Kevin Hearn Helps Lou Reed

The Barenaked Ladies' Kevin Hearn is a collaborator at heart. From the time he released his first solo album in 1997, the Torontonian has recruited friends and fellow artists to contribute their talents to his recordings. Hearn's latest record Havana Winter is his fourth with his band Thinbuckle, and features guest appearances from greats such as Lou Reed, Mary Margaret O'Hara and Chantal Kreviazuk. Hearn himself is in high demand, currently playing as a member of Reed's band and appearing on the most recent album from Garth Hudson (The Band). So when I find myself at the artist's Toronto loft, sharing the living room with an enormous piano, a drum kit and music paraphernalia of all sorts, I can't help but ask: Is any of this still surreal for him?

"A little bit, yeah," Hearn says. "Not as much as it was initially. I was blown away that I had the opportunity to work with both those guys [Hudson and Reed], but they're just people, you know, and you connect or you don't, and I've been fortunate to connect with them.

"We've had fun working together. I was really nervous when I first went to rehearse with Lou. But I knew if I let my nerves take over... that it would jeopardize me working with him. So I had to get the courage to just do what I do, and if he liked it, he did, and if he didn't like it, well, what am I gonna do?"

He may have friends, talent and a Canadian musical legacy on his side, but Hearn finds that time is a resource in short supply. Finding the hours for his work with BNL and his solo endeavours is often a balancing act.

"It's a bit difficult. I enjoy them both... Barenaked Ladies takes up a lot of my time, and sometimes I wish I had more time to do to solo stuff," he says. "But they sort of feed each other. I can afford to make the records the way I make them because of my work with the Ladies."

Hearn became acutely aware of time and life's temporary nature in 1997, shortly after the release of his first solo effort Mothball Mint. He was diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia, and was treated in hospital while his BNL bandmates had to carry on touring. Hearn wrote much of his second solo album, H-Wing, while undergoing treatment.

"It changes the way I look at things," says Hearn. "Sometimes you think, 'Oh, one day I want to do this. One day I want to do that.' It sort of creates an urgency to get things done. It affected the way I work and the way I write and everything.

"Last summer at this time I went to Africa. I went hiking in the jungle in Rwanda and sat with mountain gorillas. That was on my bucket list.

"In Arusha, I asked where I could go see some live music, and they said, ‘Don't go out by yourself.' So I had a guide take me out to different clubs. There was a band playing and they invited me up to play. So I sat in with the band in this club. That was a lifetime experience for me.

"They introduced me — I guess it was in Swahili — and I asked my guide afterwards, 'How did they introduce me?' And he said, 'Friends, we have a white man in the audience with us tonight who says that he can play. Let's see what he produces for us.' I didn't know that. I was the only white person for miles," Hearn says with a laugh.

The multi-instrumentalist has an affinity for experimentation. Havana Winter incorporates traditional sounds with unexpected ones, challenging the listener to identify the different instruments.

"I used this thing called a kalimba," Hearn tells me, handing me the small thumb piano. "Have you heard that before? This is one of my favourite little musical experiments on it."

Hearn fast-forwards his latest CD to an instrumental break in "On The Runway."

"I played it on that and I doubled it on a Wurlitzer piano. I like doing that, combining an organic instrument with an electronic instrument to create a unique sound."

Hearn will make a stage appearance with Toronto's Art Of Time Ensemble in September, when the group are scheduled to perform The Beatles' Abbey Road in its entirety. Hearn is one of seven featured guest singers — Raine Maida, Sarah Slean and former bandmate Steven Page will also lend their voices to the concert — and will perform "Octopus's Garden."

"They wanted someone with a childish voice to sing 'Octopus's Garden,'" Hearn says. "I guess I do [have a childish voice]. I do sound like Kermit The Frog sometimes."

Hearn continues to perform and travel — he just played Lollapalooza this past weekend as part of Lou Reed's band — while making plans for a CD release with BNL. He's surprisingly modest when it comes to his expectations for Havana Winter.

"I hope [listeners] just enjoy it. Simple as that. I hope they like to put it on when they're driving, or whatever. Going to sleep, washing dishes. I like it. I like it, I hope they like it."

You can see Kevin Hearn on these dates:
Aug. 12 Huntsville, ON @ Algonquin Theatre (Kevin Hearn And Thinbuckle)
Aug. 29 Parry Sound, ON @ Burks Falls Towne Theatre w/ Hawksley Workman (Kevin Hearn And Thinbuckle)
Sept. 26-27 Toronto, ON @ Enwave Theatre w/ The Art Of Time Ensemble — The Abbey Road Sessions