One More Girl
June 12th, 2013 | Comments off
Britt and Carly McKillip, collectively known as One More Girl, have been making music together since they were little girls and are already seasoned vets of the entertainment business. Music is the heartbeat of the McKillip home as both parents are songwriters, and dad – Tom McKillip – is an award-winning producer and musician.
Britt and Carly call Vancouver, BC home and have accumulated an impressive list of performance credits in spite of their ages, opening for artists such as Keith Urban and Darius Rucker; and touring with Terry Clark, Johnny Reid and Toby Keith. The girls also performed with Lady Antebellum as part of a CMT video, filmed in Jamaica last year.
The first thing audiences notice about One More Girl is their pristine blend of voices, the sort of effortless harmonies only ever delivered by siblings. Over the past three years, Britt and Carly have been steadily winning over fans with youthful, cutting-edge performances and their signature knock-out vocals. In March 2010 One More Girl took home the prestigious Canadian Radio Music Award for ‘Best New Country Artist’. The girls continued their awards sweep in October 2010, winning the BCCMA awards for ‘Single of the Year’, ‘Group or Duo’, ‘Album of the Year’ and ‘Entertainer of the Year’. Their most treasured accolade to date, however, would have to be their September 2010 win for ‘Rising Star’, on the CBC-televised Canadian Country Music Awards.
Their debut CD “Big Sky”, released on EMI Music Canada in October 2009, saw their first three radio releases reach as high as #8 on the Canadian country charts, with “When It Ain’t Raining” hitting the #1 spot at CMT. Their fourth (and highest charting) single “Tumblin’ Tears” enjoyed the distinction of being the most added single in Canada (including U.S. artists) in all formats, in January 2010.
Fast forward to February of 2011 for the newest – and undeniably most impressive – twist in the evolving One More Girl story, when Britt and Carly were invited by Universal Music to perform at a series of auditions for A&R Executives Aimee Nadeau, Jolene Cherry, Vincent Herbert, and ultimately, Jimmy Iovine himself. In August of 2011, the press release was issued announcing One More Girl as the most recent signing with Interscope Records in Los Angeles. The girls are currently splitting time between LA and Nashville, co-writing with hitmakers like Billy Steinberg, Linda Perry, Jeff Trott and Richard Marx, as well as a group of Nashville’s finest writers including Sarah Buxton, Cary Barlowe, Kyle Jacobs and others. The last batch of songs for the new album are coming fast and furious, with production currently underway and a planned CD release date of June 2012.
While Britt and Carly are deeply involved with writing and recording their Interscope album, the One More Girl love affair with Canadian radio continues… on the heels of the heady string of successes from ‘Big Sky’, the girls have just released ‘Maybe’ – a passionate love song that clearly speaks to a new level of maturity and confidence for the McKillip sisters, and gives their fans another taste of what to expect from One More Girl in the coming months. It debuted on the Canadian airwaves in mid-January, and within three short weeks has become the second most-added single at country radio.
Take two extraordinary voices….compelling harmonies and performances….powerful lyrics that shine a light on the heart of the matter….and a mysterious, musical and playful connection between two sisters that you can’t quite put your finger on…..and you have the One More Girl sound and culture. There’s no question: One More Girl = the newest face of country music.
The Higgins
June 5th, 2013 | Comments off
Since releasing their debut album, Real Thing, in 2008, The Higgins have made an impressive mark on the Canadian country music scene. Nominated for Roots Artist of the Year and Group or Duo of the Year at the 2009 Canadian Country Music Awards, and winning six BC Country Music Awards in 2008 and three more in 2009, The Higgins have quickly become one of British Columbia?s most successful country artists.
Country music has a long and steady history of embracing family acts. From The Everly Brothers and The Rankin Family to two of the three Dixie Chicks, family bands remain a consistent and influential part of the country music scene. Raised by a working dad and stay-at-home mom in rural B.C., in a family of seven children with no cable TV, there was always plenty of music around the Higgins’ household and plenty of time to indulge in it.
From an early age, Kathleen, Eileen and John were performing a’capella at parties and community events. The trio has always had an innate ability to create wistful harmonies, drawing on and influenced by their family’s Irish roots. It’s those unmistakable, organic harmonies, combined with the band?s ability to incorporate traditional influences with modern, pop-country songwriting that anchor The Higgins’ signature sound.
Kathleen, Eileen and John Higgins have grown as artists since releasing their debut and that growth is evident with each new track on their latest album. Having toured the country and worked in Nashville with some of country music’s most dynamic songwriters, including Liz Rose (Taylor Swift), Pam Rose (Martina McBride, Reba and Emmylou Harris), Deric Ruttan, Kaci Bolls and Bruce Wallace, The Higgins’ new album showcases their maturity and confidence in spades. Released June 2010, The Higgins continue to impress fans, new and old with their latest album ‘Dreamers Like Us’.
They’re Irish, are the Higgins, a close and loving family of seven children from beautiful Delta, British Columbia farm country with a working dad, a stay-at-home mom and no cable TV. There was always plenty of music around and plenty of time to indulge in it.
When Kathleen, youngest of the trio, was only seven years old she was invited to sing at a family friend’s St. Patrick’s Day party. They figured out the harmonies to the mournful old Irish tune “The Fields Of Athenry” and sang it a cappella, holding everyone spellbound, gobsmacked and stunned silent. It was a nice start that led to local appearances here and there over the years.
Nobody was even thinking about a career in music when at 16, John suffered a serious forklift accident that left him with a broken back and recuperating for many months. To ease the boredom he took up the guitar and soon a lot of pieces started falling into place. He was a quick musical study, his singing sisters joined in and before long The Higgins family band was born. And they were good, really good, right from the get go.
And word got around. In no time they were landing A list, main stage gigs at the famed Merritt Mountain Music Festival, the Pacific National Exhibition and a prestigious showcase slot at the Canadian Country Music Association annual confab.
George Canyon
May 29th, 2013 | Comments off
George Canyon (born on August 22, 1970) is a Canadian country music singer. He was runner up Nashville Star 2 in 2004. He grew up in Fox Brook, Pictou County, Nova Scotia and later lived in Hopewell, Nova Scotia (where he still owns land) before he moved west. He currently lives in High River, Alberta. He also holds an appointment in the Canadian Forces as Honorary Colonel at 14 Wing Greenwood.
He was born to Fred Lays Sr. and Cheryl Lays in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia.
George Canyon has held many jobs: he spent time working as a law enforcement officer, a slaughterhouse beef inspector, and the owner/operator of his own recording studio. He always dreamed of becoming a professional musician.
Canyon is the father of two children. His wife, Jennifer, worked three jobs during the day so that he could sing at night. In 2004, George Canyon competed in Nashville Star. He was the runner-up in the competition, but became very well known in Canada and garnered much support, being the only Canadian to make the cut for the competition. After the competition ended, he received many accolades from fans and the industry alike. These include the top 5 hit “My Name,” a Juno Award for Best Country Recording of the Year (for his album One Good Friend), and, four Canadian Country Music Awards Nominations (CCMAs) including Male Vocalist of the Year and the Fan Choice Award.
He played a U.S. Forest Ranger in the last two episodes of the 7th season of Trailer Park Boys.
On September 22, 2007, Canyon performed at China-Canada: Hand in Hand;[2] a joint concert held in Vancouver between CCTV (China Central Television) and CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) to commemorate the 1 year countdown of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. One of the songs performed by Canyon was “What a fine Jasmine blossom”. Sung entirely in Mandarin, Canyon performed the touching duet with Mandarin singer Tang Can.
On 9 January 2008, Canadian Defence minister Peter MacKay appointed the Nova Scotia-born Canyon to the position of Honourary Colonel at 14 Wing Greenwood, the largest air base on the east coast.
Canyon was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 14 and has given talks to children about diabetes.
Tags: canada, ccma, country, george canyon, music, radio, spotlight
