About Me
"Graham Tilsley is a young musician with the motivation and heart to take him far. One can easily be fooled to judge his age by his musical endeavors. Born and raised in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, he learned his love for music early from his older brother, a self-trained pop-rock guitarist, electric bassist and vocalist. Following nearly directly in his brother’s footsteps, Graham absorbed as much information from him as possible. However, after acquainting himself to the taste of learning, he felt the need to seek different sources and new instruments. Concert and jazz bands, starting in grade six, and concert and jazz choirs in grade nine became his next forms of musical interest, yet on the side, his singer/songwriter-self continued to grow and thrive.
By the time he was fifteen he had already composed, produced and engineered his own six-song EP with a minimalist’s resources. He has experience all over the map, from playing weekly gigs in the house jazz trio at Mama Mia’s Restaurant in Saskatoon, to many rock shows with former bands Playing In Traffic and Cedar’s Bloom. He placed in the finals of Saskatchewan Youth Talent Search of 2004 as a solo singer/songwriter, and has recorded with upcoming Blues/Soul artist Kyle Riabko. He states, “I don’t feel that I excel at one particular instrument or skill, but I would like to be able to navigate around a few pretty comfortably.â€
Over the past few years, he has studied classical and jazz on the upright bass under Kristin Korb of Los Angeles at Prairieland Jazz Camp in Regina, Saskatchewan, and Matthew Parsons of the Saskatoon Symphony. In 2006 he relocated to Edmonton to attend Grant MacEwan College for the Recording and Performance Programs, learning under electric and upright bassists John Taylor and Jeff Johnson, and recording extraordinaire Colin Lay.
To this date, Graham has been a major part of six albums, including his solo, full-length album, I Contribute (2005).
Currently, Graham continues to study under John Taylor at Grant MacEwan College, and in the little spare time available, writes and performs with the indie-rock band Team Captain (www.myspace.com/werteamcaptain).
