Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Meredith Lazowski: Toronto Mike'd #1095

Episode Date: August 9, 2022

In this 1095th episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike chats with musician Meredith Lazowski about her new album produced by FOTM Justin Rutledge and how we're connected. Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, Canna Cabana, StickerYou, Ridley Funeral Home and Electronic Products Recycling Association.

Welcome to episode 1095 of Toronto Mic'd. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery. A fiercely independent craft brewery who believes in supporting communities, good times, and brewing amazing beer. Order online for free local home delivery in the GTA. StickerU.com. Create custom stickers, labels, tattoos, and decals for your home and your business. Palma Pasta.

Enjoy the taste of fresh, homemade Italian pasta and entrees from Palma Pasta in Mississauga and Oakville. Electronic Products Recycling Association. Committing to our planet's future means properly recycling our electronics of the past. Ridley Funeral Home. Pillars of the community since 1921. And Canna Cabana.

The lowest prices on cannabis, guaranteed. Over 100 stores across the country. Learn more at cannacabana.com. Today, making her Toronto mic debut is musician Meredith Lazowski. How are you, Meredith? I'm doing great, thanks. How are you? I am good. And I got that last name correct, right? Lizowski. Oh, yes. You got it perfect.

It's actually a tough name to mispronounce. I don't even know where I would screw that up. I'll find a way. Give me a challenge. I'll find a way. Let's start with how we're connected. How are we connected, Meredith? I know your wife. Yeah. I used to work with her years ago. So in a previous life, you worked for a software company at the same time as my wife, Monica. So even though I have like no real recollection of this, we may have like said hello to each other at a holiday party or two. Yes. So we may have been in the same, we probably have been in the same room at the same time before.

Yes, this is correct. And you're back because you've got a new album and I'm going to find out, like I'm fascinated by somebody who has like a full-time job to pay the rent and to feed themselves,

but has this passion, this side hustle that's of like an artistic nature, like music. Like I got a lot of, you ready for questions? Are you okay when I start peppering you? Okay. So before we dive in and I have music too, but I have music that's not from you. I'm actually going to start with this and we're going to talk briefly about this. And this is not you, Meredith. Although you should cover it, maybe.

I'm saying all the things that I know you'll like Make a good conversation I gotta handle you just right You know what I mean I took you to an intimate restaurant Then to a suggested movie There's nothing left to talk about Let's get physical, physical to talk about things horizontally.

Let's get physical, physical. I want to get physical. Let's get into physical. Let me hear your body talk. Body talk. Let me hear your body talk. Is this, in your humble opinion, you are a musician, is this a jam or not a jam? Is this a jam?

I think this is definitely a jam. I agree with you. Now, you're much younger than I am. And I'm wondering, so when I was a kid, this song seemed to be everywhere. I think it might have been everywhere. So I remember growing up where this song was all over the place. This is Olivia Newton-John.

And I never did, I'm curious, have you ever seen Grease with John place. This is Olivia Newton-John. And I never did, I'm curious, have you ever seen Grease with John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John? Of course. Okay, so I've never seen it, but I know there's a couple of huge jams because I hear them all over the place, but Olivia Newton-John died today. Yes, I know. I heard. So sad.

That is terrible. And I wanted to pay some respects here since we are sponsored by a funeral home. So shout out to Ridley Funeral Home. And I'm sure we'll talk more about Olivia Newton-John when Mark Wiseblood visits the first Thursday of September. But yeah, she was a big BFT, a big fucking deal. Would you cover a song like this? I would, definitely.

I'm actually trying to queue up some new covers to include within my set. So this is giving me some good inspiration for sure for my shows coming up. So how do you, is it basically just songs you like? And then you have to like, I mean, we'll get into this, but your style would be defined as americana is that how we describe your genre yeah like kind of alternative folk americana i would say is the the way i've been describing it but you can take it as whatever you like i would say too you know an americana is a weird descriptor for somebody are you from toronto i am from just north of toronto from

aurora um but i've been living in toronto quite a while now. But you know, Americana like that, you know, like we're Canadian. We need a new, we need a new label for this. Canadiana. Canadiana. We need a new label. So what is your, you don't have to be, you can be as specific as you want to be, but how do you pay your rent or mortgage? Like how do you feed yourself? What is your full-time job? Well, my full-time job is I work as a product designer in the startup world. So basically, I design interfaces for software. So I worked in healthcare for a while helping with patient safety software. And then now I'm leading product design at a startup company in the fintech space.

I think, and I have been around that, you know, that universe for a long time. I would say you can get, that salary would enable you to live in the city of Toronto. Like you could, you could make enough money to live in this very expensive city. Yeah, it definitely helps to pay the bills. And I also love this space too, because design is very creative as well. Like it's a, it's a different avenue for being creative. And yes, I'm working more on the software side of things, but I, I really do love what I do.

I love solving problems in that space, but I also love music. So I'm happy I can combine the two. And has music always been a passion? It has, it has. I put it on hold for a while. Just, I feel like I got kind of swallowed into the tech world for about seven years and, you know, really put music on hold for a good amount of time. But I found my way back. I think the pandemic, I think for a lot of

people was a kind of moment of like, like a pause, a bit of a pause just to reevaluate what's important to you. Um, you know, so many people lost family and friends and so much that I think it was a, a moment where I was kind of reevaluating saying like, what's really important to me and what are things that I keep saying I want to do that, um, I haven't done. And music was one of those things I've been talking about putting an album together probably for like five years and never really got to it. So this was a moment where I'm like, I'm tired of saying no, I'm just going to go for it. So that was that was kind of the waking moment for me.

Go big or go home. Exactly. Might as well just go for it. And yeah, and I'm fortunate that I was able to do so and work with some great people on it, too. Well, we're going to we're going to get into that because you worked with an FOTM. So we have to acknowledge. But here. OK, we're going to, we're going to get into that because you worked with an FOTM, so we have to acknowledge, but here, okay. So Go Big or Go Home and the name of this album that you have put out, it came out, you released it independently in June of this year. This album's called Other Way Home. Yep. Did you consider calling it Go Big or Go Home? That's a good one. Is it too late? Is it too late? Okay. In the digital world, you can actually change things on a dime.

It's not like you have like, you know, 20,000 printed discs sitting in a warehouse or whatever, right? That's true. That's true. Okay. Well, we can change that. Okay. No, Other Way Home is a great title. We'll get into all of that.

So, but we got to go backwards. So, you mentioned, you know know the pandemic was like a trigger that you're gonna you're gonna live the dream you're gonna have a uh well-produced album of your music like this is like your debut album this is a big deal like you're gonna do it and you did it which is like amazing but going back like when you were growing up was uh music like a part of the your life was it was it in the the home you grew up in like was music like a part of your life? Was it in the home you grew up in? Like, was music something you always loved? Oh, yeah, it was always something that I've loved. And I grew up playing conservatory piano. I can't say that I'm necessarily the greatest piano player

anymore. I've put it on hold for a while. But my sister and I grew up playing piano. And then we've always had guitars in the house as well, too. My dad played guitar when he was younger and then, um, and my mom is a great singer too. And, uh, eventually at one point in time, I kind of started to lose a little bit of interest in piano and then, uh, wanted to get into guitar. Um, and so I kind of picked up whatever guitars around the house, started fiddling around with it. And then, um, it kind of cued getting my dad back into it as well too and this is when I was in like early elementary school I would say um so six or seven years ago a lot longer than that but but yeah and then so it was kind of a catalyst I think for all of us to start playing music together like piano I feel like for us was we were doing it very independently

just to kind of practice and get into it. But once we started picking up guitars as well, too, we started playing music together and playing covers. And then I started writing as well, too. So music has always been a big part of our family. And I've been writing for a very long time, like probably as soon as I started like learning. As soon as I learned about three chords, I'm like, OK, let's see what we can do here. OK, firstly, I just want you to know right now how jealous I am of you that you can just pick up a guitar and noodle away and make something that sounds good. Like that's like, to me, that's like, I mean, I can't imagine like I pick up a guitar now I'm holding a guitar, but that's it. Like I'll just for the

photo, maybe I'm holding the guitar, but there's nothing beautiful going to come out of that, that, uh, instrument if I'm holding it. So that's amazing. Okay. By the way, before we go any further and it's your call, but I'm going to crack open a beer. Did you want a beer? Sure. Okay. So that one's from the, that one's cold.

Okay. And there's, these are all of this beer from Great Lakes Brewery, fresh craft beer from GLB is yours. If you will, if you want more than one, let me know. Cause I have to go to the fridge and get you another coin.

So is that, by the way, I feel like I can go up and get you, like, do you want an IPA? Oh, this pale ale is perfect with me. I also love the branding of this one, too. That's Gordy Levesque. He's the Canuck pale ale guy that you see on the- It's amazing. Gordy Levesque, yeah.

And I think that's the biggest seller Great Lakes has. So you crack that open. All right. And do it on the mic, Meredith, please. All right. Is this your first rodeo? Come on. And you crack that and then I'll crack mine.

Okay. Okay. Okay, so here we are. Even though this probably, you know, I rarely do this, but I did record earlier today. So this might drop Tuesday morning on August 9th. But we're recording on Monday evening. So like work is done for the day.

You brought a guitar by the way. I don't want to bury the lead here. You brought a guitar. And we're now drinking craft beer. And we're going to get into this. And if the listeners hear any pauses, it's because we're guzzling down our beer. That's delicious. Okay, so you've got a job. This is important.

You have a job that pays your bills. Yes. And you had a passion, and you decided it's time to shit or get off the pot. You're going to make an album. Yes. Okay. Who are your musical influences? Yeah, I guess that's a succinct enough way to say it.

Who influenced you? Yeah, so many. There's quite a few people that definitely were influences over the years. I would say I love Nico Case, Gillian Welsh as well, too, have been big influences in my life, just in terms of women songwriters as well, too. But yeah. as well too um but yeah and then also too just in Canada um we have some incredible songwriters and musicians and uh Justin Rutledge is one of them for sure for me he's one of my heroes and I'm really grateful that you know I got to work with him and I'm sure we'll get into it we're gonna hear a little Justin too don't worry he's an FOTM okay Nico Case not an FOTM yet but

here's a little taste of Nico Case and we'll talk more about your influences. Sounds good. Compared to some I've been around But I really tried so hard That it could cost like even eight Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on In the end I was the mean girl Or somebody's in between girl Now it's the devil I love

And it's as funny as being loved She's inspiring me, for goodness sakes. Pass that guitar over here. I have an idea. No. All right. So did you want to name check any more influences? I didn't mean that.

I just had some eco-case loaded up here. That's okay. Let's talk more about your influences. That was really nice. Yeah. Also, Kathleen Edwards is a big one for me, too. She's incredible. And yeah, just a powerhouse in Canada.

So yeah, those are my main ones. Mavis Staples as well, too. She's someone that is just so incredible. I had the great privilege of seeing her live a few times. And boy, just breathtaking, breathtaking performances. And she's still going strong. I would say mid-80s now. I think so.

I have to do the math. But, yeah, I'm a big fan. I love the staple singers. And Mavis is the queen. Oh, yeah. She's amazing. And that, again, that version of The Wait. Oh, yeah.

They do it, The Last Waltz, the band documentary by Martin Scorsin scorsese amazing so good and that part when pops comes in i'm sorry for my when pops comes in during the last waltz it's like forget about it like i love the band version of the last i'm sorry the band version of the weight uh but but please uh that version with the staple singers nothing beats that so you got good taste there okay and justin let's play a bit of Justin Rutledge and let's talk about him too. Sounds good. Oh, my city is dressed in skin Is dressed in skin Her lips are dark

Her ankles thin Oh my dizzy ballerina Won't you give us a spin? My country is cold in autumn's chains. I'll break it down, but I'm going to bring it back up in a bit because it changes some tempo there. But that's Alberta Breeze. But the fact is this guy was in high school with my brother,

and they were buddies. And my brother would buy his, like, he'd sell, like, his tapes, his cassettes. So Justin would record a cassette, and then my brother would buy it for whatever, five bucks or whatever, and would enjoy it. And then Justin also was buddies of my cousins. They were really tight, and I think they're still buddies. And he's an FOTM, so it's kind of wild to see the success he's had.

Yeah, it's incredible. He's been amazing. And most amazing of all, Meredith, is that he's Dave Hodge's favorite artist of all time. And Dave Hodge, do you know that name, Dave Hodge? Yes. Okay. His genre of choice is Americana. Like this music that you love and you produce is his cup of tea.

In fact, at the end of this calendar year, he'll be on this program to kick out his 100 favorite songs of 2022. Nice. And I'm hoping he got fed your album. And I'm hoping Other Way Home makes an appearance. Awesome. That'd be amazing. All right, talk to me about basically Justin, like what you think of him as an artist

and then how you hooked up with him personally. Yeah, well, he's always someone that I've admired as a Canadian singer-songwriter. And for me, the Cameron House in Toronto has always been a staple place. It's my favorite room in the city, I would say. I've been going there since I was legal age to drink. And I would come up from York University where I was studying and take the rocket up to the Cameron House and basically come watch music. And, you know, he was someone that played

there a lot and had a residency there for many, I think, many years, I believe. And anyway, so he's just someone I admired. It was always this, it was a vibe that I always felt I related to, just in terms of how my music goes as well, too So, um, yeah, I'm really grateful I got to work with him and it was kind of a coincidence. I think, um, we were connected, we had someone in common that we knew. Um, and I reached out to him on social media actually. And I think we had only met maybe once before at a show. Um, and I reached out to him and I just wanted some feedback on my tunes because I was, uh, you know, just starting to put the songs together for the album and go through my like repertoire of songs that I had or collection of songs I had that I'd written over the past 15 years. And my family had told me, you know, oh, these are great songs.

Yeah, but yeah, you can't really trust that. But I was like, I need I need some professional. It's like when your mom tells you how handsome you are. Oh, you're so handsome, I need some professional opinion. It's like when your mom tells you how handsome you are. Oh, you're so handsome. You need a second opinion. You got to listen to your mom about that, though. Come on. But yeah, no, I just needed that second opinion.

And I just wanted some feedback. And after chatting with him, then we ended up agreeing um, he ended up agreeing to produce the album, which was pretty incredible. So, um, yeah, and I was really lucky too, because, uh, he wasn't touring at the time and, uh, during, in the middle of COVID, like we got to work with some incredible musicians also because of that too. Like people were around and available. So, um, yeah, I'm just really grateful. It was an incredible crew, uh, that was a part of the album making. Okay. We're going to hear a little more Justin and talk more about this. សូវាប់ពីបានប់ពីបានប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់� No wonder Dave Hodge loves this man. What a talented SOB.

It's almost annoying, annoying right because he's also a good looking dude too like you get one or the other well you don't get both right it's not really fair okay so shout out to fotm justin rutledge okay so justin says he's going to produce your album here's a silly question and i talk to a lot of people who produce albums and it sounds like a producer does a different thing for every artist like what did like what exactly did justin rutledge do for your uh your album yeah well it was it was interesting just because again we were in the thick of the pandemic so we really only were able to see each other pretty um limitedly i would say limited so we maybe met up i think twice in person prior to the the album like going into the studio um so basically

what we did was you know when he recognized you if he passed you in the street would he say oh Meredith how you doing yes yes he would now for sure but I would hope so at least but uh but yeah we um so basically kind of went through my demos which were honestly just real rough voice memos for my phone and I had asked him like do you want me to do better demos? And he's like, no, no, just as is, is fine. So basically it was just going through charting out, um, the, the songs basically. And he did an incredible job just orchestrating, um, the crew and the musicians that came into play again. Like I'm, I'm fairly new into the music world. Like I was on hiatus for so long. I kind of was out of it in terms of getting connected with the right people to play with. And, you know,

who's the best person to be, um, like the engineer. He's so well connected. He's so well connected that, um, he really orchestrated, he didn't only just like, you know, imagine these songs and the way that they were produced on the album. But he also just orchestrated everyone together and he really did make a great team of people too. Like just from a chemistry perspective, it was pretty incredible. Okay, now I need you to name check the people. So it takes a village here. So you're the songwriter. Yeah. And how many jams, how many songs? I'm trying to think who that was Blair Packham. Why do you have to always call songs jams? Blair, because that's the way it goes.

By the way, Blair Packham, he wrote a lot of great music, but he was the primary singer-songwriter for the Jitters, which was a big band in the 80s. And he is going to be one of the FOTM musicians who's going to play live at TMLXX. That is the 10th Toronto Mic'd Listener Experience. And it's happening. This is very important, Meredith.

You might want to write this down. Luckily, I'm recording this. You can hear it later. September 1st from 6 to 9 p.m. on the lawns at the Great Lakes Brewery location in Southern Etobicoke. And that's 30 Queen Elizabeth Boulevard. All FOTMs are welcome. Larry Fedorek wrote me a note

and said, you have to RSVP. I said, no, just get your ass to Great Lakes Brewery between 6 and 9 p.m. on September 1st. I have a lot of ideas. And I'll slowly start to unveil all these ideas, but there will be a microphone, and again, some amazing FOTM musicians

are going to play jams for us, like Blair Packham. So how did I get on Blair Packham? Oh, yeah, because he says, why do I always call him jams? How many songs on your new album, Other Way Home, Meredith? There's 10 of them. 10 songs. Yeah, yeah. he says why do I always call him gyps how many songs on your new album other way home meredith there's 10 of them 10 songs yeah yeah so we we selected 10 we kind of looked at the budget looked

at um all of the the things that we were able to do and may I ask what the budget was because you're self-financing right is this all coming from you so money that you've saved from working uh like at startups and software companies yeah yeah i'm not gonna say budget i think right now yeah i'm a little nervous to say it out loud because the cra is though come on you can tell like i guess i'm curious like is it to to produce this it sounds great we're gonna play some songs all right from your new album Other Way Home. But are we talking like this is a $5,000 project? Above. Really?

Is it a $10,000 project? Above. Oh, really? Yeah. Okay. Okay. Yeah. I would have lost a bar bet on this one.

Okay. No, it's okay. But, you know, it was just one of those moments for me where I thought in case I never do this again, which I hope is not the case, I would love to do this again. I just thought I would, this is for me where I thought in case I never do this again which I hope is not the case I would love to do this again I just thought I would this is for me I'm also looking at it as an entire learning experience as well too like I'm getting so much more out of this than just putting an album out it's like everything put together it's basically like a crash course into

how do we how do you jump start into the music industry and also let me give you like some paternal wisdom here if I may here so you you have no children no no so you're you currently live alone yes i'm asking very personal questions okay so you live alone with no children you have a full-time job and you've been working full-time for several years yeah yeah probably i think it's like eight or nine years now okay and i And if you said to me, hey, I have this burning passion to play music and the pandemic has made me realize that I want to produce an album,

a properly produced professional sounding album with my 10 greatest songs that I've been writing through the years. And this passionate passion project the side hustle passion project will cost me I'll make up the number now thirteen thousand dollars I made up the number my clothes you're getting there yeah fifteen thousand yeah around that yeah okay so fifteen thousand dollars I say it's a steal at twice the price like that is money well spent this is very nourishing for you are you proud of this album i'm so proud of it it's it's definitely been worth every single

penny and um and yeah i've i've saved for a while and um it's just one of those things again it's it's like paying for taking a university or a college course or whatever right like you're you're really better than that because instead of a piece of paper at the end of the day, you've got these 10 songs. Yeah. And it's just like these, also the two, these songs have been, some of them are over 15 years old. I was going to ask that next.

So like of the 10 songs that have made the final cut, what's the oldest song? Like the song that you wrote the earliest. So the first song I ever wrote was December. And then the second song I ever wrote was Prairie. So those are about like 15, 16 years old. Can I play some Prairie then? Yeah, go for it.

You excited? We're playing Prairie. You did this. You did this. This is crazy. What? Best 15,000 you ever spent there are straight lines of hair Where the fields are flat

And the skies give it away No one knows how the beauty became Wow. And you wrote this 15 years ago. Yeah. Really? Yeah. Who's playing on this song? So we have some amazing folks. We have Burt Carroll on pedal steel.

We have Josh Van Tassel on drums. And he created this amazing kind of soundscape of, it's almost like a tumbleweed effect. You can kind of hear the sound there. And we have Devin Henderson on bass. And the sound there we have uh devin henderson on bass and on uh guitar we have tom yuha's and piano and uh worley we have kelsey mcmulty um and then yeah on some of the other tracks we're lucky to have uh miranda mcclelland on fiddle as well too honestly it sounds big leagues you know what i mean uh shout out to tom cochran

it sounds like the real deal here in my headphones here like you did this thank you i'm so excited what was your dad's review? Oh my gosh. Well, I have a really funny story about that, actually. We don't tell funny stories on this program. You'll have to save that for another podcast. No, seriously, I need to hear it right now. So I was really lucky that my dad and my sister and my mom were actually a part of the album recording process,

which is pretty amazing. So on the last day of recording, my dad actually ended up doing the guitar solo on December and then my sister was all the backup vocals so they actually came into the studio so it was the last day of recording I was just wrapping up actually some overdubs on Prairie and my family was sitting in the kind of the studio space just listening and I come in from like just finishing up vocals and i come in and they're all just crying because for them this is like a pretty

big moment because they've been hearing these songs in the living room and playing like we've been playing these songs together as family i can feel it like i feel it yeah and i just met you for the first time like a half an hour ago and And I feel it. Like I feel this interesting like secondhand pride. Where's the studio? What studio did you go into? Oh, we were at Union Sound Studio in Toronto. And we got to work with the incredibly talented Chris Stringer and Darren McGill as well too. He was assistant on set as well, which is incredible.

And yeah, such an incredible crew to work with. And the studio is just, if you've ever been there, it's got like a home, homey, like very warm. Where is it geographically? It's on, uh, oh gosh. Sudbury? It's, it's like, like, like close to King or, uh, no, it's, um, closer. I'm directionally challenged. So me, me talking about this is funny, but it's, it's closer to the East end. Um, I'm directionally challenged. Me talking about this is funny, but it's closer to the east end. What's a landmark nearby? Anything you can remember seeing nearby?

It's close to Eastbound Brewery. It's close to that area. East of Young. Yes. Yeah. It's a really lovely studio. They have old barn boards in it just very home like homey and warm because you're americana right like you need that you need that ambience to get

you in the right mood here okay so i'm i thoroughly enjoyed prairie but now i'm gonna ask you you brought a guitar yeah i don't want to play like do you have in your mind like are you gonna play a song live before we stop recording i could if you if you well yeah you brought the guitar so i feel like you led me on here okay so like would you play a song like not right now but in a few minutes yeah definitely so do you have a song in your head you'd want to play because then i won't play that one i was thinking either december or um yeah i was thinking december maybe december or eight Late, whatever one. No, December, because December is one of those, like Prairie, that's a song you wrote like 15 years ago.

It's an oldie. And again, I don't know what the rule is for your age or whatever, but like how old are you when you wrote December in Prairie? Well, I guess I was about 15. See, I just did the math. You're 30 years old. I'm almost 30 years old. I'm almost 30 years old. Yeah. Yeah. I'm 30 years old this time next year, I guess. So, I just did the math. You're 30 years old. I'm almost 30 years old. I'm almost 30 years old.

Yeah. Yeah. I'm 30 years old this time next year, I guess. So, yeah. All right. Well, congratulations on the milestone birthday coming up. Thank you. And I'm going to play another one, okay?

Awesome. Okay. Hope you're riding the other way home Hope you're riding the other way home Cause you ain't right next to me no more Cause I hope you're riding the other way home Can't figure it out out don't bother me can't figure it out don't bother me

it's pretty damn obvious can't you see? If you can't figure it out, don't bother me Maybe full of glory, but that's not me Maybe full of glory, but that's not me You may be full of glory But that's not me You're all about the money And don't lie please

You may be full of glory But that's not me And this is the title track. Yes. Other Way Home. Okay, so when did you write this one? This one was an old one too. It was maybe 13 years ago. This is because of your hiatus, okay?

So you were too focused on everything else and you forgot to write music okay so give me an idea so there's 10 songs and the three we've talked about are like older songs but are like what's the most recent song the most recent song was uh the other side and ain't too late and uh no reason those were like the three i would say newer songs on the album and like honestly they're all kind of yeah throughout the past 15 years they've all been written but those are the those were the three most recent ones so when you're writing these songs like 15 13 years ago when you're like a teenager basically like like is it you're writing this music do you perform it anyway where is it just like where would you perform these these three

songs yeah a lot of it was like school performances in high school elementary school and what high school I went to Cardinal Carter not the Toronto one but the one in Aurora um yeah Cardinal Carter um and yeah and then also too I performed in university a fair amount like I was in arts college at York University at winter's college and amazing fostering of creativity. So I was really lucky to be performing and be performing also too, with like music majors, uh,

from school too. So it was a lot of fun. So York university, I feel like Jane's party went there. I'm just, I had the guys from Jane's party over here and I feel like they were York people too, but, and they're talented mofo. So, the guys from Jane's Party over here. And I feel like they were York people too.

But, and they're talented mofos. So, so, so Jane's Party, they write music and their hope is that it gets on Indie 88 and CFNY 102.1, The Edge. So for you though, like, like they're not playing Americana stuff like so is it simply like you're hoping that maybe like CBC music will play it and maybe satellite radio and then uh you know people will come out and see you perform live like what what is the goal for Meredith Wazowski yeah that's essentially the goal just put it out there my my whole goal the initial thing was just to put this music together and consolidate it and package it. And then, yeah, the secondary goal is to definitely let people hear it as well, too. But honestly, if no one heard it, I would still be really happy with the fact that I just put it together. Well, they can't take that away from you.

Like, you will be a wrinkly old lady in her 90s, okay? And your great-grandchildren will be like coming to visit you and you'll be like listen to this this is the other side and it will sound big leagues like i said and that'll be there forever like this is to me it's like a no-brainer investment to be quite honest with you like i'm about what 15 000 whatever you're not going to become the next taylor swift what are you thinking here? I think completely, no. I think for a passion like you have

and a gift that you have to pack, like you said, the 10 of your greatest hits, if you will, well-produced with big league musicians and sounding amazing in the headphones, that's freaking priceless. Well, thank you. And I mean, I would love if CBC was to play it. That would be an amazing

what's the point of cbc music if they don't play your music like that's always been the dream for sure and um so they've no no meredith lasowski songs have been played by cbc music yet not yet not yet but maybe one day um i'm gonna be making some calls okay but no i'm just i'm really grateful and i've been lucky with the traction it's been getting so far. And, but yeah, the goal is to have people come out and listen to me play live. That would be amazing. So I'm continuing to book and hopefully going to continue to play. Are there any like dates and locations you want to, like, again,

this will drop tomorrow morning on the feed. So it's not going to get too dusty. In fact, normally, normally, almost every episode drops like 10 minutes after we say goodbye but because i literally just had this guy named lou pamonti uh he's he's a musician producer guy who was over here this afternoon because we had delayed this a couple of times i'm doing like a double hitter so i'm gonna probably drop this tomorrow afternoon just so the lou episode doesn't get like like trounced by by

the way you a blue rodeo fan oh i love blue rodeo i it's like a bit of a more of a promotion than a humble brag but i am making a trip later this week to the blue rodeo studios amazing to set up my studio in the blue rodeo studios because jim cuddy is going to make his toronto mic debut that's amazing do you realize meredith in the same week, Meredith Lazowski and Jim Cuddy. Oh, my gosh. That's incredible. You're opening for Jim Cuddy right now. Oh, my goodness.

All the same week. So that's amazing for you. You mentioned one of your most recent jams is The Other Side. Yes. May I play some of that one before we hear some live? Let's do it. People got nothing left to say

I just walked the other way Went to a bar right downtown Waited for you and we stayed a while Give me a holler, give me a sign I was waiting on the other side Went for money, went for the fame You held back not to make a mistake If you ain't got no tip for me Just go talk to Johnny at the sea

Give me a holler, give me a sign you know it actually sounds like older meredith wrote this it sounds like a little more like itier, you know what I mean? Meredith's like, she's a woman now. I really like this jam. This is good. The other ones were good too, but the other side. Totally digging it. I want to give you some things here

before I forget because once you pull out that guitar, I'm going to be so distracted. I'll never remember to come back to it. You need to eat. I know you got the good gig at the startup or whatever, but do you eat Italian food, Meredith? I love Italian food. Oh my God. I was so nervous. You were going to say, I hate Italian food. You love it. Okay, good. So you're going home today with the most delicious large meat lasagna from Palma Pasta. You're going to love it. Thank you.

In my freezer. So that box is empty, but when you leave, it'll be full, and it'll be very heavy, and you're going to love it. And thank you, Palma Pasta. Palma Pasta is going to feed everybody who comes to TMLXX on September 1st. They're amazing, and they're in Mississauga and Oakville, and go to palmapasta.com. The brewery's hosting.

They're amazing, but you've already got your beer. This sticker, the Toronto Mike sticker, that's courtesy of stickeru.com. That's where you get your Meredith Liszowski stickers. Oh, nice. And the Other Way Home stickers

and decals and temporary tattoos and stickeru.com. Sticker Y-O-U dot com. Great people. They're in Liberty Village. Great. But anywhere you have an internet connection, you.com Sticker you.com Great people they're in Liberty Village Great but anywhere you have an internet Connection you're good to go there

Ridley Funeral Home now I ran Out of the very popular Measuring tapes Like I was giving out Ridley Funeral So note to Brad Jones I ran out gave my last one to Lou Pamonte earlier today but This is pretty damn cool.

This is like a flashlight. And you never know when you need a flashlight. Oh, that's great. This is a great light, a handy light, courtesy of Ridley Funeral Home. They've been pillars of this community since 1921. Amazing. 1921. And of course, Brad Jones has a great podcast, Life's Undertaking.

Do you smoke weed? No, I don't. I don't. It's okay Life's Undertaking do you smoke weed? no I don't it's okay you don't have to smoke weed but for all those who enjoy consuming cannabis which is legal by the way of course you know that but go to canacabana.com because they help to fuel the real talk over here

over 100 locations across the country and they will not be undersold on cannabis or cannabis accessories. I think one of the Great Lakes has a can of Cabana Cozy there, because I've actually run out of the ashtrays as well. See, there's been a lot of gas coming by. So thank you, Canna Cabana, for your amazing support. Okay, I feel like now, maybe just before you pull out the guitar,

so did you name check everybody who helped you make Other Way Home? I believe so. The only people I guess I didn't fully mention is my sister, Bronwyn Lozowski, who's backup vocals, my dad, Brian Lozowski, and my mom, Catherine Lozowski,

who were all a part of it as well too. Okay, and they were on that jam you're going to sing now. Yes, yeah. December. Yeah, and my mom, Catherine Lizowski, who were all a part of it as well too. So. Okay. And they were on that jam. You're going to sing now. Yes. Yeah. December. Yeah. And my mom, she was really helpful and instrumental in the, um, like release of everything too. She helped me, uh, write out some promotional content and things like that. She's an incredible writer. She's your, uh, CMO, your chief marketing officer. Exactly. Exactly. It was a family. It was a family effort. I love it. Is everyone in your family that you just name checked, are they going to listen to your Toronto Mic to Parents? Of course.

Now I'm nervous. Whenever I know a dad is going to listen. Okay. Are you ready to play a jam for me? I would love to. Okay. You get yourself sorted and I'll just do play by play here while I drink my Great Lakes beer. So Meredith is going into her guitar case and she's opening her guitar case.

I need to ask Meredith if she needs another microphone or something. I think we're okay, actually. I have mics, but I think you're good to go. I've had artists. I had John Borah was down here recently playing, and it sounded great. He's an old punker from the Toronto scenes. He was wearing a shirt that's older than you are. Oh.

All right. She's tuning. I'm watching. She's tuning. What does that mean, that device? It's a little, yeah, it does it off vibration. So it tells you if you're in tune? Yeah.

See, I know nothing. Okay. And with humidity too. And what kind of guitar is that? A Gibson. And I'm actually borrowing this one. This is my partner's guitar. Your partner?

Yeah. Okay. My guitar was not available right now. There we go. So your partner's guitar, you've got it tuned. Yeah. Do you want to do like a little something just so I can make sure the levels and everything are good before I actually hear the song? Okay, so narrative's getting comfortable.

Okay. Can you hear me? Yeah, I'm wondering if I should set up another. So your voice is going to be on that mic, but I can set up another mic. If you can tell a story or entertain everybody, because I'm not'm not gonna edit this so do you have something you can share with the world just just say something that's going to be on the permanent record here while i go set up another mic real quick yeah i can definitely do that you it's called vamping go oh my goodness so many stories to tell um so i can tell a little story about Prairie, actually, which was the song that we first played.

And that one talked a lot about my time out west in Saskatchewan. And so a lot of my music is influenced by Saskatchewan, for sure. My grandmother was born there, one of 14 brothers and sisters on a homestead in northern Saskatchewan, about three hours north of Saskatoon. And yeah, that song was pretty much influenced off of all my summers spent out West and enjoying, uh, being a part of the prairies and the beauty of the prairies as well too. So, um, that was a big part of that. And also, yeah, if you're around, uh, on the 24th of August, I am playing a show at the Cameron house, uh, the early slot from six to eight. So I'd love to see you there.

Okay. So do the, uh, do that on the 24th of August and then on September 1st, uh, come to TMLXX. That'd be so fun. Okay.

So now let me hear like some guitar. So, so what I've done is that mic, we can move it. I don't want to get in your way or whatever, as long as it doesn't interfere with you. I won't rock too hard. Okay, go nuts.

Okay, so I will be quiet now. This is the merit of the show, but I'm looking forward to this. Okay. Okay. guitar solo Baby, why you running out to meet me? Running out to meet me Why were you only second best Where did all the time go from my memories Where's the best place to relax

Where's the best place to relax? Cause nothing lasts like this forever We all pretend to be free You remember last December So baby, be mine, please guitar solo We were just walking down the main street Just going hand in hand Pretend like we're walking through a cemetery So we can feel like time will never end Cause nothing lasts like this forever

We all pretend to be free You remember last December So baby, be mine, please. You remember last December. So baby, be mine, please. I wish I could applaud you with a hundred hands. Amazing. Loved it so much.

Thank you. I actually took out my phone and took a little video for social media, even though I am recording all of this, but you're very talented and you should be very proud. And you have an album now. Like now you have an album. Like what is the difference between you and Guns N' Roses? An album's an album, right? Like this is it you know it's like you know amazing amazing so what's next like um you can't quit your day job yet like but is that the is that the ideal like

i don't want to uh no pressure i know it's tough to do in this uh country but like like you just as long as you have that outlet and you can play live in front of people who enjoy your music you'll be satisfied yeah i think that's that's the game plan right now is um play love to play and play to love and um and yeah we'll see where it goes i'm kind of one of the in that frame of mind right now is you just never know what might happen so um i'm just gonna go with the flow right now and kind of continue doing my other work as well too. Cause I also really love doing that as well. So I think I'll always have a part of that in my life for sure. And I love solving problems in that space, but I just want to keep

playing music as well. And I think this is just what has, as the album says, it's my other way home and I made my way back. So I don't plan on departing from it anytime soon. Have you considered moving to Nashville? Oh, I love Nashville. I was actually lucky to play at the Bluebird there at one point in time, which is really amazing. Just that I got a chance to do the open mic there, which was a pretty, that was also a catalyst for getting back into playing music as well too, for sure. But yeah, I love Nashville. I would consider it for sure, But I have to say I love the Canadian music scene and I think we need to keep fostering the Canadian talent here too.

So I would love to stay here as much as I can. Do you think that, you know, as a country, we do enough though to support our artists like you? Like I just, you have a good full-time job, but sometimes people come in here with talents similar to yours who are like waiting tables or whatever. And now they're like, where do I move now? Because I can't afford rent waiting tables in this city.

Yeah, I think that there, I feel like there needs to be more done. I know there's a lot of efforts that are trying to be made for sure, but I think there's more that can be done. I think there's a lot of efforts that are trying to be made for sure, but I think there's more that can be done. I think it's a really interesting problem space to be looking at it. As a designer, it's something I've often thought about. I'm like, what can we do to solve for this a little bit more? Don't you just need more affordable housing in the city? Like, do we

want this to be? And I think about this a lot because I'm sitting here in my mansion, okay? And I'm thinking, I say that, but it's like, it feels like the price to buy this today, like I could never afford this house today. But like, do we want Toronto to be the city of the wealthy? I sure don't. Yeah, I agree. Rich people suck.

I also too, it's just like, yeah, we're losing a lot of incredible talent because people can't afford to live in the city. And I think, you know, what keeps this community in the arts community and what keeps the city alive is definitely fostering the creative talent here. So yeah, I think having more affordable living will be a huge help for that for sure. So if you don't go to Nashville, you might end up on Wolf Island. Are you aware of the scene at Wolf Island?

No. Okay. So do you know the Bourbon Tabernacle Choir? So there's a guy named Chris Brown. Yeah. And he is in a band with Kate Fenner. And Chris bought a hotel on Wolf Island, which, you know, like what's Wolf Island? It's King, there's Kingston, Ontario.

And then there's this Wolf Island. And it's sort of become like an artist. I'm thinking of my FOTM, Stephen Stanley now. So Stephen Stanley is a founding member of lowest of the low, no longer with the band, but very friendly now with Ron Hawkins and the band again, which is very lovely to see. But anyway, all these artists are kind of, they're doing their thing on Wolf Island.

And I feel like, okay, there's like an artist's commune developing that maybe that's a, I'm just thinking out loud here, but I just know that this city we're in right now. And what part of the city do you live in? I live right downtown. I'm like Bathurst and Queens key area. Oh, I got a tour.

There's a homeless shelter there. I got a tour of it. The old Rogers building. But, uh, uh, and shout out to FOTM Liz Brio who works there, but, uh, and a friend of Stu Stone, Liz Brio, everybody knows what that means. So, uh, that's a cool neck of the woods. I bike by it every day, uh, Bathurst and Queens Quay. Uh, and, uh, and that's a cool neck of the woods, but it's not cheap to live there and we're pushing all our artists out and I think it's important that artists are an important part of a city, a vibrant city

so just like I want the cops to stop harassing the cyclists in Hyde Park I want you musicians to stay here don't leave us so you have to stick around and then to do that I don't know what we have to do but thankfully you have a great job right now that's helping you to pay the uh the rent so meredith i gotta say like i wish

you nothing but like uh success in the future and i hope it all works out for you and i'm glad you hooked up with fotm justin rutledge and what i've heard from your uh you know the 10 songs on the album and that's the other thing right now is a good time to tell people how they can uh get your album do that right now oh yeah so you can listen on spotify or anywhere that you stream music um and you can check out my website too i'm hopefully going to be posting uh some ways for you to purchase some merch um and you can go from there purchase the merch when it's there because I know what you're going to get paid by Spotify, and it won't be enough to buy, you know,

a can of Great Lakes beer there. So you got to get that merch stuff launched. And Mariv, thanks for coming by. This was honestly a fun chat for me, and I love it. I absolutely love it when a talented musician plays live in the TMDS studio here. Unbelievable.

Thank you so much for having me. This is so much fun. And we got to take a photo by the tree before you drive off. And make sure I get you that lasagna from Palma Pasta. I'm excited. That's going to be my dinner. Well, it might be frozen. It will be tomorrow's dinner. It'll be tomorrow's. I was going to say. Yeah, I leave it in the fridge. What I've learned to dinner. It will be tomorrow's. I was going to say. Yeah.

I leave it in the fridge. What I've learned to do is leave it in the fridge for like 24 hours and then put like 45 minutes at like 350 degree Fahrenheit in the oven. And that thing is delicious. Let me know how it goes. Okay. I've got it down to a fine art. I'm looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to it tomorrow.

I'm looking forward to it tomorrow. And that brings us to the end of our 1095th show. Is that the right number, Meredith? I'm going to check on. Yes. I think so. That's around. That's pretty good.

Okay. 1095. Glad we could finally make this happen. Me too. You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike. Meredith, tell us all the places we can follow you. You can follow me on Instagram at meredotlazowski and Twitter at meredotlazowski as well too

and at Facebook at meredotlazowski music and looking forward to hearing from you. Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer. Palma Pasta is at Palma Pasta. Sticker U is at Sticker U. Electronic Products Recycling Association are at EPRA underscore Canada. Ridley Funeral Home are at Ridley FH.

And Canna Cabana are at Canna Cabana underscore. See you all. or at canacabana underscore. See you all. Tomorrow, when my special guest is Simon Rakoff, that's going to be great. And then the day after tomorrow, it's Jim Cuddy.

See you then. won't go away cause everything is rosy and gray well I've been told that there's a sucker born every day but I wonder who yeah I wonder who maybe the one who doesn't

realize there's a thousand shades of grey Cause I know that's true Yes I do I know it's true Yeah I know it's true How about you?

Are they picking up trash And then putting down ropes? And they're brokering stocks The class struggle explodes And I'll 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 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 France and I've kissed you in Spain And I've kissed you in places I better not name

And I've seen the sun go down on Sacré-Cœur But I like it much better going down on you yeah you know that's true because everything is coming up rosy and green yeah the wind is cold but the smell of snow warms us today and your smile is fine it's just like mine It won't go away Cause everything is rosy now Everything is rosy Yeah, everything is rosy and gray

Yeah, yeah you