Codie Prevost, a former GX94 Talent Search competitor, is now a country music recording artist.Monday, Prevost, who grew up at Archerwill, will be at 5th Avenue Cup & Saucer performing in support of the album.
"I grew up just outside the small town of Archerwill, Saskatchewan on a farm," he explained. "I was influenced by my Mom and my Uncle to start learning guitar at the age of 14. I would sit in my bedroom and practice for hours. When I turned 15 I asked my parents to help me finance an electric guitar and I started a band with a couple of friends. As we entered into high school we would practice every day during recess and noon hours. I loved music and became addicted to it very quickly.
"When I was 16 I began performing my own original songs at various talent contests across Saskatchewan. One of the contests I competed in was GX94 Star Search ... I will never forget the opportunity I was given when I got to perform at the Yorkton Exhibition grand stand as part of that competition it was my first time performing in front of a big audience."
Not surprisingly Prevost's influences are solidly in the country vein.
"My musical influences consist of Johnny Cash, Keith Urban, Brad Paisley, and fellow Canadian Paul Brandt," he said. "I perform a style of music that I would classify as country rock. I play my live shows with either full band, which consists of fiddle, bass, drums, electric guitar, and acoustic guitar, or else I perform an acoustic show, which showcases me and my guitar. These solo events are usually smaller house concerts or songwriter's circles.
"I enjoy both ways of performing but if I had to choose one I would probably prefer full band. We always make our live shows exciting and full of energy and I enjoy them a lot."
With more than a decade of performances behind him Prevost has experienced a number of highlights.
"There has been the highlights of opening up for The Oakridge Boys, Michelle Wright, Emerson Drive, and Doc Walker," he said. "It is always a great opportunity to learn so much from opening for bands like these ones who have been in the business for so many years."
Still he chose something related to his hometown as the biggest memory to-date.
"One of the biggest highlights of my career so far happened this year my hometown of Archerwill hung a sign that says 'Home of Codie Prevost'," he said. "That was quite an honour."
The new album is entitled 'Get Loud'.
"I wrote half of the songs and chose outside songs for the other half," said Prevost. "I concentrated on writing all my material on the last two albums but with this one when it all came down I put all the songs in a pile and chose the strongest songs possible to make the best album I could.
"It took about two-years to gather and write all the songs on 'Get Loud'. I have been making frequent trips to Nashville every couple months for the last six-years to write with songwriter's and friends I have connected with in the industry."
Prevost said he enjoyed the experience of recording the most recent disk.
"I recorded my new project 'Get Loud' in Vancouver with producer Tom McKillip." he said. "We recorded the majority of the tracks at the Armoury Studio's which is the same studio where bands such as Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, and AC/DC to name a few have recorded platinum records. It was quite an experience to get the opportunity to work there just knowing that those bands had recorded in that same facility created a great vibe for recording the project."
And the recording experience led to a finished product Prevost said works.
"I am extremely pleased with the way 'Get Loud' turned out," he said. "With this project my main goal was to make it better than anything I had ever recorded before. Working with Tom helped me to not only push myself to sing better but in song choice as well as performance.
"My favorite song on the album is a song called 'I'm Okay'. It is a story of a close friend of mine who had a tough time dealing with the loss of her older brother. This song has received a very strong response from the fans when I perform it live. As a songwriter it is very rewarding to see people connect with your writing.
"The first single ... was a song called 'Rolling Back To You' it hit the top-30 on the BDS chart in Canada, and the video that we shot in Windsor, ON., was in rotation on CMT.
"We just released the second single 'Standing Still', and that video is now playing on CMT as well."
Prevost said the success to-date with the CD is certainly encouraging.
"Times are very exciting right now ,and I will continue to tour and promote the album for the next year," he said, adding, "I will be starting to write for the new album come January."
