July 2020 Featured Artist
Singer-Songwriter, Actress & Former CTV Host
JACELYN
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Photo Credit: Crystal Clear SHOTS
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JACELYN is a Toronto-based singer-songwriter, actress and former host of CTV. For the past decade, she has been honing her music skills and exploring different genres to find her authentic style.
JACELYN started out writing and performing country music; although she still writes music for other country artists, her new compositions fuse the elemental sounds of jazz, blues, pop and soul. JACELYN has played on the same bills as Keith Urban, Blue Rodeo, Johnny Reid, Megan Patrick and Colin James, to name a few. She has toured in Europe, Asia, Central and South America, the U.S. and the Caribbean. Awards include “Emerging Vocalist of the Year” (MARTY Awards), “Artist of the Year, Adult Contemporary” (Niagara Music Awards), and “Single of the Year, ‘Growin’ Up’” (Niagara Music Awards). Her holiday single, “Waiting for Christmas,” received national radio play, and she has appeared as a music panelist on CTV’s Kevin Newman Live. |
Internationally recognized composer/arranger/pianist, Amina Figarova, partnered with JACELYN to arrange and produce her upcoming debut album, Dovetailing, which will be released in the fall. Her latest single release “Kaleidoscope,” a song that addresses mental health issues, is a collaborative effort with Figarova, and ASHA, an American rapper.
Myrna Beth Haskell, managing editor, spoke with JACELYN about her journey from actress and TV host to singer-songwriter, the inspiration behind her debut album and her latest single release “Kaleidoscope.”
Before you embarked on your music career you were an actress and host for CTV. Could you share your journey from film and TV to the music industry?
I fell into the film/TV industry by accident. My mom was a theater actress. She was cast for an advertising campaign, and they planned to pair her with a young child on camera. I was two years old at the time and wound up getting the job! Over the years, my mom became my coach and my driver. I was home-schooled and the three of us [JACELYN and her parents] traveled around the world. When it was time to go to college, I wound up taking dramatic arts, and a professor there cast me in a role before I graduated.
However, I soon realized that professional theater was not what I wanted long-term. I always loved music, and I taught myself to play guitar. I had friends in the music industry, and at a party hosted by one of these friends, I started to sing, and the room went quiet. I was really just exploring at this point and trying to hone my skills. Without letting me know, one of my friends submitted an EP with four of my songs to the Niagara Music Awards, and I got nominated! I wound up winning “Single of the Year!” Even though this was done behind my back and before I felt I had really developed as an artist, it was thrilling to see my work do so well.
It’s been ten years, and a company in Los Angeles asked to use the first song I wrote, “Speechless,” in a new feature film.* The song is about the fact that love has no boundaries, and I’m also acting in the film.
*Jacelyn plays Stacey in What if it was Me? (2020), directed by Matt Power.
You have a natural and very comfortable stage presence. Do you attribute this to your work as an actress and TV host?
Absolutely! However, when you perform your own originally written content, it can been very scary. There’s a special vulnerability there.
Before you embarked on your music career you were an actress and host for CTV. Could you share your journey from film and TV to the music industry?
I fell into the film/TV industry by accident. My mom was a theater actress. She was cast for an advertising campaign, and they planned to pair her with a young child on camera. I was two years old at the time and wound up getting the job! Over the years, my mom became my coach and my driver. I was home-schooled and the three of us [JACELYN and her parents] traveled around the world. When it was time to go to college, I wound up taking dramatic arts, and a professor there cast me in a role before I graduated.
However, I soon realized that professional theater was not what I wanted long-term. I always loved music, and I taught myself to play guitar. I had friends in the music industry, and at a party hosted by one of these friends, I started to sing, and the room went quiet. I was really just exploring at this point and trying to hone my skills. Without letting me know, one of my friends submitted an EP with four of my songs to the Niagara Music Awards, and I got nominated! I wound up winning “Single of the Year!” Even though this was done behind my back and before I felt I had really developed as an artist, it was thrilling to see my work do so well.
It’s been ten years, and a company in Los Angeles asked to use the first song I wrote, “Speechless,” in a new feature film.* The song is about the fact that love has no boundaries, and I’m also acting in the film.
*Jacelyn plays Stacey in What if it was Me? (2020), directed by Matt Power.
You have a natural and very comfortable stage presence. Do you attribute this to your work as an actress and TV host?
Absolutely! However, when you perform your own originally written content, it can been very scary. There’s a special vulnerability there.
Artwork by: Jason Juranek
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How long have you been writing and performing your own music?
It’s now been ten years. I was just learning and writing for a few years, even though my first songs were put out there. I didn’t want to be known as an actress who is trying to sing. I wanted people to forget I was an actress and to see me as a singer-songwriter. You started writing country music but have segued to writing songs that are a fusion of jazz, blues, soul and pop. What inspired the change? It’s all about developing as an artist. I was finding my voice. I was performing country music. I had opened for some incredible artists – Martina McBride, Keith Urban, etc. I got a lot of exposure this way. But I didn’t feel I was my authentic self in the country genre. I’m a city girl – a worldly woman. So, I applied for this program in Canada [Canada’s Music Incubator (CMI)] that picks about ten emerging artists to work with each year – those with promising careers who will likely make a future impact on the music industry in Canada and beyond. It was intense – you’re performing, writing, honing your music, building your brand. Then, you wind up doing a pitch for representation. I had been in the middle of producing a country album, but I wanted to pull the plug. It just didn’t feel true to who I am. During this program, I found myself and my voice. I still appreciate country music and write for other artists, but my passion is elsewhere. |
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Amina Figarova, a featured artist in Sanctuary a couple of years ago, co-produced your debut album Dovetailing. She is an integral part of the jazz community in New York City, and she has performed throughout the world. What was it like to work with Amina?
When I first met Amina, I was working for a recording studio that was representing a few artists, including jazz artist Galen Weston. We were in New York City for “Jazz Connect” [an annual conference in NYC with a variety of educational workshops, events and collaborative performances, usually held in January], and Amina took a liking to me. But I was with this other company at the time and still doing country at this point. Two years later, I was back in New York City and sought Amina out. She had seen my video “Fool,”* and she told me it blew her away. I was ecstatic. She invited me back the next day, and after more discussion, I decided to get rid of the producer I had been using and have Amina produce and arrange it for me instead. |
JACELYN Performing "Fool"
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JACELYN, accompanied by Amina Figarova, performing "This Dance"
“I asked her if we could go back to the piano, so I could get it right.” Written by: Jacelyn Holmes / Arranged by: Amina Figarova / Filmed by: Ghalib Zuhair |
I don’t know how to read/write [sheet] music. I have perfect pitch - I do everything by my ear and instinct. When I worked with Amina, I felt like I was back at school. I have a very open nature and do really well with constructive criticism. I needed this, and Amina inherently understood me. She was brutally honest with me and pushed me as a human being.
Amina has these incredible instincts…and working with another woman had something to do with it as well. It was like she was saying…let me guide you through this forest. There aren’t a lot of people in this industry who would take the time. She went above and beyond – she put her blood, sweat, tears and equity into this project. I will be forever grateful for what I learned from her. *“Fool” is a bonus track on Dovetailing which she performed “live” at the JUNOS in the TD Green Room. |
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Tell me a bit about the collection of songs/styles on Dovetailing. We started with looking at over 30 songs. We rearranged…we rewrote some. If you break a song down acoustically, you can do anything. The album really shows my diversity and how I see things very visually. It’s a mix of jazz, pop, soul, and contemporary. If you look at what it means to dovetail, you see why I used it for the title. I wanted the title to speak to interconnectedness – that intimacy that is created when there is a union of two individual souls…how they come together. |
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Kaleidoscope Video
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What was the inspiration behind your latest single release "Kaleidoscope?" You also collaborated with a rapper on this one which brings in yet another genre.
I wrote this song with Amina. We needed a break from work one night, and Amina took me around Harlem to experience the underground jazz-hop scene*, and I was in awe. The music vibrated at such a high level artistically. We knew we had to do something with this vibe for the album. The initial inspiration behind the story came from my experience dating this man who was divorced with a teenage daughter. I was the ‘new girl’ coming into the relationship, and his daughter wasn’t happy. It was complicated and devastating. The song explores mental health issues and what can transpire from being involved in difficult relationships…how you talk to yourself about what’s going on to try to make sense of it. The song is universal, though. It can be about anything…a guy cheating on you…a loss of trust. |
I knew I wanted a rapper to be the ‘friend,’ and I knew what the friend needed to say in this story. We’ve all been there. A girlfriend tries to talk sense into you – she tries to give you advice, but it isn’t working. Amina found the perfect fit in ASHA.**
*A fusion of jazz and hip-hop music that started to develop in the late 1980s.
**American rapper and singer Asha Griffith.
*A fusion of jazz and hip-hop music that started to develop in the late 1980s.
**American rapper and singer Asha Griffith.
It must be difficult to release a song during this current pandemic.
Well, I’m supposed to be on tour in Europe, and I have all of this merchandise sitting in my living room. With the Kickstarter* campaign, the presales were amazing. You know, I’ve waited so long, and I’m so excited to perform live. However, I’ve had to pivot. I just finished the 14th concert in my building. I’ve been performing on a different floor each time.
I’ve also been doing online appearances with a singer-songwriter group on Facebook and Zoom. It’s hosted by a third party affiliate.
Music is medicine for so many…it heals.
*Kickstarter is a corporation that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity.
Where do you find sanctuary?
In Montezuma, Costa Rica. I first went there while traveling with my parents years ago. I met this girl and her father (who was in the music industry) at this eco-resort before I even knew I’d be a singer. Years later, her father was the one who told me about a company who pushes brands, and this company helped me launch my successful Kickstarter campaign. You never know where you’re going to feel supported and able to grow. This place is magical for me. It’s a place where I find it so easy to tap into my authentic self - I have so much gratitude for it.
Well, I’m supposed to be on tour in Europe, and I have all of this merchandise sitting in my living room. With the Kickstarter* campaign, the presales were amazing. You know, I’ve waited so long, and I’m so excited to perform live. However, I’ve had to pivot. I just finished the 14th concert in my building. I’ve been performing on a different floor each time.
I’ve also been doing online appearances with a singer-songwriter group on Facebook and Zoom. It’s hosted by a third party affiliate.
Music is medicine for so many…it heals.
*Kickstarter is a corporation that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity.
Where do you find sanctuary?
In Montezuma, Costa Rica. I first went there while traveling with my parents years ago. I met this girl and her father (who was in the music industry) at this eco-resort before I even knew I’d be a singer. Years later, her father was the one who told me about a company who pushes brands, and this company helped me launch my successful Kickstarter campaign. You never know where you’re going to feel supported and able to grow. This place is magical for me. It’s a place where I find it so easy to tap into my authentic self - I have so much gratitude for it.
