Taes Leavitt (Artsci鈥04) and Nick Adams (Artsci鈥04 and Ed鈥05) turned a class project into a career. Twenty years after leaving Queen鈥檚, the musical duo has two Juno Awards from seven nominations (including a 2023 nomination for their latest album, I Am Love), 14 albums, four DVDs, and a television show on Treehouse. From humble beginnings on Kingston鈥檚 street corners, they鈥檝e toured globally 鈥 from the Arctic to Australia 鈥 always with the same goal of encouraging parents and children to enjoy music together. Watch for them on tour this summer in various Canadian cities.
You turned a Queen鈥檚 University class project into a career. How?
Leavitt: Our class project was to put on a performance in Kingston and we put on a play at the Kingston Public Library. The play had a couple songs in it. At the end, we thought it was so fun, but we really just liked the music part so we started doing singing gigs. Our first was on the street corner as part of the buskers鈥 festival with between two and five people in the audience.
Adams: The important part was we were hired through Queen鈥檚 University for their summer work employment program. Through the drama department, they set up a group called the Barefoot Players and we were hired for two summers. Our job was to create and perform children鈥檚 entertainment around Kingston. That gave us insight on how to book a show, build a show. We got work experience that showed us we could take Splash鈥橬 Boots and make it a full-time job.
Leavitt: If we hadn鈥檛 had that, we probably wouldn鈥檛 be doing this. I remember the audition process was tough because everybody wanted this job. It was just a perfect way to learn about what we actually wanted to do and we got paid to do it. It was such a magical Queen鈥檚 program.
How did you come to be interested in performing for kids?
Adams: Taes is more classically trained and I was in a couple of bands at Queen鈥檚 and we were both in Queen鈥檚 Players as well. We both just had a love of performing for children and families. It just felt so natural.
Speaking of love, you were a couple, correct?
Leavitt: Yeah, we got married while we were at Queen鈥檚. And we realized that actually, being business partners and best friends was better. Our calling was to be Splash鈥橬 Boots.
Adams: So, now we both have partners and we鈥檙e one big, giant, happy family.
You鈥檝e performed all over the world. Can you share a memory of how you鈥檝e reached children and their parents?
Adams: We did a big theatre show in Toronto and we were singing a song called 鈥淏umblebee.鈥 We have a lot of children with special abilities and families who come to our shows and we often give the kids the mic. In this instance, one girl was nonverbal. When Taes gave her the mic, she ended up singing a whole two sentences and her grandpa was crying and everyone started bawling. We get to create moments like that.
Leavitt: It was really beautiful. And that story sums up so much. It鈥檚 always about the children and those little moments. It鈥檚 not for the accolades.
I think it鈥檚 really important [to show kids] that you can be Canadian and do whatever you want to. I think it鈥檚 important culturally.
Why is it important for Canadian children to grow up with Canadian content?
Adams: I think it鈥檚 really important [to show kids] that you can be Canadian and do whatever you want to. I think it鈥檚 important culturally.
Leavitt: And just to keep this sort of history of Canadian music going is really nice. We have such a rich history of genuine performers who really touch your heart. It鈥檚 nice to be part of that.
What has been the key to your success?
Leavitt: We were very naive when we started doing this. We just said, we鈥檙e doing this and we鈥檙e going to get a television show and this is going to be our full-time job and nobody鈥檚 going to stop us. We just worked so hard and never considered that it wasn鈥檛 going to happen. On purpose, we never had a backup plan. I remember saying, 鈥榃e can either get side jobs or we can be poor, and commit all of our time to building this business. We can suck it up and eat peanut butter and banana sandwiches for the next couple years. We really did eat a lot of those sandwiches.
Adams: We just had a vision board. We cut out a [picture of a] TV and put it on it.
What are your plans for the coming years?
Leavitt: In 2023, we鈥檒l be back to performing without COVID [precautions] and we have a new album, so we鈥檒l see where that takes us; 2023 is also our 20th year, so it鈥檚 nostalgic.
How important has Queen鈥檚 been for your careers?
Adams: It was a great place for us to begin. The Queen鈥檚 drama department was important and Kingston was the perfect size 鈥 large enough to support acts like ours, and it鈥檚 also an artist community. It seemed like the perfect breeding ground for this kind of art. Kingston gave us a chance to grow and fail.
