Interviews, Love at First Listen, Music, New Music Friday

Love at First Listen with Devin Cooper

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Devin Cooper Interview Love at First Listen 2024

We all have those artists and songs we hear that strike the right chord and make us fall in love at first listen. They’re the reason we refresh social media pages, tour schedules, and Spotify profiles — because we can’t miss a single release. This is Love at First Listen — a series introducing you to the emerging, and established, artists with new music guaranteed to upgrade your playlist.

Country artist Devin Cooper and his fans might know better than anyone right now that ‘good things take time.’ Since releasing his debut ‘Good Things’ EP in 2022, Devin has been hard at work writing and recording new music, perfecting his sound, playing shows, growing his audience, and living and enjoying life on the side (the musical inspiration has to come from somewhere!). His fans, meanwhile, have ate up a successful string of standalone singles, including this year’s “She’s My Religion” and “Wanted Man.”

Devin is now expanding his ‘Good Things’ sonic universe with ‘Good Things: Deluxe Edition,’ which features those standalone singles and two brand-new tracks — “Leave It To Chance” and “Dying To Be Seen.” Like the EP, the full album also includes live acoustic recordings that elevate each song’s raw emotions and country-rock vocals to a whole new level.

Join in the ‘Good Things: Deluxe Edition’ release day celebrations and read our new chat with Devin where he spills the tea on the “little lessons” he’s learned throughout life, the ideal album listening experience, and your next chance to see him live.

You recently played several summer festivals including NXNE, Cavendish Beach Music Festival, and Calgary Stampede. How else has 2024 been treating you?

This year has been chaotic in the best way possible. It’s been a lot of running around literally all over the country, like you said, and there’s been a ton of shows, a lot of fun, and getting ready for this album to come out.

Why did you decide to continue the ‘Good Things’ era versus releasing an entirely new album or EP?

As I started writing new songs that were supposed to be set for my sophomore record, I realized that I hadn’t really said everything I wanted to say on that first EP. The new stories were still a continuation of this ‘Good Things’ story. I wanted to put everything together to finish the story before I moved on to the next thing.

You released “Underdog” at the end of 2022, “The Other Guy” and “What You Don’t Know” in 2023, and “She’s My Religion” and “Wanted Man” this year. How has the response been to those songs, and did any of that feedback impact the way you went into finishing this album?

I feel very fortunate to have a lot of great support from the local Alberta radio stations, as well as from all the fans showing up to all the shows. It’s cool to see this growing a little bit at a time and see more people coming on board with that steady trajectory that you always want to have. I was able to look again at the whole story and the whole picture that was unfolding with these songs and how they all kind of integrated and work together, and how they really were a part of that ‘good things take time’ story. It’s basically all the little lessons that I’ve learned at this point in my life.

Were any of these new songs ready or in progress when you were putting together the initial EP? How long has this full-length, double-album concept been in your back pocket?

I’d always wanted to do a double album, but I wasn’t sure if it was going to be a continuation of the ‘Good Things’ project at first. I wrote “Dying To Be Seen” back in early 2019 – actually the same weekend writing retreat that we wrote “Wanted Man.” I’d been trying to figure out the best place to put it because I felt like it wasn’t necessarily a single but it was a really great song to wrap up an album. As we were going through all of the context of what we’d had in this record and the lessons I had touched on throughout the album, that song in particular was one that I went back on and was like, I think we have to add this one. I’m excited for it to come out and for everybody to hear it.

You recorded the live acoustic tracks in Calgary with 40 of your biggest supporters in the studio. Why was it important for you to include those on the initial EP and then again on the full album, and did you approach the acoustic recordings any differently than the studio recordings?

It was an experience that I had never done before. We were in the studio where we recorded all of the full band stuff, except we were just set up in a row with 40 seats in front of us. Everyone in the room had their own set of headphones so they could listen to the producers talk to us from the control room. We did two takes of every song, so the first take, the whole audience was completely quiet, and then the second take, we had them clap at the end. It was cool to see the excitement on their faces and watch them be able to listen to the producers tell us what to adjust for the next take. They really got to see behind the scenes of how songs are recorded and how they come to life.

There is always so much magic in those intimate shows where fans want to record every song, but in this case they wouldn’t have to do that. It’s right here on the album for them.

That was really cool. No one was allowed to bring any of their cell phones, but we had disposable cameras that we put under a few different seats for people to take pictures throughout the night. We were able to develop those and get some really cool photos from the night through the audience’s perspective of what they were seeing. And yeah, it’s really cool because no one had to film it, no one had to record it. We did all that for them. So, we could give that copy to everybody who attended that night and then release it to the world.

You’ve already shared your excitement on Instagram that this album is your first vinyl release. As an artist who is also a music lover, what does that mean to you, and can you share some of the vinyl releases you’ve loved at first listen over the years?

Vinyl is something I’ve always wanted to do, and with this deluxe edition project, it was something I knew we had to do. Just taking it over the top and having it made right here in Calgary was really cool as well. So, getting that first vinyl and being able to open it and really see it in my hands was an unbelievable experience. Growing up, I listened to a lot of my parents’ records, which were like old Lynyrd Skynyrd, ZZ Top, and then big hair metal and hard rock bands like AC/DC and Judas Priest and Mötley Crüe. It’s cool to be able to add this to the collection amongst all those names that I listened to.

The vinyl is split into a side A and side B, plus sides C and D for the respective acoustic recordings. When you were putting the final track list together, was that a consideration at all?

Absolutely. When I first put the track listing together, it was a collaborative effort between me and my producers, and we kind of went back and forth and built this story as one complete story. It was interesting when I then got the vinyl and was able to actually listen to side A and then stop and flip it over and listen to side B. It is almost two separate stories the way that they’ve been split up, and it’s cool because that actually wasn’t even an intentional thought. It gives it another perspective because if you’re listening digitally, you’re going to listen to all 11 in order, but with the vinyl, you have that break you can’t really avoid.

I feel like we now have to go back and listen to the album again! So, what ultimately is the message that you hope to leave fans with once they get to the end of these 11, or technically 22, tracks (including the live acoustic recordings!)?

It’s basically just that good things take time and enjoy the process because we only get to do this once. I know for me, a lot of the growth and learning that I did was learning to enjoy the moment and enjoy what’s happening right in front of me, rather than looking at the destination of where I’m trying to go. We can get so caught up in trying to get to where we’re going, sometimes we forget about the things that are happening around us in the middle of it.

If someone is just discovering you for the first time, what three songs would you recommend they play to get the best representation of Devin Cooper the artist?

Man, that’s a tough question. I would say… the title track “Good Things,” “Underdog,” and if I have to pick only one more, I think “Dying To Be Seen.” It has a little more of the Southern rock, swampy edge to it and pays tribute to some of the stuff I listened to growing up.

How do you plan to celebrate the release of the ‘Good Things: Deluxe Edition,’ and should fans be on the lookout for any new tour dates so they can further join in the festivities?

We had a very small, exclusive listening party with a bunch of my closest fans and supporters and some family. As the record comes out, we’re also going to be announcing a bunch of shows that will be happening throughout September, October, and November. People can stay tuned for lots of exciting stuff coming.

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Interviews, Love at First Listen, Music, Music Monday

Love at First Listen with Madisyn Gifford

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Madisyn Gifford Interview Love at First Listen 2024

We all have those artists and songs we hear that strike the right chord and make us fall in love at first listen. They’re the reason we refresh social media pages, tour schedules, and Spotify profiles — because we can’t miss a single release. This is Love at First Listen — a series introducing you to the emerging, and established, artists with new music guaranteed to upgrade your playlist.

We all know the giddy, giggly, swinging-my-feet feelings associated with a new crush. Get ready to reminisce on being seventeen again: Vancouver pop darling Madisyn Gifford captures all of the fear, excitement, and embarrassment associated with new love, this time experienced as an adult on her new summer single “Seventeen,” which dropped on a pretty significant day—her 24th birthday.

Love at First Listen caught up with Madisyn to chat about how the song came together in personal record time, why her next album will be her happiest yet, and which tracks fans might be most excited to claim.

First of all, happy belated birthday! How excited were you to celebrate the release of “Seventeen” on such a big day for yourself both personally and professionally?

I love birthdays so much. I love any excuse to celebrate. So, getting to have two things on that day was fun. I’ve also been out of the release cycle rhythm for a while. For three years I was putting out music pretty much every six to 12 weeks almost like clockwork, but I haven’t done it in almost a year now. It’s been a nice break and I’m excited to get back into it.

Can you take us behind the scenes of your creative process? You worked with Jared Manierka, who has worked extensively with artists like Carly Rae Jepsen. How long had you been sitting on this song and how much of it did you have in mind when you first went into the studio?

It’s funny because this is actually one of the most recent songs we’ve written for the record that we’re working on right now. I brought it to Jared two and a half months ago, which in record release time is not a very long time ago. We just had so much fun making it and it came together really quickly, which doesn’t always happen. I have a song on this record that we’ve been trying to make for almost three years. I wrote this myself on my guitar in like 10 minutes and then we made it into this fun little folky, sort of country-esque song, which is the music I’ve always wanted to make.

Your music is very fresh but nostalgic at the same time. It’s folk-tinged pop but you can also hear some country influences, especially on “Seventeen.” Who are some artists that you’ve loved at first listen as you shaped your sound?

My go-to answer is always Ani DiFranco. She was my songwriting icon my whole life. I literally think I learned songwriting from just listening to her discography on loop as a kid. The Chicks, love them so much. Taylor Swift… I’m a girl in her 20s, so she has been a crazy influence for me my whole life. “Mr. Jones” was my favorite song while growing up and Counting Crows is one of my favorite bands. The list could go on forever… Stevie Nicks, obviously. Come on!

This is the first single off a forthcoming album. How is it going, and where does “Seventeen” fit in its sonic world?

We chose “Seventeen” as the lead single because I feel like it is a decent representation of the entire record. This record is going to be my happiest album I’ve ever made. Don’t worry, there will still be sad songs, but it’s definitely the happiest one I’ve made thus far in my career. It’s going to be called ‘A Quiet Contemplation of Sunshine.’ It’s very summery and folky, but poppy still and very fun. It has lots of live instrumentation and not a lot of pop synth sort of production, which is new for me. So, I’m really excited.

You mentioned embracing a summer vibe. Can fans expect to hear more of the album soon?

We fought to try and get it done earlier this summer, but we’re still chipping away at it. It should hopefully be coming out in October, but there will be more singles and stuff to come throughout the summer for sure.

Ahead of your last record ‘Sleeping on the Ceiling,’ you said your only goal was to write songs that scare you. When you’re writing bits of lyrics in your Notes app and bringing those lyrics to life in the studio, how do you push yourself to be vulnerable and pour everything out on paper?           

It’s interesting because with this record, I almost had the exact opposite mindset as I did on my last one. I’ve never been very good at writing happy music, but especially on this record because I’m in such a different phase of my life, I feel like I’ve kind of figured things out a little bit. In my mind, I’m not a teenager anymore. I’m a generally happy person now, which is cool—I worked hard to get there! I wanted to write an album that represented that, so I think my mindset going into this one was like, how can I truly represent what’s going on in my brain in my day-to-day life and not just delve into past things that I’ve already kind of sorted through? I don’t need to keep digging up that old stuff, you know. Whereas on ‘Sleeping on the Ceiling,’ I was still really trying to sift through things and figure out my stuff and it shows on the record. I was trying to figure out my brain and my trauma and what was going on up in there, but now I’m like, okay, I did that. Let’s move on!

Do you feel that writing and recording this music and putting it out helped you get through those emotions so that you are now in the position where the next record can be happier and more upbeat and all those things naturally?

100%. For new friends I meet, I’m always like, if you listen to my music in order, you’re going to be able to find out an absurd amount of things about me because [everything] is so autobiographical. When you go back through every record, they all feed into each other. Every single outro leads into the next intro, and they all tell a really clear story of my life from like, 20 years old and onward.

Have you started building the tracklist for this next record, and are there any song titles that might catch our eye?

Oh, that’s a really good question because I’m the same way. I love a good tracklist. I do have the tracklist pretty much done—not in order but done. The title track, “A Quiet Contemplation of Sunshine,” is going to be the first track. There’s also going to be a song on there called “Father’s Day.” That is the song we’ve been working on for like three years and just trying to make it work, but I think it finally works on this record. There’s another one called “Fast One” and one called “Overpriced” that I’m excited to share.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received about making music that you can pass along to anyone reading this who may want to follow in your footsteps?

Something I tell literally every single person I know is if you have kids or you know anyone who is thinking about going into the music industry and making music, please encourage them to write their own music. Write your stuff and get credits for what you’re writing because it’s everything. I don’t think people realize when they’re first starting out how much it matters. Pretty much one of the only ways that you can make money in this industry is through publishing, and it’s just such a special ability to have to be able to write not only for yourself but for others. Someone told me that when I was around 17 and I decided I wanted to do this. He sat me down and was like, the only thing I can tell you is just write as much as you possibly can. It just takes one song, if you get one song that does well, it’s all it takes. So, just keep writing.

To wrap up, where can people find and follow you online?

Everything is just madisyngifford with a Y instead of an O because my parents wanted to make things difficult for me. And my TikTok is maddyg.raps because that’s what people called me in high school!

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Interviews, Love at First Listen, Music, Music Monday

Love at First Listen with Elyse Saunders

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Elyse Saunders Interview Love at First Listen 2024

We all have those artists and songs we hear that strike the right chord and make us fall in love at first listen. They’re the reason we refresh social media pages, tour schedules, and Spotify profiles — because we can’t miss a single release. This is Love at First Listen — a series introducing you to the emerging, and established, artists with new music guaranteed to upgrade your playlist.

Meet Elyse Saunders, the next big name in Canadian country music. Since the start of the year, Elyse has climbed up the country charts at home and abroad, signed her first publishing deal, and earned the title of iHeartRadio Future Star. Now, days after we first spoke with Elyse, she’s been named Female Artist of the Year at the 2024 CMAOntario Awards and debuted her new summer single “Dirt” on the show’s main stage. On the playful song, Elyse shuts down the rumour mill and officially declares gossip dead—a message we can surely get behind.

Love at First Listen caught up with Elyse to chat about “Dirt” and get the inside scoop on the Canadian country music community and her newfound Australian audience.

You’re dishing all the dirt on your new single, “Dirt.” How did you get the idea and inspiration for this song, and what message do you want people to take from it?

I wrote this song with my friends Sam Davs and David Madras, and I felt that no matter who you are, where you come from, and whether you’re on the good side or the bad side of the gossip train, we’ve all experienced this situation. If we look in our own backyards, we all have our own dirt to deal with before we judge other people’s dirt. So, I wanted to try to take this topic and make it a bit humorous and share it in a way that was super relatable but not too serious. Coming from a small town, rumours get around pretty quick. If you say something, your neighbour 10 doors down will somehow hear about it. So, it’s based around the small-town feel, but it’s definitely something that happens worldwide. This was so much fun to write—actually very therapeutic in a way.

Do you have any fun behind the scenes stories from filming the music video?

I made it with another friend, Nick Marinac. We did it on this land that is open to the public, so we had to find this window of when people wouldn’t be there and it ended up being a freezing cold, windy day. There was sunshine, but the whole time I’m trying not to look cold, and we were getting kicked out at the end. We went to find another random field and finish up. It was all very random and sporadic, but I feel like the energy of the song really shines through because it was a bit on the whim. Watch for a lot of dirt and overalls in the countryside.

You released this single at the start of CMAOntario Awards weekend where fans were able to get up close and personal with all of their favourite country artists and discover several up-and-comers. How important do you think it is to have celebrations like this for homegrown country artists?

I think it’s so important because it does shed light on what’s going on here in Ontario, and we have so much talent it’s crazy. I’ve been on the other side of the audience as an artist growing in my journey for many years, and the industry really got to see that journey. To now help bring a light to that to country music lovers out there is super cool — and sometimes it’s like the stars of today and the stars of tomorrow. I think it’s really important just to keep building that community and building the country music that we have here in Canada in general because we all know our big U.S. country stars, but we definitely have our own stars here in Canada and Ontario and I think it’s important that we bring those artists out to the audience.

In the spirit of celebrating Canadian country music, can you shout out some of your Canadian country pals who you have loved at first listen?

My friends River Town Saints, Owen Riegling, Robyn Ottolini, Graham Scott Fleming, Kelly Prescott, Andrew Hyatt, and Jason Blaine, who co-wrote my song “Never Have I Ever”… my list could go on. Award shows are always a big reunion.

Events like the CMAOntario Awards are a celebration but they’re also a place where dreams come true. When you think about the dreams you have for yourself, what are the biggest pinch-me moments you’ve had in your career so far and what’s still on your bucket list?

That’s a very good question. Winning Video of the Year last year at the CMAOntario Awards was definitely one of those pinch-me moments because my journey has not been the overnight success. It has been more like 10 years plus in the making. I always kind of envisioned myself being at this place in my career one day, so having these things happen, it’s like, okay, yeah, I’m where I’ve always wanted to be. My younger self is super excited when these moments come together.

Having “Never Have I Ever” become my first single to be supported at Canadian country radio was also amazing. It was No. 27 on the charts, and to be top 30 was always a goal of mine. We then went top 10 in Australia, and I had no idea that was going to happen. It’s cool how these things sometimes happen organically and as a surprise; it feels more like a gift that way. I think that I still have so much more to do and more to come, and I’m going to keep having those pinch-me moments. All artists start at ground zero and then you kind of build your way to this point. So, these moments are good reminders of how far you’ve come.

What does your breakout single “Never Have I Ever” mean or represent to you now, especially as it’s taken on a global life of its own?

It means a lot. I knew it was special the day I wrote it with Jason Blaine in his family home. We wrote it in a couple of hours and it kind of felt like it wrote itself. We did a demo that day and I sent it off to my producer, Dan Swinimer, who knocked the production out of the park. I was so excited, but I had no idea how it was going to resonate with everybody else. So, to know that it’s done what it needs to do as a singer-songwriter and it’s making an impact, it’s connecting to people, and they love it just as much as me is really the goal and the job of what I’m supposed to do as an artist. I hope to continue to be able to do more with my music and more singles.

Have you had a chance to visit your new international friends?

That’s on my bucket list too. I’ve always wanted to see Australia. I’ve done press and calls over Zoom and I keep saying I can’t wait to visit. We’re looking at the top of the new year to hopefully get there and do some shows. I’ll also get to do a radio tour and see people face to face for the first time.

Now that “Dirt” is out in the world, what do you have in store musically for the rest of the year?

I have a bunch of new music in the pipeline ready to go and a bunch of shows as well. If people want to find out where I will be, it’s all on my website. The band and I have been working hard on putting a bunch of new material together with these new songs. I also just signed to my first publishing deal with Arts & Crafts Publishing as a songwriter, so I’ll continue to write for other artists as well and hopefully get my music into the TV and film world too. I’m just doing whatever I can to just keep this thing on the rails, doing what it needs to do, and seeing how far I can take it.

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Interviews, Love at First Listen, Music, Music Monday

Love at First Listen with Rachael Ransom

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Rachael Ransom Interview Love at First Listen 2024

We all have those artists and songs we hear that strike the right chord and make us fall in love at first listen. They’re the reason we refresh social media pages, tour schedules, and Spotify profiles — because we can’t miss a single release. This is Love at First Listen — a series introducing you to the emerging, and established, artists with new music guaranteed to upgrade your playlist.

Canadian singer-songwriter Rachael Ransom’s debut album ‘sixty seven ten’ is an autobiography in stunning sonic form—the album is named after the address of her childhood home after all. Each song represents a piece of her life, from navigating a disability while growing up in the suburbs of Vancouver, British Columbia to learning to control what you can and embracing the beauty in the rest.

On ‘sixty seven ten,’ Rachael takes listeners along a journey of finding new perspectives despite life’s struggles. As you listen, read our new interview with the emerging artist below where she shares how she gained the confidence to record and release the record and why she’s truly an OG Noah Kahan fan.

When did you know ‘sixty seven ten’ was complete?

Is anything ever done?! I’m a writer by trade, so there’s always going to be something where I feel like I could have done this or I could have done that. Me and my two music producers, Bryden Veinot and Noah Stolte, agreed to have 10 songs. We then went through the songs that I had deciding which ones felt like they go well together. So, we actually did it a little unconventionally deciding on the number before we chose which ones made the cut.

How many songs do you think you wrote before finalizing the track list?

Let’s just say there’s lots of room for a second album!

You’ve said that you hope listeners can apply something from each song to their own lives. What are some of the key themes and life lessons you tried to weave throughout the album?

I like that question. There’s a lot of things in there that I think are relatable to people. There’s a little bit of talk around family and the unconditional love that you have for the people in your life. Every good album has got to have a couple of breakup songs in there, and there are also some songs that I feel are commentary on where we’re at in society right now and where we’re going. Songs like “Fly” are more like anthems of positivity — like keep going if you have a dream, don’t let it die. And I’ve got some stuff in there about living with a disability.

Your single “Red” is an inspirational anthem about you living with cerebral palsy and reclaiming your inner power. Can you share how you got involved with the Vancouver Adapted Music Society and how they have supported you?

I met the wonderful people at Vancouver Adapted Music Society (VAMS) through my friend Dave Symington (co-founder), who has since passed. I was at a gig in 2018 playing a couple of songs and he said, “You’ve got to get connected with Graham over at VAMS.” So, I started with them, and they would phone me up when there was a show and they needed to fill a slot. As the years went on, I got to know Bryden and he started harassing me for years about how we had to record. I was always like, “Yeah, but not yet.” I was thinking, who’s going to listen to this stuff? Like, come on, this is just me plunking on a piano. Finally, after doing a show one day, he was like, “Are you ready yet?” And I was like, “Yeah, okay, let’s do it.” So, we came together, and Noah joined our little group. The two of them built this album out to be something so much more than just me sitting at a piano plunking out chords.

It’s great to hear that you had such encouraging people in your corner. Is there any advice you’d offer to people in a similar position, wanting to take that leap into music or dealing with a disability and trying to make sure they can still follow their dreams as you’ve done?

My main bread and butter income is in film, so music was always the thing I just loved to do. I’d get home from work, have some ideas, sit down at the piano, and see what happens. I never thought an album was going to be something I actually did. I would say if you’re nervous about it, that means it’s worth trying because usually we get nervous when we’re about to step out of our comfort zone, and you can’t grow without that “Oh my God, I don’t know if I can do this” feeling. Like, if you feel like you’re going to throw up, it’s probably a good thing.

For example, I made my first leap into producing last year and I had to go field produce on set. In the film world, it’s not very common to have people who are disabled doing on-set work — at least I haven’t met a lot of people in that realm. So, I didn’t know if I could do it, but you just have to take the leap. I think people with disabilities, myself included, have a bad habit of minimizing their achievements and minimizing what they have done because it’s like, well, anyone else could do that. But it’s like, well no, you did it. That feeling of accomplishing something and making it to the finish line is worth the stress at the beginning.

When you reflect on ‘sixty seven ten,’ do you think it changed your outlook on any situations in your life and inspired you as much as it will hopefully inspire others?

I look back at songs like “Loving You,” which is about a breakup and feeling like my life was over and I was never going to fall in love again. But then you meet someone else, and you move on, and you realize what true love is. Having those big feelings from my youth captured in these three-to-four-minute songs is kind of interesting because I listen to them now and I’m like, oh wow, that was so dramatic. But at the same time, that was raw, and that’s how it feels.

If I want anybody to take anything away, it’s that as we grow and change, we see old photos of ourselves or we hear stories from friends from different periods of our lives, and we should appreciate those moments and laugh about them. In the disabled community, our lives are often shorter than others. So, it’s important to remember every stage of life is really, truly precious. As much as we think our lives are cringy and go, “Oh God, I can’t believe I said that” or “I can’t believe my hair was like that,” it’s like, you’ve lived a decade since then. It’s pretty amazing to think about.

Are there any artists or albums that you gravitated towards as you put together your album?

‘Blood on the Tracks’ by Bob Dylan. The whole record is basically a love letter—or I guess not—to his divorce from one of his wives. In terms of modern influences, I hate to say this because it sounds so pretentious, but I did listen to Noah Kahan before he was famous. He reminds me of Bob in the folk realm and I just love his honesty and storytelling capabilities. I also listened to lots of Adele and Amy Winehouse. I was really trying to keep it as honest as possible on the album, so I pushed myself to listen to similar music so I could get in that headspace.

Now that your album is out in the world, what do you have in store musically for the rest of the year?

We’ve started rehearsing already hoping to play this summer, which is a great time for live shows. I’ve got myself, Bryden and Noah, my fiancé, and possibly another person joining. I’m also going into the studio today to do a writing session, so it really, truly never stops.

Do you have anything on your mind that may end up sparking new music in these next sessions?

Every writer is different with how they process things. If you look at my notebooks and my phone, it’s like graveyard lyrics — just little bits and pieces of things. I’m on a bus, I see something, I write a lyric. That’s just how it goes. So, when I go into the studio, I usually have a roster of stuff where I’m like, “Okay, this is good. Let’s try this.” That’s how “Ballad Queen” happened. Bryden was playing guitar and goofing around and it sounded really good and I was like, “Please hold, I have words that could go with this!”

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Interviews, Love at First Listen, Music, New Music Friday

Love at First Listen with Nice Horse

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Nice Horse Interview Love at First Listen 2024

We all have those artists and songs we hear that strike the right chord and make us fall in love at first listen. They’re the reason we refresh social media pages, tour schedules, and Spotify profiles — because we can’t miss a single release. This is Love at First Listen — a series introducing you to the emerging, and established, artists with new music guaranteed to upgrade your playlist.

Calling all country music fans: You may know Nice Horse but get ready to meet Nice Horse 2.0. Once a four-piece band, members and musical sisters Brandi Sidoryk and Katie Rox reintroduced themselves as a duo at the start of the year. Originally bonding over a shared love of live music and sushi, the pair’s sonic yin and yang translate beautifully to a mix of feisty country anthems and vulnerable love songs, including the seven songs that make up Nice Horse’s first project in seven years.

Ahead of their self-titled album’s one-month anniversary, Love at First Listen caught up with Nice Horse’s Brandi and Katie to chat more about which songs brought the record together, what it’s like to see your face on a giant billboard, and where you can see the duo live this summer.

Your new, self-titled album is your first as a duo. I assume there was multiple reasons for this to be self-titled, but can you talk more about the decision behind the name and what this body of music represents to you?

Brandi: We’re different artists than we were seven years ago recording our first record. So, this really did feel like a Nice Horse 2.0 to us, and the idea of titling it ‘Nice Horse’ felt really natural.

When an album is years in the making, you may have written something three or four years ago, and now that it’s out, it’s taken on a different meaning. Has that happened with any song on this album?

Katie: When I wrote “Unfinished,” it was coming from something really personal. I’m finding it’s taking on a new life right now because our band used to be four and we went to two and I remember the time when that changed. Of course I went through a moment of like, are we making the right decision? Is this the time to just end it? Somebody really close to me said, “Your story’s not done yet. It’s not finished.” And I was like, “Oh, that’s interesting because we have a song on the album called ‘Unfinished,’” so that’s how that song has continued to evolve for me.

Which song on the final track list was the first to make it on the album, and are there any that almost didn’t make the cut?

Katie: There’s hundreds that didn’t make it on the record! We recorded a few to begin with before we finally finished.

Brandi: We wrote “Til I Do” over six years ago, so that song is the matriarch of the record. It truly was a song that we felt was so special when we wrote it all those years ago, and the fact that we finally get to put it on this record feels like such a journey for that song in particular.

Amazon Music Canada commemorated the album’s release with a billboard in Yonge-Dundas Square. What did seeing it for the first time mean to each of you?

Katie: There’s hardly words. Like, to actually be larger than life on a giant billboard in the heart of Toronto… We have put years of work into this, and there’s so much more that goes into it than just the music. To get that recognition on such a giant level and for Amazon to see us and really believe in what we’re doing—so much so that they put us on that giant billboard—I mean, I was in tears.

Brandi: Yeah, it was so emotional. When I was moving to Toronto at 18, I lived on a farm and I had never been on public transit before. [The big city] was so new to me, and I still get butterflies in my stomach every time I’m flying into Toronto and I see the skyline. So, the fact that I got to be there in Toronto, which is a city that means so much to me, and see our faces up on that billboard with a record that I’m so proud that we’ve made and that we’ve really made through blood, sweat, and tears really means a lot.

You won a CCMA award for Video of the Year last year with your single “High School.” Can fans expect any music videos for their favourite songs from this album?

Katie: We are going to shoot a new music video so soon and we’re so excited about it. That’s all I can say!

Brandi: It is going to be an absolutely beautiful video. The only hint that I can give you is that Katie and I are both born and raised farm girls and there will be no public transit riding in this music video.

How involved are you both in the making of your music videos? Do you prefer to show up on set with everything ready to go or be involved from the beginning?

Katie: For our “Hot Mess” music video, we went to the director with a really strong vision of what it was going to be. Brandi also edited the whole “High School” music video. So, our music videos have always started with an idea that we then needed to find the person to help us bring to life. And because we got to luckily take home that [CCMA] award, I think it shows that we love to make music, but it turns out we also love to make music videos.

Brandi: I think the music videos are the extensions of the songs, and it’s just another way that we get to share with fans what we see the song as. Katie wrote the entire treatment for our next one!

Your single “Things I Wish I Didn’t Know” also hit Top 50 at Canadian country radio—an incredible feat for an independent act. Do you have any message for country audiences and stations who have supported Nice Horse over the years?

Katie: We hadn’t gone to radio in a very long time, and it’s scary because you want the songs to resonate, you want them to do well, and you want to feel like you’re really putting your heart out there and people are resonating with it. So, the stations that picked it up and featured us or made us regulars in their rotation and gave us a renewed sense of joy and energy, it’s a big thank you to them because that’s how people discover us. That song is a perfect example of something that we really believed in and I’m so glad that they did too.

Brandi: People gravitate to certain songs because they make them feel something or they relate to them, and that is incredibly special for us because this record is incredibly personal to us. It’s validating as an artist but also validating emotionally to have people come up to you or message you and say how much a song is impacting them because of something that’s going on in their lives. It then immediately feels relatable on a human level with stuff that we’ve been going through for the last four years.

The past couple of years have been quite a moment for women in country music, with the likes of Kacey Musgraves, Maddie & Tae, and our friends MacKenzie Porter and Teigen Gayse having great success. Can you share how you met and any advice you’d give to women trying to break into the industry?

Katie: Brandi had seen me playing a morning television show promoting one of my solo acoustic shows. She came out and walked over to the merch table at the end of the show and was like, “Hey, I’m Brandi. I think we should be friends! I’m a singer-songwriter too.” I loved her energy and vibe. She was just moving to Vancouver, and that’s where I live, so we stayed in touch and went for sushi at least once a week. Everything we were doing musically was so different that it never dawned on us that we should do something together. It was six years before we started Nice Horse. What’s funny is the thing that stuck—the thing that did well—was when we joined forces.

Brandi: I think that plays into the advice I would give young women who are looking to start this. I think there’s a lot of fear that you have to do something right away and it has to hit right away, but that’s not always the case. You’re going to have a lot of failures and that’s okay. Those failures are what brought Katie and I to this project. I think it’s just really sticking to it. People notice that.

Katie: I look at how Brandi and I were just in Nashville and we were hanging out with pretty much every other female solo artist or band that is down there. I find that Canadian country music is really good about that – everyone is really welcoming and encouraging of each other because there is room for everybody. I think it’s important for people to know that because I think TV sometimes shows it not to be that way, but that’s not true.

Now that the album is out, what do you have planned for the rest of the year?

Brandi: We just announced that we’re playing Sunfest on Vancouver Island. We’ve already announced that we’re playing Cavendish Beach Music Festival on the other side of Canada and that we’re playing CMA Fest in Nashville.

Katie: It’s going to be a busy summer, which is really exciting because it will be our first year playing live as a duo. So, to have this record and to be playing together, it’s a whole summer of a new side of Nice Horse that is an extension of the one that we were, and it’s going to be great.

Which songs are you most excited to perform live?

Brandi: A lot of our true-blue Nice Horse fans who have been with us for a long time have already heard some of the songs live because we test songs before we put them out. So, we’ll be playing all of the new songs on the record this summer. And who knows, maybe we’ll pull out some new ones to test as well for upcoming records!

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