Hayden Desser takes his time, allowing life to catch up with his songs before putting them at sea at the right moment, with the right people, to hoist the sails. Hayden’s early success with grunge-inflected Americana found him at the centre of a major label bidding war following the release of his debut album Everything I Long For. But as the alternative rock era quieted, so too did Hayden’s ‘90s grunge growl soften. By 2001’s Skyscraper National Park Hayden was on the DIY circuit, hand-delivering signed and numbered copies to local record stores in Toronto. Now, 20 years later, our hero is penning rich domestic observations into soft and beautiful Americana compositions from under the watchful gaze of the CN tower. He’s kept good company along the way, including writing a song for The National frontman Matt Berninger’s solo debut, the somber piano ballad ‘Take Me Out of Town’ and putting out records on his own Hardwood record label for Canadian greats including Basia Bulat and Cuff the Duke. He has even taken up producing, putting together the cerebral pop debut from Lou Cannon, 2007’s Suspicious. In 2014 he founded Dream Serenade, an annual benefit concert at Toronto’s Massey Hall for children with developmental and physical disabilities. The forlorn ‘East Coast’ is the first single from his first album in 7 years, a welcome return during ‘Troubled Times.’

Biography by Liam Prost