It was 2008 when Emerson Drive last played the Canadian International Rodeo. When the group returns June 28th to the rodeo the band – singer Brad Mates, guitarist Danick Dupelle, keyboardist Dale Wallace and drummer Mike Melancon – will be featuring classic songs from their career along with tracks from their new EP Tilt-A-Whirl. For the first time the group released a shorter release, rather than a full album.
"We have always done a full length right from day one. I think that the way the industry is now, and the way music is going, and the demand that fans want when it comes to buying music, we want to give it a shot and see if it was something that we could potentially use down the road as well too. I am not saying that is always going to be an EP from this point forward, but I think that the turnaround of music is going to be a little bit quicker if you are down to doing six songs. You have your singles that will be on the radio, and a couple of cuts on the record itself, but you are not jammed into doing 12 songs and running the course of three years behind your touring it, and trying to get more songs off of it onto the radio. I just like the idea now of getting the stuff out there to your fans and then move on to something new. That is the name of the game these days; there is so much stuff out there available that you want to make sure that you are being as current as you can," singer Brad Mates told GayCalgary.com recently over the phone. The guys are currently on a non-traditional fly-in tour that sees them in Winona, Ontario on Saturday before flying in for the ARGRA Rodeo Sunday, and heading to Abbotsford on June 30th. They have event dates throughout the U.S. and Canada this summer, which is a change from the usual bus tour.
"Obviously having routing is one thing in this business, but sometimes it just doesn’t work that way. If we can make a show work with a bus we do, but these fly dates come along as well. The night before we are in Ontario, then we are in Strathmore. It is obviously doable and it is nice to be able to have an opportunity to travel from one part of the country to the other over night, and keep putting shows on. It just happens that way once in awhile. I think I can probably tell you, over the years, we have never missed a show. I will probably knock on wood once we’re done this conversation because it hasn’t happened once; we have always managed to make it work."
Mates is excited to play this weekend at a larger scale festival, up from their 2008 cabaret concert.
"I was actually talking to a few people in the past week and explaining the size of the venue we played seven years ago. Now we are stepping into a full-fledged festival event happening this weekend. I think it’s phenomenal. It shows, obviously, the strength and growth of being able to put together an event that hits home with people. I love seeing how it has turned into what it is today; it’s great. It’s awesome to be able to see the ideals change in people’s minds. This generation is growing up and seeing it differently. I think the idea of having a festival where anyone can show up now, and who it’s put on by, it’s a big show of support – the growth within Calgary and right through Alberta. Again, going back to this idea that seven years ago it was a smaller show and we are coming back to perform for a whole bunch of people, it is very well supported."
He is also looking forward to connecting with other Canadian country stars, like Aaron Pritchett and George Canyon.
"It has always been a tight knit community; there’s only really a handful of us when you really look at it big picture. It doesn’t matter where you travel, you run into other folks out there that have songs on the radio and develop friendships over the years, and sometimes end up touring together. We’ve known Aaron for quite a few years and I have always enjoyed that side of it. A lot of people think you don’t get to know any other acts when you are out on the road, but you actually develop friendships with a lot of different people."
Emerson Drive plays at home every year for an event or tour. The opportunity to come back to his home province is great – both professionally and personally.
"It is great to come back because I get to see my family and friends several times a year, and also it is seeing the support that was there for us when we started in 1995. There are a lot of people who have been with us right from the beginning and if it wasn’t for some of these smaller places throughout Alberta, I don’t think we would have gotten off to the start we did, or had the support. Calgary has always had a venue to play when it comes to country music. Eighteen or 19 years ago it was a couple of clubs in Calgary, and we were a young band just out of high school, that could play six or seven nights a week. Throughout the course of our career, building a fan base of people, and we still come back to Calgary every year – that shows the support and strength of country music fans. For a lot of people that are looking for country music, Calgary is a huge draw with more and more concerts in town. You are drawing some major names every year. Alberta still has a very strong grasp on it."
In 2013 I saw Emerson Drive headline the Canada Day celebrations at CFB Wainwright. Growing up in Grande Prairie, which didn’t get major tours, Mates knows what it means to see live music and has always made it a point to visit smaller markets.
"There are a lot of communities that have the ability to put shows on, but it is another thing to put an act in there. I just know, being from a small town myself, sometimes you have to travel four to five hours to see someone that you want to see. Over the course of the first couple of years of us doing this, we found out there are a ton of people that love music and want to bring it to their small towns, and want to come out and see it. That has been a major part of building our fan base, is making sure we play some of the communities that aren’t able to bring in acts all the time, and we have always tried to make it possible to hit those places."
Mates found it hilarious that now artists like Janet Jackson, The Backstreet Boys and Def Leppard – among others – have or will include Grande Prairie in their tour schedule.
"Yeah, in the last few years I shake my head every once in awhile because when I was growing up, as a kid, we would have to go to Edmonton or Calgary to see those big shows. It is funny now that there are acts that are making a stop in Grande Prairie. The demand is there, and they put a show on in the right venue, and it will sell tickets. It is just nuts from what it used to be and what it is now."
Playing festivals like this weekend or events like Canada Day, where people will show up to party regardless, opens new doors to make new fans. One of the highlights of their career was opening for Shania Twain on her UP! tour in 2004. It is different from a specific headlining tour.
"The idea, if you are selling your own hard tickets, you are obviously grabbing your core fan base that wants to come out and see you. I have always enjoyed the other side of it too. The Shania Twain experience was phenomenal – we were playing in front of 15,000 to 17,000 people every night and a majority of the people probably didn’t know who the band was. It was pretty great to try and win people over, especially outside of the country music genre. We have always had a different sound from everybody else and I think during a few of those years, especially when you are playing in front of that many people, we were able to build a bigger fan base than you normally would be able to because we were reaching another genre of people that sure love Shania, but were listening to her on pop radio. It is cool to look back now and there are a ton of people that say the first time they saw our show was during that year and a half stretch we did those dates with her."
Emerson Drive has worked hard over two decades and is lucky that their career has been established to a point that they can have family time.
"It is funny; I have been very fortunate that in my 20s, when we were travelling 280 days out of the year, I wasn’t married, I didn’t have kids and we got a lot done. The balance nowadays is definitely there for me when it comes to my personal life. Again, I have been very lucky to spend a ton of time with my kids as they grow up. My son still thinks that I have a cool job, until he gets a bit older and says otherwise."
It speaks volumes that in an industry with many flash in the pan artists, especially in country, that Emerson Drive has achieved 20 years as a band.
"We have come full circle quite a few times. This business can come at you really fast and go even quicker. Longevity has always been a goal for us from the start of our career. Treating our fans the right way and staying on top of the curve in the business, which has changed several times over the years, is always important. It is funny – there are lots of new faces every year that are coming up behind you. I am very proud of what we have been able to accomplish over the years, and we are having as much fun now as we did in the beginning as well. I think that says something about the guys in the group and where we are going from this place forward."
The sound of country music has changed a great deal as well with artists like Blake Shelton and Florida Georgia Line bringing a different aspect to the music from its roots.
"I grew up listening to traditional country music because my dad was a traditional country music fan. Emerson Drive is considered country music. If I was to break it down, obviously we have outside influences from traditional country music days. Those artists that made country music what it was – that people look back on – there is a very special generation there. I like the idea that country music today has the fan base that it does. It is moving forward when it comes to audiences for TV or live shows. All of that is great for the industry. I am not going to argue with someone who is a traditional country music fan and say that what country on the radio today is country music. There are so many outside influences that make it up today; I wouldn't fight that battle with an argument. We are one of those acts that has a different sound and it is a wide open parameter of what you hear on the radio now when people say country."
At its core, however, any kind of music is its fans. Emerson Drive have established themselves as a fantastic live act, and promise a great show at the Canadian Rockies International Gay Rodeo.
"We have always tried to entertain people the best that we can – that is how we built out fans. The fans across the country continue to support our group and other artists. For those that haven’t seen us before, our goal is to win those people over and make them fans and make sure they come back to see another show. For folks that have seen us before, we are going to deliver what they expect from us: a great show; a few new songs off the EP and stuff folks have heard over the past 14 years on the radio. It’s going to be good."
