By Nelson Hansen
 

Cover story as published on  September 7, 2006
Saints and sinners search for gold
At this year’s Country Music Week in Saint John

After four years of planning and anticipation, the Canadian Country Music Week wagon lands in Saint John for five days of music, showcases, seminars and of course Monday night's Canadian Country Music Awards.

It's a big weekend for the Canadian Country Music Association who haven't held their annual awards in New Brunswick since 1983 in Moncton and haven't been east of Ottawa in 20 years. The association has been making headway in spreading the country music word beyond its traditional stronghold of Alberta and the Prairies.

Coming East helps illustrate that country music is indeed a national phenomenon strong enough to maintain an identity outside of the Western provinces.

While the weekend is no doubt valuable to the Canadian Country Music Association in terms of growing the brand nationwide, the city of Saint John and country musicians on the East Coast stand to benefit as well. From Thursday (September 7) to Tuesday (September 12) there will be in excess of 700 delegates in town taking up hotel rooms, eating in restaurants and drinking in bars. The economic impact of the event is roughly that of the East Coast Music Awards coming to town. To have the CCMAs arrive in town at the traditional end of the tourist season extends the hospitality industry's peak season for an extra weekend.

For country musicians in the region it's a chance to strut their stuff in front of influential agents, producers, bookers, buyers and record labels. Getting signed to a record deal isn't as easy as playing the right gig at the right time with the right person in the crowd and signing on the dotted line. But there is a strong chance that there are enough opportunities to be seen, heard and advance your career.

East Coast interest in the event has had a significant impact on the Canadian Country Music Association of which you have to be a member to be included in the awards process.

Brandi Mills speaks for the CCMA, a transplanted New Brunswicker herself, she sees this weekend as win-win for the association and the artists it represents.

"For the CCMA our membership on the East Coast has grown over 200 per cent this year." Having the industry in town with so many showcases can better a musician's odds of success in the country music genre and beyond.

"You're not just getting the country music industry, you get the cream of the crop of the Canadian Music Industry. Having this in town gives the artists endless opportunities." Among those looking to take advantage of the opportunities are two New Brunswick acts that at first glance, couldn't be farther apart but yet appear to be taking the same tactic in their CCMA weekend plans.

Darlings Island based fiddler and gospel music artist Stephanie Mainville has won praise for her 2004 recording Family. She has been a featured showcase performer at the Junos, the ECMAs and N.B. Music Week. Her heartfelt songs of praise have earned her recognition at the ECMAs, the Mercy Awards, the Shai Awards and has received the Canadian Gospel Music Association's Covenant Award. While Mainville has received recognition, Moncton's outlaw country rebels the Divorcees have earned notoriety for raucous, booze-fueled live shows and a commitment to doin' things like Waylon and Willie used to do. It may seem the two acts are a universe apart but conversations with both reveal that they are each taking a decidedly similar approach to the weekend.

Despite the appearance of distance between the two artists, Divorcees guitarist Alex Madsen recognizes and respects the efforts of the talented gospel singing Mainville.

"We're gonna show the rest of Canada what New Brunswick's all about. She (Mainville) is going to show New Brunswick's strong gospel roots. She's as good at being good as we are at being bad, we're one step away from chickenwire." Indeed the Divorcees have a well earned rep for boozy, take no prisoners sets and the word is starting to spread that their debut disc and single You Ain't Getting My Country has been creeping onto alt-country playlists since its release.

Just don't confuse boozy with schmoozy as the band has no plans to schmooze and kiss up to industry butt in efforts to advance their profile and career. "It's really not important to us," Madsen explains.

"Like Waylon Jennings once said, 'the best thing to do is to plant your feet and get good.' So we're making sure we've got the best show possible and that we like doing it. Everything falls into place after that. I don't want to be the guy who puts the cart before the horse. To be chasing down the industry would be doing just that. show, not for sucking up to industry people." Madsen and fellow bandmates Jason Haywood, Turtle Arseneault and Brock Gallant aren't totally removing themselves from any networking opportunities at the CCMAs.

Madsen is particularly interested in meeting with the Roadhammers' Jason McCoy, just don't expect the conversation to turn to the topic of music. Madsen explains.

"He's into truck pulling and he's got this amazing truck! I want to meet him and say forget the music buddy, let's talk trucks!" While Madsen et al have their game plan for the weekend, a chance opportunity at this year's ECMAs started significant buzz when after playing a showcase, they found themselves sitting in the corner of the lobby of the Delta Hotel and before they knew it there were more people listening to them play off the cuff acoustic tunes than had been at the showcase. "Obviously we're on to something, industry has checked us out.

They want to bet on a winning horse so we've been running and running and running.

Since the ECMAs we've played about 100 shows. I think we're going to surprise people." Meanwhile Stephanie Mainville is quietly putting together a business plan and trying to get funding together for a follow up to her debut disc Family. CCMA week means the opportunity to play some showcase appearances and to do a small amount of networking, far from the aggressive late night pitching and begging usually associated with events like this.

"I'm not probably intentionally thinking about it," explains the mother of four.

"I've been to the ECMAs and N.B. Music week and I try to meet as many people as I can. I am constantly amazed by how many people want to help network and find opportunities for each other." Networking in Mainville's instance means playing fiddle and host. When fellow Gospel Showcase artist, Ontario based Kent Hodgin called Mainville looking for some backing fiddle he found that and an example of New Brunswick hospitality.

"He called looking for help for two pieces in the showcase and the conversation led to lodging so I'm both backing him up on fiddle and putting him up in our house." Her East Coast sensibilities don't end there. Mainville is looking forward to meeting with some of the industry's heavy hitters at some point over the weekend, not in efforts to forward her career but to let the powers at be in the industry realize that artists truly appreciate any assistance they can receive.

"It would be great to meet with the folks from the N.B. sound Initiative as well as the President of the Canadian Country Music Association Heather Osterber who is also with FACTOR. I'd like to let them know that we musicians are grateful for the support they provide and to let them know about the good music that comes from our region." Canadian Country Music Week will have its share of stories, of shows to be remembered, of awards won and awards lost and maybe, of careers made. With any luck two of those careers made may be that of a gospel artist with a saintly presence over her instrument or a group of whiskey drinkin' sinners hellbent on keeping outlaw country alive. Should that happen, both intend to ensure it happens on the merit of their music.

The Divorcees Alex Madsen concludes, "The most important thing we want to do is to let people know where we are from and we're from New Brunswick. If you're from New Brunswick, you're from the country." "Anything that comes of this weekend will be secondary to sharing my music and my story," Mainville concludes.

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