"I was born, Lenore Elaine, in Rossland, B.C., Canada, was raised in Port Arthur (Thunder Bay) and Oshawa, Ontario and then lived in Toronto while going to school and working. I had a career in Personnel Management in Toronto before gleefully quitting work to stay home and raise a family...my long term goal was to go back to school and study law so that I could eventually get involved in politics.
I also decided to fulfill an age-old dream and learn how to play the guitar - as soon as I'd figured out 3 chords I wrote my first song and discovered that my notebooks of half-finished poetry were full of great hooks - my lifelong writing hobby connected with my lifelong love of music (see influences) and I realized that I'd much rather spend my life performing songs (political and otherwise) than anything else."
Genre
I tend to call my music "Acoustic Rootsy Folk", and call myself a "Contemporary Singer/Songwriter" but as the following review snippets show, listening is subjective!
"funky, folky" "down home folk with a rock and roll soul" "high energy folk/pop/countryl" "folk country blues" "country-flavoured folk/rock"
Influences
My early heroes were Cat Stevens, Jim Croce, Simon & Garfunkel. And then, Bob Dylan, John Prine, The Eagles, CCR, The Band, Pink Floyd, The Grateful Dead (to name a few). And, of course, there's Bruce.
For fun, I've added everybody else. Thanks to a ticket stub collection, I've put together a list (updated regularly) of all the amazing artists that I've had the privilege of seeing perform live. Inspirations, each and every one of them.
* - Have seen them more than once ** - Never miss(ed) a Toronto show Al Stewart Alan Parsons Allman Brothers Band ** Bette Midler * Bill Munroe * Billy Joel Blue Oyster Cult Blue Rodeo Bob Dylan * Bob Dylan and The Band Bob Marley Bob Seger Bonnie Raitt * Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band ** Buddy Guy Crosby, Stills, Nash * Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young * David Bowie Don Henley * Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show Eagles * Earle Scruggs * Electric Light Orchestra Emerson, Lake and Palmer Eric Clapton * Fairport Convention Frank Zappa Fred Eaglesmith Genesis Gentle Giant Gordon Lightfoot* Grateful Dead ** Guy Clark* J. Geils Band Jefferson Starship Jethro Tull * Jimmy LaFave * Jimmie Vaughn Joan Baez Joe Ely John Hiatt * John Mellencamp** John Prine * Johnny Clegg and Savuka Joni Mitchell Justin Rutledge Kasey Chambers Keith Richards Little Feat * Los Lonely Boys Lucinda Williams * Lyle Lovett Melissa Etheridge * Mark Knopfler Martyn Joseph * Mary Gauthier * Melanie Mott the Hoople Myles and Lenny Neil Young * Ozark Mountain Daredevils Pat Benetar Paul McCartney * Peter Gabriel Phil Lesh & Friends
Phish Pink Floyd ** Queen Ray Bonneville Robert Palmer Robert Plant* Rod Stewart and the Faces * Rodney Crowell Roger Waters Steve Miller Supertramp* The Band * The Constantines The Good Brothers * The Jayhawks The Pretenders The Rolling Stones * The Strawbs The Tragically Hip The Who * Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers ** Tom Rush * Tom Russell * Van Morrison Yes *
