This story was originally published on Passionfruit.
Vancouver-based indie-pop auteur Haley Blais could be considered a veteran of the vlog generation. Before the music industry strived for trending TikTok audios, the 28-year-old singer-songwriter found a digital home on YouTube, where she could share both her music and snippets of her life.
“I don’t even remember doing it,” Blais told Passionfruit of starting her channel in 2013, which first featured lifestyle content standards like monthly favorites and lookbooks. But Blais always included her quick-witted humor, something that also subtly permeates her confessional music.
And as she stepped away from her classically trained opera path, Blais opted to post covers online, soon making her channel a dual space for both vlogs and music. On YouTube, she could get her music out there when she didn’t really have a footing in the local scene yet.