The Law of Averages

London’s Taylor Holden has shared the stage with some of Canada’s music greats.

Monday, she’ll be sharing it again with some of Canadian music’s up-and-coming greats for the Jack Richardson London Music Week Kickoff at London Music Hall.

Taylor Holden and The Law of Averages, an alt/pop band based in London, will join Ivory Hours and The Weathered to start a week that begins and ends with the Jack Richardson London Music Awards.

Holden sets aside her solo folk act, which produced the album Home, to front The Law of Averages, with music described on their website as “quirky love stories, lush harmonies and infectious melodies to make you stomp your feet, twirl your lover, and get cozy all in one go.”

Holden is the lead vocalist, playing ukulele and accordion, along with keyboardist and singer Katherine Fischer, bassist and singer Sara Campbell, guitarist Charlie Weber and drummer Alex Thoms.

Ivory Hours need little introduction to London music fans after winning CFNY 102.1 the Edge’s Next Big Thing contest, beating more than 400 bands from across Canada, then winning the grand prize of Canada’s Walk of Fame’s Emerging Artist Music Mentorship Program, receiving $25,000, studio time, and a performance during Canada’s Walk of Fame events. The band includes guitarist and singer Luke Roes, bassist Chris Levesque, and drummer Thomas Perquin.

The Weathered was formed in 2013 and includes drummer Jay Westman, bassist Adam Trakinskas, keyboardist Scotty Parker, guitarists Dan Tran and Corry Van Spronsen.

The Jack Richardson London Music Week includes shows, seminars, workshops and awards events Sunday through to the awards gala April 9.

For more information visit the website jrlma.ca or call 519-432-1107. - London Free Press

Less than two weeks after helping rock in 2017 at Victoria Park, Taylor Holden & The Law Of Averages have another high-profile gig.

“We’re really excited to headline the next Local Folk show at Aeolian Hall on (Friday), but we’re also excited to take our new tunes on the road,” says Holden, lead singer, songwriter and ukulele and accordion player with the five-piece London alt-folk band.

“Playing shows together over the last few months has been the most wonderful experience, so I guess our goal (in 2017) is to play as many shows as we possibly can.”

Joining Holden in the lineup are keyboardist and singer Katherine Fischer, bassist and singer Sara Campbell, guitarist Charlie Weber and drummer Alex Thoms.

Also on Friday’s 8 p.m. bill are London’s Kevin Greene & The Awesome Sauce.

“The real goal of the (Local Folk) series is to give the opportunity for local artists to play on a world-class stage and get them into one of the best sounding venues not just in London but Southwestern Ontario,” Michael Del Vecchio, Aeolian Hall’s production and marketing co-ordinator, told Postmedia News.

“Just the nature of our hall and the operating costs make it not financially viable to do $10 ticket shows, but we’re doing it for this show to give local artists the chance to play in a world-class venue and expose our venue to younger people in the scene that might not even know we exist,” Del Vecchio said.

Tickets are $10 in advance, $13 at the door of the 795 Dundas St. (at Rectory) hall. Visit taylorholdenandthelawofaverages.com or aeolianhall.ca or call 519-672-7950. - London Free Press

Opening the 43rd edition of the Home County Music & Art Festival was London singer-songwriter Taylor Holden — a poised pro with her own ace songbook at the age of 20.

That would likely make Holden the youngest opening act in Home County history. For many of those years, it was Hamilton’s Jackie Washington — blessed with an eternally young soul and an encyclopedic way with songs from any era — who was the opener.

In his memory and honouring all those amazing songs in Home County’s past, a sign at the front of the Kiwanis bandshell proclaimed the area to be Jackie Washington Way.

Holden had her own songs and way at the bandshell Friday. Most of the songs were from her new album Home. “This is a song that’s pretty cool,” Holden said of one of the best of them, Southwestern Ontario, a love letter to the London-region. “This is the song that started it all off.”

Southwestern Ontario grew out of a backyard jam. The song then propelled her to the prize of studio recording time via the Made In London contest on radio station Free 98.1 FM.

Home was produced by Canadian music icon Moe Berg. The title track provided Holden with her finale.

Playing the later sets Friday were Winnipeg’s Sweet Alibi, Great Big Sea founding member Sean McCann and Toronto’s The Sadies.

Dating from 1974, Home County was more than 20 when TD Sunfest emerged and is decades older than the big July fests arriving in the 21st-century — Rock The Park and Trackside.

In addition to their Home County gigs at Victoria Park on the weekend, Holden and Sweet Alibi have shows at Grand Bend’s Rotary Community Stage on Saturday.

Holden had new material for Home County. Impressing a Holden fan who had heard the Laurier secondary school grad on the soundstage at The Free Press newsroom was Jenny. It is a solo tune — or “Just Tay” (as in “just Taylor”) on her setlist. Jenny is apparently about some “Jenny” who has a collection of broken hearts and has an edge.

“I just wrote it a few days ago,” Holden said after her set. That meant her band’s ace accordion player and vocalist Liv Cazzola, of Guelph, was hearing it for the first time. Cazzola told Holden how much she liked Holden’s voice and the dark twists to Jenny.

Cazzola came to London for studies at Western’s Don Wright music faculty. She is also a member of Guelph-tied acts The Lifers and Tragedy Ann. Cazzola is on one album track and was part of Friday’s London music all-star lineup backing Holden. “(A) cool thing about being a solo artist is you get to pick and choose (from other bands),” Holden said.

Joining her at the bandshell were longtime ally Major/Minor on guitar, Mountain of Wolves’ bassist Michael Middleton and veteran drummer Carl Welch, with The Wack MC’s and other bands.

Holden enjoyed making Home County history and then prepared to enjoy the rest of the fest.

The Fortunate Ones opened with Bliss and the crowd, growing by the hundreds, cheering for their late cover of Feist’s 1234.

The duo’s Andrew James O’Brien said the audience seemed a long way off. “We want to go crowd surfing — but it would be difficult,” O’Brien said. - London Free Press

New Year’s Eve in Victoria Park just added more local flavour.

London bands Taylor Holden and The Law of Averages and Hiroshima Hearts will play the Kiwanis bandshell bill, it was announced Friday.

Both acts celebrated on social media.

“Dang folks!! We did it!! We’re opening this New Years Eve in our hometown!!!,” the six-piece alt-pop Law of Averages tweeted.

“Thank you fans! Thank you @LDNMusicOffice! We’re opening for @Finger_Eleven on New Year’s Eve with @averagesband!” Hiroshima Hearts said in its tweet.

Fronted by Holden, a London singer-songwriter and Laurier secondary school grad, The Law of Averages has Katherine Fischer, Sara Campbell, Charlie Weber, Mitchell Hall and Alex Thoms in its lineup.

Holden was on the bandshell with a different band this summer for the opening night of the 43rd edition of the Home County Music & Art fest.

Hiroshima Hearts brings its five-strong lineup, four songwriters and three-part harmonies to the outdoor NYE gig.

“If we have a tagline, it’s ‘Dirty blues and dancing shoes.’ We definitely are . . . a throwback sound to the glory days of dirty rock and roll,” drummer and vocalist John Huff told The Free Press recently.

Tyler Turek (guitar), Kimi Maruoka (vocals/percussion), Michael Del Vecchio (bass) and Jenn Marino (vocals) are also in the Hearts.

Each act will play a 30-minute set to help welcome 2017 in the free event.

The two winners emerged from online voting via the London music office website after a Top 10 of local acts was chosen. Also in the Top 10 were Carly Thomas, Millenials, Mountain Of Wolves, Painted Faces, Texas King, The Census, The Justin Maki Band and With A Fox.

Burlington rockers Finger Eleven headline on New Year’s Eve at the park. - London Free Press

Shock rocker Marilyn Manson once said, music is the strongest form of magic.

Although 19-year-old Londoner Taylor Holden likely has little in common with the goth icon, she would probably agree with his point.

Holden, who recently won Free 98.1 FM’s Made in London contest, has been dreaming of a career in music her entire life.

In fact, she doesn’t remember a time when she didn’t think about it.

“It’s something I have just always done. I have always been in choir, been involved in music through school. I have just always been performing,” Holden said. “I don’t remember a day when I didn’t dream of recording an album and touring the world.”

The last two years after leaving school have put her on just that path.

Holden, who also works at the mental health organization Mindyourmind, has been able to travel and play shows across southwestern Ontario and even into the U.S.

When she’s up on stage, Holden can certainly identify with what Manson was talking about.

“Being up on stage, it’s magic. I like to describe it as music being a cool way to be very vulnerable, very open. I have some pretty bad anxiety issues, but it has never bothered me up on stage,” she said. “The feeling of being calm, feeling at peace, feeling so at home, it really is just a magical moment. I can’t imagine doing anything else when I’m up there.”

Judges in the Made in London contest may have selected the top three finalists, but it was her fellow Londoners who voted Holden and her original song, Southwestern Ontario, to the victory.

Although she enjoys singing other people’s songs, creating her own lyrics has become almost a cathartic experience for the singer because it offers her moments of true vulnerability.

And those moments, Holden adds, don’t come along every day and need to be seized when they happen.

“I have this amazing opportunity to take these words I have written after maybe I didn’t say the right thing or I wished I had something when I didn’t speak . . . and share stories on stage through songs,” Holden said. “I would feel odd not taking the opportunity to share my words with the world.”

Winning Made in London gives her the opportunity to do just that.

The grand prize in the contest was an $8,000 recording package at EMAC Recording Studios.

The prize would be enough to record an EP, but Holden decided to add in the additional funds that would go into producing a full-length album.

She is quick to praise the people at EMAC and is looking forward to the opportunity to get started on the record as soon as possible.

“I think of an album like your magnum opus, your masterpiece, the cream of the crop of your songs,” Holden said. “It will be a wonderful experience to bring these songs together.”

As for what’s next for Holden, well, she admits to not being someone who really plans far ahead.

She’s hoping to launch a European tour next spring, as well as travelling to the west coast and possibly the east coast as well, depending on, “how much anti-snow time” is left in that summer.

But when it comes to her own future, Holden says it is pretty simple.

“I do a lot of community events; I like connecting with people, but I’ll keep doing my music too,” Holden said. “I’m a bit of a small puzzle. Really it’s just music, mental health and Netflix. That is Taylor Holden in a nutshell.” - Our London

About the time she was turning 19 in January, London singer-songwriter Taylor Holden wrote Birthday Song.

“(It’s not) Happy Birthday — it’s a different kind of song,” Holden said of the words and music she created to celebrate via her ukulele.

Joined by three friends in her band, Holden shares Birthday Song in this week’s Reaney’s Pick video.

After her birthday, the London Laurier secondary school grad continued to have a successful 2015.

Holden found such allies on the London roots music scene as bassist Mike Ge and Dawn Redskye, who plays accordion on Birthday Song.

During the summer, Holden and friends gathered at her backyard to make some music.

“We just sat around my fire pit with a mic in the middle,” she said Tuesday.

Ge helmed the recording process and the Holden song they shaped was called Southwestern Ontario.

The backyard session song turned out to be a winner.

With the support of the event’s judges, Holden’s Southwestern Ontario advanced to the final three of London radio station 98.1 Free FM’s Made In London.

Then, online voting helped Holden win $8,000 in recording time at London’s EMAC Recording Studios and more prizes as the Made In London champ.

“We won this — I didn’t win anything,” Holden said of her Made In London success. It was a team effort and that is how she sees her unfolding career, Holden said.

At Laurier, she played viola and sang in the choir.

Laurier teacher Lydia Kendell inspired her. “She’s a big part of my musical journey,” Holden said.

“Taylor just loved music so much – she was involved in every ensemble at the school,” Kendell said. “She could play the viola in the orchestra and then get on stage and play her own tunes for the entire school at Laurier. Performing was always a strength of hers.”

Kendell and Holden have stayed in touch. Also inspiring Holden at Laurier was London singer, songwriter, actor and writer Donna Creighton, an occasional teacher who brought her guitar to a class. Holden played some cover tunes at Creighton’s encouragement. Then, Creighton said the student must have some originals to share.

“She kind of forced me into it,” Holden said happily.

Experiences like that helped Holden find the way to recording her songs, winning an $8,000 contest — and getting a little help from new friends on the way.

Alongside Redskye and Ge in Tuesday’s video shoot is Exeter-raised Charlie Weber on guitar. Like Redskye and Ge, Weber is part of other projects and bands. In his case, the band is called Major/Minor.

“That’s just me,” Weber said of the M/M band. “But I got Taylor to sing on one of my songs. That’s how we met up.”

Now, he is playing with Holden, too.

The Birthday Song performed by Holden and friends is to be on the album she’ll record at EMAC.

Holden and friends are also expected to be in the 2015 Winter Spectacular lineup when that London fest’s details are announced. - London Free Press

Moe Berg may be best known as the lead singer of Toronto rock group The Pursuit of Happiness, but his success in recent years has been found in the recording studio producing up-and-coming musicians.

For the past six months, Berg’s musical know-how has been used to put the finishing touches on the debut album of London singer/songerwriter Taylor Holden.

The 20-year-old captured the opportunity to work with Berg after winning the FM96 Made In London contest in October 2015.

Work on the album, Home, was completed just last month.


As Holden prepares for a launch party at the Western Fair Farmers’ & Artisans’ Markets on Thursday, May 26, Berg took some time to reflect on the bright future he sees for the young artist.

“I think she is an incredible talent. These songs are exciting and infectious, but mostly, really, really smart,” he said. “Lyrically, she has a unique voice that I think millions of people will be able to relate to. She’s like an alt-folk Taylor Swift and I don’t think Taylor would mind me saying that.”

Holden has been playing music professionally for the past three years, but she’s been singing for as long as she can remember.

With the help of the Made in London contest, not to mention Berg and everyone at EMAC Recording Studios, Holden said she has been caught up in what feels like the beginning of something special.

“It’s an interesting thing to realize people actually care about your music,” Holden said. “I think music is something I’ve always loved. I look at it as a bonus that sometimes people want me to do it as a job. It’s who I am as a person; music is in my blood, I love to perform.”

Although she’s recorded songs on her own in the past, having Berg around to polish her music is something that has her particularly excited.

She praises Berg as “a great person to work with,” and someone whose only goal was to make her the best musician she could be.

Of course, like any young ­musician, it was tough to give up total control of her music — even to Berg.

“I’m a bit of a stubborn person. Giving up control, well I guess it got easier,” she said. “To have someone like Moe onboard, to have his experience, to be able to push you into things you might’ve been scared to do . . . his advice really paid off, really played out in sound the band loves performing.”

Berg worked with Holden on her songs for a few weeks, “giving them some shape,” and coming up with some new arrangements before entering the recording studio.

“I’m extremely happy with how the record turned out. We had some nice performances by her musicians and Taylor did an amazing job singing these songs,” Berg said. “She is also a very good musician, playing the uke and most of the acoustic guitar on the record.”

As a singer-songwriter, Holden said she often feels pulled into the folk music trend that has emerged in recent years.

The concern being if she wants her music played on the radio, she might need to modify her sound.

Berg, it turns out, helped move her in that different direction, one that while still fitting with her folk roots, also connected with the “cool, quirky pop vibe” Holden said is the “sweet spot” for her music.

Wherever her music career might take her, ­Holden said she’s never going to leave the Forest City behind.

“I love London; I really do. I think conservative London has taken a hike. I think there’s a younger generation taking hold,” she said. “The music scene, watching it grow; London has always been a great place to be, it’s just now more people know about it.” - Our London