never. I didn't think you were 62. I just thought you were telling me the truth when you said you were 62. There's a difference. I don't sound 62.

I didn't have a moment. You should have said 72 and then I would have laughed at all. I know. I needed to close. Because what is your real age? I'm not that close. What is your real age? Are you 50 yet?

I'm just 50. So are you a 74 baby? 73. Okay. So you want to know a fun fact about TMLX 15 on June 27? You want to know a fun fact about TMLX15 on June 27th? You want to know a fun fact about it? No. You want to know a fun fact about the director of the Mimi on the Beach video?

Oh, sure. Tell me that. He would go on to father. By the way, I always talk about the most decorated Olympian of all time, but he also fathered an NHL, a very good NHL player because his son is a great NHL player and his daughter is the most decorated Olympian in Canada history. Unbelievable. It's a fucking fun fact but you want to know a fun fact about TMLX15?

Hold on. Okay, James did a great job. I can't believe you're like James. Where does James live? James lives in Berry. He's often Berry, beautiful Berry. He's from like, he was doing like EDM, you know, dance music. Yeah, there's a whole EDM vibe going on here. Yeah. And, but, but when you hear his, his stuff without me, it's, you know, it's quite harder and quite different.

So it really is this place where we met, know. It's good collaboration. And sometimes you gotta step away from the Kurt for a little bit right? Like a little bit of a Kurt. Is Kurt involved? How involved is Kurt in this? Well he wasn't very involved in it. He did add some you know some guitar color and stuff near the end. And he's made a lot of the, he's made almost all of the lyric videos. So he's involved that way, but in the actual process, it's hard actually keeping separate from someone like Kurt

because he is sort of, he has such a, so many things to say. Is Kurt like your Svengali? Is that what I'm,'m sort of controlling all aspects of your career and this was your like Independence Day much like you did when you buy left Mississauga and you got your Independence Day from father number one no comment I have to finish my fun fact about TML X 15 on June 27 which is that is the day I turned 50 that day. So it's the same day. So you could be with me on my 50th birthday if you come to TMLX15, which is a

free event, an unticketed free event. Just show up and then you come hungry, you eat because palma pasta is delicious and then you have a drink and then, you know. Sounds good. I wanna see all three of you there. You, James, and your son. You, Kurt, and your son. Okay, tell me about this song. What are we listening to here? This is the title track, Thunder Bay.

You know, there's directions there. You could get there. Black Creek, straight up. You know, you could get there based on this song with a bit of poetry. Yeah, of course. Black Creek Drive. Get on the 401. 401 to 400 is I don't even know how you go to Thunder Bay. Is that how you go? I have to listen to your song.

You can't bike there, right? How long would it take you to bike to Thunder Bay? I don't know. Too long. Too long. Yeah. Very pure voice like your voice is very pure. Do you remember the Canadian the 90s alt rock band Pier? No.

Like P E E R? P U R E? Oh, pure. How do you say pure? Am I saying it wrong? I say it pure. I do have trouble with words like that. Like I can't say brewery.

Can you say brewer? Well, maybe you don with words like that. Like I can't say brewery. Can you say brewer? Well, maybe you don't belong on this show if you can't speak properly. Do you want to take over? I'm kind of done. I'm about to hit episode 1500. I feel like that's a good run. And that who's going to be on that? Blair and Ron Sexsmith and Kurtzman Hammer maybe?

Well, Ron Sexsmith is on every episode. You know this, right? Ron, are you there? You there, Ron? Yeah, yeah, okay. Sure. What does releasing a new album in 2024 entail? Like, you're just gonna... Like, I don't even know. So if somebody wants to get their mitts on the thunder and the bay, where do you send them?

Well, I mean, you know, in a utopian world, which is not where we live, you'd go to bandcamp and you'd pay for it. And then I could know feel like I'm you could buy palma pasta yeah exactly or I could you eat um I don't I get a vibe like you don't eat meat yeah I eat meat for sure I eat meat come on now look closer what does that mean I don't know you're a from the side of your mouth. Cause you've been, you ate a bird on your way here. I don't, I wouldn't eat birds. Just chicken birds.

Okay. What were we talking about? You keep changing the topic. Okay. Hold on here. So you eat meat because I'm going to, is it okay? Can I send you home with a large meat lasagna that's frozen in my freezer right now? So Palma pasta is going to send you home with a large meat lasagna that's frozen in my freezer right now? 100%.

So, Palma Pasta is going to send you home with a large meat lasagna. Is it frozen? Yeah. Okay. Frozen solid. In my freezer right now. I'm going to get it for you before you go. I hope you have room in those saddlebags.

Whatever you got on your bicycle. That's a bicycle I'm talking about here. Okay. So, the thunder and the bait. What? You said ideally people go to your band camp and they pay for this. So you could, you know, but, but you could go to Spotify and I, I would make James and I would make nothing and you could skip over it after 20 seconds. But how do you feel about this new model that is in place where artists like you who won't

get the number of streams to make any money? It's just people can just hear it on demand. Why most people aren't going to pay for it at Bandcamp because they'll just they'll just say, like I have I have a premium YouTube account or whatever. And I'll just ask the Google machine over here. I'm afraid to say it because it's going to do it but to play it and it's going to play it. Yeah. How do you feel about that as a musician? I guess I I mean, I just feel like I'm, I've surrendered to it, you know?

And so I'm like landscaping and teaching kids and, and fine. I'm not thinking about, I don't, I don't put music together with like money. So I don't know. You do landscaping? Well, I help people around in my neighborhood with my wagon. I just work in gardens that I can take my wagon to. So don't start texting me to work in your garden. I'm not coming to Etobicoke. You can bike to Etobicoke and help me with my garden. I do need some help with it.

But is there going to be an album release party? Like is there any is there like like so now is yeah and in this date Okay, so question could June 7th is the big date? But if somebody wants it today they did you're like no you got to wait or can you I guess on bang? I'm gonna wait a pre-order. Maybe can you yeah, you can pre-order it and then you'll you know it's really is just a token of respect and you know to go there and sure and order it right. But it doesn't come out on the streaming platforms until the seventh and even on Bandcamp there's just three tracks available now and the rest uh yeah you can listen to them. Well because I enjoy it and I think if you're having a barbecue

or perhaps you're having some kind of a summer outdoor event, that's great. Because it's got that atmospheric, like, dream pop vibe going on. Perfect background music for a party because you got that cool sound that James brings to it. And then this pure voice hits you. I can't say the word pure, but you know, the P-U-R-E voice sounds amazing. I think that you could put like, I could put a quote from you, like great background music. I could put that my quote. I'm going to take Paul Myers's quote and just say that, um, what is Paul Myers quoting? It's perfect.

Oh, perfect. Lori has a perfect voice, I think is what Paul Myers. So anything looks, I'm not playing you out necessarily. I know you got a long ride home and you got some gifts on your way out. You did mention Barenaked Ladies off the top, and then you mentioned Lowest of the Low. Did you know I close every episode of Toronto Mic'd

with a Lowest of the Low song from Shakespeare, My Bug? You did know that. Yeah, I did know that, yeah. Listen, I listen. Look, I said I wasn't gonna listen to my show. Here, did you listen to Kurt Swinghammer on Toronto Mic? I listened to some of it, yeah. But not all of it. No, I know all of those stories. I didn't listen to listen to my show. Did you listen to Kurt Swinghammer on Toronto Mike? I listened to some of it. Yeah.

But not all of it? No, I know all of those stories. I didn't listen to all of it. That's not the point. Don't you want to hear someone else reacting to those stories? I enjoyed it. I thought it was good. I think you're good at your job.

I do. Is it hard for you to compliment me? Is it difficult? It's not the easiest, but I only do it when I mean it. So when I say I think you're good I say, I think you're good at it, I think you're good at it. So on your ride here on this beautiful Wednesday, when you were like soaking in the birds and everything, did you have a thought like, I want to make sure I share this story or I

hope I get a chance to tell this or name check this? Like this is your chance. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I guess I kept thinking if I died on my bike, I wondered what you would do. If you would still. Shout out Ridley Funeral Home. But would you play any of my music or would you just talk about hockey and play the lowest of the lowest? Here's what I would do. If I found out that you died tragically on your bike ride here

for your debut, I would record that episode and I would play your music and I would say, oh, I met Lori at Blair Packham's house. We had an interesting rapport, I would say it was an interesting rapport in that there was an instant we've known each other for 20 years thing going on, but I just met you for the first time. And I couldn't explain it myself. Why are we talking to each other like we're long time friends?

I just met this woman. And then when you were coming over today, I'm like, oh, Lori's coming over. Like my long time friend Lori, but this is the second time I've been in your presence or whatever. But I knew that we'd have this rapport and then I wasn't sure how it would translate

to the podcast. And then I realized quickly in the podcast, oh, the Lori I got on this podcast is not the Lori I got at Blair Packham's house. Oh. This is my observation. Really? I didn't know if I would, am I getting that Lori?

Like not high, you mean? Yeah. The, the, the Lori at Blair Packham's house I was talking to is like at 11 and she's really kind of right in your grill and she gives it to you. And this Lori was like a little more restrained. Like, I think you pulled back a bit because I, maybe you're self-conscious about like, how does that Lori sound on a podcast? It will like, you know,

because it is our second meeting or whatever. But as I was chatting with you, I was thinking, oh, like, can I get that Lori next time? Like give me the Blair Packham kitchen Lori. You didn't like that you're saying basically you didn't like this Lori. I like this Lori. I'm not saying that I'm saying that there's two Lori's

and the other Lori will be my next guest on Toronto Mic. And if you had died, I would have talked about the other Lori and our exchange and I would have played your music and then I would have said, shout out to Ridley Funeral Home. Well, I thought you looked better at the party too. So that's how it all started. So you thought I was more interesting at the party

and I thought you looked better at the party. Were you drunk at the party? I didn't think that that I thought I was pretty good. You were great but you won't listen back to find out you were fantastic. I should point out that Kurt Swinghammer made the cover art for the Thunder in the Bay. He did. Okay and now I realize I'm running out of my closing theme song Lori I don't want to run out and that brings us to the end of our 1,498th show. LoriCullen.com or is it LoriCullenMusic.com?

I knew before and I forgot. Yeah, LoriCullen.com. So LoriCullen, L-O-R-I, and then Cullen, there was a question in the live stream, are you related to a podcaster? Are you related to any podcasters? There was a question about whether you were related to a podcaster? Are you related to any podcasters? There was a question about whether you were related to John Cullen who apparently is a podcaster

that Cambrio listens to. No, nor am I related to Sean Cullen. You know what Sean Cullen's a great FOTM too but there's a lot of Cullens out there. By the way Jeremy who's on the live stream says this was a wonderful chat. Thank you, Mike and Laurie. Have a great day out there. She was great, he said. You were fantastic. I'll meet you outside, Jeremy. Maybe you can meet him at Christie Pitts on Sunday.

You can follow me on Twitter and Blue Sky and all over the place. I'm at Toronto Mike. Much love to those who made this possible. That's Great Lakes Brewery. Laurie's got her beer, Palma Pasta. She's gonna get a lasagna. Recyclemyelectronics.ca, that's where she goes

if she has old electronics or cables. She's not gonna throw them in the garbage because those chemicals end up in her landfill. She's gonna go to Recyclemyelectronics.ca. The Toronto Maple Leafs baseball team, Lori loves it. Minaris, season six of Yes We Are Open and Ridley Funeral Home. She's got her measuring tape.

See you all tomorrow when Dave Van Horn makes his Toronto Mic debut. The voice of the Expose for many years. Don't you dare miss it.