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Ian Arden, the twenty-something Toronto troubadour was raised in a French Canadian and Moroccan household. When Ian began speaking as a toddler, he struggled with a stammer. Speech therapy showed meager results at best, so his father began teaching him to recite song lyrics from memory, mainly focusing on the songs of Leonard Cohen, Paul Simon and Bob Dylan. Every night, a new song was chosen, and Ian would repeat the song’s lyrics again and again until they were recited in their entirety with no stammer and no accent.
For Ian, his debut single, “Nadia,” was written in one emotional and traumatic night. The song is about compassion and concern for a loved one who is struggling with opioids or mental health. “Nadia” serves as a reminder that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
