A fixture of Toronto’s music community and a sought-after collaborator, Lydia Persaud stands alone withher debut albumLet Me Show You.Exposed to music from a very young age, Lydia’s early influences sprang fromsinging in church.It wasn’tuntil Lydiastumbled across a cassette that she was exposed to soul music. “My first introduction to soulmusic was through one of my early tapes,VH1Divas Live.It was a live performance taping with MariahCarey, Aretha Franklin, Celine Dion, Shania Twain, CaroleKing and Gloria Estefan.I so wish that Whitneyhad performed as that would have coveredall of my favourite vocal queens.” The vocal skill of theseicons drew Lydia in to explore the soul genre. This influence ultimately reached into the recording studiowhere Lydia createdLet Me Show You. “Soul music has always affected me the most, a soulfulconviction on matters of the heart. Voicing struggle or sharing joy and celebration has always been myfavourite method of expression.”Lydia’s sound expands the boundaries of soul to include both folk and jazz, styles that have beenfoundational to her musical growth. Lydia attended the rigorous jazz program at Humber School ofMusic, where she won the Oscar Peterson Jazz Award and connected with fellow members ofthe folktrio The O’Pears, whom she has been collaborating with for the past7years. Working in these styleshoned Lydia’s mastery of sophisticated vocal harmony and blend, leading her to become an in-demandvocalist.Lydia has supported such icons as Gordon Lightfoot, David Crosby, and Lee Fields, as well asopened for Serena Ryder, Sarah Harmer, and Joey Landreth. She is also a member of renowned coverband Dwayne Gretzky.Participating in the folk and jazz scenes in Toronto developed Lydia’s technical expertise while infusingher work with a storytelling and emotive quality. “I’ve always considered jazz to be very soulful,expressive and spontaneous where folk music is a bit more calculated with a singer-songwriter form thatboilsdown to the root complex feelings and concepts”.As a woman of colour from aCanadian-Guyanese-Ukrainian background, Lydia has actively sought tobreak stereotyped expectations of her identity through her music. She finds it empowering to disruptassumptions that pigeonholeher in genres such asFolk: “Swaying far from those expectations by writingsoul based songs on the ukulelefelt like I was carving out my own space. I always had a love for earlycountry music and storytelling through song, which always kept me close to artists like Shania Twain andStevie Wonder.”Let Me Show You,recorded in Toronto with producer Robbie Grunwald (Donovan Woods, Jill Barber), isan album that runs the gamut from romance, to social activism, to anger: “The songs shift from beingbased inloveandheartbreak tomypersonal encounters with race and gender issues.The albumconveys a full spectrum.”WithLet Me Show You, Lydia draws inspiration from her musical heroes, such as Donny Hathaway, BillWithers and Carole King, while touching on vital issues that deeply affect her. Her music melds genreswhile Lydia’s clear message shines through on the power of her unforgettable voice.