JULIAN TROIANO - ON HIS WAY UP

Julian Troiano has a legacy to live up to – and that can be tough – but he has his sights set on a career in music and he has the talent to back it up.

His uncle, Domenic Troiano, was a friend to many of the members of Lighthouse, who all came of age in that great explosion of Canadian music in the '70s. After Dom's untimely death in 2005, his family, spearheaded by Julian's father Frank, set up the Domenic Troiano Guitar Scholarship Fund. I saw Julian perform at the first fundraiser in 2006. Toronto talent came out in force but it was 15 year old Julian who blew them all away.

"I've been singing since I was a baby," he says. That's evident from his easy naturalness onstage but Julian knows that raw talent isn't all you need to reach your goals. He's always looking for new ways to hone his skills and last summer went to Los Angeles to study a vocal technique called Speech Level Singing. He's continued these studies in Toronto with Ryan Luchuck. He's developing his writing abilities as well and is working with a producer and vocal coach to write new material.

Julian performs regularly and you can see him this Sunday January 17th at the Chick 'n' Deli in Toronto as the special guest of Robbie Lane. There's history here, as one of Dom's first gigs was with Robbie Lane and the Disciples. Julian will take the stage between 6:45 and 7:00.

The Chick ' n' Deli is located at 744 Mt. Pleasant Rd. 416-489-7931

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