Harmony Hall

When I walked into Harmony Hall for the first time ever, I felt I was at home. The room immediately welcomed me and the people who ran this event treated me like family. This was the kind of family reunion most people dream about. Think of all those failed Thanksgiving dinners over the years. Not here.

This is a place where you can just hang out and have a relaxed evening with strangers who will be part of a bigger clan.

Looking around at the tables and couches, I would estimate this place would hold about 60 people this evening. They also serve food and drinks.

Mo Mondays

Mo Mondays is a long living project created by Michel Neray. The first inception of Mo Mondays started in 2012 and grew across Canada in 16 cities. Covid showed up and this show went and slipped back into its chrysalis to reform into something different. The original idea was to focus on just storytellers with a bit of music. Today, this show is emerging with the focus on half storytelling, half songs.

Right now, you can travel up to Harmony Hall about once a month to catch this show. I arrived at their third show. They are beginning to look around and do something in Toronto. Personally, after my experience, I would still make the trip to the town of Gormley to be at this show. It just seems all the right energy is right here.

You just have to travel up the 404, get off at Bloomington Rd and travel about five minutes to 14663 Woodbine Ave.

Opener

The man who runs this heartfelt vehicle- Michel Nerey and Wolfville guitarist and singer, Kevin Howley started the showoff with one song called, “Let the wild orchid grow”.

The message was very clear. It is about living your best life ever and it always begins now!

Wolfville

Wolfville is a duo that was once known as Running Red Light. As Michel was introducing them, he went and explained their history to us so we could get a deeper understanding of what we were going to experience. His history lesson was stark and real and honest. It pulled at our empathy and opened us up to a real experience we call life.

Scarlett Flynn and Kevin Howley took turns talking about their past relationship which contain all the ups and the downs. They did not hold back any words, and I sat there feeling as naked as they did. I could see my past through their words.

They chose to tell their relationship story within three songs. This was going to be the classic boy meets girl story, but this was no Christmas Hallmark movie version.

It begins with Girl goes to the big city with stars in her eyes only to let the seedier side of the city rob her of her hopes and dreams. She is left as a shell of a person.

The boy comes along. We think it is for the big save. This worked for a while but didn’t have the strength to sustain the rocky path that followed them. This was their opening song- “Mulberry Love”.

After that song, it was confession time and the truth that they laid out for us made everyone feel raw. We sat in this discomfort not knowing what we would do in this situation.

The next song- “How to be an Astronaut”, is the painful period of loneliness, reevaluation and slow healing.

It was what they said about the last song that really helped with my perception of healing. Failed love is not a false love. Let that one sink in for a while.  This is another way of moving on. It reminds me of William Prince’s song- “Always have what we had”.

Just as a side note, Wolfville won the People Choice award from NXNE this year!

Andrew Leith

I will be up front about Andrew Leith. I was not prepared for this man. I am not a big fan of what I call Corporate speak, or corporate people.

Andrew’s quick story is, he was a hopeful Rock Star that turned corporate just to return to back to his rock roots. But don’t tell the corporation about this.

He spoke like a true board room meeting guy whose every word carried weight to it. He also has the heart of an artist. I honestly have never met another person who could do both simultaneously.

His story was about his childhood growing up on the water painted the first picture of who he is.

Andrew’s first message to us was to be true to yourself. His ability to balance these two very different worlds changed the way I look life again. You can have a sense of harmony in a professional world as well as an artist. This clarity became obvious as he resonated his love for music and the way he chooses to share this on a stage. There is no smoke show here.

His song- “With you”, is just an extension of his message.

Stephanie Staples

Stephanie Staples is the woman who ran the MoMondays in Winnipeg. Michel swears she did the best job while she ran that show. We all were lucky to have her in the Toronto area this night. Michel had to have her up on the stage at least for one song and a story.

In her own original way, she placed a chair at the front of the stage and proceeded to climb that chair to get on stage.

Stephanie proceeded to tell a lengthy story about how annoying she can be. She spoke about she never really knew about this behavior. When you are surrounded by close people and they protect you from that information. It comes as a shock when others are open about their feelings towards this.

The song she chose was both fun and cute. It was about being yourself, even if you are annoying.

Angela Saini

I have met Angela at other functions around Toronto, but I have never seen her perform. I had some people saying I was in for a treat.

She began her story with it is day 271. She is single and she is relearning all about herself again.

Her story goes back 20 years when she had a partner who was her band mate.  They took that musical leap of faith and moved to Toronto to make it big. It must really feel like jumping in the deep end without a floatation device.

Then she sang, “Where I put the Light”. I felt that she was lighting up the room from within. This song is driven with passion and hope and all the pitfalls you encounter along the way. It is when you make it through those moments and when you land, do you walk away with regret or gratitude.

Angela’s voice is vulnerable because she chooses to be a keeper of the light. When you do that, you must remain wide open to everything that comes in your way. As I am writing this, I am laughing at myself, because I feel I am telling this gothic story about light and darkness like a vampire movie.

Well, Angela pointed that light at the entire audience, and she let us take a closer look at ourselves.

I guess that she is a keeper of the light.

A Message to singer/Songwriters

When I walked in and when I left, I realized every aspect of this evening was meant to be here. I have been to many song circles and singer/songwriter shows. I will honestly say this is the pinnacle of this kind of series.

This is a Master class for up and coming to new artists to learn from. So, if you are an artist and you want to work on your craft, this is a huge opportunity for you to add to your proficiency.

For music lovers this is great evening to sit and forget about the outside world and maybe learn a little bit more about yourself.

I know I did.

If you were at this show, I would love to read your comments below. Please share what you got out of this evening.

In the meantime, you should follow MoMondays on Instagram to learn when the next show will be.

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