Calum Graham

I know beautiful hands when I see them now, and I understand how important they are to manifesting your ideas. Calum has them and puts them to good use as he seeks out both texture and melody in his compositions. Keep it up, Calum!"
- Billy McLaughlin.

Born in Fort St. John, British Columbia and currently residing in Victoria, Calum Graham has been building a name for himself across the globe for the last 12 years with his passionate solo acoustic guitar prowess and was named one of the World’s Top 30 Guitarists under 30 by Acoustic Guitar Magazine.

Calum plays the Acoustic, Baritone, and Harp Guitar in his live set and his original melodies embrace elements of folk, world, soul, blues, and jazz – all built upon the foundation of the fingerstyle technique.

“The most promising young guitarist I’ve seen. His command of the guitar is already really impressive!”
- Andy McKee

Graham’s musical journey first took flight when he began playing the guitar at the age of 13. In the summer of 2010, Graham attended the Canadian Guitar Festival and entered the prestigious Canadian Fingerstyle Guitar Competition. Impressed with his original compositions, the judges awarded Graham with a first-place finish; a feat no other teenager has accomplished in the festival's history. The clip of his winning performance has now generated over 1 million views on YouTube. Shortly afterwards, he was invited to play at the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver, and again 2 years later at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

Calum Graham has solidified a bright future for the guitar. He moves us forward with a powerful original musical voice while paying tribute to those who paved the way before him. A prime example is his composition “The Nomad;” the composition is 100% Calum’s original voice, yet it magically conjures up the spirit of Michael Hedges.

Every note Calum plays is filled with honesty, integrity, passion, and joy. This is excellent news for the rest of us because many notes come our way during a performance!
-Thomas Clippert

As Calum Graham’s name continued to grow in Alberta and across Canada for his guitar work and musicianship, Graham proved that his talent was not limited to his extraordinary ability to play the guitar. In 2011, Graham won the Canada’s Walk of Fame nationwide “A Song For Canada” contest based on his poetic acuteness. His winning poem was used in the song “I’m Here, (A Song For Canada)”. The song was performed by Chantal Kreviazuk and co-written by Graham, Raine Maida (Our Lady Peace), and Stephen Moccio (“I Believe”, 2010 Vancouver Olympics theme song/”Wrecking Ball” - Miley Cyrus)”.

“Calum’s entry resonated strongly among the judges. His poem celebrates the cultural mosaic that is Canada. He has captured the diversity of this country – something that we as a nation are renowned for and proud of.”
-Stephan Moccio

In the late winter of 2012, and with two albums already under his belt, Graham teamed up with iconic Fingerstyle Guitarist Don Ross. The result was an instrumental acoustic duet album titled, “12:34”. Recorded at famed 'Metalworks Studios' (Toronto, ON), and released through CandyRat Records, the album featured six originals by Graham, three by Ross, and a cover of the OutKast hit song, “Hey Ya!”.
Not long after the release of “12:34”, Graham saw a loyal following begin to grow and it wasn’t long before his unique sound started to find a wide and appreciative audience.

In November 2013, Graham released a solo instrumental album titled “Phoenix Rising” (CandyRat Records). The title track has already generated over 4 million views on YouTube, with other songs also notching impressive numbers. The success of the album enabled Graham to expand his global fanbase and he soon began touring internationally, both on his own and with the likes of Don Ross and Andy McKee.
With Graham bringing an innovative sound to the industry, it wasn’t long before Canada’s top booking agency, The Feldman Agency, also counted themselves a fan of Graham’s music. So much in fact, that in July 2014, they decided to partner Graham with renowned Canadian producer Gavin Brown (Billy Talent, Metric, The Tragically Hip) on his “Sessions X” series. The series was recorded at Toronto’s Five-Star “Noble Street Studios” and features Graham alongside several acclaimed musicians including; Tears For Fears, Feist, Three Days Grace, Metric, and Ron Sexsmith.

In September 2014, Graham teamed up with IMAX composer Steve Wood to write the musical score for 'Humpbacks', an underwater 3D adventure documentary for IMAX and other giant screen theatres. Narrated by acclaimed actor Ewan McGregor, the film is directed by Greg MacGillivray (“The Living Sea”, “Everest”), presented in association with Pacific Life, and was released on February 13, 2015, to IMAX theatres worldwide.

In 2016, Graham released his fifth studio album 'Tabula Rasa' which was crowd-funded by fans across the globe and produced by world-renowned Acoustic Guitarist, Antoine Dufour. Adding an extra dimension to his compositions, the album introduces Graham’s soulful vocals to his audience for the first time. The album was released in March 2016 and features a combination of his exemplary instrumental guitar work punctuated throughout with elements of folk, blues, and pop in his vocal songs with guest performances by Antoine Dufour and Bass Guitar Extraordinaire, Michael Manring.

In 2019, Graham released his sixth studio album ‘Thread of Creation’ featuring instrumental compositions written for the Acoustic, Baritone, and Harp Guitar also featuring guest performances by Antoine Dufour and Michael Manring. Each song on this album is very diverse yet very personal and shows real maturity, depth, and development in Calum’s songwriting.

In 2022, Calum released his first-ever concept album inspired by nature titled ‘Sympatheia’ which features 12 original guitar instrumentals recorded at his home studio during the pandemic and released independently.

Calum recently started a band ‘Triplicity’ with his good friends Andy McKee and Trevor Gordon Hall and will be releasing their new full-length album this summer. The album is currently available to pre-order at www.tripliciti.com
Calum continues to tour throughout Canada, the US, and Europe and is currently in the studio recording a 10th-anniversary edition of 'Phoenix Rising' and planning to release the new works along with a pre-order campaign this fall.

For more information on shows, releases, and more follow Calum on social media @calumgrahammusic