Remy Shand, Mysterious

Sounds like a soulful version of Tonic (6 p.m.) tonight, with Katie playing music from the Meters, Stevie Wonder and Remy Shand.

Oddly enough just the other day someone was asking me what had become of Remy Shand, who went from Winnipeg to Motown, not something too many Winnipegers can claim. (I know I can't. Though I'm a former Winnipeger.) Yes, his first recording, The Way I Feel, was released on Motown Records about six years ago amd it was quite a hit, for good reason -- what talent. It was also quite a story, he essentially put together the recording in his Winnipeg home. He won a Juno for that album, and was Grammy nominated. And after a couple of years, he seemed to disappear.

So prompted by Tonic playing Shand, and this question (coming as it did from someone who also liked Shand when we heard him live about five years ago) I started looking...and finding almost nothing. A message board thread asking "whatever happened to Remy Shand," from years ago. A slightly more recent blog post asking the same question. (Actually, there are numerous blog postings asking Where Is Remy Shand? ) A Remy Shand MySpacepage devoted to keeping his sound alive, in the absence of another recording. And the news section of his website giving an error message.

Obviously there's a story there, perhaps one I totally missed. Possibly a not very happy story, I suspect. But at least there's still music from that one great, soulful album to listen to, as you'll hear tonight on Tonic.