Episode 10
· 36:38
ReFolkUs - Kejo
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[00:00:00] Rosalyn: Hello and welcome to Refocus. Today we're speaking with K Jo Buchanan, who's a knowledge sharer and creative investing. Her focus in time as a librarian at the Toronto Reference Library Arts Department, and curates folk acoustic sounds through community radio@cjru.ca and is the executive producer for folk recovery.org.
Welcome key.
[00:00:21] Kejo: Thank you, Rosalyn.
[00:00:22] Rosalyn: I am so excited to speak with you because I find the Folk Recovery Project, just absolutely fascinating. It's been such a pleasure to get to dig through the, the materials that, you've been publishing. Can you tell me a little bit about where the origins of this project started and how it came to be.
[00:00:39] Kejo: Folk Recovery is a, as the tagline says, it is exactly what it is. It's celebrating and archiving bipo Canadian folk storytellers and their contributions to the Canadian folk sound and. . How this started is, I'm not gonna get into too much of it because often it's an accumulation of things and events that happen, and one of the things that was happening for me a few years ago in 2021 is I was wrapping up my M L I S, my Master in Librarian Information Science.
Study and as I'm wrapping up this, a lot of other things are already happening. I'm working with Jolly Journey, which is my, Folk show through C G R U, and I'm also meeting a lot of great artists and already had great conversations with them. . so all of these things are kind of coming together and I'm also studying an oral history course.
So as all of these things are coming together, I am piecing together and, and I'll name all my storytellers shortly. , I realized this is what I wanna show up and do. I do it for my project, for my oral history class. But I realized this is a real life project that can actually come together. And I'm talking to the station manager.
I'm just trying to figure out different ways to get funding. To get started on this project because I want it to be something that people will be compensated for their time to work on and not completely volunteer based. and so to do that you have to really get organized and talk to people.
And I was also doing a course on yes, grant writing at the same time, . So sometimes things are just in simplicity and you just kind of. It's like, oh, this has to happen. This isn't just an idea to complete this project, but really needs to happen. the birth of Folk Recovery comes from just listening to artists and responding to what it is that they need, but also what it is that I am in a position to offer, as a librarian and As a radio host and somebody who's a part of the industry in this way. So that's basic starting of it. All the different people and parts,
[00:02:44] Rosalyn: yeah, the people I I'll do a special shout out to some F m O alumni that are, that are in there. up right now, I think you have the full interview and transcript with Kaya Caterer and
[00:02:56] Kejo: yes. And she's been a, a great champion of the project as well. Yeah.
I've have already started with Joni. Nita is actually my, my advisor on the project. And I need a music advisor, someone who really understands the industry, and also I've Had great interviews with me Chung, with Ansley Simpson, and Up next, if, depending on when you're listening, it may be already ready for you, is Amanda Lo who's also been a great friend in me putting this together.
So all of these storytellers aren't just, they're storytellers, but they've donated their time and often advice for me to even get started. And I should also mention an earlier conversation that I had with Kaya. So I actually had an I. That I used a clip of in my final project, and that's also a part of the inspiration, and that was talking about the origins of the banjo and, and also.
How we show up as black people in spaces and showing up as our full selves. And this was a very important part of our conversation. And I realized, yeah, that's interesting. You know, here is this genre of folk music that we are very much a part of and sometimes often is, is missed in the education and understanding of, Not only in music cuz I studied art history and sometimes when you're studying those things, it's completely on the western cannon and, and forgets to show the parallels of everyone that is evolving and contributing to that media throughout time. And as bipo people here in Canada black, indigenous, and as well.
Asian and all racialized people here in Canada. We have con contributing to the traditional sounds of folk and even in the pride colonial context for a very long time. And so it's very important to highlight and celebrate that as a part of the dialogue and understanding of what folk music really means we're using Canada as our backdrop, but what it means here, right?
What it means here on Turtle Island and, and what that, that comes together as.
[00:05:07] Rosalyn: there was an interesting thread between the interview with Kaya and the interview with Joanie. Both talking about the banjo. and they kind of came at it from two different sides where, you know, Kai's been involved with the black Banjo Reclamation project and, and she was involved with the black Music Summit recently at, at Folk Lions and has, done a lot of work in. That space. And as a black banjo player, been really open about talking about that journey. And I, and Joni kind of came at it from, from the opposite side of, of seeing it as like a colonial instrument, and, and it is just in, it was interesting to see how yeah, that you can kind of look at it from, from either side and.
[00:05:46] Kejo: it's an instrument that is confused to be a colonial instrument, but it's not who you think is the origins of the instrument. And yes, and, and Kaya gets into that of course. Gets into the details of that, that this is something that has been affiliated um, with white supremacy, this instrument, and so therefore we don't wanna touch it, not realizing it's just that we don't wanna touch it anymore.
that we have already designed it and been a part of it. And so it's nice to see those reclamation projects and that is a part of what Folk Recovery is about, these artists sharing their own story in their own words and how they're finding their own space and see themselves as folk. Cuz Joni has a piano.
and you're gonna see this as, as a, as an interesting theme that will run through other storytellers. And so therefore, that all of a sudden excludes you as a folk artist, because you have a keyboard. and yeah, she gets into that part as well, which is very interesting.
[00:06:46] Rosalyn: your, interviews with the I am folk because question which, which I love so much. it's a question that I see people asking themselves a lot certainly there's, always been been gatekeepers, that have made folks feel excluded.
But then I also, if you don't see yourself the way that you look or, or where you're coming from represented you may exclude yourself from it. And that can be like Joni is saying as like, I don't see my instrument represented here. So even just the instrument that I'm playing doesn't make me feel
[00:07:18] Kejo: welcome.
[00:07:20] Rosalyn:
But I don't know. It was kind of an in, I thought that was an interesting, and we don't, don't mean to like pick apart Joni's
[00:07:26] Kejo: no, I think
[00:07:27] Rosalyn: Joni's interview,
[00:07:28] Kejo: she'll love it. I, I, I think Joni, Nita would love if we said her name over and over again, so we'd be appreciated. Um, And we appreciate her contribution.
[00:07:36] Rosalyn: Like, I wonder if you, if, you didn't already feel excluded would you just pull out your keyboard and, if you already felt like fully include, , would that be, would that be a barrier? because there's still that feeling of exclusion that you're judging even like the instrument that you're playing and whether or not that's folk,
[00:07:52] Kejo: Yeah, you're questioning how you're showing up the instrument you use, and for me personally I would have to say, that, yes. I question whether or not I am folk even though I've chosen this genre or it's chosen me to, to be a part of it, starting with Jelly Journey, but it was already there. even though I consider myself before more of a jazz head, but I'm also very folk, and I'm not putting on airs. It's really that strong connective sense of community of staying present in the moment and what's happening in our world. And also an intention that I forgot that I even made even while I was early studying things because I also come from a um, nonprofit uh, database background.
So I'm always picking community. First in everything that I'm doing, and I have to be honest about that. That is my path. That is where I'm going. and so that's how I know I am folk. I realize, I am concerned, I'm concerned about, the kind of information that we're sharing and that we're keeping.
I wanna. Things, and I know a lot of people like yourself are out there. We wanna see things better. So how are we invested and how are we showing up as responsible ancestors? And so, , we understand this. And so that's how I know, even though in the past I'd be concerned about, oh, do I have the right to be a part of this genre?
I don't have the same background. It's been a while since I've picked up my cello. Do I know what I'm talking about? and I don't have all the lingo, and I probably don't read music as well as I could when I did when I was in high school.
[00:09:33] Rosalyn: It's folk.
[00:09:33] Kejo: But it's folk
[00:09:35] Rosalyn: read
[00:09:36] Kejo: It doesn't mean there isn't quality, but at the same time it is exactly that.
It is folk. I can come with my spoken word and it's still acceptable. I can do my own music making with my DCA and Kalimba on my own time. and it's fine. And not everything I produce needs to be produced for, you know, the mass consumption. It could be intimate, like this conversation right now, however far wide it reaches, that's where it needs to go.
and that's how I realized, yeah, this is a place I felt surprisingly. , and I do mean it. I mean, surprisingly welcomed because I've been in other spaces, creative spaces that didn't feel so warm and didn't feel so welcome. So perhaps the timing is right. Perhaps the people are right that I'm connecting with.
But yeah, I've been fortunate I mean, you still have to kind of protect your energy in certain situations. Like you said, there are gonna be gatekeepers, but I realize it's like those gatekeepers have somehow been pushed to the periphery because all the people I really need seem to be coming forward first.
I know they're there, but they're kind of like over here, you know? and it's like, it's okay. You can stay over there because now all the people that I really need, people like yourself, Rosalyn, that that really wanna have these honest conversations and be a part of the community and that connection. Just keep showing up and, and they show up for this project and they give their time, whether as a team member or, or as a community partner in some way, or as a storyteller, but they're giving their time.
And, and I'm, I'm so grateful to that. And I'm so grateful to learning about folk in that way. Like I'm learning about music in that way now and it's a different kind of method, than some of the
other ways, which are still good. .
[00:11:17] Rosalyn: You mentioned some of the instruments that you play, some of the many instruments it seems like you play. how did you get connected with, with those instruments and, and what was your journey of learning to play and, and,
discovering?
[00:11:30] Kejo: I'll try not to get too down. I was born and, you know, you can start for . I'll try to get too far
back.
I'll try to surmise each moment. But let's start with childhood. Childhood I've had the fortune of my grandfather and a great aunt purchasing a bright piano for me.
Of course, because as much and loving as parents can be, they can really suck the joy out of something that you want to learn. , it's like, know, it's like, did you practice? Did you practice? And I didn't have, the focus that I know some people really have when they're musicians.
And that's the other reason why sometimes I felt a little intimidated because I know people live, sleep, and breathe this in their childhood. I was not one of those kids. So I'm like, okay, maybe I'm not a musician then because, I just don't live and breathe this I , realized listening to other artists, some have learned in more non-traditional ways, even learned how to play the piano.
I did do the Royal Conservatory. But I've realized, like I was even listening to, I don't know if you saw the, the film of Buffy St. Mary's. Documentary autobiography and she mentions that her way of just like free styling, learning the piano, that is not how I was learning the piano. And I, maybe that's part of the problem, is understanding the kind of learner you are.
and that's what I know now that I didn't know then other ways that I really. Dived in is by the time I'm in high school, I realize I love the cello, I love the sound of it. I love everything about it. And so I started playing the cello, and this time we're doing Suzuki style for those of you following the type of schools I used.
and I did the Suzuki style for that. And I actually did like it better than the world conservatory. I, I realized there's something freer about it, and I think it's also because of who my teachers were, right? I had this great. Teacher Mrs. Graves, she's out in Oakville and she has passed away, but she was one of those great leaders in um, teaching children about music and really kind of open.
And she even invited me out to like her own quartet where I'm playing. Here I am a teenager playing with these old white ladies at senior's homes. And that's how I know I'm folk because I. Fine and completely comfortable playing my cello in that, in that environment. not because of the audience, but the fact that I can connect based on the music, on the sound is what makes it folk like.
I am flexible in just being where the music is and not worrying and judging so much who the teachers are, but really understanding this is where I need to be and later on, fast forward. , I'm out with a friend of mine and, and her husband and they're musicians and they're, very folky and very nomadic and they're the get in the van go across Canada type and they happen to be passing through Toronto.
And there is this Arabic festival that's going on in the square. Uh, Here I'm in Toronto, by the way, to Gu Toronto for those of you listening. and In this city hall, they have these festivals throughout the summers and, and this one, this cultural festival happens to be an Arabic one.
And there is a vendor, a Egyptian vendor who has a dca. And it's the end of the night and my friend's like, oh, it's beautiful. I want to buy it, da da da da. Pardon my fake uh, Quebec accent. But there it is. and I'm like, I don't know. Cuz you. Very vibrant, fiery. She's the fiery personality.
And I'm like, I don't know. And she's like, oh, I'm gonna buy it. If you don't buy it, I'm gonna buy it. And I end up buying it. She buys it and then I purchase it from her. and yeah, my DKA is in seroma, I call it 10. It's from Thera, the symbol of, of the. So that ak belief of the stars because it's made of ceramic and it has like the, a lot of diamonds on it, that reminds me of the stars.
And I feel like it is a healing communicator for me. It is something, if you've ever watched some of my posts on ig, I've been very honest about because, and I look forward to being out in the. Playing it. I'm sure my neighbors would appreciate that too. and I'm, I'm learning whatever is on YouTube and sometimes just playing along as I'm learning other songs using my dca.
So it's been a great healing thing for me. And the Columba is just like a little fun thing, you just kind of just play a few notes and hum and, and make up songs. And so yeah, I've been using my Columba, I've been learning some more traditional playing as well as just my own freestyle playing with the dca.
and I look forward to, to being braver with it because instruments and this specific instrument needs dancers, which means you gotta be with a crew, you gotta be with other people. So eventually, maybe I'll find or it or they will find me, and now I'll get to play with them and they'll get to
[00:16:10] Rosalyn: I am sure you can like, you're in Toronto, head out to a park with Yoba. You'll
[00:16:14] Kejo: I think so. I think, I think so. I don't think I have to try that hard. I just have to be brave and just Yeah. Put it in my carrier and, and just go. So I think, yeah, as things get warmer, I'm just gonna just take it out there and we'll start our own, drum circle and see what
[00:16:28] Rosalyn: Okay. So Toronto listeners, keep your ears open when you're walking around in the summer. But, but I love that your journey into. folk was kind of like a freeing like finding music that that made you feel free to, explore. You
[00:16:42] Kejo: Exactly. That's exactly it. Rosalee, I just, I found music that was a little more Into the freestyle that I needed to explore and be a part of, yeah, absolutely.
[00:16:52] Rosalyn: I love that there is a place where you found. Community as well. in my own journey it took me a long time to realize that that was the part that was the ticket for me. I was I, I did Suzuki method
[00:17:04] Kejo: Yeah. . Okay. Yeah.
[00:17:05] Rosalyn: and I'm not necessarily gonna sh I'm not, I'm gonna like shout out Suzuki method,
[00:17:10] Kejo: No, it's, yeah. but
[00:17:12] Rosalyn: but but but the nice thing about it is that at least it, it develops your ear.
[00:17:17] Kejo: I did appreciate that.
[00:17:18] Rosalyn: Yeah. Like while learning traditional styles and, and I also like cannot read music for the life of me, which is really expected of you. I think both for piano and
[00:17:29] Kejo: I'm, I'm not laughing at you. I'm laughing with you because I, they have keyboards that might work. Right. So we have two keyboard rooms where you can go and play keyboard. And I'm trying hard not realizing, I, I actually end up picking, picking one of the, the easiest songs.
So I pick bill Withers Sorry, it'll come to me in a second. I've been playing this song over and over again and now I'm forgetting, and, and so as I, as I'm playing this song, cuz it's in the key of sea, I'm still counting, I'm like literally counting the lines and I'm trying to find, oh, what was, what were the cheat notes on, on the, because I can't, like, I, I know where they are on the keyboard.
If you say, okay, fine, middle, I can find these. but trying to correlate my brain and reading that note. And this is supposed to be over there. it's lost. It's a lost cause. And one, yeah, it's one hand at a time. Either we're doing the left or the right today and the chords better be simple because Wow.
It's just, yeah. So there maybe that was too much disclosure. Maybe I just incriminated myself. But there
[00:18:29] Rosalyn: I'm, I'm right there with you. I used to do music and I, I did a music degree. I did a degree in
[00:18:35] Kejo: Okay, so like what is the reason why we can't read anymore?
[00:18:39] Rosalyn: I like lawyered my way through it where I was like, I was like, well, I would, I would count the lines, do that whole thing, and I would have to do things like, like sight singing.
And I would say things like, well, you never indicated like the amount of time that I had to do this in, or the exact tempo, and so I'm just gonna take my test . And so I would, my poor teacher is like, I would. Like, I would get it correct, but I'd be like while I'm doing the note, I would be counting the lines of the next note, trying to figure out
[00:19:04] Kejo: Was that a whole tone? Half
[00:19:07] Rosalyn: Yeah. I'm trying to figure out the next thing. Oh, and I did the same for my keyboarding test. Like, oh,
[00:19:13] Kejo: it brutal, huh?
[00:19:15] Rosalyn: they were not pleased with me. I don't know how I made it through Yeah, it's, it's interesting when you can. Take yourself out of that and remove that expectation.
And and the expectation is just to communicate music with either another person or with your own, feeling to yourself or to, to the stars or wherever you're communicating that that's amazing that you were, that you were able to find that. I feel.
not all folks do, and they used to keep, keep up those expectations, right? That they, it's like this way or nae and, and some people don't find that community. So that's amazing that you
[00:19:51] Kejo: Yeah, I've been very lucky. I've been very lucky and I think it's also just making that intention and then being open and flexible to it because the people are there. But you have to really, for me anyway, I needed to really. make an intention and say, this is, this is what I wanna be a part of, and I'm not gonna be all judgey about it.
I'm really gonna be honest and say, okay, this is what I need to be a part of. And, and navigate through that kind of space because I'll take away all that extra, extra expectation and judgment. Oh, I don't know all the notes for this. I can't name this song right off the top of my head.
Do I belong in this place? And it's like, no. Some people have a very extensive repertoire in their head, which is beautiful. But I realize, even as a librarian, I look things up. . That's, that's what, that's how I,
[00:20:36] Rosalyn: It's knowing how to look things up. That's the
[00:20:39] Kejo: I count the lines, I count the lines, look things up if it's necessary.
But outside of that, yeah, There's other ways in um, , , and I guess this is where we're embracing this when we do podcasting and so on in music and there's other ways in morality that we can in, in the audio world and we can start to really embrace our own learning and understanding.
Right. Sight seeing does not have to just be from what you, you read, but also maybe how the note. . You know, One of the things I really loved in, in high school was in actually grade school. You know, When you had to do uh, band in like grade seven and eight. I played the trombone.
[00:21:18] Rosalyn: Yes.
[00:21:19] Kejo: And the trombone is totally about breath and the weight and the feel. . It doesn't matter what notes on there, whatever. You better know how that note feels because if you don't know of, it's not happening.
It's a very different kind of experience cuz it's not the same as positioning with your hands and stuff.
Yeah, there's some positioning, but a lot of what's coming out is gonna be how it feels and you have to memorize that kind of in your stomach, in your diaphragm. You have to remember how does this note feel again?
[00:21:49] Rosalyn: That's so interesting. And it's another one where you're, yeah, it's feel, it's muscle
[00:21:55] Kejo: yeah. It's a muscle. That's what I'm thinking. Yeah. Muscle memory.
[00:21:58] Rosalyn: Yeah. But I like that. image of like, how does this note
feel?
[00:22:03] Kejo: You know? Exactly.
And, and if something's like in you, that jarring, you know, okay, wait a minute, I gotta adjust because it doesn't feel right. It's not just you're hearing it, you're actually feeling that note. And so, yeah. . That is interesting. The memory.
[00:22:18] Rosalyn: I know you were at the F M O conference this year. I'm not sure if you were if you were at the panel that we did, the what, who, what is folk, what is
[00:22:28] Kejo: Yes,
[00:22:29] Rosalyn: what, who, what, where, why
[00:22:31] Kejo: And you're there with, I believe, Janice Jolie and
[00:22:34] Rosalyn: Jolene Morgan, Tony Tresa, LAER, Chris
White. Um, But it's, it's a, it's a conversation that I feel like just has kept going, and it's it's, it's one that I think is so important now as we're Because we have this kind of chance, I guess, or, and maybe, maybe I'm speaking from more of my organizational hat, but like we do have this like chance to, to do some, some redefining of what it is.
And, I wanted to ask you like, what you think, what is your definition of folk? Like what are the different stars in your constellation? Of what? folk is
[00:23:10] Kejo: Well, I don't know, it might be unfair for me to say, because I've been hearing everybody else's definitions in these in the past Project . So I was like, Hmm, am I just like emulating or mirroring what I've heard? But for me and it continues to be my, my place in understanding what folk is, is that it is, it is coming from our own human tradition and it is not based in any specific.
It is not based in any specific geographic origin other than being from Earth. And, and so for me, folk is exactly that. it is that traditional storytelling that comes from us, and that's where you have the folklorists and the people who, for me, , I'm carrying it through the spirit of the Jali, of course, which is the West African Guillo, the storyteller, and the knowledge keeper.
And she through that tradition of oral morality and, and oral history. and that's how I show up as as folk, but I realize there are different dimensions. that are still a part of that tradition of, of our human experience. and that's what folk for me is it, is is that tradition of our human experience and we're bringing that all in.
that's what it is.
[00:24:22] Rosalyn: I love that there's like an interest, so you brought up kind of folk, folk
[00:24:27] Kejo: Mm-hmm.
[00:24:27] Rosalyn: in, like the keeping and the telling of our stories. There's like a word that's, that's used sometimes. Called like the folk process,
[00:24:36] Kejo: Mm-hmm.
[00:24:36] Rosalyn: Which I feel like doesn't get brought up a lot too much when I've been having these conversations.
But it's just like another, another word that's associated with folk, the folk process
and the folk process, when I've come across that word is like, the means of like creation like when you're creating new work out of tradition and the new work out of like traditional
[00:24:57] Kejo: that could be artisans, that could be anything.
I like that. That is quite beautiful. Yes. creating new out of tradition. That is a really good way of looking at it. Mm-hmm.
[00:25:06] Rosalyn: I like, being, situated in the present, but then having that, that like folk lore and
lore being, you know,
recognizing the history of where things are going, and then maybe the process, or maybe there's some other word folk, futures, I don't know of like how we create and how we move forward.
[00:25:21] Kejo: because we're taking that with us. We're taking our inheritance with us, and we're bringing that forward. Not just leaving it way in the back.
[00:25:29] Rosalyn: what's so beautiful about about the genre too is that it leaves room for, collaboration and for conversation in music,
right?
[00:25:37] Kejo: Yeah. Cuz you're not so restrictive, personally I am very much, and it's hard to accept sometimes in life that I'm just a non-conformist, and I have a certain natural nomadic behavior and it's like, you know, you're folk, right? Like
[00:25:52] Rosalyn: You know your
[00:25:53] Kejo: when and yeah, this is more like, you know, your folk when you have certain kind of
natural things.
[00:25:59] Rosalyn: have you moved in the last 20 years?
[00:26:01] Kejo: oh my gosh. And I'm just so proficient at it. It's kind of sad, but but exciting at the same time. .
[00:26:09] Rosalyn: it takes all kind of
[00:26:10] Kejo: It does. But it's just so funny. There are just certain things I realize that parallel in my personality and it's like, well, it's kind of already a part of who I am when I am taking away all stripping away. The airs and the masks and everything else. And I realize it's like, oh, okay.
Alright, and that's okay. It's okay to be this person regardless. But it's nice to find community while you're being yourself. It really is nice.
[00:26:35] Rosalyn: I feel like in as a genre, we're in a good place to be asking ourselves questions,
[00:26:40] Kejo: Exactly, yeah. And asking those honest questions that may be in other spaces you might feel too much pressure not to. . It's like, oh, we gotta keep it light and we gotta keep it this. And I, I love folk because while I'm using it in this way, I curate music in this way. Sometimes it is light and fun, but sometimes I find I love the fact that it can be so soft and gentle and then heavy hitting at the same time.
And, and it's like, where can you do that? Where can you really hit people with such blunt honesty? And they. Feel like, yeah, I wanna hear more. I wanna understand more. So I feel like, yeah, we're in a, we're in a time where we can really open up that, that dialogue and that understanding and really make room for each other and and just kick back and exchange and listen.
[00:27:28] Rosalyn: Speaking of listening your radio program can you tell me a little bit about why you've chosen to invest your time in that and, and the work you do? The work you do there?
[00:27:37] Kejo: Well, it, it's, it's a blend of things. Not to sound. too egotistical, but clearly the voice is my gift and I need to just accept and say thank you to the ancestors for that. um, which is interesting because I was a very quiet child. but one of the things I do remember doing when I was very young I used to play radio and yeah, I was, I would be in my grandfather's basement, actually the same grandfather who I probably got a lot of my voice from.
He is like a, this, kind of like. I don't know, he's probably at least six feet tall, if not five 11. He's a big man and he had a very boisterous laugh and, and a very, very deep voice and his basement, and it's back in the olden days, kids of the seventies and eighties, and it was the eighties, but they still had the seventies look, the shag carpet and the wood paneling basement, and I'm sure there was an eight track player somewhere in the corner that now serves the place to put the fish aquarium, you know the deal, you know the spiel.
and then the stereo system, which is not what you expect today. It has to have all the different levels and the equalizers, and now all the other parts and buttons that I have no idea even still need to learn how to use today. I'm not a sound producer, so thank you to the sound producers.
. So it has all of that. And of course a turntable. And all of my aunts and uncles are like 10 years older than me, so they're teenagers and I'm a child and they have all their mixes of, of music in there. And so, yeah, I just find my favorites. I'm sure there was the gap band in there. I, I wasn't at the level to understand.
, there was some music in there. Let's just say that it was probably a little more jazzing or experimental for me to understand. I wasn't there yet. but I remember I love the process and here's another one from, and I put it on onto the term table.
and it's, nobody ever told me I had to do this. The only thing that was even close to it was the fact that my teenage brother was also a DJ in high school and. . A lot of my lullabies are like these old school kind of rock and hip hop beats that I don't even realize, , that I know until I hear the song in Fullen.
It's like, that's the song, right? , because I only know the one beat looping over and over again. You know? I know Big beat and all these other different sounds and, So that's my, that's my intro. That is my early childhood intro. It's all these different moving parts. Me pretending to be a DJ and playing radio host and my brother, who's also actually a DJ at the time.
And all of these influences coming in. And, and so fast forward, people are asking me, I'm asking me, you could do anything, what would you wanna do? And I realized I wanna be on the radio. And I tried it out with another radio station but as a volunteer, I wasn't as Actively involved in the radio production part.
It was more like with the fundraising and all that kind of stuff. And I realized that's not really what I wanna do. And then I was, I, I have an uncle who does radio and, and told me about C G R U actually, and he said you should just you know, put in it. And of course I was intimidated uh, you know, that kind of imposter syndrome.
I can't do that. I didn't study broadcasting. I can't be on the radio. I don't know what I'm doing. , I realize it's like it doesn't matter. We're all there. There's, yes, there's traditional ways in which you enter this media and, and you learn what all those equalizers are for. And then there is, the way that I've learned to do it , that is the folk way
I've learned, I learned through the station and I've been very fortunate to be working. With people at the station, and these are students taking on these great roles in the sound and in music and events yeah, I'm just gonna give a shout out to, to Gabby Clarke.
Thank you. And thank you Kalisa. These are some of the people on there and Sean. That are at the C G R U environment that have just shown me what I needed to know to put a show together. When it was time, it was khalisa that says to me, you know what? You need to get your own show. and then I'm like, Hmm, what should I do?
And this is where the teetering between the jazz, should I just go with? It's like, no. Something said no folk. and another artist who probably doesn't realize this is part of my decision making was Alex Kuba because he has a long conversation about what is folk and what is, world music and then what is folk music.
and, and that's coming into that understanding, understanding that. And then I, I tell Alyssa as the station manager, okay, I'm gonna do this, this folk show. And then Sean is the one who drops kayak caterer's name to me. And at the top of every single jelly journey is Kayak caterer playing Rose on the mountain on the.
And so there we have it. We finally have Jolly Journey. We know why we're doing it. There's no hard, fast rules, but it is gonna be showcasing a lot of bipo folk artists anywhere in the world and regardless of the style of folk that they're doing folk acoustic sound, that is the main focus of this.
yeah, that's my refocus. I is, is just getting that and realizing that's, that's how I ended up on, on radio. Um, Just. Following natural intuition, accepting help when I needed it, where I needed it, and then bringing that together. And then that's how Jolly Journey is born, and I'm so grateful to that, and I'm so grateful to the people I'm able to meet through it as well.
[00:33:06] Rosalyn: That's incredible. so interesting that, You were saying that, you know, you, I didn't practice piano enough. Oh, you were practicing radio DJing. So
[00:33:14] Kejo: Exactly. I was too busy being a curator of music. I'm sorry I didn't have time to play the piano cuz I'm going to be a dj.
[00:33:21] Rosalyn: hours, practicing in your basement yeah.
That's
[00:33:24] Kejo: Exactly.
I just had to know how to drop the needle. That was it. That was my At the right moment. Right
[00:33:31] Rosalyn: I also just came up with just the worst, the worst comment when you were talking about like that, that feeling of, talked about this a bit in, in this podcast is like the feeling of imposter
syndrome. and, and, especially For women, this comes up a lot.
And , the, the phrase that I, that I was thinking of was like, you just gotta like folk around and find out
[00:33:55] Kejo: Exactly. I love it. I love it. That's it. We're just gonna folk around,
folk around a bit and see what we come up with. That's it. I like it around.
[00:34:06] Rosalyn: gosh. maybe, and maybe that's, I don't know if that's common or not, and maybe it's, maybe it's not. Maybe people are afraid to, admit that they. Have all the answers and that they don't have, they're not coming into something with all the experience and answers that they need and, you know that you can come somewhere with, with an interest
[00:34:23] Kejo: Yeah. And learn as you go along and, and I'm willing to continue that investment and learn through all of you as I go along. So it's like, yeah, I can still humble myself in, in the process, but at the same time, it doesn't mean I don't belong here, and I think that's what heart, yeah. That's where the gatekeepers get a little bit.
Have you been putting in your blood, sweat and tears? No, but I have been alive for 47. and so I have been living and contributing in other spaces that maybe you didn't see me and I didn't see you. , but I am bringing experience into this space. You know, And that's the other thing people have to give themselves credit for.
It's like you've been life for what, quite some time. So maybe you should consider that that life experience still has value and you're just pulling other skills. That's the great thing about also being a librarian. It's it's multidisciplinary. You're bringing in all your other.
And pieces and experiences, and you're bringing it into this space now, and so it looks, yes, I look very fresh and new for a lot of people. Um, Some people are okay with that. Some people are like, I don't know. You haven't, been here for 20, 30 years like I have. Yeah, but I've been sharing the planet with you for 47 years, so, it's okay.
Like, I, I'm sorry I'm a little late for you, but not really sorry. Not sorry
[00:35:37] Rosalyn: Yeah.
[00:35:38] Kejo: but I'm happy to be here. , you know, I'm happy to be a part of this now. So, yeah, just folk around, like you said,
[00:35:46] Rosalyn: I'm incredibly glad that you're here in the here and
[00:35:49] Kejo: Thank you. I'm glad you're here too,
Rosalyn.
[00:35:51] Rosalyn: thank you. it's been so great to to chat with you. Can you let us know a little bit about where we can find out more about you, more about the, the different projects you're working on?
[00:36:03] Kejo: I guess the easiest way to find me is I am on Instagram and Twitter. If you go to Key Jo k. J o Buchanan, b u c h a n a n. And I also have a link tree. So if you just do a Google search for me, I apologize for the early photos. They're just there. I can't do anything about it. yeah, you can just see the different evolutions of myself through the
[00:36:25] Rosalyn: That's my
[00:36:26] Kejo: sign
my link. Exactly. Go ahead and Google me. It's fine. And yeah, so those are, those are the easiest ways to see, because my link tree gives you more of an idea of where I am creatively um, what I'm doing in terms of, I've been putting the poetry on the backdrop, but totally um, forward with Jolly Journey right now and with the executive producing for folk recovery. And of course, I am available as your public librarian if you're doing your own research in the arts. And that's on the fifth floor at Toronto Reference Library.
[00:36:59] Rosalyn: That's incredible. And we'll, we'll put a link to Folk Recovery and Jelly Journey
[00:37:03] Kejo: please.
[00:37:03] Rosalyn: well in the, um,
[00:37:04] Kejo: Yeah,
[00:37:05] Rosalyn: the, in the show
notes. And, um,
Kik, thank you so much for
[00:37:08] Kejo: Thank you Rosalyn, for inviting me and thank you for the great work and your team behind you.
[00:37:13] Rosalyn: Thank you.
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