Michel Néray

In speaking with Michel Neray, one quickly senses that his music extends far beyond melody and lyric. He approaches songwriting as a lens through which to examine the paradoxes of life — the tension between leaning in and letting go…

On June 23, I catapulted myself into a cascade of 7 concerts in 8 days around Lake Superior. The journey began right on the day 1 drive to Sudbury and culminated on the Manitoulin Ferry, carrying me home.

Spoiler alert…

I recorded this as an experiment to see how I can combine the different effects on my pedalboard. After I was done, I thought, ‘well, maybe you’d be interested in seeing some of the behind-the-scenes process work that goes into…

I know. 

The Internet and social media were supposed to make it easier to stay in touch with people, but the reality is that it’s getting harder, and even harder to stay in the loop on shows, new releases, and…

Funny how things happen. I met Brian Tremblay at a music conference and we instantly became friends. 

Then he asked to interview me on his podcast, 'Lonesome Cowboy' -- which focuses on the life, the struggles, and…

My new album, 'being (human)', drops on all streaming platforms on November 3. I suppose it goes without saying that I really like it... and I do!!!

Of course, I think you'll like it too, and I hope you listen…

Every year I go on a pretty intense whitewater canoe trip.  This past summer, I wrote a song as a tribute to a certain campsite on the Dumoine River, named after the towering red pine that sits right by the…

I just released a new song, and I'm so happy with it. It's called 'I Do', and it's the second single from my upcoming album, titled 'Human. Being. '

Unlike the first single from the album that, I put out…

One of the trickiest aspects of great storytelling is knowing what the point of your story is. It’s tricky because we don’t always know what the point is when we first come up with the idea for the story and…

Two weeks ago, I was interviewed by two very different people on two very different topics, and somehow, we dug down to the same place. Both were fascinating conversations, and both interviewers got me talking about things I was not…

One the best-known painters in America in the mid-1900's was Andrew Wyeth. He painted the people and landscapes around him, mostly near his home in rural Pennsylvania and his summer home in Maine. In 1986, a series of over 247…

‘Kiss the Rock’ is an expression that comes from canoeing/kayaking. It refers to paddling a whitewater river and hitting a rock broadside. Most people’s instinct would be to lean away from the rock, but the correct thing to do is…

I have been running momondays – an event focused on personal storytelling – since 2012. Pre-pandemic, we were in 16 cities across North America. During that time, I personally saw the transformative power of personal storytelling.

That’s what inspired this…

Imagine bashing together The Gambler, Mr. Bojangles, and Born to be Wild. Hear it unfold in my latest single, “Let the Wild Orchids Grow.”

Every year, I go on a week-long motorcycle ride with a bunch of guys. We’ve traveled…

“When you have the time you don’t have the money, and when you have the money, you don’t have the time.”   

That phrase popped into my head and I blurted it out to the three dogs I was walking along…

I was NOT intending to write this song. I really wasn't. But when your baby has a baby, and your baby says, 'I'm expecting you to write a song about my baby', well, there's only one answer you can…

When I was in grade 6, I had a very bad relationship with a guitar. 

I wanted to learn to play, so my parents borrowed a really nice guitar for me to practice with, and arranged for lessons. On talent…

Yes, that's me. I was always a shy, insecure kid. (Can you tell?) 
  
Well, it's precisely because I didn't want to continue being a shy, insecure grown-up that i pushed myself to live full out, doing extreme sports, becoming a…

Every year for the past 25 years, I go on a whitewater canoe trip in the Canadian near north. We drive north for 5 hours, then bump along a logging road for another three and half hours, and get dropped…

How a 'yes, and...' mindset made us the heroes at a private concert. 

My band was hired to provide the entertainment at a birthday party. Yes, we were all double vaxxed and yes, it was outside, and yes, we maintained…

You know that person. You’re performing your heart out and all you can see is that one person, usually head down, likely looking at their phone, apparently lost in their own world,  not paying attention to you. 

Distracted. Disinterested. Disengaged. 

…

THIS AIN’T CAR CAMPING… 

When most people think of camping, they imagine loading up the car with as much stuff they can stuff, and heading to a state or provincial park complete with comfort stations and convenience stores within driving…

The first year I got a busker’s license, I never used it. “What if I meet someone who knows me?” “What would people think?” “Isn’t it like begging?” “What if no one stops to listen?” “How much money could…

A few years back, I was fortunate enough to see B.B. King at his blues club in Orlando. I was doubly fortunate enough to be sitting in the front row -- not that much farther away than the screen you…