From Alberta to Nashville, rising country singer Aaron Goodvin is on the cusp of stardom with his Canada-wide tour with superstar Johnny Reid. He joins us for our latest Q&A.
Q: You’re set to embark on a huge cross-Canada tour with Johnny Reid and a fantastic lineup of artists. I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest this will be your first visit to the province?
A: It will be. I’m really looking forward to it … I’ve definitely heard a lot of things. I lived in Alberta growing up, so I met a lot of ‘Newfies’. I’m a big fan of their way of living. I can’t wait to get up there. I like to drink the odd beer and I know ‘Newfies’ enjoy that as well.
Q: So this tour with Johnny Reid is a huge milestone in your career. I know you know Johnny personally and he’s done quite a bit to help along your career. It must be cool getting to take part in this tour?
A: Personally I couldn’t ask for a better person to go on my first tour with. Not only is he such a great guy but he has taught me so much in such a small period of time. I’m definitely looking forward to it. It’s a huge opportunity and I definitely don’t take it lightly.
Q: You of course have a great relationship with Johnny, a guy who has made an amazing mark on Canadian Country Music. How has he helped mentor you along in the country music scene?
A: Man, What haven’t I learned from Johnny Reid? That would be the question. He’s just really rounded everything off for me. When you’re an artist, especially me, I’m notorious for being extremely hard on myself. I expect the best of myself and I guess what he did for me was calm that down a bit and put some of that stuff into perspective.
There’s nothing more rewarding for me as an artist to have a guy like Johnny Reid call up and say you’re on the right track. He always makes time to chat with me about whatever it is I’m going through. To have a mentor like that for an artist, I can’t think of anything more important for my career.
You can have all the talent in the world, but if you have nobody who has the vision for it, it can be really hard to get out there and to matter to people. Johnny has given me that ultimate opportunity to do just that.
Q: You were born in Spirit River, Alberta, and it’s no secret that Albertans are fond of their country music. Was that something you were raised on?
A: Absolutely. Some of my earliest memories were sitting around a campfire. Both of my parents play guitar. I grew up with country music in my family. Those are some of my earliest memories. You could say I was raised on country for sure.
Q: We know that from a young age you were invested in music and loved the performance aspect. You must have known that music would wind up being a large part of your life?
A: Yeah, absolutely. I learned a lot from country music from my family, but it wasn’t until I got on stage that something changed. When I was younger I never wrote songs to be famous or anything like that. As soon as I hit the stage the performing was what got me in to the business. I’ve been fortunate enough to find out that I had a knack at writing songs too.
Q: I know you moved down to Nashville, and of course Nashville, Tennessee is the mecca of country music. As a huge country fan, what was it like going there for the first time? A:
A: I think in the beginning it was very exciting, but then it becomes very daunting in the early days. I was really lucky, I had the opportunity to come down with a group when I was 18 and got to see a lot of it in short little trips. I was somewhat recognized by a guy originally from Toronto … he heard me in a bar and was the guy who said that I need to be learning my craft in Nashville. I’ve always been a go-for-it kind of guy and I never really thought twice. A lot of people thought I was crazy. I knew at that point it was now or never. I made the move and struggled at first for the first two years to get on my feet. This town is just a tough town. I was pretty much on my last few months when I got a few big breaks. It’s when they decide that they’re done or leaving that Nashville throws over a rope and ropes you back in and gives you another reason to keep going. I was very fortunate to have that happen to me.
Q: You have this huge tour on deck, a prospective album in the works. How would you like to see 2016 play out?
A: We want to get this record out. I’m really excited and knock on wood that we want to come out with a bang and a statement.
For the rest of the year I want to get Canada to dive in and embrace this record. It’s different than what most people are doing and I want that to come across. I’m going to be spending a lot of time in Canada. Being down here in Nashville as a somewhat struggling songwriter, it’s always great to come home and I’m really excited to come home. I know we have a bunch of summer stuff lined up and we’re excited to see what comes of that. I want to have a good year at the CCMA’s this year in London.