The Todd Donald Show

TayLynn, I met on instagram, while recording the previous episode with Milana and Mike. She’s a singer/songwriter from just outside of Kitchener-Waterloo who’s also attended the same open-mics, just on days I didn’t make it… sad I am now that i’ve heard her superb music! Her new debut EP “They Know” absolutely knocked me on my ass, it’s so good. So ultimately, THIS happened. We had an in-depth chat about the artist she’s become and the artist she wants to be, creative process and more. Enjoy some exclusive performances on this with her breathtaking voice!

Milana Boss & Mike Sharp are two exquisite KW singer/songwriters, both solo and collaboratively, in this case or moment in time, collaborative. I met them at local open mics, Waterloo’s Patent Social, and Kitchener’s Rhapsody Barrell Bar, and was instantly floored by their sophisticated songwriting and refined vocal delivery. We met up at Descendants Brewery in Kitchener to chat about being indie musicians, and also, whatever Pog-sized nuggets would fall out of our heads, hint!

KW Singer/Songwriter Jesse Parent’s love-fest continues, and this time he brought his acoustic guitar, and then travelled back in time to February 2018 to chat with me on my previous podcast, Todd’s Café. Enjoy this classic! This episode features new introductions and content from the vault.

The last time we saw our friend, Singer/Songwriter Jesse Parent, he’d been playing gigs all over Ontario both original and pub gigs for well over a decade - and only recently found his current / voice / home base as a story-telling folk artist. All that and a big bag of heart and soul is something that’s already been available to you my lovelies - in Episode 20. Jesse Parent. This is the return! Jesse joined me at my favourite place, home away from home, and also workplace - Descendants, in DTK, to chat about the ultimate RELEASE of that live album recording, packed with a couple new studio tracks in the package. Other than that, he couldn’t seem to stop me from jumping off the rails each and every chance I got, because I love this fella! I’m so happy to have been friends with this fella, that every time we’ve not been watching and supporting each other on stage - we’ve been good friends off stage as well, and I want you to HEAR that in our conversation. So There’s a mix of goofing off and sincere interview, in the messy, holiday seasonal way I do it.

Robin Lindner & Elaine Decleir are the #bossbabes behind now-Kitchener/Waterloo-based company and branding firm ‘Robin + Elaine’, they are also the force behind ‘KW Famous’ which spotlights some of the region’s famous and timeless pinpoints. I wanted to chat with them about what they do, as well as try and break through the we-met-online social barrier, and clown around. Recorded at Workhaus. Enjoy!

KW Singer/Songwriter, Jessie T, is not only a world class songwriter, co-host of THE SHOT, live performer, musician.. but she’s also a world class friend : D. We met back at Little Bean Coffee Bar in 2011, and I was honoured to have her as one of my first guests on ‘Todd’s Café last year. We just booked her TDS appearance recently, so in anticipation, i’m presenting this prior one from the vault.. there’s some good wisecracks and some deadly good performances. If you missed it, episode 51. Carlotta Trenholm features a 3-song acoustic set, also performed and recorded for this, at Descendants in Kitchener!

Carlotta Trenholm is a shiatsu therapist and live local music fan, that I met on the street. Literally. We met just outside of Kitchener’s downtown Market, and co-ordinated this via our mutual friend and past guest Cuneyt. This chat was recorded at Descendants Brewery, and was full of laughter and philosophy, particularly the school of thought behind her practice. What is Shiatsu, exactly? This is your chance to have a fun time learning about it. As an added bonus, recent to publishing this episode, (KW Rock/Pop/Country) Jessie T was around and was kind enough to perform a three song acoustic set for me to include here! Exclusive! Whaaat!

Tessa (Singer/Songwriter and more) goes back almost to the beginning with me, I almost feel like we’re related.. so as out-of-touch as we are these days, we can easily drift back into the comfort zone conversationally, without any effort. In the time we’ve known each other alone, Tessa’s musical gift has been poured into her own singer/songwriter stuff, but bands Red Balloon, The Short Films, other types of creative projects, she’s been a local advocate, run for City Council, appears in the local tv show project Kitchener Sync. More recently Tessa has birthed an initiative/event called Waterloo Region Crossing, which is a series of endurance events that raise awareness about pressing local issues… she almost, never, stops, which is her life-long endurance run, to live and give. Fuck. Enjoy!

Sam Nabi (Singer/Songwriter) is a gentleman I met over 10 years ago, when he was in Waterloo University, and my friend/co-hort Carrie Humphries was booking artists to perform in a no-longer-existant room in Waterloo’s Mongolian Grill. We meet again randomly at the open-mics at Rhapsody in Kitchener. It’s been great being back in touch with Sam in general, and our long-lost friend conversation transitioned smoothly from the past to the present to the future, with a mix of the evolution of how indie artists put out music, to Sam’s transition from singer/songwriter to hip-hop artist. Enjoy!

Evan Corneil is a singer/songwriter, fairly new to the Waterloo region, who I’ve met and been seeing perform regularly at the Rhapsody Barrell Bar open-mic night. Not only is he a swell young creative lad, but he’s a sweet down to earth lad that’s super fun to talk to. He stopped by and we had a ball with the conversation, I hope you like it as well? Plus, Evan was of course gangster enough to perform some live stuff, so, yeah!