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From the small screen to Nelson

Toronto-based singer Adaline has had her songs on Grey's Anatomy and a variety of other TV shows and is now headed to Nelson.
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Toronto musician Adaline takes the stage at Nelson's Revolution Audio.

Despite the fact hundreds of miles often separate Canadian musicians, they seem to be a tight knit group.

As I started to chat with Toronto-based musician Adaline she told me that she had just had to get off the phone with Ryan Gullen — bassist for Saskatoon’s The Sheepdogs.

“A few of us musicians have been kicking around for a while,” she said. “We often bump into each other on the road and some of us have really taken off. I guess The Sheepdogs are one of the bands that has.”

While you may not have heard of Adaline, chances are you’ve heard of her music.

Shortly after she released her track Say Goodbye (I Won’t Even), it played on the hit TV show Grey’s Anatomy. A couple weeks later another song — Sparks — appeared on the show.

“It can be pretty surreal sometimes,” she said about hearing her music on TV shows. “When you are first getting started you often get your songs on smaller Canadian-based shows and that’s just as exciting to hear how they are able to cross mediums and incorporate my music into the show. But obviously the bigger ones like Grey’s Anatomy are pretty incredible.”

Adaline recorded her first album — Famous for Fire — in 2008. For her newest album Modern Romantics she was able to enlist the help of one of Canadian music’s popular singer/songwriters, Hawksley Workman.

“It was great to work with him but it was also a little surreal because when I was in university he was one of the first songwriters I started to fall in love with,” she said.

The two ended up paired together to work on Modern Romantics after Adaline’s manager emailed Workman.

“He called me one day which was kind of funny because I didn’t know he was going to just call,” she said. “We started talking and he’s just so relaxed, which you maybe don’t expect because he just has this large than life persona on stage. He’s really humble and easy to work with.”

Adaline will be playing an all ages show at Revolution Audio on Thursday, May 31.

“With this tour I’ve really tried to stay true to the record, so we are doing more of an electronic set,” she said. “I’m touring with a three-piece band. I have a drummer who samples as well, a bass player, and I play synth and trigger some samples from the record.”

Doors open at 8:30 p.m. with Audio Hazard opening. Adaline will begin her set at 10 p.m. Advance tickets are $10 and are available at Phoenix Computers.