Garret T. Willie is an old soul masquerading as a 23-year-old rock ‘n’ roll singer.

Originally from Kingcome Inlet off the coast of British Columbia, Willie first got interested in music when he was very young.

“My dad handed me a guitar,“ he says, “and the rest is history after that.”

As a spry seven-year-old, he started teaching himself Angus Young’s AC/DC solos. Young remains one of Willie's biggest inspirations, together with Stevie Ray Vaughan. Still, he says he wants to do something different from everyone else, and is interested in making music that’s entirely his own—with the aid of Parker Bossley, his right-hand man, producer, and co-writer.

His debut record, Same Pain, dives into universal feelings of love and heartbreak.

“I reach for you/And you weren’t there/You disappear/But you’re everywhere,” he sings on the album’s title track, sharing the familiar notion of a lover’s memory lingering long after they’re gone.

In “Make You Mine Tonight”, he shows off how comfortable he is doing a bar-room blaster. The song starts with a strong instrumental beat, which is quickly matched by his bold voice. Lyrics like, “Don’t hide/Step into the light/I’m gonna make you mine tonight,” and, “I’ll wear my best white lie/Take off all your red flags/Oh Lord, I’m just shakin,’” showcase a sense of self-awareness and confidence in the face of love.

Despite an innate wisdom inherent in his songs, he admits he is not always prolific.

“I don’t actually write songs all the time,” he says. “It’s not an ongoing process. Every once in a while, I’ll sit down and I’ll come up with some good ones.”

Willie is getting ready to perform on Granville Island this week as part of the Vancouver International Jazz Festival. For him, live shows are an opportunity to roll with the punches.

“I like to just kind of see how it is,” he says nonchalantly, “see what happens and just go from there.”

Still, he’s not taking the job lightly: “Me and my boys in our band are looking forward to putting on a good show.”

Ultimately, for him, music is about connecting with people—and reminding listeners that life is what we make it.

“I feel like we’ve all carved our own way through life,” Willie says. “There’s not one way to do it.”

Garret T. Willie plays at Ocean Artworks on June 21 as part of the Vancouver International Jazz Festival. Tickets are $10 at the door.