Out of Los Angeles by way of Vancouver, British Columbia, Colin Reid has done a little bit of this and a little bit of that on his way to finally releasing new music this past summer. He’s played on other people’s albums, he’s taken teaching jobs, he even plays in a progressive rock band with Nick Menza from Megadeth called Deltanaut. After years of work writing songs, Reid finally put together the perfect batch of songs and headed into Sound Mountain Studios in Santa Clarita, California to work on his new album. 

The result of Reid’s sessions at Sound Mountain Studios is What We Can’t Have. The record was produced by Reid with Chris Collier engineering and mixing. Following its release in May he was able to play his CD release show at The Viper Room in Hollywood to a packed house. Reid’s music story is just beginning, but it’s important to understand where he came from to get a better understanding of where he’s going. 

Reid’s father David is himself an accomplished pianist, and it was from his father that Colin initially found his passion for music. Colin started piano at the age of five and discovered rock and roll shortly after by diving into his father’s record collection. 

“I would sit there and listen to my Dad’s vinyl,” said Reid. “He had all sorts of stuff. I listened to The Police, Zeppelin, The Who, The Beatles, The Stones, Cream, Hendrix... all that kind of stuff. I would just lay there and look at the sleeves.” 

Eventually Reid grew into his own as a musician, learning multiple instruments and styles of music. He also learned how to write songs, something that he consistently works at. 

“It’s a continually evolving process,” says Reid. “I’m still my own worst critic and I’m always trying to move forward and get better with what I write. I think what I wrote for this record was the best I’d written up to that point, but I also think that my best music is still to come and the stuff that I’m working on now for the second record is going to be even better.” 

There’s always room for growth, but What We Can’t Have is a solid foundation for Reid to build on. You can hear the potential that he has as an artist and songwriter. Besides the killer rhythm section of drummer Dan Welby and bassist Maurice Verloop, you can also hear his father play on the album; something that seems fitting because of how Colin’s passion for music started. 

“It’s always been my dream to create this and put it out there. It took a while, but it’s out there. It’s also great that my Dad’s on the album. He got to play some piano and string parts on the record. If you listen closely, you can hear him. That’s something we’ll have forever, and I think that’s pretty cool.”