'It was amazing': Drake interrupts Guelph, Ont. musician with impromptu performance
Drake and his dad, Dennis Graham, were at a jazz bar in Toronto when they decided to get up on stage and sing
A Guelph, Ont. musician is being thrust into the spotlight after global superstar Drake interrupted his set last Friday to perform a duet with his father.
Shane Philips says he was playing with his band at the Reservoir Lounge in Toronto when he got word that some special guests were going to show up.
Those guests were Drake and his father, Dennis Graham.
While they were watching with some friends, Graham approached Phillips to ask if it would be OK to get up and sing.
"So I handed him the mic," Philips said. "Then I just walked over to Drake and we hung out at the bar and watched his dad sing ... And at this point I'm certain we were not doing two sets. We're just playing until this night is over... we're now into a seven-hour night of soul music."
Philips said after Graham went up to the stage to sing for a second time, Drake took a mic and joined his dad in an impromptu cover of T-Bone Walker's 1947 song Call it Stormy Monday.
"I could see Drake honouring his dad and the old-school culture," Philips said.
After the duet, Drake sat back down to watch his father perform.
"And then he just sits there and he puts his hands on the corner of the piano and rest his chin on there watching his dad sing probably like he did a million times as a kid. It was amazing."
Drake shared a part of the set on Instagram, where thousands of people heard Philips' band play for the first time.
The exposure from Drake has put Philips in the spotlight with mentions from a variety of international media outlets like Complex and Billboard.
In 2015, Philips got an opportunity to sing with Stevie Wonder, his musical inspiration, at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.
Philips previously appeared on the hit television show The Voice. On his website, Philips says he was cast off because producers of the show said he was "too soulful," a comment Philips considered a compliment to guide him in his path forward.
"I want my legacy to stand for peace, love and justice," Philips said, when asked how Drake's visit will impact his career moving forward.
"I think all the greatest artists that I look up to have tried to bring people together and would love it if Drake takes his stage and his music and does the same as well."
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