By Emily Stonehouse

It all started with an accordion.

Local musician Ryan Van Lee found his passion for music at a young age, watching his grandfather play the accordion.

Before long, he was right up there with him. “I started playing around at church and Midnight Madness,” recalled Van Lee, “then I started playing at talent shows, started making a little name for myself with the accordion.”

Van Lee was born and raised in Haliburton. While he goes by Ryan Van Lee onstage, he’s proud of his vanLieshout family roots, with deep ties to the Highlands.

The singer/songwriter has recently been named to the Top 20 in Samsung’s True North Tunes music competition, whittled down from over 4,000 musicians from across the country. Van Lee is making a name for himself nationally, but he stays committed to his hometown upbringing.

While he spent his younger days touring around the community with his grandfather and their accordions, Van Lee shared that as he grew up, he decided to shift gears. “I think I got to an age where I probably wanted a girlfriend,” he laughed, “so I had to make some changes. I wanted to learn the guitar.”

Van Lee has early memories of playing ‘air guitar’ in his room, rocking out to Elvis Presley. With the sudden interest in rock and roll and old country, Van Lee’s grandmother offered to bring him to a Johnny Burke concert in town. “And the rest is history,” said Van Lee.

Burke originally hailed from New Brunswick, but called the Haliburton Highlands home. While he garnered a significant following and an induction into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame, Burke led a quiet life, and was recognized for his soft nature and pure passion for music.

A perfect role model for a young guitarist, finding his footing in the scene.

Van Lee was captivated by Burke, and during a break in his set, the young boy approached the well-known musician. “I said, Mr. Burke, I’d love for you to teach me guitar,’ and somehow, he agreed.”

Guitar classes started with once a week, and eventually went to three times a week, as Van Lee caught the music bug. “He became my mentor,” recalled Van Lee. “He taught me everything.”

The young musician dove deeper and deeper into the world of music. “I tried sports,” he said, “but they weren’t for me, I wasn’t into it. I was a different kid.”

And just like that, Van Lee’s career in music started to take off. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, he spent time in the States, playing in Florida and travelling around for various country shows.

While the pandemic hindered his travel time, Van Lee has committed to local stages, performing and playing whenever possible. He recently played a hometown show as a part of Haliburton Rotary’s SummerFest in Head Lake Park, with a huge crowd cheering him on and celebrating his successes.

Because at the end of the day, Van Lee ties it all back to his hometown roots. While the True North Tunes is ongoing, Van Lee hopes to make it to the Top Three, which will be announced in October. Voting is live now via the website www.truenorthtunesmusic.ca, and everyone is able to cast their votes leading up to the Top Three announcement this fall.

“The town has been super supportive,” said Van Lee, “If I won, it would be cool to bring that home to Haliburton.”

Van Lee wants to bring it back to the community that raised him, and prove that even the ‘different kids’ can make their mark. “Instead of just being a sports town, maybe I can show some kids that we can be a music town as well,” he said, “I want to do it for this community, and I want to do that for the kids.”

And he’s not slowing down anytime soon. “The drive is to just continue to go forward,” said Van Lee, “I’m not quitting anytime soon.”