Saturday Storytime at Commonplace Books: Tia McGraff

McGraff is one of Canada's most decorated and beloved roots artists, a singer-songwriter whose star first rose when she won the Canadian Open Country Singing Contest at the age of nineteen and who has since made television appearances with Johnny Cash and June Carter, written and recorded with Randy Bachman of BTO, and placed songs with Anne Murray's publishing company. With over eleven international album releases, film and television placements, and a long list of accolades including Social Justice and Peace Songs of the Year at the 2021 and 2022 EmPower Songwriting Awards, a Hamilton Music Award, and a semi-finalist placement in the 2026 International Songwriting Competition, she and Tommy Parham have built one of the most respected and genuinely beloved careers in Canadian Americana folk music. No Depression has praised them as one of the best creative duos working today, and Bill Wence Promotions in Nashville has called McGraff one of the finest singer-songwriter-artists they have worked with in the past decade. In 2026, her hometown honoured her with induction into the Norfolk Music Hall of Fame alongside Rory Dodd and Canadian folk artist Ian Bell.

 The Jake the Road Dawg series, inspired by the couple's adopted Nashville shelter dog who travels with them on tour, has become a genuine community touchstone, raising funds and awareness for the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, the Niagara Falls Humane Society, and numerous animal rescue organisations. The books have inspired the duo's beloved live children's show SongsNTails, which brings music, storytelling, and the Jake the Road Dawg characters into libraries, bookstores, and community spaces across Ontario. Shari Cann, editor, education specialist, and trustee for the Grand Erie District School Board, has called In Your Dreams Jake a delightful read and an invaluable addition to the education system for children from grade three to eight.