Acoustic rocker, inventive songwriter, deadly performer, and a Man on the move

Last October, with his full band in tow, Dave Borins headed for High's Room, Toronto's superb venue-of-choice for acoustic music. Object: Two nights of music to cut a raft of new songs for a new album. Produced by Chris Stringer (Timber Timbre, Wooden Sky, Obijou) and mixed and mastered in Vancouver by Juno Award winning producer and musician Steve Dawson, the album seamlessly weaves live tracks with polished studio material to create in his own words "the ultimate show." The new work is a unique project that owes much to Borins' do-it-yourself ethic, his focus — as a songwriter and as a performer — and a lot to the encouragement of his fans; some 300 of whom came to Hugh's Room to fund and pre-buy the live recordings. Called The Room Lights Up, the new album's title is a good description of what happens when Dave Borins hits the stage.

The Back Story: A year or so ago, Tom Power, the host of CBC Radio 2's Deep Roots programme said: "I got a feeling you'll be hearing a lot more from Dave Borins in the next couple of years." He's right, because you ARE going to hear a lot more about a guy who is possibly one of Toronto's most energetic acoustic soul players and performers. Dave Borins is making his move. He started relatively late, because he wasn't in Canada a lot of the time. He was traveling: China, Japan, Indonesia, India, Peru, Nepal — and his passport was his guitar. The ability to play, sing and laugh made friends for him wherever he went — and now it's making friends for him here at home.

He'd learned the very best way to entertain and influence people as canoe guide in the summers of his youth. Here's a guy who can navigate a river, light a camp fire in the rain, and probably cool out inquisitive or angry bears. After that, wandering around the Himalayas, or exploring ancient Inca trails is easy.

He's probably played well over 300 concerts in the last four years, that sort of experience shows. There have been two recordings — a full-length one from 2007, Songs of Sense and Colour, and a gutsy EP The Lucky Ones recorded in 2009 — and these records, in turn, spawned no less than half a dozen tours, touching almost every part of Canada. As one arts magazine writer put it: "His voice is the kind you could lean against and trust to lead you home on a long walk from the pub in the night."

2010 was kind to him; Tours in Newfoundland and Alberta. Showcases in Memphis, Nashville and at NXNE in Toronto. A songwriting workshop at Boston's Berklee School of Music, followed by shows in New York City. After a proud performance at the famed Mariposa Folk Festival's 50th anniversary event, Multi media journalist David Newland (Canoe.ca and Roots Music Canada wrote this: Borins earned his spot by applying to auditions for three years running before getting the nod. When he finally took to the stage for his big show, he was counter-programmed against a 50th anniversary VIP concert on mainstage hosted by Shelagh Rogers that included Ian Tyson, Sylvia Tyson, Murray McLauchlan, Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor, and headliner Gordon Lightfoot. Borins, banished to the beer garden, never blinked, never wavered, and never stopped smiling from the stage for the die-hards and drinkers cheering him on. Kudos to him for pulling off another affable, audacious, ambitious plan.

Life in what is sometimes called the music business — and "business" should be in quotation marks — has never been easy. But Dave Borins relishes the challenges of the digital age, the new ways of delivering recorded music to fans, and the fact that you make fans today one by one by one… So he leads the band, writes the songs, handles the vocals, organizes the recording sessions, books the tours, drives the van...

2011 is shaping up very nicely indeed.
He will not only survive, he will prosper.
And your room — and your ears — will indeed light up.
Dave Borins is in the house.