"I've been lucky," Valdy suggests, when asked about his career's longevity. "I've worked with some amazing people, players, innovative producers, great songwriters." He pauses, pulls his whitening beard. "And I married the right woman." Another pause, then "Is that luck? Or is that moving at God's speed? I mean, it's more mere than strategy that puts these folks along my path. Sure I'm good at what I do, and I'm getting better, I'm paying attention, and I'm learning, but I've lived a charmed life. With a daughter, two sons, and such a wife, I am really lucky." "I've been lucky," Valdy suggests, ( born Paul Valdemar Horsdal in September of 1945 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, an inner city kid, mother Lillian, social worker / psychiatric nurse who ran condoms into Quebec as a family planning advocate, and Paul, portrait photographer / outdoors man who became a mentor to many of Canada's photographers, including Yosef Karsh, who having asked Paul how he took such great pictures, was told "Take a lot of pictures," and left with an used Graflex 5 by 7 that Paul received $500 for in 6 months. Parliament Hill was nearby, and Valdy grew up with Prime Ministers and Mayors watching him from walls ), when asked about his career's longevity, ( 35 years of recording and performing, with tours in Mexico, Spain, Holland, Denmark, Germany, Poland, Austria, Australia, New Zealand, and annually Atlantic Ocean to Pacific Ocean from Nunuvit to Texas ). "I've worked with some amazing people, players, ( like Norm MacPherson, session/touring guitarist with Skylark, Sample Stearns Band, Connie Kaldor; Jerry Scheff and Ronnie Tutt from Elvis's band, Larry Carlton, Ben Benay, Nicky Hopkins, Jay Dee Manus, Jim Keltner, Gerry Adolphe, Kat Hendrikse, Michael Creber, Doug Edwards, Connie Lebeau doing sessions/gigs/tours in L. A., San Francisco, Vancouver; George Koller, session/touring bassist with Holly Cole, Joe Sealy, Shuffle Demons, Loreena McKinnett) innovative producers, ( like Claire Lawrence, resulting in 3 of his 4 gold records, Eliot Mazer, who has worked with Gordon Lightfoot, Neil Young; Paul Rothchild, who's made recordings with Bonnie Raitt, the Doors; Rob Bryanton; Bill Buckingham: Bill Henderson; Dan Donahue ), great songwriters ( like Bob Ruzicka, Lynn Miles, Ron Hynes, Jon Ims, Graham Shaw, Tom Paxton, Michael Williams )." He pauses, pulls his whitening beard. "And I married the right woman." ( Kathleen Mary Fraser Horsdal, sculptor, painter, hospice counsellor, high school teacher, chef, drama coach, Valdy's creative advisor and wife of twenty-three years, sharing a lake-front home with three dogs and a cat, on Saltspring Island off Canada's west coast, although they both have their own studio/work spaces ). Another pause, then "Is that luck? Or is that moving at God's speed?" ( "Valdy elicited a genuinely warm standing ovation, the real kind, where the audience continues long after the encore is assured" - Winnipeg Free Press ) "I mean, it's more than strategy that puts these folks along my path. ( "Few performers are capable of achieving the kind of energy Valdy generates on stage" - Mclaens ) "I'm good at what I do, and I'm getting better, I'm paying attention, and I'm learning, ( two Juno Awards, SOCAN's Song of the Year Award, four gold records, twenty-two CDs, albums, cassettes and even four eight-tracks ) but I have lived a charmed life ( two hundred gigs a year, fundraiser and advocate of Literacy, president of Acoustic Connection, producer ). With a daughter, ( Chelah Phoebe Horsdal, actor, event co-ordinator, model, Valdy's attitude consultant ) two sons, (Theo Koumontaros Horsdal, saxophonist, IT administrator with a major Western Canadian retail chain, and Yani Christie, bon vivant, music promoter with Upstream Entertainment in the Vancouver area ) and such a wife, I am really lucky."