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Upcoming Appearances - Click Here! Canadian Toby Dawn a singer/songwriter for today. Her father, while serving in the Canadian Armed Forces, named her after the actress Toby Tyler who, with the assistance of singer Tommy Hunter, provided entertainment to Canadian Troops serving in the Middle East. Toby spent most of her childhood growing up in northwestern New Brunswick enjoying a wonderful country lifestyle and spending much of her time along the Tobique River. The Tobique River was named after an elder 'Tobit'; he was from the Maliseet First Nation's Village. With close family ties she became involved in music as a youngster singing along with her parents as her father played guitar. She then began to branch out, singing at church and school functions. |
When it came time for university, Toby set aside her music and received a Bachelor of Education in Business from the University of New Brunswick. Toby's first teaching job took her to Northern Alberta where she taught in a Mennonite community. She then moved back to New Brunswick to work in the public school system and has also had the opportunity to work with students from the Beijing Concord College of Sino-Canada and Tobique First Nations. Toby presently works as an Employment Counselor and helps clients find job opportunities throughout Carleton and Victoria County.
In 1988 Toby started working with entrepreneurs, assisting them in their start up phase. During that time Toby decided to get back into music as she felt that something was missing from her creative side. She began taking formal guitar in 1990 and voice lessons in 1996.
To date, Toby has written and composed over 40 songs and strives to produce more. She is a respected member of SOCAN (Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada) and a member of Music/Musique NB. Her style is best described as 'New Country for a New World'.
Toby’s
musical influences cover a wide variety of different genres. The following
singer/songwriters include just a few artists that Toby has been influenced
by: Dolly Parton, Sarah McLachlan, Jan Arden, Sheryl Crow, Tracy Chapman,
Gordon Lightfoot, Neil Young, Elvis Presley, Sting, Bono, Bob Marley,
and John Hiatt.
