The Andy Kim Christmas Show has become a Toronto tradition, signalling the start of the holiday season for many supporters of live music.
Created 21 years ago by the Sugar Sugar/Rock Me Gently hitmaker, Kim invites a who’s who of Canadian talent to come out and sing a few songs, with proceeds going to Gifts of Light, the much-needed year-round gifting program at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), believed to be the only hospital in Canada that does not have a gift shop for its patients.
This year’s concert, Dec. 3 at Massey Hall, features Sloan, Mary Margaret O’Hara, Bif Naked, Tom Wilson and Junkhouse, Broken Social Scene’s Kevin Drew with Rachel McLain, Rêve, Julian Taylor, Andy Stochansky, Craig Stickland, Community Music Schools of Toronto, and RALPH. There are usually some surprise additions too. Hosting the evening is comedian Sean Cullen. There are still some tickets left.
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Kim is also taking the Christmas show (with different line ups) to his hometown of Montreal for the 12th year on Dec. 6 at Le 9e, and to Vancouver for the first time on Dec. 13 at River Rock Casino Resort (in Richmond), both benefitting different charities: National Music Centre’s future programs in Montreal, and The Montreal Children’s Hospital Foundation’s Music Therapy Program; and Variety – the Children’s Charity of B.C.
Kim, whose music career began in his teens when he took a bus from Montreal to New York City to hone his songwriting skills at the famous Brill Building, went on to have nine hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including the iconic “Sugar Sugar” and No. 1 “Rock Me Gently.” In 2018, he got a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame, 2019 was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame; last year was appointed to the Order of Canada, and just recently was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame.
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Now Toronto talked to the humble Canadian legend via Zoom before he dove into a weekend of rehearsals for Wednesday’s show.
A friend of mine messaged me and said she hadn’t attended your Christmas show in a while so she better go this year before you hang up the mic. I said, “He’s not gonna hang up the mic.”
(Laughs). It’s amazing to me, since my personality is living one day at a time — it’s always been, ever since I was a kid — I don’t look back. But, every now and then I do look back and I think about, ‘Oh my, it’s 21 years. I don’t know how it happened.” I mean, I do know how it happened — one year at a time. But I’m still around after all this time. And I’m very fortunate.
You are now a tradition.
Don’t scare me, whatever you do.
You are though. I’m sure there’s people that come every single year. It signals “Alright, time to put up the Christmas lights because Andy’s got his Christmas show.” Is it like that for you?
For me, when I think about this season, like all of my life, I get melancholy. Melancholy has always travelled with me at this time of year. I think one of the reasons why I’m able to do this is to escape the melancholy.
Aw, you shouldn’t be melancholy. You got inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame induction this year. You’re inducted into everything now. Canada’s Walk of Fame, the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. You’ve got the Order of Canada. Now, you just got to win the Stanley Cup, I don’t think there’s anything left.
Every year is like a brand-new year. The most difficult part is calling artists to bring their talent for free, but they always come and do it. I’m really very grateful. I feel very blessed to have held on to the community that I live in here. It’s really a phenomenal community. Those artists always fill me up with joy. They’re happy to do it. This environment, this town, these artists are just beautiful.
Don’t cry. I know you’re prone to crying. It’s such a fun event. Everyone has a blast. This year you’ve got a great lineup.
There’s a couple of artists that maybe the public has not heard of. When you hear RALPH sing “Hard Candy Christmas,” it’s going to be beautiful. There’s Rêve. There’s my friend Tommy Brunett who’s been with me for the past several years. He was a member of Modern English, their guitar player. We’re going to do one of his songs, and it goes on and on.
Do you give the artists any kind of direction at all? Do you ask them to include a Christmas song?
From year one, I’ve always wanted the artists to sing and do what they want to do. The only restriction is we’re at Massey Hall and there’s a certain amount of time that you get [as a unionized venue]. You go over and it just costs you a little bit more. I never tell the artists what to sing.
Do you find a lot of them do sing a Christmas song?
Most of them don’t do a Christmas song. Everybody comes up to me and says, “How come there’s no Christmas song?” In other words, it’s difficult for me to think that I’ve asked an artist to perform for free and tell them what to do.
And, look, I feel very blessed. Sometimes, I really don’t know what I’m doing, except I’m doing it, if that makes any sense. I’m in that zone of love, understanding, compassion, caring and giving.
Which brings me to the next question. It is a charity event. You are raising funds for CAMH’s Gifts of Light because a lot of people don’t realize that CAMH is the only hospital in Canada, apparently, that does not have a gift shop because many don’t get visitors. I was there one year when you were there for a Gifts of Light event. Have you gone back to visit, to hear stories about how these gifts affect the people there?
I go every year to their tree lighting, which I was with [philanthropist and music industry leader] Gary Slaight, maybe three weeks ago. It’s hard knowing that there are 600 beds [at CAMH] and they’re all filled.
Gifts of lights was started by Donna Slaight, who asked me if I would come to CAMH to see an idea that she was working on. The knowledge that some of the patients come in with just a bathrobe, bed sheet around them, that they just need the help and she thought that a brand-new pair of jeans or brand-new sneakers or even socks would help someone’s feeling of [self-worth]. It’s the same kind of feeling if you went and bought a sweater and you put it on and, “Oh my God, this looks great,” and then you come home and you put it on and there’s a little bit of self-confidence. It’s one of the foundations of feeling good about yourself. That’s one of the reasons why CAMH is in my life forever.
I know you’re a one day at a time guy, but do you have anything booked for 2026?
There are whispers that I could be on a tour, but it’s just a whisper. I’m excited about my life, the fact that I’m here. I sometimes think about the New York years and the ability for me to grasp something I never really understood at that moment, to be around incredibly talented people and for me to learn my craft. I’m in awe of my life, to be honest with you.
