Behind The Curtain with Erin McCallum: Where Canada’s Blues Stories Come Alive
- Erin McCallum
- Aug 9
- 6 min read
Photo Credit: Prashant Rawante
"There’s a special kind of commitment that comes with shining a light on the people who shape the sound of a nation’s music — and Erin McCallum embodies it. Over the course of 40 in-depth “Behind The Curtain” features, Erin has pulled back the layers on some of the biggest names in the Canadian Blues Collective. These aren’t quick chats or surface-level Q&As; they’re seriously great pieces of music journalism, born from many hours of research, preparation, and thoughtful listening before a single question is ever recorded.
A touring blues musician herself, Erin knows the heartbeat of the stage and the studio. Her formal education in media studies (news and radio) at Humber College in Ontario set the groundwork, but it was her mentorship with Canadian News Hall of Fame inductee Robert Holiday that honed her journalistic instincts. For the past six years, she’s focused her pen and her lens on music, earning her place as a regularly published writer in both music and investigative journalism.
Her exclusive monthly column in The Sound Cafe has become essential reading, offering a rare blend of insider knowledge, deep respect for the craft, and the curiosity to ask the questions others might overlook. She speaks with musicians and industry professionals from across Canada who work predominantly in the Blues & Roots genres — giving voice to the stories that might otherwise go untold.
In this latest piece, Erin takes us behind the process itself, explaining what it really takes to gather the information, context, and understanding required before the interview even begins." — Stevie Connor, Founder/Editor, The Sound Cafe
Photo Credit: Ken Wallis
At the beginning of each regular instalment, there’s a brief explanation of what Behind The Curtain strives to do; discover something more, and provide exclusive insight about the featured artist. Regular attention is also paid to the fact that this article goes beyond the regular press release or promo, and looks within an artist’s bio in hopes of quelling the curiosities that remain. Every artist investigated in this particular forum has an extensive, accessible bio which serves as the foundation for both reader’s interest, and biographical content that allows for a deeper investigation. It’s always encouraged for readers to discover more about the artist in question via independent research; it’s impossible to provide a full bio within the confines of an article. After over 40 published editions in The Sound Café Magazine, it makes sense to offer readers a more detailed explanation of the process that turns curiosity into credible, exclusive content.
As a monthly instalment, it’s fair to say that there are several things happening behind the scenes in preparation for each feature. One important starting point is to know that Behind The Curtain follows the same journalistic standards and code of journalistic ethics as outlined by the RTDNA Canada and the Canadian Association of Journalists. The standards are: accuracy, fairness, independence, integrity, accountability, and transparency. In order to uphold that high standard, it is essential to verify information prior to accepting it as foundational knowledge before any interview takes place. Sometimes, years of study are part of the process, prior to any content that gets published on the record. With only one exception (Michael Fonfara, March, 2022 Behind The Curtain: Michael Fonfara), every quote added ‘to the record’ has come from the featured artist as a direct source. This method is central to ensuring fair and accurate reporting.
Of note: the aforementioned article still features direct quotes from credible sources (Pat Carey, John Finley, and Danny Weis, who were objectively selected based on biographical research and extensive consultation), multiple interviews with other direct sources, and consultation with others close to Fonfara’s career and personal history.
All quotes published in Behind The Curtain are independently sourced, and obtained directly from the person quoted, via a real-time voice to voice conversation, which has been scheduled specifically for the purpose of an on the record interview. Each quote is verified, verbatim, and authorized by the source, prior to being officially documented, and the interviewee always maintains control of what quotes are “on record”, and which parts of the conversation remain “on background”. Parts of this process may sound ‘dry’, however; they’re important elements in ensuring that a code of journalistic standards and ethics are met. In short, each person interviewed provides informed consent with respect to adding information to the record, and understanding the intention of the article as it will be put forward to readers. Many times, more than one interview takes place, or there is post-interview clarification prior to writing the article that gets sent to the Editor In Chief for publication. Due to the in-depth nature of the interviews, which serve as the backbone of each article, trust, transparency, and integrity are paramount to the process– it’s fair to say that any fracture in trust (misquoting, adding ‘on background’ information to the record, being misleading in an artist’s intention) would make Behind The Curtain impossible.
In an investigative setting, the journalistic approach is to be objective, while also focusing on specific matters or details to create a more in-depth understanding of a subject, or put into context, elements of a subject that are of public interest. This is why Behind The Curtain focuses on artists with a substantial professional record that’s easily accessible to readers. An artist’s biography must be well established and documented in order to provide insight into the artists at the core of the Canadian Blues music Collective, and, at the same time, the information uncovered puts that bio into context. This is why research and verifying information is crucial; the more extensive the bio, the more one can find documented information on the record. The promise to readers is that Behind The Curtain offers exclusive information, which can be a tall order when examining artists who have careers that have been documented for decades. Uncovering what curiosities can provide insight, while also putting information on the record for the first time, is only possible via extensive research. For context, a decade of consideration went into the Chuck Jackson and Gary Kendall features, prior to a scheduled interview took place ( Behind The Curtain: Chuck Jackson - Behind The Curtain: Gary Kendall ). Also of note, the more recent Lance Anderson and David Wilcox features ( Behind The Curtain: Lance Anderson, Behind The Curtain: David Wilcox ) took several years of consideration before a credible line of questioning was fair to put forward. In Anderson’s case, his career is so diverse that it took considerable time to decide where to focus the investigation; in Wilcox’s case, finding credible curiosity and examining an artist who is documented across genres (and decades) to provide something exclusive was a solid challenge.
As an investigative article, one of the core principles that falls under the headings of independence and integrity is protecting your sources. Although Behind The Curtain provides readers with quotes that come straight from the source, there’s still much to protect. Conversations ‘on background’, personal contact information, pre-interview sources (and more), are all components of a direct interview that can – and do – serve to protect sources. It might be of interest to readers to know that approximately 90% of the scheduled interview ultimately stays ‘off the record’. The content that makes it to publishing has been scrutinized, verified, and approved in an effort to provide readers a deeper insight into both the Canadian Blues Collective, and the featured artists who are at its core.
In a world where the definition of news and media are often conflated or confused, readers and artists can be assured that Behind The Curtain falls into the category of news, in good standing and practise (under the sub-category of investigative journalism). For that reason, it’s safe to consider its content a reliable source (Of note to those who are interested in verifying sources: Behind The Curtain is published exclusively in The Sound Café Magazine, and is not available in any other publication or platform, unless authorized via use of direct link). As readers conduct independent investigations about the artists featured here, it is highly encouraged to notice the differences between Q&As, press releases, reviews, articles with/without sources, and articles that are independently sourced. Each has their own objectives and guidelines, and each provide readers with something different. In this particular instalment, the principles of transparency and integrity are offered directly to readers by explaining the important elements and processes that provide the published content in Behind The Curtain.
As readers explore archived editions, and anticipate future articles, perhaps having deeper insight into what brings people ‘behind the curtain’ will substantiate the content further.
Touring blues musician, Erin McCallum's formal post-secondary education was in media studies (news, radio), graduating from Humber College in Ontario, she went on to be mentored by Canadian News Hall of Fame inductee, Robert Holiday, and she is a regularly published writer in music and investigative journalism, having focused on music for the last six years. Erin has an exclusive monthly column in The Sound Cafe featuring musicians and industry professionals from across Canada who work predominantly in the Blues & Roots genres.
Erin McCallum. Big Voice. Big Sound.
Check out the Erin McCallum Blues Legend & Legacy Distinction
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