Simcoe, Ontario-based Canadian folk singer-songwriter Tia McGraff, alongside her husband and musical partner Tommy Parham, releases “Two Wolves (Remix)” out now, the lead single from their upcoming album ‘With a Friend,’ arriving October 31 on Bandana Records. The song draws its title and its message from the well-known Cherokee legend of a grandfather teaching his grandson about the two wolves that live inside every person, one full of anger, the other full of compassion, and the lesson that whichever wolf wins is simply the one you feed.
McGraff and Parham wrote “Two Wolves” together one afternoon on their sunporch, moved enough by the legend’s message that the song came together almost immediately. Parham, who is of Shoshone and Ute descent, felt a personal pull toward the story’s themes, and the couple recorded the track at home before inviting friends from Six Nations to contribute Mohawk flute, vocables, and hand drum to the finished recording.
Their friends’ performance was so striking that McGraff and Parham let a three-minute song stretch past four minutes to make room for it, rather than cut a single note.
The song opens with the grandson’s question, “Grandfather, Chief of the proud Cherokee, you are much older and wiser than me,” building toward the grandfather’s answer and the line that has become the song’s heart: “You ask which wolf will win? It’s the one that you feed.” Simple as that message is, it has made “Two Wolves” the most requested song in McGraff and Parham’s catalogue, one they have performed on stages around the world, closing every show by inviting the audience to join them in singing the closing vocable chant together.
“Two Wolves” was written by McGraff and Parham and produced by the pair, recorded with hand drum by Dawn Antone, percussion from Kevin Fisher and Jon DeBathe, wood flute and rattle by Sakoieta Widrick, bass guitar by Spady Brannon, acoustic and Telecaster electric guitar by Parham, and additional electric guitars by Pat Buchanan, with vocal chant performed by Antone, Widrick, Jocelyn Antone and Parham. The original track was mixed by Ted Willey and Parham, with this new version remixed and mastered by Kevin Fisher. The song has also found its way into McGraff’s children’s book, ‘Jake the Road Dawg,’ carrying its message to an entirely different generation of listeners.
McGraff is one of Canada’s most decorated contemporary folk artists, a singer-songwriter of Transylvanian and Scot descent with more than ten internationally released albums, co-writing credits alongside Randy Bachman, Dan Hill and Andrew Gold, songs published through Anne Murray’s publishing house, and a recent induction into the Norfolk Music Hall of Fame. She met Parham, a Colorado native who moved to Nashville with a full staff writing deal already in hand, and whose song “Rocks You Can’t Move” became a top ten hit for Lee Greenwood, and the two have been musical and life partners ever since. After Tia’s mother’s health prompted a move back to Lake Erie, Ontario, the couple has continued to tour internationally, playing main stage festivals, intimate concert venues and house concerts across Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom, earning comparisons to a modern-day Johnny Cash and June Carter along the way.
With “Two Wolves” out now and ‘With a Friend’ arriving October 31, McGraff and Parham bring the song’s message to audiences across Ontario, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia throughout the remainder of the year.
Concert Dates:
September 6, Indigo Stoney Creek, Stoney Creek, ON, In Your Dreams Jake book launch
September 12, Chinguacousy Park, Brampton, ON, MADD Annual Candlelight Vigil
September 19, Coles Book Store, Stratford, ON, Adopt a School Event
September 20, Global Pet Foods, Simcoe, ON
September 27, Parkhill Artisan Collective, Parkhill, ON
October 3, Royal Botanical Gardens, Hendrie Park, Burlington, ON, Telling Tales Festival
October 14, Indigo Fredericton, NB
October 15, Shoebox Cantina, New Glasgow, NS
October 16, Murray Family Public Library, Pictou, NS
October 17, Dartmouth Public Library, Dartmouth, NS
October 17, Keshen Goodman Library, Halifax, NS
October 17, Blind Dog House Concerts, Tantallon, NS
October 18, Central Public Library, Halifax, NS
October 24, West Flamboro Presbyterian Church, Hamilton, ON
October 31, Indigo Conestoga Mall, Kitchener, ON
November 5, Holy Trinity Catholic High School, Simcoe, ON, Norfolk Music Hall of Fame
November 15, Brucefield Community United Church, Brucefield, ON
November 22, Delhi United Church, Delhi, ON
December 12, Woodhouse United Church, Simcoe, ON, Annual Christmas Concert
December 13, Ruthven Park, Cayuga, ON
December 20, Niagara Falls Public Library, Niagara Falls, ON
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