Haley Blais On Her New Album “Below The Salt,” Using Tennis As Producers, Vancouver & More

Below The Salt — out on August 25, 2020 via Tiny Kingdom Music — may be the debut full-length album from singer/songwriter Haley Blais, but it is far from her first proper recording. Already carrying 174,000+ subscribers through her YouTube channel, 81,500+ Spotify followers, 32,600+ followers on Instagram and over 10,000 followers on Twitter, Blais has had a notable online presence as an artist since 2014. And Below The Salt, from which the excellent singles “Rob The Original,” “On A Weekend” and “Too Good” have already been released, features production from the likes of indie favorites Tennis (duo Alaina Moore and Patrick Riley) and fellow Vancouver artist Louise Burns.

An artist who creates original music that is both meaningful and mellow, Haley Blais does not shy away from discussing current topics within her songs. Within the aforementioned “Rob The Original,” as an example, she addresses mental health. In June, she donated her Bandcamp sales of “Rob The Original” to Hogan’s Alley Society, an organization that advocates for Black Vancouverites who have endured the legacies of urban renewal and their erasure from the official historical narrative.

On August 18, 2020, I had the pleasure of speaking with Haley Blais via Zoom, as embedded below. She entertained questions about Below The Salt, musical influences, recording with Tennis, future plans and Canadian stereotypes from yours truly. More on Blais can be found online via www.haleyblaismusic.com, www.facebook.com/hblaismusic and www.twitter.com/haleyblais.

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Tags: BLM, Canada, Haley Blais, Hogan's Alley Society, Singer/Songwriters, Tennis, Tiny Kingdom Music, Vancouver

About the Author

Darren Paltrowitz Darren Paltrowitz is a New York resident with over 20 years of entertainment industry experience. He began working around the music business as a teenager, interning for the manager of his then-favorite band Superdrag. Since then, he has worked with a wide array of artists including OK Go, They Might Be Giants, Mike Viola, Tracy Bonham, Loudness, Rachael Yamagata, and Amanda Palmer. Darren's writing has appeared in dozens of outlets including the New York Daily News, Inquisitr, The Daily Meal, The Hype Magazine, All Music Guide, Guitar World, TheStreet.com, Businessweek, Chicago Tribune, L.A. Times, and the Jewish Journal. Beyond being "Editor At Large" for The Hype Magazine, Darren is also the host of weekly "Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz" series, which airs on dozens on television and digital networks. He has also co-authored 2 published books, 2018's "Pocket Change: Your Happy Money" (Book Web Publishing) and 2019's "Good Advice From Professional Wrestling" (6623 Press), and co-hosts the world's only known podcast about David Lee Roth, "The DLR Cast."