Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Meredith Shaw: Toronto Mike'd #292

Episode Date: December 14, 2017

Mike chats with Meredith Shaw about her career in music, on radio on CHUM FM and modelling. Then, Christmas songs are played with passion!

Welcome to episode 292 of Toronto Mic'd, a weekly podcast about anything and everything. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, a fiercely independent brewery celebrating 30 years in the craft beer business. Visit GLB at 30 Queen Elizabeth Boulevard for $5 beers. And propertyinthesix.com, Toronto real estate done right. And PayTM, an app designed to manage all of your bills in one spot. Download the app today from paytm.ca.

I'm Mike from torontomike.com and joining me is a woman of many talents I don't even know how to bill you there's so many different things I'm curious you're at Chum FM you're all over the place

but it is Meredith Shaw welcome hey thanks the moment I booked you to come on the show, I thought of... You regretted it? I regretted it. Oh, did I say that out loud?

You're much younger than me. I can tell by looking at you. So you won't know what show this is. Oh, I'm supposed to clue into this. Oh. Is it at all familiar to you? This is super familiar to me. Yeah, I think my youth is showing slightly, but it's very familiar to you? This is super familiar to me. Yeah, I think my youth is showing slightly, but it's very familiar to me.

This is Family Ties. Oh, yeah, totally. Oh my gosh, I had like a super crush. Yeah, yeah, I know this. Do you know why I'm playing it? See, this is all this podcast is going to be. I'm going to give you silly fun fact questions. It's like a test.

No, why? Because. Are we related? Yes. I'm your father. It's like a test. No. Why? Because. Are we related? Yes. I'm your father. This is how I'm telling you. No spoilers. Don't do that.

Today's the Star Wars comes out today, right? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Are you going to see it? OK, so my radio answer is like, oh, yeah. Oh, no. Screw the radio. I don't.

The whole point of this is no radio answers. No, I'm not. That's not my jam. That's not my thing. I'm not. It's, that's not my jam. That's not my thing. There's no shame in that. That's not my thing. It's a, it's a Disney thing to sell like product.

It's okay to not like the Star Wars. One thing that I would want to say about this one is just because it's Carrie Fisher's, you know, her last screen appearance. And I do think that she is a bad-ass woman. Um, and so for that reason, that reason alone,

plus I was, I was talking to laney uh earlier who does it from etalk the gossip girl gossip girl i've seen her on the social yes and she does our etalk hits for for chem fm and and she was talking about it this morning and she was she makes a very convincing case so so you never know you're gonna see it yeah okay you won't be alone um so that has nothing to do with why i played that theme song but But where are we? Oh, yeah. So family ties. You're Meredith Shaw. I'm sure you were named after Meredith Baxter Burney.

Okay. Am I right? You know, I will talk to my parents about that. I don't think so. But I was very happy to see her in the credits because I was like, oh, maybe I could become famous because there's also a Meredith that is famous. And for a period of time in the mid 80s, people thought my mom looked like Meredith Baxter Burney. That's a true story.

It's the only celebrity I think she was ever. But yeah, there was a time where people would say, hey, you know, you look like a Meredith Baxter Burney. She was a big deal for a period of time. Yes. And that would make me Michael J. Fox if you're doing the math there. That was my crush. So this is going to get awkward.

Well, maybe I'll have to pause the recording. I don't know. But thank you for coming. And you're born and raised in Toronto. I am. I know. I'm one of those weird people, born and raised. Because a lot of guests are here, but they were like, we had Andy Frost.

He's from... Andy's from Winnipeg. Hey, Winnipeg. But you're from Toronto. So what area in Toronto are you from? I grew up in Rosedale. That's like where rich people go, right? I know. So my parents are Albertans. They are my whole family from Alberta.

But they are lawyers and came to Toronto. And yeah, so I went to Branson Hall and did all that stuff. So thank you, Mom and Dad. What's your favorite? Okay, what's your favorite, not to play, but to go to see a band? What is your favorite concert venue in Toronto? Oh, Massey Hall. Yeah, I love Massey Hall. I mean, I think,

I think those are the shows that you look back on, you know, and you're like, oh yeah, I saw that at Massey Hall. And I think, um, you know, artists also have that reference for it. So I feel like they often do shows there that are extra special. I was like, literally, I was just there, like within the last week I was at Massey Hall. Who did you do? Barenaked Ladies. I was going to say, I was like, I bet you were at B&L. I did, I saw Barenaked Ladies. You were not at iHeartRadio Jingle Ball. No, I wasn't.

It was the same night or I would have been at B&L. I love them. But I was thinking because, you know, now they're handing out those pamphlets when you leave

to explain the revitalization project, right? I know. Because it's shutting down for like three years or something. I know.

But what a great venue and I actually think that is probably my favorite music venue in the city as well. Good start. But that's probably a lot of people. And what's your favorite? First of all, do you enjoy coffee?

Oh, must. But you know what? I am a late coffee bloomer. I never liked the taste of coffee, like at all, at all. No coffee cake, no coffee crisp as a kid. But then I did Mornings with Stu Jeffries at Boom for 97.3 for a little bit i know stew jeff and i needed coffee michael not for stew but doesn't he go solo like oh yeah he's solo yeah he didn't like me no i'm kidding you were just looking over because yeah i've seen him was a boom or easy rock i think it was boom i saw him

and he looks like a one-man band in. Like he's kind of doing everything. He is incredible. He's, you know, just the sweetest, nicest, hardest working, most empathetic. He speaks from his heart. I learned so much from him at Boom. And it was, yeah, it was a total pleasure to hang out with him in the morning for a couple months. He, I mean, we'll get to Boom again later. But he cried a couple of times on this show here. Like I think he's one of those emotional people. Oh, when did you ask him?

No, I think he just had this. About family ties? He almost gave up like about a decade ago. Yes, yeah, yeah, it's true. And then he talked about, not only does he, you know, get back in the game, but he's doing very well at Boom. And the station's doing well.

And I think this fills him with this, you know, it's a happy cry. Oh, yeah. I didn't hurt him or anything. Okay, good. He's a happy cry. Oh, yeah. No, he deserves that. I didn't hurt him or anything. Okay, good. He's a nice guy. He's very strong, though.

I mean, you seem strong, too, but I don't think you could hurt him. I'm not that strong. I think he'd kick my ass, I think. He's in the gym like every day after Boom. I could be, my ass could be kicked by the Good Rockin' Tonight guy. And that would be fine. I'd get a tattoo to commemorate it. I think that's pretty cool.

Okay, so I asked about coffee. Do you have a favorite coffee shop in Toronto that is not a chain? Oh yeah, for sure. What is it? Well, the hood I'm in is the east side in Leslieville, so it's like coffee shop land. I love Tearo very close to me. I love

Mercury. I also love, oh, I love Boxcar Social. Started by one of my friends who I was in a band with and now he runs these wicked coffee shops all over the city. So yeah. And his name is Willie, Boxcar Willie. No, his name is Chris. Chris. Okay, cool. Yeah. You were in a band? Yeah. Well, actually, yeah, for like three seconds. We're gonna, we have, like I said, you're like a Chum FM personality, but there's so many dimensions to you. Like I can't wait to dive in, but I have a couple more questions about Toronto real quick. Okay. And I've never done this before, but there's so many dimensions to you. Like, I can't wait to dive in, but I have a couple more questions about Toronto real quick. And I've never done this before, but this is the

first episode in 292 because you're born and raised here. I got to ask you, I'm naturally curious about things like favorite burger joint that's not a chain. Like, is there any place you'll go for it? First of all, do you enjoy hamburgers? I enjoy hamburgers. It's funny. It's not my go-to. Like, I have a lot of vices when it comes to food and stuff but burger i'm never like oh i need a burger but sometimes when i do feel that way like i need it i hear you okay but what is your like what's your go-to like if you're is it pizza like is that something a french fry or like many of them all of them actually okay where would you, if you're going somewhere for French fries in Toronto. Yeah.

You're right. I mean, can I go to Kingston? You can't go to a chain. Yeah. Okay. Go to Kingston. I just, I went to Queens. So I will always love the Bubba's poutine. Like at the 2 a.m. Bubba's poutine.

Because here's the thing, what they do, Mike. Yeah. Tell me. They put the fry on the bottom and then they put the gravy and then they put the cheese and then they do it again and then they do it again. Okay. If you go to a poutine place and they're just putting the fry and then all the stuff on top, walk out. Do not buy that poutine. It's not going to be good. Do not pass go. But isn't that a heart attack waiting to happen? I guess when you're young and in university, you can get away with that. I feel like my arteries would clog if I ate

something like that. Don't remind me. Don't ask me for my advice and then judge me for it. You're still young remember i'm okay you've lots of time to worry about that thanks all right so i was gonna ask you about um are you a sports fan at all like if you had to pick one toronto sports team that you enjoy watching and following which well i do see my toronto baby leafs staring at me right now um so yeah i would definitely say the leafs i I have been going to Leaf games since I was a little nugget. So I'm a Leaf fan. So you, I don't know your age.

I don't know if you're allowed to ask, but do you have memories of Maple Leaf Gardens? I do, yeah. Did you go to games at the gardens? I don't know. You're like slowly honing in on it. It's like, did you? It's like, what?

Maple Leaf Gardens? I just thought that was always a grocery store. Right. Like, I don't know. Like I know. No, yeah, yeah. No, I definitely what? Maple Leaf Garden? I just thought that was always a grocery store. Right. Like, I don't know. Like, I know. No, yeah, yeah. No, I definitely went to Maple Leaf Garden games. I mean, I was just a little baby.

And because you were raised in Rosedale by lawyers, you did not have to sit in the grays like I did. I had all my seats were in the grays at Maple Leaf Gardens. Well, grays are where the fun happens, right? It's where the things happen up there. Things happen up there. You don't know.

Everyone's not on their best behavior. So I'm all about the grays. Did you ever watch a show called Today's Special? Yes. Okay.

My nickname is Muffy aka Muffy Mouse aka I love Jeff. That's where I'm going with this. I've done my homework. Oh. This is it.

Okay. So two things. One is your company is Muffy Made. So as soon as I, and this is like 10 years ago, I guess you founded this company called Muffy Made. Does it still exist? It does still exist. Is it thriving? Yeah, it's thriving. Well, no, I don't know. I mean, I'm a, I'm a creative, uh, being, I suppose. And I, um, draw stick people. And supposedly that is, um, you know, maybe something you can start a company about. I, I, I, I grew up in a, in a very much like, if you want to do it, just give it a shot. And, and so I always made cards. I never bought cards, always made cards for people. And they all started kind of looking like something. And then my girlfriends were just like, you should make

this a thing. And then I did. And then it got onto the Marilyn Dennis show. It got into the One of a Kind show. It just kind of took off from there. So yeah, I still draw custom cards if you want them. I'll draw one for you. Awesome. I mean, so all I knew, though, is that it was called Muffy Made. So when I see the word Muffy in this context. Oh boy, you think of?

I only think of one thing, which is Muffy from Today Special. Today Special. And it just so happens tomorrow, episode, what are you, 292? Are you going to get a tattoo on your body that says 292? Already did it. It's a good thing I didn't slip in another. You would have been 293. You would have been a big trouble.

But tomorrow, I'm recording with Retro Ontario. Pretend like you know who that is. It's better for the theater here. 293. But what we're going to discuss is Christmas stuff local to Toronto

and Ontario. And we're going to deep dive into the Christmas, the Today's Special Christmas special. And I want to tease it by playing a little bit. Are you ready? Yeah. Well, it looks like everything's all packed and ready to go. I'll be on my way soon.

Oh, I wonder how my two little elves are doing. Every Christmas Eve, I let them go and see whoever they want. I hope they're not getting into any mischief. And I hope they're having a very merry Christmas ho ho ho today's special it's forever new one

today's special you can sing along if you want I'm like holding back right now do it I'm gonna do Jeffrey's cry

this is so emotional with magic everywhere a world for us to share and friendly faces hoping that Try more, please. Today's special. I'll give this a part. Shout it loud and clear. Oh. Today's special. Oh, give us a part. Shout it loud and clear. Aw.

Today's special. Today's special is Christmas, part two. Oh, that's what this mouse likes to see, presents right beside the tree. Oh, I can hardly wait till tomorrow. Yeah, neither can I. Hey, let's open it. Isn't that amazing? I just giggled at the same time as Muffy.

So I actually didn't know the Muffy maid was because of today's special but I assumed it was. It could be anything really. But it is today's special. So I'm quite happy. I'm pleased with myself. That's so cool. I think that's such a great tie-in. I've always been called Muffy.

Meredith is a pretty serious name for a two-year-old. So I think my parents are just like, let's call her Muffy. And mean, Meredith is a pretty like serious name for a two-year-old. So I think my parents are just like, you know, let's call her Muffy and then, yeah. And between Meredith Baxter, Bernie and Meredith Gray from Grey's Anatomy, there was a great void

of Meredith. And Meredith Vieira. Oh my goodness, that's right. Right. Forgot about her. You know, a little topical.

Is there any more? That's it, I think. I don't know, I think that's it. But actually, I think it originated as a last name and then a guy's name

and then a woman's name. Yeah, Dawn Meredith. Yeah, there's a famous Meredith. Interesting. Kind of like Jarvis because I have a son named Jarvis and it's a last name. And Jarvis Cocker from Pulp made me think of it as a first name. Cool. Yeah.

That's cool. So, yes. Okay. Muffy made and that's today's special. And Muffy was the character that resonated with you. That was the cute mouse. Everything she said was a rhyme. That's true. Do you ever talk

in rhymes? Just like in song lyrics maybe but not really in rhymes. Would you mind doing the rest of this interview in rhyme? If you don't mind. Everyone tunes out. I want to thank somebody here. Miriam

Dijon. She has become one of the crowd funders. Now, I don't know if you follow this but I want to thank somebody here. Miriam DeJong. She has become one of the crowd funders. Now, I don't know if you follow this, but Patreon had a little controversy. So Patreon is like, I have patrons. They go to Toronto. No, what is the address they go to? They go to patreon.com slash Toronto Mike and they help crowd fund this enterprise.

So we get these kick-ass microphones. You wish you had these at Chubb FM, don't you? They're amazing. They really are fantastic. No, thank you. Yeah. I owe you five bucks. That was great.

No, they are. But Patreon introduced like a fee they were going to add on to like, so if somebody was pledging a dollar a month, let's say, like big spender there. They're not from Rosedale, the dollar a month people. They would add on like a surcharge on top of the dollar that would go to Patreon.

So it would be like that dollar would be more than a dollar and it was really controversial and then Patreon yesterday reversed this decision because of the backlash. So Patreon is not changing anything but this experience

turned Myriam DeJong off so completely. She decided to cut out Patreon and get the money straight to me so she was so unhappy with Patreon's decision there even though they reversed it so thank you Miriam for reaching out and finding an alternative way to

help crowdfund this thank you do you drink beer? there's a six pack in front of you i know and i just the last few guests have been benefiting from the the bottles those bottles hold more beer than the cans i was gonna say they're very you got large bottles thank you that's what that's what you're a large bottle now but because this is sort of also a bit of a holiday um special i have something for you.

Oh, my gosh. Really? Yeah, I did. Because I know beer is a thing. So I thought we need a vessel, even though the bottles are nice. Meredith is reaching into a bag. And she's, oh, wow. Do you see these?

These are, I will describe them. These are disco ball cups, basically. Disco ball tumblers. So you can drink out of a disco ball. I swear. By the way, once my 13-year-old daughter discovers these, I'll never see it again. She will just drink everything out of that.

Right? These are amazing. Aren't they kind of amazing? I'm pretty obsessed. So there we go. Cheers to you. No, thank you very much. I will pour my Great Lakes beer into this vessel.

When you said vessel, I thought, remember when Phil Kessel was here playing for the Leafs? Every time he'd score, I would tweet something like, All aboard the Kessel vessel. That was my thing. And now you can take a sip. And now I can take a sip from this vessel and remember Phil Kessel. Disco ball vessel Kessel, yeah. According to Steve Simmons, Phil Kessel enjoyed his hot dogs.

I wonder if he would come on the show and tell me his favorite hot dog places in Toronto. Maybe. Okay, so the bottles, the cans, that's going home with you. Thank you for the gift. And it's funny that you gave me a vessel in which I could drink my Great Lakes beer

because I'm going to give you one now. I'm not going to give it. I'm going to hand it to you, but it's from Brian Gerstein, who is from propertyinthesix.com. Do you see the pint glass right there? I do. That is also yours.

Oh, my gosh. See the gift giving that's happening here? This is crazy. And not just gift giving, like drink gift giving. This is like the gift of the drinking. No, let's get drunk. Let's get drunk.

I love that. What's the holidays? So that's from Brian Gerstein. Very cool. Thank you, Brian. And he's got a message for you so you can hear directly from him. You lucky girl.

Let us hear from Brian. Propertyinthe6.com Hi, Meredith. Brian Gerstein here. Sales representative with PSR Brokerage and proud sponsor of Toronto Mike. If you or any of Mike's listeners have any real estate questions about the market, feel free to give me a call at 416-873-0292. where LePage just announced they expect to see 2018 prices in the GTA go up by 6.8%, though this depends on what neighborhood you are in. Meredith, I hope you enjoy your Great Lakes beer in my pint glass,

and I'm wondering if you could only be one out of a DJ, singer, or model, which one would you do? Brian brings the heat. He doesn't mess around i noticed wow that's like that's the question right and we haven't even like we're gonna dive into all three of these realms but if you right now right now just tell me if you had to choose pretend no one's listening from chum or anything i know that's what you're thinking right now that's what you're thinking like chum's gonna hear me pick another one and then they won't like to hear that you know what what say you meredith shaw i mean i don't want to i don't want to avoid the question

but i really think the coolest part of kind of what i do is that i get to do all of them like i think they all do different things for me and i feel like i bring different things to each of them because of the others like i feel i feel like I'm a stronger radio personality because I used to sing or I do sing. So I know how to, I know what artists are up to when they're writing a song or, um, I don't know.

And when I host things, I feel like cause I modeled, I know how to, how to walk cute or walk or not fall down or I don't know what, I just, I feel like they all benefit each other. So I really, I don't,

I know people think I have to choose, but sort of, I haven't had to so far. And so I'm not going to today pat would you consider covering the today's special theme song like as a cover um maybe a charity single yeah there's a lot of nostalgic people of a certain age that would eat it up like candy right well you know if you think that's the case i will i will figure that out it's time for another rock and roll set here this is pink floyd you don't play money on chum fm you

know i've never heard it there not lately maybe the back of the day brunch, though. I bet you you don't even do that. You'll have to check the logs. I'll have to check. I'll have to check. I can see the people right now, their picket signs. More Floyd on Chum FM. Alright. I play this because of PayTM. PayTM is an app designed to manage all of your bills

in one spot. You don't have to visit each separate website to make a payment. All of your bills are on the Paytm app. Everybody, this is what you're going to do for Christmas, okay? This is going to get you $10 off your first bill payment with Paytm. Use the promo code Toronto Mike, all one word. When you do that transaction, there's going to be like a button, like you have a promo code. You click that thing, you stick in Toronto Mike

and Paytm gives you $10. So go to paytm.ca, download the app, use my promo code and you can thank me later. Where to begin with Meredith Shaw? I'm going to start by playing this jam right here's gonna be a lot of jams today i'm just in that kind of a mood but hey yeah not okay yeah this by the way this is a great jam and it is such a good jam. It is such a good jam.

Not the best version of it, though. I'm listening in my headphones. But anyway, you, if I'm correct, you tell me, you got your big break when Jordy... Yeah, when Jordy. Jordy gave me a call. When Jordy, when Gordy Johnson of the band Big Sugar heard you and he became like a mentor of sorts. Can you tell me how this all goes down? Give me the straight, real talk.

Yeah. I mean, I'd always been writing and singing songs since I was about 14. I was super inspired by like Sarah McLachlan and Sheryl Crow and Jewel. And then, I mean, various things, I guess, led me to Gordie Johnson. I had some interest from some labels before when I was a teenager.

So I had a couple of development deals. So I was in the business, quote unquote. But it really was when Gordie heard me that things started to really move in a direction that felt very authentic for me. I did not think that Gordie Johnson was going to be like my fairy godmother when it came to music. But he was. He, I once saw him do the Canadian anthem. He's got the double neck guitar and he does that. He's doing the Jimi Hendrix thing for the O Canada.

Yeah. And he flips it up at the end. There's that cool flag on the back. And Mr. Chill does the American one often on the harmonica. So, yeah, I mean, Big Sugar has a very special place in my heart. I, you know, I didn't grow up with Big Sugar, so I had to learn their folklore and to really get to know the pedigree of the band.

Because there have been lots of members, there's lots of history with that band in Canada. And so it was very cool to get to know them and to kind of be the chick in that band for a while. Why? So is it like you would sing back up on a jam like this? Put the, yeah,

I mean, How It All Came Together. Turn the lights on? Yeah, turn the lights on. Yeah, like he, Gordy did my record in Austin

at Willie Nelson's studio, which was super rad. Did you meet Willie Nelson? I never met, I smelled him. I smelled him, but I benefited from some of those smells,

but I never, I never met, I never met Willie. He wasn't there. I know, but I met a lot of his family and it's on his golf course. It's Willieville up there

and it was very, very fun. So I made my record there with Gordy and then unbeknownst to me as we were making that record, he was thinking about putting Big Sugar back together because he'd been doing Grady and I wasn't, again, not really involved in that. And so after he asked, do you have any more songs after we finished my record? And I played him a few different things. And I didn't, you know, I wasn't, again, not really involved in that. And so after he asked, do you have any more songs? Like after we finished my record and I played him a few different things.

And so lo and behold, three of the songs that I was playing for him became singles on RPM. So, um, yeah, I had come a little closer, a little bit. All right. Um, and then we did another one together. So we played Canadian music week, their big showcase when they kind of came back. And then he said, why don't you come on the road with us? So I just started at Boom 97.3 and then I went on the road with Big Sugar. It was an interesting time, but it was hella fun. It all sounds fun. Like even the whole idea, like you're going to go record an album in Spicewood, Texas. This is the Willieville. Willieville. Yeah. He doesn't really call it Willieville, right? No.

Because that's too cool. I think that's a Gordyism. That's a Gordyism. Yeah. I can tell you what he calls it. You ready? It's called,

it's nothing nearly as good as Willieville. It's called Peter Nails or like with a D, Peter Nails or Petter Nails. Oh, I see what you're

trying to say. How am I trying to say that? What's that called? It's Petter Nallis. Holy shit. I was like, what are you saying? I did a terrible job

saying that word. Peter Nails. Peter Nails. I'm like, what are you saying? I did a terrible job saying that word. Peter Nails. Peter Nails. I'm like, what? Yeah, Peternalis. That's his,

that's the studio. I feel shame. No, don't feel shame. Well, he's going to come on the show one day and I'm going to feel bad that I called it Peter Nails.

Peternalis. Okay. Yeah. And you smelled him, you didn't meet him, but okay. No, amazing.

Now I'm going to play another, I'm going to play a Meredith Shaw jam. I got a few lined up here. All right. Let me play. What you got? What do I got here? What you got?

Tell me if you approve here. Hold on. Oh. This is like a deep track. Album track. Oh, that's what I do. I dig the crates. Oh, yeah.

It matches. Okay. You are Meredith Shaw. I dig in the crates. Oh, yeah. It matches. Okay, you are Meredith Shaw. I am Meredith Shaw. Confirm that. Wow. I haven't heard this in a while. So how long ago was this? So is this off the, what is it called?

Place Called Happy? This is off Place Called Happy. Yeah, this is the one that I did in Austin. Yeah. I prefer to call it Spicewood. Okay. All right it Spicewood. All right. Spicewood.

Let me just drink it in a bit. Hold on. Okay. It's so funny. I have not listened to this. For so long. You sound good. Thank you. This is you. This is me. Wow. Yeah. I mean, a few records ago, but this is me. Yeah. So what calendar year are we talking about when we talk about Place Called Happy? What's Place. Is it like 2010 or something? 2010. 2010. Yeah.

Yeah. I got another jam from this album. Okay. And it gives me an excuse to talk about Degrassi. I need any excuse I can find to talk about Degrassi. You know where this is going. I do. This one got a lot of love from Degrassi. Yeah.

This is my very reflective tune. People come, people go. Yeah, this is my very reflective tune. learn people be but I lucked out with family and my friends that I keep are the ones that make my feet stay on the ground when I get high on life or love or sunny sky and I will go down to the water to find more of life than I see Girls who believe. So what is it like listening to your own songs? Like I'm trying to think of like something that's like. It's funny. I mean, is it at all like make you feel like awkward or, you know, I think it used to, but then when you do, you know, radio promo tours and you like, you just, it just starts to be that's,

that's me. That's what I do. You know, it starts to get a little less awkward. Although you asking me if it's awkward, made it slightly awkward. I just made it awkward. I do that sometimes. Just a little bit. I got a little bit of an M. Griner vibe. Like a little bit. Oh, that's lovely. I love M. Griner. But it sounds good.

Yeah, so that's the Gordy record. And then I did one with Joel Plaskett. Well, you know, Joel Plaskett and M. Griner were in the same movie. Do you know where this is going? This is crazy. And Gordiner were in the same movie. Yes, that's right. Do you know where this is going? This is crazy. And Gord Downie was in that movie. Yes. Oh, gosh.

He was. Yes, he was. All right. Well, now that I've made things awkward and now I've bummed us out, I think, because we're thinking of Gord. Exactly. Yikes. That's one thing about you working with Gordie Johnson. And it makes me realize that all the great Gords, and there's some great Gords in this world, but they're all Canadian. Yeah, it's so true. working with Gordie Johnson And it makes me realize that all the great Gords

And there's some great Gords in this world But they're all Canadian Yeah, it's so true Yeah, Gordie Howe Yeah, Gordon Lightfoot Who's going to close Massey Hall Before they shut it down for a few years And Gordon, the Barenaked Ladies album

Which it all comes from And we have more, a teaser here We're going to kick out some Christmas jams later And there's some bnl on that playlist so it's so tell me though about why is this song uh an excuse for me to chat about degrassi the next generation tell me that story well i mean it was one of you know as a as an artist you get these things called syncs that are um when a television show or a movie picks your song to play in in a scene or whatever,

and Degrassi picked this song. And so there was a nice sort of inspirational slash angsty moment. And Girls Who Believe was chosen to do that. And I got a lot of love for that from a lot of Degrassi fans. And then I realized that they were a lot younger than sort of the Dakota you know the Dakota crowd or the Cameron house or whatever and so then I am started playing schools and I started having conversations with girls about what they wanted to do what they believed in and and that started this thing called girls who believe fest which we did a great haul for three

years and we had some amazing amazing artists play it and we always brought a new artist a younger you know sort of 12 years old type of age girl to come and open for us. And it just, it was a very big undertaking, but thanks to Slate Music, it was possible, and we had a really good time for the years that it was on, yeah. Like, for example, the 2013 Fest included Meredith Shaw, I don't know who she is, but she sounds like she's good. Molly Thomas and Ladies of the Canyon. Yeah. And you had some female media personalities there. But is that just you?

Is that like you double bill yourself? Like I am performing and I'm a media personality. No, I mean, I definitely try to under bill myself. I'm definitely not trying to create things just to bill myself. But no, I mean, that's again, I could sort of pull on my media. Well, can you drop a name or two? Like, did the great one,

Marilyn Dennis make an appearance or was she asking too much? Marilyn Dennis did not make an appearance in Girls Believe Fest, although she did participate. I had a whole bunch of women sort of tell me either what they believed in or someone that believed in them

in a moment when they needed it because we had this big believe wall and Marilyn very generously contributed to that. So no, we had Lindsay De believe wall and Marilyn very generously contributed to that. So no, we had, um, uh,

Lindsay DeLuce and, uh, from now from your morning. And then, um, uh, gosh, I'm, I'm blanking,

but, uh, Kella from Virgin radio and, and Emma Hunter, who's now on the Beaverton. So we had, uh, cause Emma actually went to Branks with me and went to Queens as well.

So we go, we go way back and Lindsay did too. Oh, wow. Well, yeah. Cause she's got the Porter money. So we go way back. And Lindsay did too. Oh, wow. Well, yeah, because she's got the Porter money. Am I right?

Okay. You got to know the real talk here. But she's done quite well for herself. I hear that's got the great Ben Mulrooney on that show. Ben Mulrooney is on Your Morning. Yes. And Anne-Marie Medawake. Yeah. Right. Who used to be

with Dwight Drummond on CBC. She thought this gig was something. She got an offer she couldn't refuse. She left CBC for CTV to do the Your Morning. That's a big deal. Do you ever appear on the Your Morning? I do. I'm one of their style experts on their show,

so I'm doing all of their red carpet recap for them. And I just did a holiday gifting segment. Actually, these disco ball tumblers were on that segment. That's how I found them. So, yeah, I do gifting and style for your morning. And it's lots of fun. Sweet. Sweet.

And as you mentioned, all the funds from your Girls Who Believe Fest. So you can just any name. You need a name, just put Fest at the end of it. It's true. That's all you need to do. Yeah. All of the funds went to a nonprofit organization, Girls Inc. Yeah. Girls Inc.

I still work with them. They're phenomenal. They do great after school programs for girls and communities that might need it. They also do in-school programs as well for confidence building. And I'm very, very aligned with what they believe in. Okay, help me out though. This is Degrassi, the next generation that synced. That's what you called it, right?

Yeah, sync, yeah. By the way, do you have to, like, do you present, push your music? Like, you want them to do that, right? Because- Yeah, you definitely do. I mean, I was- But how did they discover you?

Like, was it just somebody who picks music had heard you or just heard that jam somewhere? Or is it somebody on your side was like pushing it in their face? Like, Hey, here's a good Canadian artist. You should be.

Yeah. Well, I mean, I have, I had a, an agent and a, and a publicist and a record label. And so,

you know, the part of that whole thing is, is them trying to get my music out there. So you still have those people? Uh, I still, I still very much have agents you know why i'm asking because i noticed i got to deal directly with you i didn't because uh i

didn't have to go through any like pr layers and i appreciate that because i really dislike the whole uh having to deal with a pr person to get somebody to come to your basement and chat for a bit yeah well i think you know there are different different kinds of things right i mean there's still i'm still very much accessible and i do a lot of projects with people on that level. But then, you know, my modeling stuff and TV stuff, that's a different thing, I guess. We're going to get there. I got lots of modeling questions. Is it too late for me, for example?

I haven't been discovered yet. Haven't you heard? 2017 is like the most diverse fashion year ever. So you could just be a little bit distraught. Middle-aged white-haired guys are getting there. Like I think, I think not that I'm as handsome as he is. I'm not saying that,

but I look like I could be the uglier brother of the Travago guy. Sometimes I think like, like his uglier brother, like not his ugly brother, his uglier brother, just brother. I would just say brother. I think you could do that actually.

But you know how like Pamela Anderson was discovered at a famously discovered at a CFL game? Yes. Yeah. Uh-huh. I had a moment where at their last home Argos game. Okay. And Sister Station TSN was broadcasting this. See what I did there?

All the synergies at Bell Media. I love it. They were broadcasting the Argos versus Rough Riders in the, I want to call it the divisional finals, but you could also call it the conference final because the conference and the division in the CFL is the same thing. But anyway, the winner of this game would go to the Great Cup

and I'm there, okay? Yes. And right after the last minute game-winning touchdown by the Toronto Argonauts, the cameras went right to me. I got a screen cap to show you later. What did you do? I just was, I didn't know I was on TV,

right? So I'm just at a game cheering. And then I, like all of a sudden my phone blows up from people like, cause apparently like 6 million Canadians and I got 6 million texts from everyone watching. Like, Hey,

you were just on TV. But my point is that if, if that kind of exposure didn't get me any calls from the modeling agencies, it's not going to happen because everyone knew you would be spotted at that and be like, hey, we need that guy for our new campaign on whatever dad's by these days. What about what if you were like Fashion Santa? What if you grew a beard for next year? Hey, there is a Fashion Santa. No, I know. That's what I'm saying. Like, but they seem to switch up fashion santa every year he's actually with my agency fashion santa this year

because he's very handsome i need uh you are handsome yes i know like are you what i am handsome uh on the subway like when i go you know what i mean at the mto when i'm in line to like renew my license i'm handsome i see but in the world of like modeling, I'm the Travago guy's uglier brother is what I'm saying. So we can't all be models like you, Meredith. It's all relative, I guess. Doing our best. But I digress.

We're going to get to the modeling stuff later. I wanted to talk a bit more about the music here. Okay. So I wasn't aware. I have to plead a little ignorance because it's not really my genre. That's cool. But I didn't know Stars was a deep cut.

In my mind, Stars was like a single. But that wasn't Stars. No. What was the song? What was the first song? You didn't play Stars. What did I play? What did you play?

Hold on. You didn't play Stars. What song is this? What song is that? That's not Stars? No, that's... I can tell by your eyes. Oh, no, that is Stars.

See, Meredith, please. This is embarrassing for you. Come on. But is that what you played? Yeah. No, but you didn't play that first. I did. No.

I recorded this, you know. At the end of it all, we're going to go back and know. No. I can't hide here. You played a different song off the top. Nope. Yes, you did. I didn't.

I know you did. No, everyone, go back and listen. You did. One of us is going to look really silly when this is all said and done. It's you.

I can't wait to find out. I almost want to shut it down and find out, but no, I can't do that. Here, I'll bring this down. Yeah, because Stars is a single. We shot a music video for this one. We kind of snuck in somewhere.

I think I played that. I really do, but we'll find out later. No, because that's why I was wondering. I was like, wow, you're starting with something very obscure. I think, and you also didn that's why I was wondering. I was like, wow, you're starting with something very obscure. And you also didn't know that that was Stars.

So I'm not sure your credibility is any good here. It was 2010. It was 2010. You just looked at me like, that's not Stars. And I said, that's not Stars? And then you said, oh, it is Stars. Yeah, that one is. How many songs do you have that you lost in your catalog?

You're not like Bruce Springsteen. He draws from a catalog of like 400 songs or whatever. I catalog? You're not like Bruce Springsteen. He draws from a catalog of like 400 songs or whatever. I know, but he's also Bruce Springsteen. How many songs do you have in your repertoire? You know what? I've never calculated. Oh, my goodness. Because I've written a lot of songs for other people, too.

Oh, here we go. Let's get my country on. Yeah, I hear country in your stuff. Yeah. Well, this one was on country radio in Canada. I was going to say, there's country radio? This was a small-H hit. No one ever said love comes easy.

Boy, I thought we had them beat. Found ever after at 19. Little watch out for little girl dreams. Woo! Right? There you go. Look at that timing. I'm going to check.

Are you wearing cowboy boots? No. Sparkle boots. Sparkle.. Sparkle. So how long ago did this jam come out? Better than this. Three years ago? Just so you know, this is better than this.

Oh, there's... Oh, wait. Where's the huh? It's coming. Oh, you have to get out. Here we go. I always wanted to do that in a song. When was the last time you performed live in concert? Horseshoe.

Horseshoe Tavern. I like that venue too, you know, because I've seen so many nice intimate shows there. I have good memories. It's a sweaty,

like, you know, you want to go there and like... I'm going there next Friday. Sweat it up. What are you seeing? Skydiggers.

Oh, Skydiggers. Lovely. Yeah, I love the horseshoe. I mean, it was one of those stages that I wanted to play. You know what I mean? It felt very like,

oh my God, this is happening. So I was pretty stoked. But yeah, that was the last show I played in Toronto. But yeah, but was that in 2016? That would have been, I would have just started at Chum FM. So that's two years

ago. Because I think you need to a refresher on your jams. Like I think you forgot your song. You know, you are not wrong. I just, you know, it's, you are not wrong.

Does that mean I'm right? That means you're right. Cool. All right. By the way, yeah, I could hear this being, first of all,

country, we don't have any in Toronto, but there are country stations in Canada. You mentioned Alberta. Your parents are from Alberta. Yeah. They've got lots out there, right?

Country music. lots. I mean, we have a huge, huge one. KX96 is the closest one to Toronto. Is that London or is that? No.

I just randomly picked an Ontario city in my head. London has... They actually just hosted the CCMAs not too long ago, London. KX96? No, it's just outside of Toronto. Okay, Hamilton? Yeah, yeah. I don't know. I don't want to be wrong.

I feel like I might be wrong if someone's listening and they're like, Meredith Shaw. You've already been wrong about the first jam I played by you. No, I'm not. You are going to listen back to that. But here's how I know I'm right. Can I just tell you my reasoning here? I have a soundboard here, right? I know you do. I know what's where. So I know where in the soundboard I click.

I absolutely can 100% guarantee that you play something else. Oh, this is the last song I released. That's why I'm playing it because I wanted to bring us up to date. The most recent one. So let's talk. Okay, so you have the first album you record at Willeyville, which is Place Called Happy. Yeah. Nice. then you released

Trouble is that the next one or you tell me was it Trouble and then then it was Trouble and Heart is Goodbye and it

is this from and then this is just a single okay and I wrote this in Nashville with the Stellas, who are a great Canadian duo

and who are the parents of Lennon and Maisie. Do you know those girls from the show Nashville? Eek, no. Okay. But they sound like wonderful people. Yeah, they are. And quite famous. Not that them is the deal.

I know in the country music world, but I avoid it like the plague sometimes. No, they're like, no, they, Lennon and Maisie are, yeah, they're young girls, very, very talented. Yeah.

On that TV show, Nashville. You know, ABC, that show. Kind of know it exists. Yeah, it exists. Or it doesn't anymore, but. Yeah. Tell me about working with Joel Plaskett. Dream come true.

I still remember seeing him for the first time at Queens. And I remember thinking, oh, you can be funny and a singer-songwriter. I just, you know, I related to Jan Arden a little bit growing up in terms of like hopefully being sort of funny, but also singing like quite demure songs or she's funny. She's super funny. And, and then I saw Joel and I was like, Oh,

he can be so clever and kind of, you know, he's so rock and roll, but he has cutesy, clever stuff going on in his lyrics. Like they're really fun to say and they feel good, you know, singing them.

And then he's very, very close with Gordy Johnson. They've worked a lot together. And then he's very, very close with Gordie Johnson. They've worked a lot together. And so I guess when I was working with Gordie, Gordie was like, Shaw's super talented. And then, I don't know, Joel and I just wrote Trouble together. And then he was like, why don't you come to Dartmouth and make a record? And so we did.

I think he's amazing. Like, I just think he's so under, I don't want to say underrated, but he's not nearly as big as he should be considering his talent level yeah i mean he is much beloved but i agree with you i think he's much beloved by people who are like savvy and musical people you know what i mean but the general populace like i don't know you don't have uh joel plaskett on the chum fm playlist you know what i mean well i think we used to though that one, that his big, oh my gosh, now my own songs are in my head

so I can't think of it, but Nowhere With You. Nowhere With You is a huge Plastic song and that got played, you know, across the board. Do you play

Meredith Shaw songs on Shem FM? No, I would die. No, never. This is awkward enough just sitting here right now with you. Are you whistling

in the song? No, those are real people whistling. That's actually my producer and my sound engineer. And I sort of threw myself in there too, but I wasn't as good a whistler as they were. I had more air in my whistle. They had a cleaner whistle. So that wraps up the musical component.

I wanted to dive deep. And if there's more, of course, please let me know. But if I missed anything, but I think you do need to listen to dive deep. And if there's more, of course, please let me know. But if I missed anything, but I think you do need to listen to your songs. And let you skip over the Popstars and Canadian Idol moment. Tell me about that moment. My crack research staff might not have uncovered that one.

But is this Ben Mulrooney's wonderful Canadian Idol? Yeah, that's where I first met Ben. Yeah, yeah. And you appeared on it? I did, yes. I was in the Jacob Hogart season. That's a popular season. Isn't that like the first season? It was the first season. I guess you're right.

And the guy who sang, there was a guy who played like a Stone Temple Pilots plush, okay? And I only remember because it was so like, hey, that guy's playing. Like I always loved plush, but you wouldn't expect to hear it on Canadian Idol. Some guy played that. The same guy, he also, the same guy, I don i always loved plush but you wouldn't expect to hear it on idol some guy played that the same guy he also the same guy i don't think he won but this guy did um oh uh uh the elton john song named for the guy in the band leave on oh leave on yeah

is that named for leave on hell maybe it's not even named for the guy in the band but uh he covered that too. And I thought that was a cool choice as well. But I digress. Tell me what the heck they brought you on. Well, no, we don't even really talk about it.

You mentioned it. No, I did. That was very, very dumb. We were about to get out of this. Yeah, no,

I mean, I, I, I had done a TV show called pop stars, uh, the one, and that was a relatively terrifying experience because I was very much a singer-songwriter playing guitar, piano, and all of a sudden I was making up dance routines

to Justin Timberlake. So that was a bit terrifying for me to do on national television. But you know, you just got to go with it and not worry. And then right after that show, and that's actually where I met Mad Dog for the first time, Jay Michaels, because he was the judge that got me on. He was the judge? Was Billy on that show? I think Billy was also there. Yeah. He didn't end up being like the final judges, but he was the Toronto, you know, they picked

their top two from Toronto or something like that. He's coming back for a third time. Oh, wow. Because he wants to kick out the jams. Oh, okay. Which at some point you should do. That would be fun. We'll talk about Mad Dog later. Okay, yeah, I love Mad Dog.

So you had a, what, was it embarrassing to be on? You did something that you're embarrassed by on Canadian Idol? No, no, no. So then why are you so unwilling to discuss this? Like, what hurt you here? No, nothing. No, nothing at all. I mean, I think those are just, you just,

if there were any musical experiences you were missing, those are definitely two of them that were noteworthy. I mean, that first season of Canadian Idol got big ratings, like a lot of people came in. Yeah, it was. It was, and it was, you know, compared to possible, I mean, Idol was about the voice and about singing. And so that, that was fun to be a part of. And it was definitely my first television experience at that level. And, and there was, there was lots to, lots to learn. And TV makes sense for you because you're a model

who performs and has a broadcasting experience. Like to me, you have the perfect qualities you look for in a television person. Thank you. And I don't know, but if they ever wanted to like, let me think of a nice, like, is E now? Is that, is E Talk? Which one does Bell Media have? Which of those E shows? Yeah, E Talk. E Talk.

Like you should be like an E Talk host or whatever. Well, hey, never say never. Are you interested in that gig? I can make some phone calls. Do you have the power? I don't know. I think they got it covered over there with Chloe and Liz and Lainey and Tracy. I think they're good.

They might, yeah. But one of them might move on to different pastures and then they might have a spot. Okay. I just think that I'm sorry I missed this part because it makes sense for you to have some TV time. Yeah. Okay. Well, glad I brought it up. Accept these compliments, Meredith.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Boom 97.3 is where you start your radio career. That is true. How did you get the gig at Boom? I Googled. Is that right?

Yeah, that's right. I was on tour. I have been fortunate enough to tour the country three times. I was on the third one. I was in Winnipeg. Love Winnipeg. I was getting ready for a show and thought like, okay, so what am I going to do? Go home and make another record and then do this again. And

then I'm just going to do that again and again. Like it just, I had a moment of like, is this, oh, is this what I do forever? And, uh, just part of me was like, uh, no, I don't think so. So I've always, um, uh, greatly admired Marilyn Dennis. And,. And I thought maybe I could host a radio show. So I Googled how to host a radio show. And Milkman Unlimited came up, which is the website with all the jobs. Right. That's actually that site. I'm familiar with it because whoever runs that site has got the radio people checking in.

So now he can get real dollars from people like boom looking for talent like yeah it's like the legit place to go i mean i think i don't yeah so i've heard about them yeah milkman and i'm not even in the industry and i've heard of them so there you go and there were um yeah i just i was like oh i think i might have to move to a smaller town or something and yeah right um and i don't know i did like a demo on my iphone a muffie made the company you were referring to Yeah, right. to break. It's like some sort of weird story. And sent it around, I remember, to 62 stations all over the country, all different kinds of jobs. And Troy McCallum at Boom 97.3 called me and said, I have no idea what you sent me, but I have a hunch and I'd like to meet you. And so he did. And yeah, long story short, they hired me overnight on the weekend. And then I

kind of moved up from there. Well, okay. Did you get to meet the great and wonderful Mae Potts? Yeah. She is my... Spirit guide. Yeah. She has made more of an impact on me than she even realizes, even though I Facebook her quite constantly and saying how grateful I am for her in my life. Um, I don't think she quite knows. Um, she was so, so generous with me when I first started, um, feeling, I remember filling in for her for the first time and thinking like, Oh my God, I don't want to fuck this up. Um, but, uh, she just, she gave me so much advice that I still use to this day. And she is so supremely talented and incredibly kind. And she was someone that I just, I hope I have a shot at, you know, having the kind of career that she's had and also treat the next generation of people like she treated me.

It was very generous. Old guys like me remember her from CFNY back in the day. And that's, so I had her on this show and she brought her daughter with her who subsequently got a gig at, I don't even know if she's still there, but I did see an announcement like she got a gig at Edge 102. Yeah, that's the last time I heard, that's what I heard too. But it's interesting

and I think it's kind of amazing to think that her daughter has a role on the station that made her locally famous. Yeah, totally. Yeah, May is awesome. And no one has a bad thing to say about May. Like you never hear somebody saying, I don't really care for May.

No. You might be indifferent possibly, I guess, whatever, for whatever reason, but you would never have anything negative to say about May Potts. She's the best. She taught me a lot. And I just, you know, it was such a,

I feel very, very lucky to have started my radio career at Boom. Boom is an incredible group, incredible station. Um, and yeah, I mean, they gave me a shot for no reason at all. I still am a little bit surprised that Troy hired me, but I, I certainly, um, I certainly am grateful that he did. I remember when, when we did, we did hire me, I, you know, I never run a board before. Like I, I had been in many, many radio stations in terms of doing a tour with as an artist but I never touched any of the buttons and being a little bit type a personality like I am I sort of had my notebook and I was watching him do it and I was like okay and then he's like yeah so you'll come back at you know midnight or whatever and

I'll just hear you on the mic and I was like so I think I've over promised what I'm able to do tonight like I had no'm able to do tonight. Like I had no idea how to do the board. But then, you know, they had an off and they just wanted to hear me behind the mic. And I've learned the buttons since. I was going to say, what? New caps not training their new employees. Even at McDonald's, they teach you how to use the burger maker machine thing. Of course they do.

I mean, I eventually had to learn how to do it. But then and there, they just want to sort of hear me on the mic. I always wondered, though. I always wondered why some radio people have like a board op doing that and then some people are doing everything themselves like i always wondered is it just like is there like how how is it determined who's going to run their own board like why is stew jeffries uh big time morning show boom guy running his own board like i think sometimes you get it's what you get used to right i think it's sometimes what you like um you know i run my own board yeah

like no board up here would you want someone running your board like you want to hit something when you want to hit it right like i mean there's a certain there's a certain synergy that you need to have even if it does become a board drop thing you guys are like symbiotic like you need to be basically in each other's head because a lot of that timing is pretty crucial so i mean it just depends on what who what you can make sound best and sometimes that's two people and sometimes it's just you so you're saying stew jeffries is a control freak is that what no not at all i i am not saying that i i am saying i'm just trying to create some trouble here i know i can sense that you are versus stew right i can sense that you are and i come from lawyers so I see what you're doing.

You're always two moves ahead of me here. No, I just think, yeah, it's whatever makes it sound best. And, okay, so May Potts is there. Stu Jeffries is there. You mentioned you had a good experience with him. And there's another chap there. I've had him over, but a long time. I remember him from 680 CFTR.

This is how far back I go. KJ. KJ. So KJ, who, what I found interesting So KJ, who, uh, what I found interesting about KJ, very nice gentleman came over. We had a nice episode, but he clearly didn't feel comfortable talking about like his past glory. Like he wasn't a guy who wanted to talk about himself. I don't know if that's, is that KJ? He's just like the most humble, um, guy. He's so, yeah, he's got so much to, to hang his hat on and to talk about, but he's, he's so, yeah, he's got so much to hang his hat on

and to talk about, but he's just, he under, he downplays, he's very, you know, kind of self-deprecating. He's just the most charming guy. And he changed his name from Chris James, because I went to KJ and I told him to his face. Maybe that's why he turned on me. I told him it was a mistake because guys like me

didn't realize it was the same guy. So I know Chris James from CFTR and now there's this KJ on boom and I'm stupid. I don't know for sure that's the same guy. You know what I mean? So I felt like, why did you build a name for yourself in this market on a big top 40 station and then start again? You know what I mean? What did he say to that? I think he just punched me in the face. He was over. He was offended. When I recovered from being knocked unconscious, we decided

to just move along. I don't think he had much to say about that. But yeah, KJ, fantastic. Now, of course, you just told me how great it was at Boom 97.3. But we know you from Chum FM today, 104.5. So what the heck happens there? Like, why do you leave Boom?

Why do you leave Boom? This is a tough question. Yeah, it was a tough question. It was a tough decision. I mean, you heard me start to talk about getting into radio. I mean, Marilyn Dennis was kind of the impetus. So to sort of a few years later be asked to come join that station was a

big moment. So they poached you. It happens. Blake Carter, by the way, she was poached recently from KISS 92.5 with, by the way, working with the son of Marilyn Dennis. See how

this works? No, look at that. Look at that. And Blake actually was going to buy a place in my building. We were going to be neighbors. And then that didn't end up working out. She ended up being almost my neighbor near Park Lawn in that area there that's building up Park Lawn and Queensway

or Park Lawn and Lakeshore. And now to bring it more connected here, she's at a station, Boom's sister station. Yes. The Move in the New Cap, wherever New Cap records. Yeah, yeah. Young and St. Clair. Young and St. Clair.

Young and St. Clair. Yes. Oh, look at that. It'll come full circle. So beautiful. But Chum FM makes you an offer you can't refuse. Yes, true. But it also was a bit of a moment in my career

where you asked me off the top about making a decision in terms of pick one radio music, you know, fashion. Actually, Brian asked you that question. I can't even take credit for that. Oh, did I call him Pat? Why did I call him Pat? Brian, sorry, Brian. And I think, and now I've totally lost my train of thought because I'm thinking about Brian and Pat.

But he asked you, what would you choose? Modeling? Oh, yeah. What would I choose? Music. Exactly. Thank you. Or DJing.

And I had to kind of, in that moment, make a bit of a decision because it was the evening show on Chum FM, which is fantastic. But that's when I sing, right? So it was a bit of a decision of like, if I am going to take that, that's going to drastically affect my ability to also like go perform at the Dakota or whatever I'm doing. And I decided it was a moment where I was ready to make that choice. And so you asked me when I last performed live. That's, you know, because of the time slot that I have, you know. And also just it's I wanted to just immerse myself, you know, and also just it's, it's, I wanted to, to just immerse myself, you know, in, in radio and in that, in that culture. And that has led me to do television stuff over there.

So I think it was, it was the right move. I feel very, very happy about it, but it definitely does, you know, all right moves also come at a bit of a cost. Well, I just, in your defense, I think for you, a lot of the allure is that, where NuCap is just a radio, they're just radio, which is great for radio. They focus on radio, but now you're in Bell Media's got so many properties beyond radio, like television properties and stuff. So, you know, whether you're ending up on CP24 or something, or like you mentioned, CTV, this is opportunity you don't get at NuCap. Yeah, that is true. I mean, at the time that wasn't necessarily in my head, but certainly now, um, being on Maryland Dennis and the social and your morning, I mean, and doing Chim FM, that, that's certainly that kind of opportunity wouldn't have come to me if I stayed

at, at boom. Yeah. By the way, it comes to me late here, but did you ever consider packing up and moving to Nashville? Like, does that, did you ever have that moment where like, if I'm going to make a go of this cause you're a country singer. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And Nashville actually is just a wonderful place to to live and to make music. There's so much going on there. I mean, Jack White, his labels there, the Black Keys are there. There's a lot of music being made there that isn't just country. So, yeah, I absolutely consider that at a moment in time. And a bunch of my friends are actually there now which also makes the decision like oh really should you have gone there like it's fun um right but uh but no i mean radio has

a huge has a huge place um in my heart i mean music music is the start music led me to everything that i'm doing um but i feel very um lucky to get to just like play music think about music interview artists that make music. That's like that makes me a happy chick. I just learned recently that St. Catherine's own City and Color, Dallas Green, lives in Nashville now. Okay. So he's not a country singer. No.

Have you been to Nashville? No. You've got to go. You're a music guy. What are you doing here? Go to Nashville. Have you been to Austin? No. Have you been to Nashville? No. You've got to go. You're a music guy. What are you doing here? Go to Nashville. Have you been to Austin? No. That's me leaving.

Meredith has left. We'll wrap this up now. Oh my gosh. Got to go. So you're at Chum FM. And this is a good opportunity for you. And of course now you're working with Marilyn Dennis. You're one of your mentors and stuff. So let me ask, let's get some frank discussion here

about the great Roger Ashby. The great. Right. So is he going to die on the air? Or at some point, does he plan to have a happy retirement? Roger Ashby is the king. He is the best. He is incredible on Chum FM.

And I hope he is there forever and ever. That's the best. He is incredible on Chum FM. And I hope he is there forever and ever. That's the great, that's the proper answer. Absolutely. But at some point, and let me just say that at some point, he may want to retire. He may want to retire. Maybe. Maybe Roger wants to retire. Maybe not today, but at some point. So my thought is at some point, At some point. So my thought is at some point when Roger does decide it's time to retire, do you think the heir apparent is Mad Dog? Do you think they slide Mad Dog, Jay Michaels,

and let him co-host of Marilyn for a while? Do you have any insight or thoughts on that? Well, he certainly has been. He's been in for Roger quite a bit. He sounds great on the air. I think that is a decision I'm glad that I will not have any part in. That is something that our new program director, Sarah Cummings, and her whole team is going to have to be dealing with. On that note of program directing, speak personally for yourself.

Let's say the books, the rating books come out. And let's say it's not like the best book that Chubb FM ever had. Like this last one, maybe it wasn't the greatest Chubb FM, right? Do you lose, like, is this something where you're losing sleep over this? Like, I'm always curious, like, when you guys have your meetings, I'm guessing you have meetings about it. Like, how much of this do you bring home with you? Maybe if you underperformed potentially. Like, like not even you personally but I mean the station yeah I mean obviously you want to be you want to be number one that's what we're that's what everybody's aiming for um I think I think it's all I think I mean I think it's that that combination

of a whole bunch of things that that everyone has to bring to the table and I certainly I break it down to to what I can control which is like what i bring to the airways on my show and i if it's one of those things like if you if you believe the bad press then you got to believe the good or vice versa so you know i've had some very very good ratings and i don't really know what i've done differently. You know what I mean? Like, I feel like I'm doing the same kind of effort in my show. I feel like I'm... So then it starts to become a bit like, well, what?

Like, you know, then it starts to be a thing that I think could be a little dangerous to chase either way. But I, yeah, I mean, I certainly, I think radio too is what is on the air, but it's also what's going on all around it, right? Like I'm doing a whole other show on Facebook, on social media, on Instagram, my own personal stuff that I'm doing. So it's also thinking about like what other things

can I be doing to capitalize people's attention to direct them to my station. Any consideration to the fact, what if like at some point, like fine tuning the playlist that shows, like there's music too. You're not just a talk station. Totally.

It's not just narrative shop. Oh no. And I'll be honest, I've been a big, this is my experience. I have been a massive fan of a DJ or radio personality and they have changed stations to a station where I don't like the music

and I've stopped listening to that. Like that to me is a deal breaker. Right. Yeah. So I mean, I'm just wondering, and you've stopped listening to that. Like that to me is a deal breaker. So, I mean, I'm just wondering, uh, and you mentioned a new program director. I have no idea when, when she came on board or whatever, but I'm getting, I guess you're right. There's a lot of variables, variables at play. And one of them I'm guessing is the music being played, like fine tuning it or

whatever. Yeah, for sure. I mean, I think we're always certainly with Chem FM. It's like we want, we want to be, um, introducing people to new great stuff. And there is a lot of new great stuff going on right now, which is nice. But, uh, but we also want to play the good stuff that people, uh, you know, remember and love, like what you're talking about at the top of the interview, like all that kind of nostalgia stuff, like that's fun too. And that's very much our audience. So I think it's just finding that perfect balance between, um, you know, the kind of songs that,

that our audience would, would like that are new. And then also kind of reminding them of that great night out they had a couple of years ago. No, excellent. But, uh,

this system, by the way, I don't, I don't particularly like it. Like how many people out there are carrying these PPM devices and like if one of them drops out, that changes the Myrtle Shaw numbers. Probably.

I mean, yeah, that's again above my pay grade. But yeah, I mean, it seems like an interesting system. It's a rather small sample size, especially in certain demos. Like at least Chum FM is targeting, correct me if I'm wrong, but you're primarily targeting women. Can I say that?

That's a, is that something you're... I guess, I mean, we don't... I'm guessing wrong. We like our men. We like our men too. But yeah, no, I mean that, that, no, I mean, I would assume so. But I find if you're a station targeting, let's say, young men, let's say, like an Edge 102 or something like that,

how many young men are carrying around that PPM device? You know what I mean? That's got to be rough going. But the system, it's the best system you have, so that's the one everybody uses. I don't know how trustworthy it all is. That's just me as a guy who just looks at these high level numbers because he can't get access to an actual book.

But anyway, not that I need to, but it would be fun to crunch some numbers. So if you can hook a brother up, let me know. That's where I'm going with that. Talk to that new program director. Do you know why I invited you on this show? Oh, why? Do you know why? First of all, do you know I did it a long time ago?

When did I invite you initially? Weren't you like a very delayed response? I was delayed. Yeah, it was a little while ago. Like a hundred years delayed? Wasn't it a long time? No, no, no. Okay, because if you,

your former colleague, Ingrid Schumacher. Love me some Ingrid Schumacher. She came in, we, you know, and she was at Chum FM since the 70s. Do you know that? That's crazy talk, right? Incredible. That's crazy. And she actually told me I should get Meredith Shaw on.

Do you know that? Really? Yeah. And it's like this whole, like I categorized it in my brain filing cabinet and then I finally got around to it and then you ignored me

for several months and then I got a... No, I got back to you right away. It was just when... Oh, yeah. I got back to you right away.

I never took it back to you. You got back to me right away and said, at some point, handsome, I think is what you wrote. And then, like 18 months later,

we got it done, which is good. No, not true. I was just, I was going back and forth. That's when I months later, we got it done, which is good. No, not true. I was just, I was going back and forth. That's when I first got signed in the States. And so I was traveling

back and forth a lot. No, I apologize. You did get back to me. You're right. I'm sorry. Come on now. You got back to me and then it took a while,

but we finally got you in, which is great. But Ingrid, okay. So do you have her old time slot right now? No, I do. When are you on the air at 104.5 FM? I do evening.

So I'm seven to midnight. That is my official show. But so I do seven to midnight and then I have the back in the day brunch on Sunday, which was Ingrid's show. Oh, she did that one. So she did the back in the day brunch on Sunday mornings. So that is now my show.

But today I was doing nine to two. So they do move me around a little bit. Especially at this time of year, I bet, when lots of people take time off, I would think, for the holidays. Yeah, for sure. So, and I know you're not the program director and you were not involved in any of these high-level decisions. No. But it was sad for me to learn that Ingrid was walked out after, like, decades at Chum. Like, I was sad.

For sure. I think we all were. Because she was was pleasant person and she was excellent on air, I thought. And it's just, it's always, there was no like cake, you know what I mean? Like an on-air, like happy, you know, good luck. We love you. Here's a cake. One of those things, uh, like a Mike Cooper would get or something like that. So I felt Ingrid deserved like a bit of the Mike Cooper treatment is what I felt as a fan. Yeah. I mean, I, I, I'm a fan too. And, and, you know, the, the fan in me, 100%, uh, feels that way too. And I'm still sad that I, that I don't hear her, um, you know, on that station. I think her voice is incredible. I think her personality is like just wonderful. And I miss her. I miss her presence in that building. So yeah, I mean, I think we're all fans of Ingrid Schumacher

and I think that was a tough day. Well, somebody's not a fan. That's all I know. I don't know who it is, but somebody's not a fan of Ingrid Schumacher because she's not there anymore. Somebody makes that decision. Like, hey, we're better off without her.

Somebody makes that decision. This is the part, and this is not on you. You're happily employed there and I hope you're employed there forever. But this is the stuff that's tough for the listener when the voice you've heard forever on that station disappears. And of course, the station never does anything to tell you because you have to go Google it.

That's how you got the job at Boom. That's how you'll end up on my site and fail. Oh my God, Ingrid, after 40 years, Ingrid was let go. That's what's going to happen. It's happening now. I'm getting more traffic from people searching for, like, Lance Brown and Joe Tilly stuff to find out that they're going to be gone soon. It's a tough business.

So I just wish, and I know it wasn't your decision, so I don't know why. I'm just, you're the first chum person I've had on since, and I'm going to hit you with this. But maybe there was a better way to do that for somebody who was there 40 years. I don't know. I don't have anyone working for me. Business never personal. Is that what you're thinking right now? You're right. This is a business decision, but these are not normal businesses. No, please don't put that. No, I know you didn't. I can't read your mind, Meredith. I don't know what you're thinking.

Don't put that in my mouth. No, I mean, I certainly it's, it, it, it did not feel good. It did not feel good. And I think, um, I think the same feelings that that people had on the outside you know we had on the inside too I mean she was our much beloved uh co-worker and and I listened to Chum FM right like I listened to Chum FM before I was on it and and I listen still when I'm driving around so yeah we we miss Ingrid have you had any contact with her since she left of course of course I don't know maybe yeah of course no i mean chummy them it's that's why i felt so um uh kind of lucky to be invited into that crew it is a crew it is a family that's why those things are hard um but you know i guess the the the you know

quote-unquote lucky position that that myself is, Ashley Greco, is that when those things do happen, like an Ingrid, we can have conversations with her. We can reach out to her. We can have some sort of, you know, celebration. So can you tell us how she's doing? Because a lot of Ingrid fans haven't heard a peep from her since she, of course, left the airways. And that's the thing about, I was going to say, but the bean counters, and I don't know, don't disrespect the bean counters, but the people who make these decisions for whatever reason have to remember that it's not a normal job because you're in our cars and like you're in our living room.

Like you're in our kitchen, for example. Yeah. So it's like you, we, we, the listeners of radio think of you as like friends.

Totally. Acquaintance. Like you can't just disappear from our lives after 40 years without some kind of closure. Yeah, I know. But enough on that. Tell us, is she okay?

How is she doing? Is she okay? Yeah, I think she is. I mean, I don't want to speak for her, but I think she is. I mean, I've had good contact with her, and I know she has with other people at Chum FM. So, yes, I think to Ingrid fans, she is doing well. Good. It warms the cockles of my heart on this holiday season. A hundred percent. Yes.

We're going to get to some holiday songs in a minute, but I have to ask you about the, so that concludes the radio component. Did I miss anything exciting in the radio component? That's the hard part. That's all you do. I know we're going to get into something. I didn't beat you up too bad. Not too bad. I, but I had to, to, you were putting little words in my mouth. I had to speak up because I realized this is a microphone thing.

So you can't see my face. You can't see my expressions to people listening. So I got to put some words to those expressions. Just for the record, so people know I have been unable to read Meredith Shaw's brain. I've been trying, I've been trying to read you this whole time

and I can't. So no, come on. It's my gingerness. I just miss Schumacher being on Chum FM. That's all. I hear you. My whole life she was there. I know. I hear you. I can't. No, come on. It's my gingerness. I just miss Schumacher being on Chum FM. That's all. I hear you. My whole life she was there. I know.

I hear you. I hear you. I really do. I get it. Tell me about your modeling career. Like you were discovered at a Nargos game. I was.

I am actually Pamela Anderson with a few more sandwiches. No. What was I doing? I was shooting an album cover. I was, I was shooting an album cover and the makeup artist, uh, asked me if I've ever, um, plus I smodeled and I was offended because I was like, I'm shooting an album cover. I haven't eaten in two weeks. Um, and luckily she stuck with me. She's like, you would work and work and work. The industry in that way was kind of

just starting. Um, that was probably about five years ago. like, you would work and work and work. The industry in that way was kind of just starting. That was probably about five years ago. Maybe five or six years ago now. Seven years ago. I don't know. Anyway, a little while ago. Maybe it was eight years ago. Eight years ago, yeah.

And thank goodness she stuck with me. I mean, it was just something I was doing radio. I was in music. You know, it wasn't something I was looking to do. That's for sure. It wasn't really something I was aiming for. I was a girl that was funny. I was, I wasn't like my, my currency was not what I looked like. That's not what I played on growing up. That wasn't my thing. Um, but you were cursed with this beautiful face and it could not be ignored any longer.

I don't know. I mean, I'm not sure. I just, it never really dawned on me. It was never a thing. Um, and then it's really, it's really become a thing. So I got signed by a modeling agent and I just started working. And I, I now, you know, I say that, that sort of story about how I was offended, you know, quite honestly, I mean, that, that was the headspace that I was in. And what's so cool about how many campaigns and things that I've shot now and covers and I've got signed in New York and signed in Miami and I travel internationally to do it is that you know I get to help other women not feel offended by what their beautiful bodies look like and and in that journey it's helped me um and I think because of that I am more confident

and um I think because I'm more confident I'm sexier all that stuff like I think because of that, I am more confident. And I think because I'm more confident, I'm sexier. All that stuff. Like, I think it's just a correlation between confidence and sexiness. And it's just been it's been the biggest surprise of my career. And it's it's probably the thing that I, you know, nationally am now best known for. I mean, I now do these television shows based on that. I write a national column in Canadian Living Magazine, the first plus size style column and only still in Canada.

And yeah, I do all of Hudson's Bay. I work with Pennington's. It's Marshall's. It's been a real trip. Wow. Wow. Yeah. The plus size term there. So my wife works with a guy who's married to a model.

Not like a runway model, but a bikini model. But working a lot for a big agency and stuff. And so I've met her many times. She's the smallest thing. It's unbelievable. So plus size just means anything beyond waif. She's the smallest thing. Like it's, it's unbelievable. Like, so like it's plus size just means, um, anything beyond waif.

Is that right? Like, well, you know what I mean? Once you're, if you're no longer a waif, you have to be a plus size model. Is that how that's working?

you know, or is it a curve thing? Like if you have like, uh, yeah, it's definitely, I mean, it definitely right now too.

It's, it's, it's so everywhere. Um, so I've got girls on my New York board that are, um, quite small and are considered plus size. Um, so I think it depends on, on where you are in the world in terms of the fashion market. But yeah, I mean, it's definitely, your proportions need to be the same as a quote unquote straight size model, they just have to be bigger. I guess. Bigger. I don't know. Okay.

I'm just, uh, yeah. Okay. And, uh, I mean, I'm guessing more people would look like you than the woman I was just

speaking about. Like, you know what I mean? Like, because, uh, you can't eat to look like that. And you need genetics too.

Like this combination of some kind of genetic thing and not eating. Yeah. Yeah. And that's, um, sort of not the most fun way to live your life. Cause you need those French fries and eating. Yeah. Yeah. And that's, um, sort of not the most fun way to live your life. Cause you need those French fries and gravy. Yeah. You know, every once in a while. I mean, this is, this is me, you know, eating pretty much paleo working out. Like this is me kind of

doing, uh, living a healthful life. And, and so I, I like being part of that, um, that part of the industry that I think you can be, you know, still very healthful and still sort of aspirational, but, but healthy and kind to yourself and not, not super, super hard on yourself. Cause I think that's what the fashion industry or media in general has been known for. I think there's much more room now. I think there's a long way to go, especially in Canada. We are behind the States in terms of that movement. Um, but I think a lot of people are gaining confidence from it. And I really come at it from in terms of the style work that I do on television. You know, I think that if you wake up in the morning and you open your closet and the first thing you feel is like shame or depression or

like nothing in there is going to fit you or look cute or whatever those thoughts are. And I think a lot of women get up and maybe, you know, and men as well. I'm going to include men in there for sure. Then you're not going to get out the door and live your best life or do what you're supposed to do on this planet. You're not, you're not going to be awesome. You're not going to kill it. You're not going to go on that date. You're not, your whole life is going to get sort of stuck. And so I come at style from a position of power. It's total unlocking your life power. And it has for me. And I work with women all the time in terms of making that happen for them too.

Awesome. Yeah. That's very cool. And I bet you, I don't know, show me your T4 slips, but I think of the three, that might be the most lucrative one, right?

This modeling one, that's why you're going to move back to Rosedale because of the modeling. Yeah, the modeling's all right, but radio's good. Radio's been very, very good. Yeah, music, no. Canadian music career, no. You know, I had Radio has been very, very good. Yeah. Music. No. Canadian music career.

No. You know, I had a this year, this calendar year, I had these like eye opening moments about how tough it is to be like a Canadian musician. Only because I don't want to name names, but I've had over like people in a band that I loved through the 90s, like a big time band with like so many hits radio hits in canada yeah like and then afterwards he starts telling you like uh what kind of money he draws from like to live on each year and then you realize like that's you can't live in toronto on that how are you doing this no and i mean a lot of a lot of the bands that i know i mean a bunch of them have moved to hamilton like they don't like in terms of their their home and especially

now that that they're of the age and I'm, you know, where they're like getting married or having a kid, or you can't just sort of like rent a basement in Toronto kind of a thing. It's tough. Like starving artist is fine. But at some point you're right.

Like, especially if you have, start a family or something. Yeah, it's got to start to make sense. And I think the Canadian industry is definitely struggling when it comes to that, for sure. Much respect to bands that can make it work. Oh, much respect because I wanted to give him some money on his way out. I know.

There's a little walking around money here. I know. And I don't know. Yeah. Let's talk about holiday music. Oh, yes. Let's do that. Can we call it Christmas music?

Can we? There's no Hanukkah songs on your list. Oh, should I call it christmas music because there's no hanukkah songs on your list like uh oh should i have included one there's no rule okay i don't i mean i'm not let's not go over the top here uh although we are like i uh i understand we are actively in hanukkah right eight days yeah we are yeah and it's as of yesterday i think yes and uh there's not a lot of like popular uhkah songs, though. There's not. I think Adam Sandler. I was just saying, is that considered a Hanukkah song? No, that's not actually a Hanukkah song.

So here is a holiday song. Which one? Which one are you playing on my list? This boy child, Jesus Christ, was born on Christmas Day. And man will live forevermore. I love when that drops in. There's something about the, what are they called? Kettle drums? Is that what they're called? Yeah. Kettle drums, right? Kettle. No, there's something wrong with? Kettle drums? Is that what they're called? Yeah. Kettle drums, right?

No, there's something wrong with that. Steel drums? Steel drums. What's a kettle drum? Did I invent that? I think you just did. Oh, Mike, what's going on? Yeah, I like it when the steel drums show up in a Christmas song. It just feels sort of...

Right? It's just like it's tropical. This band's always fascinated me because they did the Rasputin and everything. I know. Boney M. Boney M. So tell me, Meredith, why do you love Mary's Boy Child by Boney M?

Of basically all the things that you just said. I love that it makes me feel like I'm on an island. It's just so happy. And when it drops down into that and then it has a great like breakdown. I feel like it's one of those songs that it has so many hooks on top of each other.

They hear our choir sing a song. The music seemed to come from above. Are we going to get to the breakdown part? No. Almost. We got two and a half minutes to go. It'll hit. Don't worry.

I'm not cutting this one down. Okay. I love that part. You know the part I'm talking about? Kind of. I'm not a big Christmas music guy, but I've heard this a million times, and I'm sure I do know it. Okay.

It's coming soon, I think. Not this part. I could do this Oh, no. Oh, no. I think you'll be good at kicking up the jams when you come back in 2018. That'd be super fun. Okay, I think it's happening now. No. There's a lot of parts to this song.

That's what I mean. It's like one hook on the other hook on another hook. This is Mark. Now it gets really good. I like that part. No more of that, please. That's fantastic oh my lord they gathered all around you to see him in the door this day will live forever

oh my lord they have begun to touch you oh my lord what did they know about you oh my lord but they were lost without you they needed you so bad Not the most secular song, though. This is very religious.

I'm hearing about Jesus, and there's a whole thing going on here. Well, I mean, that's the season. Is that the reason for the season? I don't know if you've heard about this Christmas thing. Felt like I just went to church there. That's good for me. That's good, you know.

Mary, maybe you like Mary's boy child. Meredith. Did anyone ever call you Mary? No, that's not a Mary doesn't come from Meredith. No, it's a whole different name. Don't make that mistake. Don't do that. Oh. This is so good.

No comment. I'm glad you're happy. That's what I will say. I'm so happy when the song plays. At this time of year. Everyone quiet. I pray you'll be alright. Celine. And watch us where we go.

And she's having like such a moment right now in terms of fashion. Really? She's not a plus size model, though. She's in the wave category. Yeah, yeah. It's okay. It's allowed. Not a lot of curves going on there.

Oh, you're a very religious person because this is the prayer. Gosh. Should I crack a beer just to like even it out or something you like your christmas songs to be um biblical it's just so good i mean the like key changes and stuff at the end it's the time to be cheesy it's christmas right i have like a major cheese factor, like in terms of no

cheese at a Christmas time. Andrea! Yes! Yes! Like, they're so good! Mike's like, no no comment They're very good But these are voices Oh, it's funny. When I chose this one, I didn't even really know.

I'm like, is this a Christmas song? Is it a Christmas song? Or is it just like, but it is. It's associated with Christmas. Promise? Yeah. It's just like, it's beautiful. Do you find maybe it's a tiny bit

slow? Do you think maybe it's just beautiful, right? This is a beautiful song. Like, come on. Very good singing, guys. Very good singing. That is chill. I'm not saying it's cool, but it's beautiful.

But what makes it a Christmas song exactly? Are they talking about... Is there some lyrics about a manger that I'm missing? I don't know. Is there anything in there about, is it Three Wise Men? I mean, this might be a stretch. I don't think it's a Christmas song. It's like associated. Well, it's the only time that I play this song is at Christmas. I can't, because the other times... You're doing it wrong.

Am I? I'm not sure. I don't think it's a Christmas song. I don't know, though. Like, I should have Googled it, maybe. Well, no, I think it is. It's called The Prayer. And they're talking about Let This Be Our Prayer. I mean, it's definitely like a love song. You know what?

I'm just, I'm sorry. This is like when you thought I played a different song off the top. This song is maybe a beautiful song and well sung by Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli. But I don't believe this is a Christmas song. Okay, fine. Then stop playing it on your Christmas special. You da boss. Goodbye, Celine.

Somebody kicked out the jams and played My Heart Will Go On as one of their jams. Wow. Hearing it, it was very... I didn't think I'd enjoy it, but her name is one of their jams. Wow. Hearing it, like it was very, like I didn't think I'd enjoy it,

but her name is Sarah Boesveld. She writes for Chatelaine. I was going to say, yes, I know her. She plays this song, My Heart Will Go On. And in the moment, like hearing it in the headphones and her singing along, I was digging it. Like I felt like very like triumphant. Yeah. Well, yeah.

And Christmas time is about love and about sharing and so that's why i chose that one and pentatonix oh oh my god like all the things are happening in my insides with this song see the presents underneath the good old christmas tree harmony man and i'll wait on light till santa comes to wake me from my dreams oh why Harmony, man. a kiss under the mistletoe and we'll cherish all these simple things wherever we may be oh why cause that's christmas to me i've got this christmas song in my heart i've got the candles glowing in the dark. I'm hanging all the stockings by Christmas tree. How many voices am I hearing here? Like, is this a lot of people?

Ten. Totonics. Five. See what I did there? Because I remember Pentagon was big when I was in the heavy metal and the Satan worshipping. Five. Because that's Christmas to me. So beautiful.

I listen for the third of the night, listen to that voice. Is that the guy from Boyz II Men? Right. He's just like, girl, you know I love you. That's good. They actually sang at the opening of the Bay Christmas windows this year. That's what Mariah did last year, right? Yes, quite serenously.

Oh, look at that. I nixed your Mariah. Is that okay? I couldn't play it because I didn't want to play it. Is that okay? That's okay. That's the one from...

That everyone knows. What's that movie called that everybody... The Hugh Grant movie that everybody watches. He's prime minister. Love Actually. I saw it once. I He's prime minister. Love Actually. I saw it once.

I thought it was over. I thought it was okay. I know. I only saw it once and I was like, oh, that's okay. I know. I'm sorry.

I don't have the spirit in me. You don't. But Pentatonix, okay, this song, by the way, is this, okay, a little departure for you because this is about Santa,

I think. This is like a secular Christmas. So I just think you need to do like 10 Hail Marys. I had no idea I was so religious. I'm about to play your next jam. Which is? Which ties in very nicely with the concert I just saw at Massey Hall. But this one too is a biblical, like.

Hey, I'm going to be proud of my biblical tendency. May I ask, were you raised Catholic? No. Were you raised religious? No. Were you christened as a child? No. I know.

Maybe that's why I'm so attracted to this. It's like my soul being like, do something about it. No, I need to follow this line of questioning a little further. So here we go. You went to public schools. You went to public private schools, I guess, because you're rich. Okay, can we stop saying this? You were raised wealthy.

So you went to private schools, but you did not go to a religious school. No, Branksome Hall is just a girl's school. Probably with kick-ass facilities. I envision like a huge a religious school. No. Branksome Hall is just a girl's school. Probably with kick-ass facilities. I envision like a huge swimming pool. Great facilities. Although like the facility, they redid the facilities even, you know,

since I've been there. So now they're very kick-ass. But you know, we wore the little uniforms and stuff. But did you, have you ever gone to church? Oh yeah. I'm not talking weddings and funerals.

Yeah, yeah. No, absolutely. Yeah. So your parents would take you to church? Yeah. Yeah. On like a Sunday. What kind of church was it?

Like a United church? Yeah. United church. Okay. Yeah. On like a Sunday. What kind of church was it? Like a United church? Yeah. United church. Okay. Yeah. Of which actually Gordon Lightfoot is a member. Later, tell me which ones I can stalk him.

And then he was number one on the charts when I was born. Sundown. Oh. Yeah. Right. You're better singer than me. You ready for your final Christmas jam?

That's the only one Because I gave you many I said it was very hard to choose Well Are you going to have Faith Hill The Grinch movie? No

Good These are some of my favorite people And it's such a good take On this song God rest ye merry gentlemen Let nothing you dismay Remember Christ our Savior Was born upon this day

To save us all from Satan's power When we were gone astray Oh, tidings of comfort and joy Comfort and joy Oh, tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy. Oh, tidings of comfort and joy. Here she comes, best voice ever. Oh, not yet. This blessed angel came.

He's got a good voice too. And unto certain shepherds brought tidings of the same. How that in Bethlehem was born the Son of God by name. There she is. Oh, star of wonder, star of night. There she is. Star with royal beauty bright. Westward leading, still proceeding. Guide us to thy perfect light. Okay, here she comes.

Okay, here she comes. Never under a salt away Oh, star of wonder Star of night Star of royal beauty bright Westward leading Still proceeding Guide us to that perfect light. Glorious now, behold Him arise, King and God and sacrifice. and sacrifice Hallelujah

Hallelujah Worship in God Most High Star of wonder Star of night Star with royal beauty bright Westward leading, still proceeding Guide us to that perfect light

We've got to rest in every gentleman We've got to rest in every gentleman We've got to rest in every gentleman We've got to rest in every gentleman oh i apologize for that crappy finish there i'm usually more elegant than that i love that i'm sorry that no i loved it so that was not me saying oh i hate this get the shit out of here that honestly uh that was great isn't it great because you got the bare naked ladies the version of the band i miss i know profusely and even steven page fun fact uh mother's side of the family is jewish oh, okay. And there's a Toronto Sun columnist named Steve Simmons,

who is on that side, first cousin of Stephen Page. But I just saw Barenaked Ladies and Ed doesn't mention the name. Like this is a couple of band members will kind of make a joke maybe about Stephen Page possibly, but it's persona non gratis.

Like this band is, that was a bad breakup, I think. I don't think we're going to see a reunion anytime soon. But damn, it was really nice to hear Ed Robertson and Steven Page together. That was a great combo. It was a great combo. How was the show at Massey?

It was great because they sound good. It's a great venue. But as you know, the banter between the songs from these guys, uh ed will do raps and stuff about like i think he's making up the rhymes off the top of his head it's just very entertaining like i feel like i'm going for like a really good comedy show and there's some really good music in there too yeah they're very funny guys and very personable and it was very intimate and excellent but that's also got sarah mclaughlin in it who's like the greatest canadian singer one of the

greatest canadians of all time the greatest and she sounds so so good on that track it's just like pillowy and beautiful and angelic and strong all the things that i just fell in love with her voice like you know 14 year old me so was that when was that when fumbling toward kids that's the album i loved and the whole hold on was the jam on that album that i was like holy shit this is good yeah so good i mean that was the first time it dawned on me i'd been in music you know taking like music classes and piano and i now know your age by the way because you've dropped enough clues throughout this episode that i now know your age it'll be my secret i'm good with it um but But yeah, that's just the first album that I was like,

oh, maybe I could write my own song. Like that's what dawned on me. So yes, I finally met Sarah. I was about to ask you if you've ever met Sarah McLachlan. Yeah, I have. Although the first time I was about to meet her was with Gordie Johnson and Big Sugar. We were flying to Vancouver to kick off the tour at the commodore and it was very exciting and then all of a sudden

in the vancouver waiting area was sarah mclaughlin and i was like oh my god and gordy being like cool and knowing her was like oh great let's go say hi to sarah and i was like yeah let's go okay and so as i started to cross the room all of of a sudden Gordy looked back at me. He's like, what is wrong with you? I was just starting to cry. I was like sniveling. I was like shaking and crying. And he was like, okay, I think maybe you just go back and you can meet her another time.

And I was like, yeah, okay, fine. You're right. Fine. And then the second time that I had the opportunity to meet her, it was actually an interview for Chum FM. And she was doing her Christmas album and thank goodness Ashley Greco the one and only and the lovely did the interview and I arrived

and just hung out and then got to take a photo with her and I said none of the things like you changed my life I totally think you're amazing I just she complimented me on my dress and I said she had a nice top and we just did silly girl, stupid things. And then we took a picture and I left and just broke down. I broke down, totally cried. That's an interesting reaction. I wondered like if I'd ever react that way,

because I did react sort of that way when you were at the door like 90 minutes ago, I tried to hide that. You covered it up. You did it well. I just, there's some people, I think I can almost interview anybody, but not that one. That's quite the reaction. But that's how, like, emotionally invested you are in Sarah McLachlan. So she's listening. She does listen.

Oh, stop. I don't know. Of course, I'm sure. I'm sure the Canadian music industry will be listening when they hear this is Meredith Shaw's episode. Hey. Did you have a good time? I had the best time. Is it over?

It doesn't have to be, except I felt like we committed to 90 minutes. That was 90 minutes? Wow. To be honest. That flew by. Closer to 100 minutes. In fact, we're going to hit 100 minutes right now. Well, wow.

Thank you so much for having me. This is a blast. And it was a real honor when you reached out. And thank you for the... Because I'm a fan. And yeah, do you like your ball? Wait a minute. Hold on.

I have a special sound effect for this. Hold on. What? Did you say you're a fan? Yeah. It's my record scratch. It's not working too well. Oh, I thought you had like a disco ball sound effect.

I was like, what? But have you you actually listened to this show of course what an of course I've had who was on my last guest

I could tell had never heard an episode Andy Frost I could tell oh no he claimed he had actually I'm going to take that back but you've listened

do you have a favorite episode um this is going to prove to me if you really do listen episode hmm you know they're all good you're going to say no no I'm not going to say they me if you really do listen. They're all good, you're going to say.

No, no, I'm not going to say they're... Well, they are all good, but I liked Jill Deacon. That's a recent episode. I like Jill Deacon because I'm a big fan of hers and have been for quite some time. Because she's amazing. Because she's amazing. And I learned a lot about her that I didn't know. And I think that's what you do. So thank you for doing that.

And she's also, like yourself, she's a musician who found herself on the radio. I didn't know that about her that I didn't know and I think that's what you do. So thank you for doing that. And she's also a, like yourself, she's a musician who found herself on the radio. I didn't know that about her. I didn't know that she was a music at all. I knew radio. I knew she had

that television show for a period of time too. That's right. You guys have a lot in common. She's also a plus size model. No, she's not. No, she's not. No, she's not.

No, she's not. But amazing. This was great chat and I'm actually going to make, I know it'll take a long time because of the delay you build in there, but I'm going to make you come back and kick out the jam.

I would love to do that. That would be so rad. Thank you. And now that I know you're so religious, let me wish you a happy Christmas. Happy and Merry Christmas on the birth of your savior. Bless you.

Bless you, Mike. And that brings us to the end of our 292nd show. You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike. Meredith is at Meredith Shaw. You got Meredith Shaw. Good for you.

I got Meredith Shaw on Twitter, but I got Meredith Shaw Toronto on Instagram. Some other bitch got that. It's me. I'm sitting on it. I'm going to sell it back to you after the show. Oh, did I thank you for the Kessel Vessel? I mean, the disco ball. I thanked you for that. Yeah, you did. More guests should

bring me gifts. Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer. Property in the 6.com is at Brian Gerstein and Paytm is at Paytm Canada. See you all next. I was going to say next week, but it's going to be tomorrow when Retro Ontario comes in and we talk more today's special. You've got to listen to that one. 100%.