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July
6, 2006
Canadian
country music star George Canyon staying grounded as career
soars
Matthew Chung
Canadian Press
TORONTO
(CP) - For Canadian country music's entertainer of the year
George Canyon, the key to continued success is staying grounded.
The
35-year-old Nova Scotia native acknowledges his career has
been on a rocket ride since he claimed the runner-up spot
at televised singing competition Nashville Star in 2004.
But
he knows that star could fade just as quickly as it took off.
"TV
is a very powerful medium, it can definitely skyrocket a career
overnight," the lantern-jawed singer said in a phone
interview from Edmonton. "It's like anything in this
business, you have to stay grounded and remember that you're
making music for a living."
Canyon
may be staying grounded but his career has been in orbit since
his appearance on Star. As he begins a cross-country tour
to support his sophomore album, Somebody Wrote Love, the single
of the same name is a top 10 hit on country radio.
That
follows 15 awards garnered in less than two years including
the fan-voted Canadian Country Music Award for entertainer
of the year and a Juno for country recording of the year for
his debut album, One Good Friend. That album was certified
gold in 2005. He's sold out shows, opened for superstar Tim
McGraw and played the Grand Old Opry 15 times.
"We
definitely have been really blessed," says Canyon. "Myself
and my wife, we just kind of stand back from it all and say,
'You know what, we're going to make the music we feel we need
to make and stand behind the morals and (religious) beliefs
that we have.' "
Two
short years ago few people outside Pictou County, N.S. - population
4,000 - had ever heard the name George Canyon. He spent 14
years trying for a break in music before Star, which made
him a household name among country fans on both sides of the
border.
Canyon
says he learned more about himself as an artist during the
creation of his latest album. He made his vocals the focal
point in every song.
"I
think with this album we sort of zoomed right in on who I
am as an artist and used my voice as the underlying factor
that ties all this material together," he said.
Canyon
lives on a ranch south of Calgary with his wife and two children,
and a number of songs on the new album are dedicated to them,
including one for his six-year-old daughter Madi, titled Madi's
Song (The Man She Thinks I Am).
"It's
really right from the heart," he says. "A lot of
this material is right from the heart."
He
says his daughter just sat and listened the first time he
played the demo of the song to her. She now sits quietly near
his side when Canyon performs the song on stage.
"It's
kind of neat to see her affected like that by a song,"
Canyon says. "And it's something she'll always have of
me. Even when I leave this earth she'll have that to remember
me by."
Canyon
says he sometimes gets emotional on stage when performing
the ballad I Want You to Live.
Based
on a true story shared by some of his friends, the song is
about a young woman whose husband kisses her and her children
goodbye one morning and is killed in a car accident.
Canyon,
a former police officer, says the song took on special meaning
for him in 2005 when four RCMP officers were killed in a raid
on a suspected marijuana grow-op. Canyon says he also thinks
of Canada's Armed Forces fighting in Afghanistan. Canyon performed
for the troops there in May.
"I
can hardly get through it some nights," he says. "It's
took on a whole new meaning."
©
The Canadian Press 2006
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