The history of theater and opera is full of “understudy” stories. An understudy is the person who trains and rehearses to step in for a star in a show in case the star comes down with dysentery or something. Then the young up-and-comer steps in (this happened when Anthony Hopkins subbed for Laurence Olivier apparently) and gives a life-changing performance. Something like this happened at the 2023 Winnipeg Folk Festival to Liam Duncan, who’d recently taken on his nom-de-rock Boy Golden.
Boy Golden was not unknown at the time. His 2021 debut album Church Of Better Daze was popular on Canadian alternative radio and he was touring like crazy. But he wasn’t prime-time, main-stage famous quite yet. That changed when Sierra Ferrell canceled her set at the last minute and the festival turned to the home town guy.
“We got thrown in on a 7 pm Saturday night slot, basically the best slot you can ask for,” says Duncan in Episode #357 of The String. “And we kind of just nailed it. It was really, really satisfying, and it kind of changed the trajectory of the band and maybe our lives a bit. Yeah, I will treasure that memory forever.” Boy Golden adds an important note of context: “It was one of the first shows I played completely sober, because I was very concerned about screwing something up. And then I felt the real performer’s high afterwards. I was shaking. I had so much adrenaline, I felt giddy. And that feeling’s amazing.”
There is something subtly theatrical about BG with his thrift store couture and his mammal-sized moustache. The Manitoba native started his first bands about age 12 and he’s never chased anything other than a musical life of stages and studios. His pandemic-era metamorphosis was well timed and well tuned. Because audiences find that the whimsy and the sometimes stoner vibe are backed up with intelligence and a commitment to saying something with style and heart.
All this comes together more successfully than ever on his most recent album - his fourth - Best Of Our Possible Lives, a play on the philosopher Wilhelm Leibniz’s assertion that God in its infinite wisdom and power had made for us the “best of all possible worlds.” And the album is an optimistic opus, with complications.
Boy Golden opens with a scintillating song called “Suffer,” calling on resilience in an age where hope’s hard to come by. Track 2, “The Matter At Hand,” picks up where “Suffer” leaves off, as one reviewer said. It rocks a little harder but it rings with the sentiment, “You can break a man’s heart, but you can’t break mine.” Two duets with fellow Canadian folk rocker Cat Clyde are highlights of the album, including the darkly twanging and lushly poetic “Cowboy Dreams,” which has been hitting nicely in the top ten of Americana radio for weeks. The title track is saved for last and it’s one of the most musically deft and lovely songs, one that feels like a prayer for freedom and connection.
Duncan tells us that he got the album in shape in large part through a multi-week residency in Nashville during which he wrote, polished and arranged. Then to record, he went to Los Angeles to work with Robbie Lackritz, a veteran of projects with Toronto songwriter Bahamas and the modern day genius Madison Cunningham. It was the first time he’d ever hired a producer.
“I think what I was hoping to do was just take it to a higher level, take it to a new place. I wanted to relinquish some control as well,” Boy Golden says. “(Lackritz) came highly recommended from other people. And I've also admired his work for a long time, and just think he's very talented and very bright. And then he mixed William Prince's new album, which I produced. So we started off working on that, we were just getting along great, and I felt like I learned a ton from just mixing an album with him. And I was like, Hey, I'm gonna learn a lot from this, this guy, if we make an album together. So we moved forward with that.”
One thing Lackritz brought to the affair was a bass/drum studio pair that is pretty much state of the art in progressive American pop in Pino Palladino and Abe Rounds. “Singing over a rhythm section like that is such a treat. It's hard to describe, other than I will say it's just really easy, because there's, it just feels exactly right,” Duncan says. “(Abe) has a really unique drum setup, often involving congas and different things in his kit. So it sounds like he's got like eight arms sometimes.”
I bring that up because besides being a strong songwriter album, Best Of Our Possible Lives is one of the most sonically engaging and original records this year. Boy Golden comes off as somebody who gives concept a lot of thought while also keeping things loose and friendly. His touring band is made of old friends he’s known since his first stabs at music back in his home town. Fontine, an artist in her own right, has been singing harmony with Duncan for 10 years, and she brings a ton of color to the music. It’s all very cozy and kind and I hope that comes through for you in this conversation.
We talk about this charming performance video, Boy Golden's Bluegrass Brunch.
And don't miss this compelling music video for "Cowboy Dreams" with fellow Canadian Cat Clyde.
