I don’t remember how I heard about this show. After doing a little research on this band and finding out they came from Halifax and are doing the classic cross Canada tour, I was curious. I just came back from my first time out east and I now have an affinity for east coast music and their artists.
The band is a duo made of Aaron Greene on guitar and Art Ross also on guitar. Art is a strong advocate for Trans people and is working towards a harmonious life with all people. Maybe that’s why They are working as a musician. I was able to slip into the sold out show and grab a seat to see what the east coast will bring us.
T Thomason
T Thomason quietly crawled in like a neighbourhood cat, curious about what was about to transpire. He did say he walked to work and strapped on a guitar looking to add a couple of new fans that were here to see Pillow Fite. I found out that he also hails from Halifax, but makes Toronto his home now.
He expressed his gratitude towards Free Times Café for still being one of Toronto’s reliable spot to see live music. He started with what felt like prepared passion as he wined and dined his opening song. He was preparing his audience to really love him.
A lot of his material came from his 2024 release- “Tenderness”. Like most folk singers that write lovely songs and herald stories about real life, T brought something special. This was the sound of his voice. He has an unusual timbre to his voice that creates and shapes his words wonderfully.
His journey with his music has some cool twists to it. He was asked to write a song for a 3 part series called- “Ruinous Love”. This series contains two serial killers. That is an interesting thing to sing about. So he went outside his own space of comfort and wrote this song. The image I have is that of two serial killers standing over their victim. I will leave you with that. You will have to dig up this song and listen to it for yourself and come to you conclusive ending. The song is called-
He then threw a curve ball with his song- “Dirty Thoughts”. It is beautifully graphic in a tasteful way. Again, you have to find this song and hear these words for yourself.
Overall, I love the way he contains these slightly odd songs. He has a way of balancing his humour with his humility.
He jokingly said his last song, which is a cover, that this is obviously a very gay song. He finished off the evening with Bruce Cockburn’s song- “Lovers in a dangerous time”. By the end of the song the room was singing along with him. Check out Blast’s video- https://www.instagram.com/reel/DdOY1W8xPrF/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&stkn=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
This is T Thomason-
Pillow Fite
When I did find a seat and settled in, I noticed that this audience has had many Pillow Fites in their past. This was a mixed bag of family, who did come from away to see them in Toronto. They had their dedicated fans and musical explorers like me, just looking for a new band to love.
I was happy to see Art who is openly Trans, tell personal stories about their life. The first story had to do with Art, who is from Halifax, meets a young woman from St John, New Brunswick and gets lucky and kisses her the first time they met. This moment translated into a love song that was written right after that encounter. Art felt that it could feel a little creepy writing a song so quickly. Well, with everybody wondering what happened next, we sat with our hands. We got good news that the two of them are still together and are working out their long distant relationship.
This show was an open diary of Art’s life and experiences. Aaron who played the other guitar stayed somewhat quiet as he was here to be the Rock star on guitar. He does his job well.
In fact during one song, Aaron was allowed two guitar solos and the crowd went mad. Well, maybe not mad, but it was a fun highlight of the evening.
Art even wrote a song about their favourite show- Hacks. Art also sang a song to the friends in America. Pillow Fite has a way of giving the audience something to think about and maybe reevaluate your positions in life. The bands new song named- “Lucky” is a about this band flipping their car over and walking away unscathed and still having all their gear unbroken. It was a feeling of gratitude and trauma mixed together like a Yin and Yang moment.
The band finished off the evening with a song called-“Camera Roll”. Even though this show finally ran the course of a roll of film, it will still linger within us all and it is up to us to see what develops.
Oh that was deep!
Here is Pillow Fite-
If you want to learn more about these artists, here are their Instagram pages.
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