47 Facts About Craig Cardiff

Craig Cardiff was born on 9 July 1976 and is a Canadian folk singer from Waterloo, Ontario who lives in Arnprior, Ontario.

Craig Cardiff has released sixteen albums, both live and studio-based since 1997.

In 2012, Cardiff was nominated for a Juno Award for Roots and Traditional Album of the Year: Solo and for a Canadian Folk Music Award as Contemporary Singer of the Year.

Craig Cardiff was born July, 1976 to Judy and Charles Cardiff.

Craig Cardiff grew up with his younger sisters Catherine, Susan and Elizabeth in Waterloo, Ontario, where both his parents were school teachers.

Craig Cardiff's parents bought him his first guitar, a Gibson J-30, when he was 15, while one of his high school teachers, taught him the guitar during his lunch hour.

Craig Cardiff began to perform at coffeehouses and with some bands in high school.

Craig Cardiff worked as a booking agent, organizing shows at Fed Hall, including the Guess Who.

Craig Cardiff moved to the Ottawa area from Waterloo when he was in his twenties.

Craig Cardiff lived in Wakefield for a few years before buying an old farmhouse in Arnprior, which now serves as a home recording studio.

In September 1997, Craig Cardiff debuted with the album Judy Garland which included Deanna Knight, Tom Murray, Danny Michel, Joel Stouffer, Paul Mathew and Catherine Craig Cardiff.

Craig Cardiff has offered at least one new release almost every year, and his catalogue includes live albums, studio albums, collaborations with other artists and tributes to songwriters he admires.

On 24 May 2018, Craig Cardiff released his first tribute cover album.

Craig Cardiff stated that in his first work with producers Ben Leggett and Andre Wahl, they encouraged him to not repeat his previous work and to make use of his producers to push him creatively.

Craig Cardiff has explained that the title alludes to Biblical plagues which bring both destruction and opportunity.

When Craig Cardiff released his album Goodnight in 2007, media took notice of the fact that he wasn't selling plastic-wrapped, jewel-cased editions of the album during his tour.

Craig Cardiff wrote the "jaunty song about death" with a chorus that states "goodnight, go home, there is nothing more to see here," for his daughter, who was 17 months old at the time, to explain to her what happens to people when they die.

The song was inspired by Craig Cardiff's mother telling him about growing up in Brantford and about First Nations woman outside of town.

Craig Cardiff's song tells the story of two parents welcoming a newborn into the world, only to be told that the child will only survive for a few hours.

Craig Cardiff often pays tribute to his favourite songwriters in his performances and on his albums.

In 2018, Craig Cardiff released a five-song album of exclusively Bob Dylan covers.

Craig Cardiff has built a community of musicians, songwriters, producers and engineers with whom he works closely.

Together, Wahl and Leggett pushed Craig Cardiff to make an album that didn't sound like anything he had recorded before.

Leggett and Craig Cardiff worked together to compose the soundtrack for the independent Canadian film In Return by Chris Dymond, which was released in 2012.

Besides producing, mixing and arranging on many albums, Cooper has provided background vocals and played a variety of instruments on Craig Cardiff's releases, including piano, guitar, banjo, organ, and percussion.

Craig Cardiff has sung on a number of his albums, and they have released a live album together.

Cousins met Craig Cardiff while she was a student at Dalhousie University in Halifax.

Many of those venues were small and intimate, and on that tour, Craig Cardiff booked three house concerts.

Craig Cardiff includes many house concerts on his tours, frequently preceding a larger public show with an intimate performance in a fan's living room.

Craig Cardiff told Carleton University's Capital Arts Online that he was inspired when, as a teenager in Waterloo, he began volunteering with a woman who organized performances in churches.

Craig Cardiff has performed at The Tim Hortons Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival, POP Montreal, the Shelter Valley Folk Festival, Hay Days, Hillside Festival, Ottawa Bluesfest and Waterloo Sounds Of Summer.

Whether he's performing to a smaller house concert crowd or at a large public gathering, Craig Cardiff isn't afraid to mix music with a bit of community activism.

Craig Cardiff played a last-minute concert in the living room of PhD students in Victoria to help them raise funds for their AIDS outreach exchange to Africa.

Craig Cardiff has performed at the University of Western Ontario's mob vote, alongside Rick Mercer.

In March 2012, Craig Cardiff performed at Phog Lounge in Windsor, Ontario, to support MedOutreach, a program by University of Windsor and University of Western Ontario medical, dental and nursing students that took them to Tanzania to help treat patients at clinics and orphanages.

Craig Cardiff told the Windsor Star that it's not so much the causes, but the people behind the causes that interest him.

Craig Cardiff encourages people to be open and share things about themselves, both good and bad.

Craig Cardiff spent a day at Churchill Alternative School, and the entire school community had a chance to learn about "Music as Magic" with him and to contribute ideas to a song they wrote together that day called Love Turns I Into We.

Craig Cardiff has been facilitating workshops for many years, and he sees them as another way to connect with people who love music.

Craig Cardiff was nominated for a 2012 Juno Award for Roots and Traditional Album of the Year: Solo for Floods and Fires in a category with eventual winner Bruce Cockburn, David Francey, Dave Gunning and Lindi Ortega.

Craig Cardiff won the Canadian Organization of Campus Activities Campus Entertainment Award as best singer-songwriter in both 2014 and 2013.

Craig Cardiff often passes around a notebook at his shows called a "Book of Truths".

The Book of Truths was born when Craig Cardiff gave one of his notebooks to a couple and asked them to write down the story they told him about their connection with his music so that he wouldn't forget it.

In 2011, Craig Cardiff printed his first edition of the Book of Truths, which he sells through his website and at shows.

Craig Cardiff is known for engaging fans during performances, his wide vocal range and his ability to improvise, as well as for creating cohesive, emotional performances through his on-stage humour and storytelling.

Craig Cardiff's work was featured in the soundtrack for an independent Canadian film that was named Audience Choice Best Feature at the Cinefest Sudbury International Film Festival in September 2012.

Craig Cardiff teamed up with Leggett to compose the soundtrack for In Return, a dark romantic comedy written and directed by Chris Dymond.