Biography

As a young songwriter, Blair Packham wanted to be Paul McCartney. Then Curtis Mayfield. He then wanted to be either John Prine or Steve Goodman. Soon, Blair wanted to be Elvis Costello, any member of the Clash or Andy Partridge of XTC. For about ten years, he wanted to be the lead singer of a band called The Jitters and had some considerable success at this, between 1981 and 1991, when he and the band scored some Canadian hit records, including “Last of the Red Hot Fools” and “’Til the Fever Breaks”. After the band folded, Blair decided he wanted to just be Blair Packham, so he finally released his solo debut, called Everything That’s Good, in May 2001. The Toronto Star called it “superbly-crafted...tuneful, honest, sharp-witted, and performed with style and confidence”. It was written and recorded with friends like Ron Sexsmith, Suzie Vinnick, and Craig Northey. In 2003, Blair wrote and recorded the follow-up disc, Could’ve Been King, in Vancouver with Northey and the rest of the Odds. In 2005, Blair co-produced, with Ron Sexsmith, “What Ever Happened to Christmas” for Andy Kim, and the song hit Number Five on the national AC charts. In 2009, Blair continues to want to be Blair and does so by composing music for TV and film, writing songs, and by being the co-host of CFRB 1010’s Rock Talk (heard Sunday nights, 6p.m. EST in Toronto and on the ‘web. Finally, Blair is looking forward to launching—with Rik Emmett—the first annual SongStudio Songwriting Workshop.

for more information:
www.blairpackham.com www.songstudio.ca