Country “Idol” Makes Yorkton Stop
Written by Shannon Deveau, Yorkton News Review Thursday, October 15, 2009
“I come from a huge musical family… So on the weekends we’d all get together... and it’d be one big family hoopla... on any given Saturday there might be 40 people, guitars, banjos, mandolins, people dancing. Music was all around me.” – Jason Greeley
He left his old stompin’ grounds to make a name for himself and he’s accomplishing exactly what he set out to do.
Successful, down to earth and loving every minute of this phase of his life, former Canadian Idol finalist Jason Greeley stopped in Yorkton last Tuesday to talk about his new CD and plans for the future. Greeley, who grew up along the shores of Newfoundland, now calls Edmonton home but he will never forget his roots or the reasons he is where he is today.
“I come from a huge musical family. My mom played guitar. My dad played the guitar, mandolin, accordion. My dad came from a huge family, seven brothers and two sisters and they all played so it was a very musical family,” detailed Greeley during a Yorkton interview with The News Review.
“So on the weekends and whenever we could, we’d all get together at one of cabins or cottages and it’d be one big family hoopla. Most times it more fun to hang out with my family than my friends… on any given Saturday there might be 40 people, guitars, banjos, mandolins, people dancing. Music was all around me.” And Greeley says he feels blessed to have the upbringing that he had.
Barely out of the toddler stage, the now 32 year old musician says he started playing guitar at the age of four.
“I just started picking up instruments along the way so now I play guitar, base, mandolin, and pretty much anything I can get my hands on.”
At age 12 Greeley joined the band scene. He says, “We had to have a parent escort come on the road with us to get into clubs because we weren’t old enough to be in there.” After about 15 years of keeping this up Greeley went a little more public. He tried out for Canadian Idol and out of 9,000 hopefuls he placed fourth in the competition.
While he credits the “Idol experience” for helping to prep him for a show business lifestyle where it’s important to be media savvy and polished at times, he says it was but a drop in the bucket in the grand scheme of things.
“I can’t really say though, that I learned much about the music business itself…” After living and breathing music for so many years, he believes he has a sense for what works and what doesn’t and he doesn’t need to be led.
“That was just one part of it all. I mean it was just eight months out of last 15 years. When you think about it from my perspective, it was a very small part.”
Greeley also says by not coming out the top winner of the Canadian competition, he is now afforded the opportunity to be exactly the type of artist he chooses rather than have style dictated by management
“I can write and produce what I want to do... I want to do my own thing. I want to record what I want to record. I think I have a pretty good ear for music after 28 years...” And it seems he does.
Following Idol, Greeley released his first album.
“This went over really well and it garnered the attention of (Alberta Based) Royalty records... but they said ‘we can’t really do much for you in Newfoundland but if you ever wanted to move out to Alberta we’d be interested in working with you.’ I told them ‘well, I’ll be there within a month’.”
That was in 2006. Another CD on store shelves later and Greeley is happily touring the country doing what he loves and knows the most. The partnership with Royalty has been excellent he says.
“God bless them. They have full, complete faith in me. I thank them for that and what we’ve come up with is better than I ever could have imagined.”
Describing the sound he says, “It’s not a direct country record. I was raised on country and I can tell you it’s not a traditional country. It’s more modern and like today’s top 40 country. There’s a lot of rock influences thrown in there... and there’s even some traditional celtic music from my own culture. It’s a mixture of many things.”
It’s what he would describe as good club music he says.
“When you go to a club you have people who are 25, you have people who are 45 and the odd time you have people who are 65. You’ll never please everybody, but the goal is always ‘how do I try to please everybody?’... So when I recorded my record I had those same things in mind. Vary it.”
To promote his latest work, Greeley is on a coast-to-coast radio tour, stopping in as many communities as he can to get his name and sound out there for people to experience.
The performer says it’s important to get out there and to connect with the people. “There’s nothing that beats a good old fashioned hand shake and face-to-face meeting so that’s what we’re doing.”
While details have yet to be finalized, fans can look forward to an upcoming concert tour Greeley says will be officially announced soon.
“We’re working on it.” Full of fresh ideas, he’s also eager to get back into the studio to put out a third album.
“It’s been such a great experience...”
The entire journey has been an experience adds Greeley and it’s one that he shared with and has dedicated to his father.
Just prior to leaving for Edmonton the young artist says he learned his father had cancer and wouldn’t have long to live.
His latest CD in hand, Greeley says “About a month before I was supposed to write this album I lost him. He always wanted this for me, just as much as I did...”
Looking back he says, “When I found out he had cancer I said that’s it, I’m not going to Edmonton. He said, ‘oh no no no. You gotta do what you gotta do and make this happen for yourself. You’ve got an opportunity that most people don’t get in life and you should take it for everything that it’s worth. Go.”
Reluctantly, he says, he agreed and went. However, just a month before everything was in place and he was set to write the album, he had to fly home to attend his dads funeral.
That was last August (2008). In October the writing started. On the CD, which is called simply “Jason Greeley,” is one special song “What You Gotta Do” in memory of his father.
“I wrote some of it in Nashville and some in Canada.” He partnered to write his dad’s song and he said to his cowriter, “If I don’t come out of Nashville with anything else I have to write a tribute song for my dad... low and behold we came up with this song. I’m very happy with it and it’s been a healing process.”
It’s also healing to know his music can touch the lives of others. “I’ve had people come up to me over the years and say ‘you know, that song you wrote got me through some tough times’... on the flip side, I can relate because I love music too, and it’s gotten ME through some tough times... other people’s music, but you never think for a minute that yours could do that for someone else. But that’s the way the world goes round.”
He’s thankful for all that he has and his hope is that his career will continue far into the future. “I’ve been very fortunate in life to have great parents, have a great childhood… I’ll never forget that, I’ll always cherish it...” “Jason Greeley” is now on store shelves. Learn more about the artist by visiting: www.jasongreeley.com.
