519 May 2018

Leah Harris is a bit of a
cosmopolitan. The Windsor-born
singer-songwriter loves to travel
and explore the boundaries of
not only her musical abilities,
but also the borders of the
world. Having visited countries
like Cyprus, Tanzania, Portugal,
and Estonia, Harris takes those
experiences and merges them
into a giant melting-pot of music
just waiting to bust out.
She was in Windsor this month
for a special one-off concert at
Phog Lounge before she left
for New York City. It served as a
triumphant hometown gig and
as the release party for her new
single Better Than
the Truth which is
now available on
her website and
streaming through
Spotify.
Harris sat down
for a lengthy
interview with 519
Magazine.
Windsor is your old hometown, but you actually
have rarely played here, so when you do, it’s
actually a pretty special gig.
Yes, it’s really special to come back and play here.
I have a lot of appreciation for the Windsor music
scene and all of the inspiration it gave me growing
up. The most special thing about my last Windsor
gig was that my parents got to hear me play live for
the first time in 5 years.
You’re a bit of a world traveler. Where has life
taken you so far?
My first big move was to Boston in 2008 to study
at Berklee. Five years ago I moved to Stockholm
to teach Science, and from there I made my
move to Finland to join the Yousician team.
I spent the last year working remotely from
13 countries, but Dublin was my
main base. Some of the favourite
countries I’ve visited are Cyprus,
Tanzania, Portugal, and Estonia.
Have you learned anything
from your travels?
Travelling is great because it
opens your mind so much. You
are constantly in that mindset
of being ready to adapt, which
helps you to better understand
people and their reasons for living
the way they do. I’ve also
learned which parts of myself
matter the most to me - the ones
I wasn’t willing to let go of. This
helped me understand myself
better, and I think it made me
stronger, since fighting for them
requires a lot of commitment
when they’re outside of the
norm.
Are there times you’ve really
missed Windsor?
Yes! I definitely took for granted
the unique musical influence
we get here in Windsor. I really
didn’t understand it before. For
one thing, I’ve had multiple moments
where I’ve been in another
American city, played a lick
on the piano, and had people
I don’t know ask if I’m from Detroit
– just from hearing a very
basic blues lick! Obviously there
is something unique about the
Detroit style that we don’t notice
having grown up with it. I
think that Windsor specifically
allows us to combine the Detroit
influences with Canadian ones,
and even with our own unique,
Windsor-specific style as well. I
can’t always explain it, but I definitely
notice something special
in the Windsor music scene that I
haven’t heard anywhere else.
I’m sure Windsor and Detroit
played an important role in
your musical life.
Detroit radio exposed me to
styles of music I may never have
heard if I grew up in any other
Canadian city. Aaliyah, Aretha
Franklin, Anita Baker – but also
lesser known artists that I ‘ve
heard through the years. I also
used to be in a Detroit band
called Foundation of Funk, which
taught me a lot about funk and
Motown styles.
Windsor is where all of my real
training and performance experience
happened though. I remember
my first gig at Ozwald’s
when I was 15, and my regular
performances at Foia and Teka.
If it weren’t for these opportunities,
I wouldn’t have been able to
grow at the same rate. I also had
a lot of support from local people
who helped me get started, like
Brett Humber at Sound Foundry
studios who I started recording
with when I was 9.
Windsor still plays an important
part in my musical life. I get
really inspired when I come back
and hear bands like the Coffee
House Combo (who play every
Sunday at Phog), singer/songwriters
like Max Marshall (every
Monday at the Orwell), and up
and coming vocalists like Natalie
Culmone and Madeline Doornaert.
One of the coolest things
for me is hearing the way some
of my old students, like Carson
and Kaia Reaume, Kat Moscone,
and Sofia Asprakis, have grown
into incredible artists with their
own careers.
Aside from music, how did
growing up in Windsor shape
you as a person?
Growing up in Windsor, I met
SO many different types of
people – people who were very
different from myself. I always
loved to learn about our differences
and would get really excited
about their stories, where
they came from, what their interests
were, and what we could
learn from each other. I went
to Walkerville High School too,
which is such an amazing environment
for this.
When I was living in Finland,
one of my friends asked me why
Canadians are so nice. I honestly
had no idea, so we looked it up
on Quora (lol). The number one
answer basically said that Canadians
are nicer than most people
because we have so much
diversity here, which helps us
to develop tolerance and openmindedness
from a young age.
Whether or not this is true, I do
feel like there’s a lot of potential
for this in Windsor, if people just
take the time to check out all of
the cool, unique things that are
happening here.
Now you’re off to New York.
Why New York?
To be honest, I think it’s meant
to be! I was actually aiming for
Toronto, since I’ve heard great
things about the music scene
there, but somehow New York
just came together naturally. I
have always loved NYC, and I’ve
been going the last few summers
to record my new album
there. I knew I loved it and that I
wanted to move there someday,
but I wasn’t sure exactly how or
when it would happen. But here
we are!
Interview by Dan Savoie