Daniel Caesar

Lay down your pride, lay down with me

What you like, what I like, why can't we both be right?

Alabama Shakes. "Don't Wanna Fight." Sound & Color, Alabama Shakes LLC under exclusive license to ATO Records, LLC in the United States., 2015.

Still coming down from the high of the Osheaga Music and Arts Festival last weekend in Montréal, where I had the immense pleasure of sitting next to Toronto R&B up-and-comers Daniel Caesar and Tommy Beesley (aka River Tiber) while the supremely talented Alabama Shakes rocked the crowd. Lead vocalist and guitarist Brittany Howard is truly a force of nature and witnessing her belt her heart out to a crowd of tens of thousands of festival-goers during sunset was an experience I'll not soon forget.

After learning of the horrifying events in Charlottesville this past weekend, and returning to the US from a short visit back to Canada, I've been feeling a renewed sense of hope in the power of cultural institutions, the arts, and especially music, to share messages of tolerance, foster understanding, and build community. We need it now more than ever.

Tell me you miss me, back in the city...

River Tiber. "West (feat. Daniel Caesar)." Indigo, River Tiber, 2016.

Ever since I first caught Toronto's Tommy Paxton-Beesly (aka River Tiber) open up for Kaytranada at Mezzanine in San Francisco, I haven't been able to get this song out of my head. I was instantly mesmerized by his haunting R&B vocals, the way he layers in guitar to create a sense of atmosphere, and that early 90s influence that seems to characterize much of the music coming out of The Six.

This song reminds me of the feeling of being a Canadian living in California, that spirit of "going west" and being lost in a dream.