Every day, in the basement of a family home in Toronto’s Riverdale neighborhood, kids and adults alike develop a life-long love of music thanks to Steve Briggs and his growing roster of working musicians.
Approaching the Victorian home, on a quiet residential street, there are only a couple of signs that indicate the hotbed of musical instruction that’s happening inside. One clue is a kettle, steaming out musical notes, nailed to the front of the house. Another hint is a red artistic guitar adorning the backyard fence. Inside there are shelves lined with CDs from some of Steve’s biggest musical influences. Boxed sets by the likes of Ernest Tubb, Hank Williams, Django Reinhardt and The Beatles. “We are our neighborhood’s best kept secret,” says Kristin Briggs, Steve’s wife, who co-runs the studio.
After graduating from Berklee’s College of Music in Boston, MA in 1985, Steve moved to Toronto and started teaching music lessons out of his house to supplement his income. The musician was playing gigs with a variety of groups (today he leads the popular Western Swing band Bebop Cowboys) and slowly, via word-of-mouth, he had a waiting list of students.
