PHOTO : AMY WILLARD came lead singer with Whale Tooth , from roughly 2009 to 2012 , and played gigs at venues like Lee ’ s Palace and Sneaky Dee ’ s around Toronto , and slots at some festivals like NXNE . Music journalist Adam Bunch called her former band “ one of Toronto ’ s best live acts ” and described LeGrow ’ s “ frontwomaning with Whale Tooth some of the best frontwomaning a city full of amazing frontwomaning ” had to offer . Indeed , their always energetic shows featured songs that were both quirky (“ Growing Pains ”), and straight-ahead but catchy indie tunes (“ Wolves ”).
LeGrow wistfully explains , “ We toured Canada a couple of times but met the fate of a lot of bands when you ’ re in your 20s . There were political differences that led to our demise , but it was a lot of fun , a really good experience . I still really love that song , ‘ Wolves ,’ the video for which we filmed in an alley off Queen and Bathurst .”
But even though the band had split up , LeGrow had something comfortable to fall back on – or , rather , continue doing , as she ’ d been performing standards all throughout her time in Whale Tooth .
Around the time the band broke up in 2012 , LeGrow put out a self-titled EP that included the original song “ No Good Woman ,” which made some waves in Canada . But since very few outside of Canada heard that collection , she promises that revamped versions of its cuts will appear on her next record of originals .
“ At various points in my career , I ’ ve had the opportunity to perform all these types of music , and all have informed where I ’ ve landed now .”
Anyway , after 2012-13 , LeGrow found herself looking for a label partner that could support her future career aspirations . “ I took meetings but didn ’ t find the interest in making the kind of records I wanted to make ,” she says candidly . “ And , I wanted to tour with a live band . I had a vision that others didn ’ t seem to share . There were also suggestions of me going a lot more pop , and that wasn ’ t what I wanted to do .”
But she persisted and through a great contact with Toronto ’ s Awesome Music and its founder , Asim Awan , she got a meeting with S-Curve ’ s Steve Greenberg , who ’ d gotten a copy of “ No Good Woman ” and was impressed . LeGrow recalls , “ A guitarist and I went down in February 2016 , and I performed a few songs in S-Curve ’ s beautiful Manhattan office on the 19 th floor with a gorgeous view .”
She killed the audition and S-Curve saw an opportunity to put the Soul Sessions creative / production team back together and let LeGrow delve into Chess ’ s richly varied catalogue – most of which falls under the S-Curve / BMG and Sony / ATV umbrellas .
With S-Curve ’ s help , LeGrow narrowed the massive list of options down to about 30 songs . She explains her three major selection criteria : “ First , for anything I want to sing , it has to have a strong melody . I ’ m going to sing these songs over and over — god forbid , they become successful — and sing them for the rest of my life . Two and three are connected ; either they have to personally resonate with me , or they have a compelling story I want to tell with characters you care about . So basically , everything on the record has two of those criteria , with melody being the foremost , and then either one of the other two – something personally relatable or a cool story . I mean , with ‘ Who Do You Love ,’ I ’ ve never killed a guy or never been in prison , so it ’ s about someone who ’ s had a life much different than mine , but it ’ s a pretty cool story and worth re-telling .”
While the Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley songs stand out , she says it was a treat to find some unassuming , lesser known
40 • CANADIAN MUSICIAN
“At various points in my career, I’ve
had the opportunity to perform all
these types of music, and all have
informed where I’ve landed now.”
40 • C A N A D I A N M U S I C I A N
came lead singer with Whale Tooth, from roughly 2009 to 2012,
and played gigs at venues like Lee’s Palace and Sneaky Dee’s
around Toronto, and slots at some festivals like NXNE. Music
journalist Adam Bunch called her former band “one of Toronto’s
best live acts” and described LeGrow’s “frontwomaning with
Whale Tooth some of the best frontwomaning a city full of
amazing frontwomaning” had to offer. Indeed, their always en-
ergetic shows featured songs that were both quirky (“Growing
Pains”),and straight-ahead but catchy indie tunes (“Wolves”).
LeGrow wistfully explains, “We toured Canada a couple
of times but met the fate of a lot of bands when you’re in your
20s. There were political differences that led to our demise,
but it was a lot of fun, a really good experience. I still really love
that song, ‘Wolves,’ the video for which we filmed in an alley off
Queen and Bathurst.”
But even though the band had split up, LeGrow had
something comfortable to fall back on – or, rather, continue
doing, as she’d been performing standards all throughout her
time in Whale Tooth.
Around the time the band broke up in 2012, LeGrow put
out a self-titled EP that included the original song “No Good
Woman,” which made some waves in Canada. But since very
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