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by Francine Lapointe, Urban Hero Magazine At the time of this interview, The Young Novelists were on the last leg of their latest US tour.  They will be playing at Homegrown in Hamilton on Friday May 1st.  Modern troubadours addicted to touring, their music is unique and is a reminiscence of the 60s with a fresh Indie twang.  As folk rock goes, this is something blue, something borrowed and something new. Urban Hero Magazine:  How is the tour? Graydon:  It’s been a pretty good tour.  We have our last two shows in the States and then we’ll be back in…    read more.

by Joe Cornelisse, Sonic More Music When a record starts off as strong as The Young Novelists sophomore album ‘made us strangers’ does with the track “Palindrome” you have to wonder how they can keep it up over twelve tracks…the wondering ceases as track #2 “singer-songwriter” begins. The album has an edgier feel to it than their debut studio album ‘In the Year You Were Born’ (thanks to John Law’s killer guitar work) but it still maintains the feel of flight that their harmonies conjure up every time I hear them. Graydon James has been working hard because his vocals…    read more.

by Mackenzie Herd, Exclaim! The Young Novelists’ sophomore effort, Made Us Strangers, is an exciting set that eschews the glitz and glamour of contemporary country rock’n’roll for a sound that is far more raw and organic. Recording with Zeus’ Carlin Nicholson, the Toronto-based group strove for a sound that was grittier and edgier than their previous effort by composing songs that are thick with electric guitars, rumbling drums and joyful honky-tonk piano. The album, which proudly boasts that it was recorded without pitch correction or click tracks, plays like a performance. It’s Nicholson’s bare bones approach to recording that truly communicates the…    read more.

by Bobby Foley, Interrobang Photo credit: JEN SQUIRES Graydon James and Laura Spink front the band The Young Novelists, set to perform at the London Music Club May 2.       I write about random things a lot. I write a lot about random things. On a hot summer evening in 2014, The Young Novelists gathered together a small group of friends, insiders and network contacts and held a listening party in Toronto to share material they had been working on for a new album. The gathering was abuzz from start to finish; the band – fronted by Graydon…    read more.

by Becky Upham, Citizen Times The Young Novelists play Isis Restaurant and Music Hall at 7 p.m. April 8. “You can’t handle the truth.” That line, delivered by Jack Nicholson in the movie “A Few Good Men,” has become something of a punchline, but many of us would readily admit it — we can’t handle it, nor do we want to. When it comes to delivering or receiving, truth can be … well, overrated. When people begin a sentence with, “If I can be perfectly honest,” my first instinct is to go running in the other direction. If a documentary is…    read more.

by Greg Jones, Ear to the ground music I found Graydon James and the Young Novelists how I find a lot of artists on the bountiful supply of new music that is bandcamp. Initially blown away by the songwriting and harmonies, I couldn’t wait to get a copy of In the Year You Were Born. I can safely say the album fulfills my high expectations. Jumping off from an uptempo opening track, “I was a young man’s son” has the ethereal hard-working ethic typical of the country music root James and company use as their base. It’s really the kind…    read more.

REVIEW: in the year you were born The Young Novelists Toronto six-piece Graydon James & The Young Novelists offers a textbook example of how to do things right. This latest release is pure James Lee Burke, spinning miniature stories masterfully and evoking images of small town life, capturing the spirit of untainted optimism and delivering every song with the kind of smart sounding earthy-pop we’ve come to expect from Blue Rodeo. Graydon James and his cohorts have won widespread praise and the chatter about this one is likely to be more roar than whisper. The launch party is at The…    read more.

by Ken Kelly, The Musicnerd Chronicles Their music has earned comparisons to Blue Rodeo and the Band but make no mistake, Toronto-based roots band Graydon James and the Young Novelists are carving a path all their own. Following up a pair of 2011 releases, the group’s most recent full-length effort, In The Year You Were Born, has earned them widespread praise. Their songs have been deemed thoughtful and heartfelt while the band is also earning a reputation for their stellar live shows. As Graydon James and the Young Novelists have become busier over the last two years, potential life-changing decisions are also…    read more.

From classical and jazz to pop, we pick our favourite Toronto concerts every month. This May, Jill Barber plays Massey Hall, Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique is at Roy Thomson and Randy Bachman takes over the Wychwood Barns with The Sadies and Melanie Fiona. Graydon James and the Young Novelists Maybe there’s something in the water, but Toronto has a weird ability to keep producing unerringly classy country-rock bands who know their way around four-part harmonies and Gretsch hollow-body guitars. James and friends have been together for four years, releasing In the Year You Were Born, their first proper album, last fall….    read more.

Stock up on 5-Hour Energy and plot the best route between venues, because Canadian Music Week is underway. Graydon James & The Young Novelists The Dakota Tavern (249 Ossington Avenue) Tuesday, 12 a.m. Graydon James and his The Young Novelists bandmate Laura Spink spent last month playing an intimate weekly residency at the Cameron House. For tonight’s showcase set, the roots-rock and folk band is back at full strength, playing songs off of last year’s In the Year You Were Born. Go if: You want to see one of Toronto’s best live roots-rock outfits, in one of the city’s best…    read more.