Tammy Raybould

By IAN NATHANSON

When Tammy Raybould heads to Toronto for Canadian Music Week festivities this weekend, she'll have three showcases lined up for her ... all in one day.
Along with a solo exhibition and band performance Saturday afternoon and a midnight show with the band, "The Canadian Radio Music Awards are that day, too," the Ottawa-born singer-songwriter explains on the phone of her itinerary.

"I don't know how that's going to work out, but I'm sure it will."

Of her CRMA nomination in the pop/adult best new solo artist category for Loving You, the lead single from her full-length debut Maybe, Raybould admits, "I'm not expecting to win. My name is in the nominees selection and that's good enough for me. Have you seen the other nominees?"

The 24-year-old is up against Adam Gregory (Only Know I Do), Molly Johnson (Diamond In My Hand), Kingston's Sarah Harmer (Basement Apt.) and recent runaway Juno winner Nelly Furtado (I'm Like A Bird).

Like many other Ottawa-area acts heading down for CMW -- including Jim Bryson, Julie Larocque, Lister, Circuit, Snailhouse, Robert Farrell, Phantom Shifters, Hennessey, Tony D (with westerner David Gogo) and Genna -- Raybould's raison d'etre can be boiled down to one word: Exposure.

Yet one might easily assume Raybould had reached that 'success' plateau years ago.

Busking on Sparks St. in her late teens helped procure her a few paid corporate gigs and eventually helped finance a 1998 indie debut, Facade. Submitting that seven-song EP to Nettwerk Records (home to Sarah McLachlan), Raybould scored big with a spot on Lilith Fair, McLachlan's all-female tour de force, that summer.

Her Lilith Fair spot helped secure future live gigs and a partnership deal between her indie label Boulder Records and Sony Music, which released Maybe in late 1999. Pop radio locked on to Loving You, a blessing in Raybould's case.

"For someone like me, the only way you're known is because of radio airplay," says Raybould, adding her Loving You was also used on an episode of TV's Dawson's Creek earlier this year.

"But look at someone like Ani DiFranco. She doesn't get any radio airplay, yet she's very well known." (Ironic she brings up DiFranco, who's headlining the Congress Centre on Sunday night.)

Still, creating a buzz is one thing. Keeping up the momentum, as Raybould can attest, is a different beast entirely.

"If you're going in to be a medical surgeon, at least there's a set plan for doing it," she says. "In the music business, there's so many different ways of getting in -- through touring, record company support, marketing, radio airplay ... it can be a bit hard.

"But I would rather it take a long time than have success happen overnight. I don't want to be flavour of the month. I'd rather appreciate true success when I get it."

The lineup for the music festival portion has some 300 artists slotted to perform at 25 downtown T.O. venues. Call 905-858-4747 for further information on conferences, guest speakers and ticket information or log on to www.cmw.net.

- Canoe Network

Tammy Raybould came all the way to Calgary to make you her fan.

Originally from Ottawa, the pop/rock singer headed west three months ago to continue building her fan base--something she had no trouble doing out east thanks to her song "Loving You," from her latest album, Maybe.

Currently on a solo tour featuring herself on piano and guitar, Raybould appears ready to leap from entrepreneurial indie artist to corporate-backed Canadian star, but still doesn't consider herself a success.

"I'm not there yet. I've done successful things," says Raybould. "With the type of personality I am, I may never be able to say I'm a success."

Nevertheless, she's certainly accomplished a lot considering her label-free status. Raybould performed as part of Lilith Fair, had a song featured on Dawson's Creek (though she admits she never watches the show) and was nominated for Best New Solo Artist at the Canadian Radio Music Awards.

"That was amazing. It was wonderful to be among those other musicians," she says of her loss to Furtado. "I was the only indie artist up there."

How independent Raybould stays remains to be seen. Her self-started label, Boulder Records, recently partnered with Sony Records to distribute her CD.

"It's perfect," she says of the union. "I don't have the limitations that other artists have."

While she may not have limitations, she certainly has talent and the benefit of a musical background. Her family is musically-inclined: Raybould's mother owns a music school, her brother tours with a band and her stepfather managed her until recently. Not wanting to pull a LeAnn Rimes, Raybould now does her own bookings and promotions.

"Music was always a constant; it's always been there," she explains, adding that when she made the final decision to be a musician at age 13, not every one supported her.

"A friend of my Mom's said it's a one in a million chance, but that just made me work harder."

Her hard work paid off early, as she won a scholarship seven years ago to the Berklee College of Music in Boston. While she feels uncomfortable at other campuses--as though she doesn't fit in--she felt like one of the group there, surrounded by fellow rock stars and music geeks.

"I still feel like I don't fit in," Raybould says. "But, at Berklee, everybody felt the same way."

There is one side of music, however, that can't be taught by family or school. The energy and passion found in Raybould's most emotional pieces are an expression of her own personal feelings. She treats her lyrics as a diary, creating a strange, personal intensity in her songs.

"It's my journal," she explains. "When my dad left, when I was 12, I used to express myself in music. Now it's just a habit."

Don't worry, her music isn't as melancholy as it may sound, and neither is her personality. Her press photos, website and CD cover all depict Raybould as a dark-eyed mystery. In person however, she's a bubbly, more natural beauty. Her outgoing personality prompts many to ask why she's always so happy.

"I'm high, I guess," suggests Raybould, with a beaming smile.
- The Gauntlet

Local singer/songwriter Tammy RayBould has been waiting nearly her whole life for her big break. This Friday she finally gets it -- an opening slot on the successful Lilith Fair tour.
"I've been playing piano ever since I was four, singing and songwriting since I was about 13 or 14, and performing ever since then," says RayBould, 22, while perched on top of a wooden playground platform.

Across the street is the Barrhaven Mall, which holds both the Nepean School of Music -- run by her mother and where RayBould is a music and voice teacher -- and Nepean Systems Incorporated, her management company, which is run by her step-dad.

RayBould, glancing at the small children running rampant over the playground, is wearing Birkenstocks, khakis and a black hooded sweatshirt to keep out the wind which is playing with her long, curly, brown hair. She is somewhat reminiscent of Alanis -- if Alanis owned shampoo.

"I sent my package to Vancouver, to Nettwerk (Sarah McLachlan's label), on April 30," she says, her eyes lighting up at the memory. "They got back to me on May 1 and asked me if I wanted to do it.

"I wasn't expecting anything to come out of my package going there. I didn't want to expect I would get in. I didn't even want to hope for it. But I'm glad I sent it now," she pauses briefly to emphasize her point, "pretty glad."

RayBould's "overnight success" has been a long time coming. She spent her formative years singing in a show band, performing at weddings and business functions, before eventually graduating to local clubs as a lead singer in various rock bands.

Her music allowed RayBould an outlet that she did not receive in school.

"I was kind of a loner and I didn't really care about school that much," she whispers conspiratorially. "High school was a difficult time for me."

Part of the difficulty lay in RayBould's inability to bond with her fellow classmates.

"On a personal level I have a hard time communicating and expressing feelings in relationships and that kind of stuff. So I always put it into my songs and that's how my songs grow.

"All my emotions and feelings get bottled up and then they come out in a song. So that's where the inspiration comes from. It's almost like a diary."

After she graduated, RayBould began to focus on her solo career. While continuing to live at home, she busked on Sparks Street, toured with Junk Yard Symphony and played before thousands at a Canada Day celebration.

RayBould even won three scholarships from the illustrious Berkeley College of Music in Boston -- unfortunately not enough to cover the costs of post-secondary education in the U.S.

But her most impressive accomplishment to date is her debut CD, Facade, which came out July 1. It was recorded for a mere $5,000 -- a forward on her paycheque from her music school job -- and showcased her talent enough to get her on the Lilith bill.

"A couple of my friends dumped me because of this. It was other friends who were in the music business who thought it was a slap in the face that I got something and they didn't," says RayBould. "But most of my friends have been so supportive.

"I keep dreaming about (Lilith Fair). I don't even know what to tell you, I'm still in awe. I don't know if I'm more excited to perform or to see them perform later on in the day," says RayBould of performers such as McLachlan.

"I'm hoping I'll be able to meet them backstage or, well, I don't care where, just to meet them anywhere."

- The Ottawa Sun

By Rebecca Morier
Gazette Writer

Don't let the album title, Maybe, fool you – for songstress Tammy Raybould, there's no doubt she's reached an exciting point in her music career.

Playing in London tonight at Call the Office, Raybould has been busy with tour dates and special appearances to promote her full-length debut album. As a follow-up to the homespun charm of her 1998 7Ðtrack EP, Fa?ade, this latest offering features the Ottawa native's folk/rock stylings with a mature pop sheen.

"There's definitely been some growth there," she says of the transition between albums. "With Maybe we put a lot more thought, work and money into it." It certainly paid off.

In November 1999, her indie label, Boulder Records, landed a partnership with Sony Music, diffusing the distribution of Maybe across Canada. Raybould says she couldn't have been more pleased. "Distribution has increased right across the country, which helps us not worry about getting stuff out," she says knowingly. "Having another company, especially Sony, behind us doing that, is a great load off our shoulders."

Even before the Sony deal, Raybould was carving out a place for herself in the music industry. Her most notable event was her appearance at Lilith Fair in July 1998, which came about as the result of her manager submitting Fa?ade to Nettwerk Records a month prior.

"[Lilith Fair] was amazing," she recollects fondly. The event provided the young singer-songwriter-pianist the opportunity to show off her musical forté to a large and very encouraging crowd. As much as the experience was personally gratifying for her, she notes its practical advantages. "Lilith Fair is a great name to have on my bio. Having that name on it has given me a lot of gigs and more respect in the industry."

For Raybould, being on stage with names such as Sarah McLachlan and Paula Cole was overwhelming, but not as much as the blitz which followed, where she received a healthy dose of well-deserved exposure. "All the press and coverage I had was amazing. I got to meet a lot of wonderful people – not just the artists but their management, a lot of record labels, a lot of press. It was great."

Despite the post-Lilith fanfare, Raybould is focused on Maybe, which is comprised of two songs from Fa?ade and nine new tracks. Currently receiving regular airplay, the first single "Loving You" is an infectious, upbeat track which displays her powerful and limber vocals, setting her apart from the current mass of bubblegum rockers.

The blend of Raybould's vocals with guitar and piano often create a hard-edged, yet sentimental ambiance. With songs ranging from the hypnotic "I Could Tell You" and the catchy "How is He," to the wistful "This Is Why," Maybe is sure to satisfy Raybould's fans, while encouraging a greater following. With the positive response which has greeted her since Lilith Fair, Raybould is keeping a level head and concentrating on promoting her sophomore release.

"We're touring a lot right now, trying to get sales up for the album," she reports. Having never been in London, Raybould says she is excited about tonight's show at Call the Office.

If her success thus far is any indication of her ability to entertain, she will surely provide a high calibre performance and the opportunity for local music listeners to share in the reveling of her talents.

As for the future, Raybould is focused on the moment. "I already have a couple of ideas for the next album," she says. "As for now, I am pleased with the way this one turned out. I've had good feedback on it."

For a promising musician whose career is rapidly gaining momentum, that's more than a good place to be. - The Gazette (London)