The distinct voice and familiar characters of CBC’s Stuart McLean have made his radio show, The Vinyl Café, a household name. But McLean, who’s so commonly referred to as a storyteller, is a little discontent with this label.
“I’m a writer before anything,” he says on the eve of his winter Canadian tour. “In fact, the moniker of storyteller seems to be put on me because I do a lot of performance and read my stories in person, but ‘storyteller’ conjures up dragons and pixies and elves. I’m a writer, these things don’t just come magically out of my head, they’re written over and over again; it’s a long and hard process.”
Despite the long line of work he has done with CBC—over 30 years’ worth—McLean feels that there’s something special about The Vinyl Café.
“As a writer, you slowly work towards finding your voice and I think I’ve found it with The Vinyl Café, so I think I’m doing my most important work now,” he says.
The long-running radio broadcast consists of live music, essays, and, more notably, the Dave and Morley stories, which follow a fictional family and their life in Toronto. These characters have been the subject of 12 CDs and 12 books, three of which won the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humor.
“They feel like friends to me, they feel like people I know,” explains Mclean. “They definitely have a life of their own. I don’t want to sound silly, but they tell me things. I think about them and what they could be up to and things come from that.”
Though it isn’t his intention McLean is, as he describes himself, “a Canadian fish swimming in Canadian waters,” and that’s reflected in his stories. He also features young Canadian musicians on his shows as a way of supporting the next generation of artists.
“I was the guy holding the spotlight, and I was able to decide where to shine the light, so I decided to shine the light on those who might not otherwise have it shone upon them,” explains McLean.
On this winter’s tour the light will be shining on Hawksley Workman, a two-time Juno winner from Toronto.
When he hits cities across Canada, including a stop in Victoria, McLean will be reading two new stories, as well as some favorites.
“Special things happen during the live performances that don’t happen in the books. There’s a coming together between the audience and I that can never happen in a book,” he says.
And after 17 years of The Vinyl Café and the Dave and Morley stories, McLean and his team don’t have an end in sight.
“I don’t know how much longer well keep doing this,” he explains. “It would be very hard to stop the show because it would mean leaving the relationship with these people who have become dear to me.”
Stuart McLean’s Vinyl Café (w/Hawksley Workman)
2:30 and 7:30 pm, Monday, November 28
Royal Theatre, $55 and up
rmts.bc.ca