Daniel Raymond

A Canadian singer-songwriter from Oshawa, Ontario, Raymond re-emerged in 2020 after a 20-year hiatus from the music industry, releasing his debut solo project Soft, followed by Suspension in 2022, and his 2024 four-song EP What We’re Trying To Become — recorded and produced by Ottawa’s Jim Bryson, with one track produced by Peterborough’s James McKenty.

His music takes often unexpected routes to reach its soul-searching destination, leaving open the possibility that the journey could just as easily continue in new directions. Familiar on first contact but increasingly distinct, Raymond’s sound is as restless as his themes — a quality recognized by the Oshawa Music Awards, where he was nominated as a finalist for Songwriter of the Year and Suspension for Album of the Year in 2023, following a Durham Song of the Year nomination for “115” in 2021. “Waiting,” from Suspension, has accumulated over 50,000 Spotify streams since its 2022 release.

In “The Prettiest Girl in an Ugly Town,” that instinct for the unexpected announces itself immediately — acoustic guitar duets with Hammond organ, an unlikely pair for an opening-track departure — before picking up fellow travellers to eventually roll on in a full-band sound. In “Through,” from Suspension, a unique stepladder vocal melody suddenly tumbles off into harmonic dissonance and resolution that is almost Beatle-George-esque. Raymond’s songwriting carries a distinctly Canadian sensibility, with songs like “Palmateer,” “115,” and “Peterborough” rooted in specific Canadian people and places.

Raymond’s latest releases both capture and expand upon his thematic and musical essence. “Peterborough” finds him looking back to his musical formative years and how they continue to propel him forward, celebrating this passage with some of the finest vocal hooks of his songwriting career. His second upcoming single, “The Good Ones,” cuts through a divided, angry cultural moment to recognize those who continue to carry hope and compassion — and their importance in leading the way. The track pushes at the edges of singer-songwriter roots before piano, heavily reverbed pedal steel, and cymbals open up the sonic landscape to something that hints at latter-day Rheostatics and Gord Downie’s Country of Miracles.

An assured and connected live performer, Raymond plays regularly throughout the Greater Toronto Area, with recent slots opening for The Skydiggers, Jim Bryson, Craig Cardiff, and Catherine MacLellan. He currently plays piano and keyboards with The Matthew Holtby Band.

In the 1990s, he was lead singer and songwriter for Durham Region’s Mitchell’s Corner, releasing two CDs and playing alongside Canadian luminaries such as The Leslie Spit Tree-o, The Lowest of the Low, The Watchmen and Andrew Cash. Those years of stage experience remain evident in his comfort and connection with audiences today.

Raymond continues to find new roads forward — and back.