Patrick Lehman is proof that three years of classical vocal training can't erase a childhood of listening to Motown and Stax records.
After listening to "Stop Pretending," the lead single off last year's independently released Soul Kitchen Vol. 2, it would be easy to assume the singer is from Memphis, rather than his hometown of Montreal.
"It’s just the music I grew up listening to with my parents, so I've always been exposed to that," he says over the phone, speaking in a deep voice that sounds as if it's being filtered through the baritone sax that gives "Stop Pretending" so much of its flavour.
"Classical training focused on operas and arias, and just a lot of technical aspects of your voice, that sort of thing," he says. "It’s about the technical side of singing, while soul music is just whatever comes out, so I guess I've been influenced by soul more than I realized."
Lehman, who was an early standout in our Searchlight competition despite not moving on, says he's equally as influenced by Bill Withers and Stevie Wonder as he is by the Rolling Stones and Creedence Clearwater Revival. That would explain his eclectic approach to recording Soul Kitchen Vol. 2, which also forays into singer-songwriter ("I Just Want Love") and rock ("Woman for Me"), even if everything ends up being filtered through soul. The latter, for instance, would seem to owe more to Lenny Kravitz than Mick Jagger.
"I was trying to make an album by concentrating on the songs themselves rather than the overall sound," says Lehman, who also wrote, arranged and produced the album.
The overall result is an album that holds its own with any of the young soul revivalists of today, from Michael Kiwanuka to Mayer Hawthorne, even if Lehman hasn't reached their levels of exposure yet. For now, he's Canada's best kept soul secret.
"A lot of people don’t realize that an overnight success sometimes takes nine years," he says with a laugh, adding that he's been making monthly visits to New York City for the last year — the home of Daptone Records, as well as a big audience for soul music — in an effort to increase his exposure.
"I was actually surprised when I started performing there because I wasn't blown away by the performers I was seeing," he says. "I just thought the calibre would be much higher and it would be a lot tougher. I mean, I've seen some great performers as well, but in a way it just gave me some confidence, like OK, I can handle this city."
And if all goes according to plan, Lehman could also be handling Amsterdam this summer, as a European label plans to release Soul Kitchen Vol. 2 in the Netherlands in May.
"There’s a pocket for soul music that I never knew about," he says. "They have whole radio stations there just dedicated to playing soul music, old and new, and apparently there was an article about me in the Dutch People magazine, so it's kind of cool."
It could be just the break Lehman's been looking for, not that he feels the pressure.
"It’s still just crazy for me that because I wrote a couple songs it’s going to get me a trip to the Netherlands," he says.
Patrick Lehman plays Montreal April 4 and 5, and Toronto April 18. Visit Patricklehmanmusic.com for details.
Follow Jesse Kinos-Goodin on Twitter: @JesseKG
ListenListen to a collection of music from Patrick Lehman.
Tracklist
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