Corin Raymond Bios

Shortish Bio  

  Toronto songwriter Corin Raymond is a troubadour whose robust veracity appeals to older folks and children alike. Raymond’s songs are covered by Dustin Bentall, The Good Lovelies, The Strumbellas, The Harpoonist and the Axe Murderer, and a far flung community of roots musicians and enthusiasts. Raymond's latest JUNO nominated album, Hobo Jungle Fever Dreams (released March 3rd, 2016) is "a hypnotic, literate collection of dark tall tales.... Romantic, immediate, and narcotic." (Acoustic Guitar). Aside from the hilarious triumph of funding his previous project, double-album Paper Nickels, with Canadian Tire money, Raymond enjoys a second career performing his non-musical, one-man shows Bookworm (2011) and The Great Canadian Tire Money Caper (2014), which he has toured extensively to over a dozen Fringe and literary festivals, and to theatres in three countries. "Raymond has impeccable timing, and his performance is at once intimate, openhearted, and evangelical." (The Georgia Straight on Bookworm) "Corin Raymond is a storyteller who by the end of the night you'll have known your whole life." (The Globe and Mail). 
  

Longer Bio 

Toronto songwriter Corin Raymond’s love of words began in the car with his father, driving the endless jack-pined distances of Northern Ontario. His father would tell Corin Greek myths to pass the time, and for Corin, this began a lifelong love affair with words and stories that set him on the path to becoming an acclaimed songwriter and a student of songcraft. Corin has traveled the length and breadth of Canada and across the globe, and his songs are being covered by artists like The Good Lovelies, The Strumbellas, Jonathan Byrd, Dustin Bentall, The Harpoonist and the Axe Murderer, and many more. With Corin’s latest album, JUNO Contemporary Roots nominated Hobo Jungle Fever Dreams, he’s created his finest collection yet.   

Recorded in Toronto in 2015, Hobo Jungle Fever Dreams was produced by Canadian guitarist/songwriter David Gillis. “I love his creativity,” Corin says about Gillis, “and I love his tenacity.” As well as turning to Raymond-regulars like Treasa Levasseur, Corin and Gillis found cameo support from the likes of Sarah Harmer, and Juno blues nominee Jason Nowicki (The Perpetrators). Gillis’s full-band arrangements and electrified textures are distinguished by Corin’s storytelling. Corin has an eye for the smallest details that carry the most meaning. In “Hard on Things,” he strings a litany of these details into an all-too-relatable confession: “I’ve worn out two gold wedding rings, ‘cause I’m hard on things.” With “Morning Glories,” Corin describes a fixture of Toronto’s Kensington Market: “He’s a pension cheque gambler, he’s a park bench instructor / he’s a bread crumb handler, and a pigeon conductor.”  

A true Canadian troubadour, the studio work on Corin Raymond’s last project, Paper Nickels, a double-album hardcover book-packaged tribute to his fellow songwriters, was - through an absurd triumph of crowd-funding - paid for entirely with Canadian Tire money, handed to Corin by fans across the country. Raymond also has two non-musical, one-man, “storytelling” shows under his belt - Bookworm (2011) and The Great Canadian Tire Money Caper (2014), which he has toured extensively to over a dozen Fringe Festivals, literary festivals, and theatres in three countries. 

In Corin’s mind, songs have their own instincts for survival. “I liken songs to dandelion seeds and things that are borne on the wind or that cling to the cuffs of your jeans. Good songs are like burrs. They will attach themselves to you.”

Corin Raymond Bios for Download:

Press & Reviews

Acoustic Guitar Review of Hobo Jungle Fever Dreams 

"A hypnotic, literate collection of dark tall tales." 

"Romantic, immediate, and narcotic, Hobo Jungle Fever Dreams charts an emotional topography in which touchstones from the waking world drop into dreamscapes and resonate, the dead stay reassuringly close, and the fever never breaks." -Acoustic Guitar


Corin Raymond Interview with Americana Music Show: Podcast 

"Corin Raymond plays track from Hobo Jungle Fever Dreams and talks about giving songs a cinematic life, talking to ghosts, and travelling across the prairies of Canada.  

Also on this week’s episode, I’ve got the new Hayes Carll album, the new rock & roll album from Rod Melancon, and a new country album from Cyndi Lauper. Yes, that Cyndi Lauper. Plus I’ve got more music from that live Allman Brothers Band album, another bluegrass track from Town Mountain, plus Luther Dickinson, Reagan Boggs, and Eric Ambel." -Calvin from The Americana Music Show



Shawn Underwood @ Twangville.com - Reviews Hobo Jungle Fever Dreams 

"“Words can be like X-rays if you use them properly — they’ll go through anything. You read and you’re pierced.”  So said Aldous Huxley in A Brave New World, one of the most vividly descriptive books I’ve read. Words can also elevate a good song into a great one; a song that embeds itself into your brain and you hear it over and over for days. A self-professed lover of prose, Corin Raymond has put music to lyrics on his latest album, Hobo Jungle Fever Dreams, and proven the sum is greater than the parts." - Shawn Underwood, Twangville.com

In The Studio on 1010 CFRB  

Great interview with Blair Packham & Bob Reid.

Podcast Overview:
"We mark the passing of Sir George Martin and reflect on his legacy on not only the Beatles but recorded music in general; also the loss of Keith Emerson, and what’s up with Brian Johnson and AC/DC? Featured guests are former Barenaked Ladies co-main-man Steven Page and his terrific new album, and a great new release from Cameron House troubadour Corin Raymond."

Soundcloud Link: https://soundcloud.com/in-the-studio-on-1010/in-the-studio-podcast-march-19-2016

I come in around 19:10.

Winnipeg Free Press Review of Hobo Jungle Fever Dreams 

Corin Raymond: Hobo Jungle Fever Dreams (Local Rascal) 

Winnipeg-born Corin Raymond is back with yet another linguistic masterpiece. 

Hobo Jungle Fever Dreams (see what he did there?) is full of fun wordplay right from the opening track, Hard on Things — "I’m hard on my body, I’m hard on my bones / I’m hard on every tool I own." From there it just gets better with songs like Morning Glories that really come alive with it’s vivid "pigeon conductors," "drunken John Priners" and "stray cat collectors." 

Under the Belly of the Night is Raymond’s heartfelt ode to those classic artists who’ve passed on before their time… and those radio stations that keep the music alive. 

Raymond may not be the best singer around but, like Neil Young or Townes Van Zandt, he’s truly one of a kind, with his rarely heard beat-poet influence and musical timing. 

Whether real or made up, it’s apparent Raymond really cares about the characters who reside in his exceptional and engaging songs. ★★★★ 

Download: Morning Glories 

— Bruce Leperre

No Depression Reviews Hobo Jungle Fever Dreams 

"Canadian folk rocker Raymond is an excellent vocalist and even better songwriter: he clearly loves words—and wordplay—and his collaborations with fellow writers here convey a sense of humor that sometimes recalls John Prine (whose name shows up in one track). ...Clever, lilting, affecting. and fun." -Jeff Burger, No Depression March 2016