On the grill

Will Stroet

Who are you?

I’m Will Stroet, or Will from Will’s Jams, a TV series airing weekday mornings on CBC Kids TV. I’m also a bilingual JUNO-nominated children’s musician. My band and I tour across Canada constantly and in the last two years have done three tours in China. Most importantly I’m a dad to Ella and June.

My next public shows are at Festival du Bois on March 23 and 24 at Mackin Park in Coquitlam. Also, I have new album called Rocks and Roots coming out this spring. We’ll be releasing the album at the Surrey and Vancouver International Children’s Festivals in May-June.

First concert

The first concert I went to was with my dad at the Orpheum in Vancouver to see the VSO. I was only five years old and had recently begun playing the violin so my mom thought it would be a good idea to go to the symphony. When I got home from the show my mom asked me what I thought of the symphony. Apparently, I answered, “there were hundreds and hundreds of urinals!” At which point my dad said to my mom, “I think we can wait a few years before bringing him back.”

I still love going to the Orpheum for concerts now, and we often take our kids to the excellent children’s series they offer every year.

Life-changing concert

B.B. King, again at the Orpheum. When I was a teenager I was really getting into the guitar. I remember seeing B.B. King performing at the Orpheum. (He used to come nearly every year.) It was a time in my life when I was obsessed with Blues music and seeing the Legendary BB King with his band playing all his hits just blew me away. It made me think I had to be part of the music industry somehow.

Top three records

This changes constantly. Right now my favourites are:

1. Vulfpeck—The Beautiful Game. Not their most recent but I love the amount of fun you can hear these guys are having when they make music.

2. The Slocan Ramblers—Queen City Jubilee. Kind of the same as above, though the music is completely different. Canadian Bluegrass pickers who are also clearly having a fun time making music together.

3. Bob Dylan—Love and Theft. This is an album that came out in 2001. Dylan’s songwriting is topnotch, the band is amazing and the whole album is so bluesy. I just love it.

All-time favourite video

I really like Said the Whale’s “UnAmerican”. The stop motion is executed so well. It was clearly a massive undertaking and it looks great! Every now and then there are so really cool videos that come out, but with so much content going up on the web every day it is so easy to miss really great videos. I’m glad this one made it to my social media feeds when it came out!

What’s in your fridge?

1. Rock 'n Roly Guacamole: My daughter gave guacamole this name, and as result I had to write a song about it. The song will be the opening track on my upcoming album Rocks and Roots. Holy moly, roly poly, rock and roly, guacamole!

2. Oxtail: My in-laws taught me an incredible recipe for oxtail stew and as a result it is a huge favourite in our house. I love it, my wife loves it, and the kids love it too. Oxtail used to be cheap. It was a part that no one wanted. Well not anymore, it is expensive now but so worth it.

3. Ginger jam: As the star of Will’s Jams, I know my jams. In my opinion no other jam measures up to ginger jam. My four-year-old and I both love it so there is always a jar in the fridge beaconing out to us to eat it!