This week SongTalk welcomed our old friend Blair Packham to our studio.

The Toronto-based artist, first gained attention for his work with ’80’s power pop band The Jitters. He is now an acclaimed solo artist and musician. Blair released two strongly-reviewed solo albums before shifting his focus to composing music for TV and films, teaching songwriting at the post-secondary level and in numerous special event workshops, and co-hosting a long-running major market weekly radio show about music (“In the Studio” on the BellMedia talk radio network).

Truth is Blair is more than just a friend of the show, he is more like the older brother who always turns you on to the latest cool music trends. This week, Blair dropped by talk about authenticity in popular music – is it a scam, is it necessary, can you get it, can you lose it? Take a listen and find out.

We talked with Blair about:

* what authenticity actually means

* was it always a selling point in pop music

* how does authenticity benefit a musical artist

* is it an attainable goal and should you even bother

On Amazon: Faking It: The Quest for Authenticity in Popular Music

http://blairpackham.com/