Liam Titcomb

Raised in Toronto, Liam was surrounded by music his entire childhood. Liam’s first public performance was at the age of two, when he joined his father on stage to play the ukulele. His father, Brent, is a respected musician and songwriter. By the age of five, Liam joined his father at gigs as a backup singer and percussionist. At seven, he picked up the Cajun fiddle. By the time Liam was twelve years old, he was performing on various instruments as an opening act and not long after landed his own shows. Today, Liam plays guitar, piano, steel pan and drums. Liam has also played steel pan with the award-winning Afropan Steelband at Toronto’s Caribana festival for the past five years.

When Liam was only 13 years old he was performing at the Bamboo Club in Toronto when an A&R Executive from Sony Music Canada took notice of Liam’s staggering vocals and ease on stage. Soon after, Liam signed a recording contract with Sony Music and began writing songs for his debut, self-titled release.

Liam’s passion for songwriting was immediately evident. On this album, some of the songs were penned solely by Liam, but many were co-written with other songwriters. During this process Liam worked closely with a few musicians who quickly became very strong mentors in his musical career. Liam began writing songs with Tom Wilson (Junkhouse, Blackie & The Rodeo Kings) and Colin Cripps (Junkhouse, Kathleen Edwards). It was during these songwriting sessions that Liam quickly developed his signature rhythmic textures, lyrical insight and memorable melodies which define the tracks on his debut album.

Liam co-wrote the first single from his debut album with Tom Wilson, Tawgs Salter and Dave Thomson entitled, “Sad Eyes.” “This track came to us like lightening,” explains Liam. “I was 15 years old when we wrote and recorded this track. It just happened. We were crammed into a tiny room and everything clicked. We were able to put this track together in three hours. It doesn’t always happen like that!”

The songwriting process took many turns throughout the creation of this album. Liam spent time in Toronto, Quebec, Nashville and California as he put together the tracks that would make up his debut album.

During Liam’s time in Nashville he had the opportunity to work with songwriter/producer Jay Joyce (Patty Griffin, Wallflowers). “I was thrilled to be able to meet and write with Jay because I had fallen in love with his song ‘Cross Yourself’ the first time I heard the track. I asked if I could record this track for my own record,” explains Liam. “‘Cross Yourself’ is one of my favourite songs on the album.”

Following Liam’s stay in Nashville he traveled to California where he worked with Grammy award winner producer/songwriter Bill Bottrell (Sheryl Crow, Michael Jackson, Shelby Lynne, Madonna). Bill produced and co-wrote a number of songs on Liam’s album. “’Counting Headlights,’ was a track we worked on for a long time. Bill pushed me to take this song deeper,” says Liam. "One of the biggest things Bill taught me was not to be afraid of being myself musically, and that I should go with what I feel is right.”

The song entitled, “Cover Of Seventeen” was co-written with Pierre Marchand (Sarah McLachlan, Rufus Wainwright) at his studio in St. Sauveur, Quebec. “Two of my favourite musicians play on this track - Colin Cripps and Tom Wilson,” comments Liam. Pierre Marchand also produced “Rose Of Jericho,” the most moving and touching track written by Liam on the album.

“Rose Of Jericho” was written by Liam when he was only 15 years old. This song haunts the listener with its words and imagery. “‘Rose Of Jericho’ was inspired by a documentary I watched on TV about the abuse of young girls in the sex trade in Europe. The facts in the documentary were staggering and really hit me hard. I couldn’t shake the stories of these girls,” explains Liam. “I was working on a song at this time and it was shortly after watching this film that I ran across the phrase ‘Rose Of Jericho’ and it sounded so beautiful. I found out that the ‘Rose Of Jericho’ is a desert plant that curls up and dries out in order to survive. It can roll around in the desert for years. If you submerge this plant in water, it will bloom. This seemed the perfect metaphor for the girl in my song. During the recording of this track I was fortunate to have Chantal Kreviazuk and Kathleen Edwards lend their vocals to create, what I think, is a very beautiful song.”

While writing and recording his debut album, Liam contributed the song entitled “War” to the Peace Songs: A Benefit Album To Help Children Affected By War. Liam also performed at the 2004 CARAS Songwriters Circle in Edmonton during the 2004 Juno Weekend. “I was honoured to be included in this event with such notable songwriters as Murray McLauchlan, Danny Michel and Marc Jordan,” says Liam.

With the release of Liam’s debut album he is now ready to leave the studio and br