By Sherif Badr

Back when the idea of C-TO, a hub for experiencing everything amazing, was just a thought, I purchased a guitar. My humble guitar by Vantage was sold to me by a Chinese man in Toronto who no longer had time to play. It has a striking bluish green finish and more importantly, was made in 1980, when all Vantage guitars were made in Japan…

Like most spur of the moment  purchases, it wasn't the most thoroughly thought out. Between work and learning how to do things for Culture Toronto like special effects, nothing really came of the purchase and the guitar just sat wedged between objects in my living room to taunt me, like King Arthur's sword in the stone that I just could not wield. "Does this thing even work?" I often wondered...

Then Reid Henry, My Darkest Days member and current Streetlight Social evangelist, came by for an interview.  Reid Henry is probably one of the most versatile musicians in Toronto, and he's all about music regardless of genre.  When I say that Reid is versatile, I mean that he can rock out with My Darkest Days, adored by millions of fans (just look at the YouTube views), yet at the same time he fits right in with the more down to earth folk band that is Streetlight Social. While Streetlight Social's music videos show amazing fun, they're not littered with signing chests in every scene. There is only one overarching similarity in the projects that Reid's into, and that's good music. Rather than being torn between styles, Reid's comfortable in his adaptability. "You need to evolve in life and change constantly," and evolve he has...

We've had emerging musicians on Culture Toronto before like Pluto, but Reid's maturity as an artist was apparent from the moment he got in front of the camera - it was truly his show. I can't wait to see the amazing things in store for Streetlight Social with this talented artist behind it!

 Stay tuned for my short lesson with Reid coming soon!

"The guitar works" he says. I guess my excuse is gone.