Tag Archives: Toronto

Arts

Michael Keith & Iris Gildea: Leaving Cortes Island

Originally published on April 10, 2025

Michael Keith and his wife Iris Gildea are leaving Cortes Island. 

 “This was a decision we made a while ago.  My wife teaches at the University of Toronto. It’s quite the communte between semesters and we started investigating the possibility of libving somewhere a bit closer to her work. We found the ideal situation in the Maritimes. The commute is about a fraction of the time and we can get the place that really suited us. So we made that decision. It was tough, but  it’s time for the next part of the journey,”  he explained. 

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Arts

Michael Keith (Part 2): on Cortes Island 

Originally Published on July 13, 2023

Michael Keith was ‘blown away’ when he visited Hornby Island twenty years ago.

“I was like, ‘Wow, imagine living in a place like that.’ I remember going back to Toronto and telling my friends, ‘they don’t even lock their doors there. It’s incredible!’”

He was enamoured by the spectacular seascapes at Tofino, when he played there a few years later. 

Keith went through a divorce, sold his house, and then hooked up with a professor at the University of Toronto.  

“My new partner who I’ve been with for 10 years,  introduced me to Cortes because she would come here for getaways from Toronto. I was gigging two or three times a week, and teaching in Toronto. She wanted to move here. I came, checked it out and just fell in love with the land. We were fortunate enough to get a tiny little place.”

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Arts

Michael Keith (Part 1): Inspirations then and now

Originally Published July 12, 2023

Nur Michael Keith has been living on Cortes Island for the past 6 years, but has been a professional musician for most of his 56 years. 

In the beginning of a two part series, he talks a little about his earlier life, inspirations and we listen to three of his songs. 

At one point during our interview I asked about his first name, ‘Nur.’ 

Michael explained, “It was something I gave myself. ‘Michael’ is from my birth parents, ‘Keith’ is from my adoptive parents and ‘Nur’ I gave myself. I sometimes go by Nur Michael Keith.”

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Arts

Kim Paulley (part 1): Quest for the Ultimate Free Voice

Originally Published on September 28, 2023.

The audio version of this story opens with a clip of Cortes Island’s own Kim Paulley singing in what may be the first music video release of Bryan Adams’ ‘Straight from the Heart.’ That was in 1980. Adams originally thought it should be sung by a woman and did not make the song famous for another 3 years. 

Paulley has been entertaining Cortes Islanders for the past three decades and in 1994 gave a special unscheduled performance for Queen Elizabeth on Twin Islands. In the first broadcast of a two part series, she talks about the beginnings of her career.

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Arts

Andy Vine’s Pilgrimage

Originally published on October 22, 2017

Andy Vine’s best known song is probably Woman of Labrador, which was released in 2005. His musical roots go back to the UK’s 1960s folk revival. CKTZ listeners know him as the host of the Folk Club, every Wednesday at 10:00 AM. I recently interviewed Andy about folk music, his trip to Ireland and much more.

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