2020 the year of the Indie artist

And just like that 2020 is in the past and a new year is upon us. As every spends the day struggling with the resolutions they made last night let’s take a look back at the year that was. 2020 was a year that the entertainment industry went dark. Theatres, stadiums all sat empty and the super successful artists, who make millions of dollars in royalties in their sleep, were on every TV telling us that we’re in this together while yet to be established artists lost sleep over where they’d find money for rent or food now that they’re primary income source, gigs, had dried up.

Many of these artists were faced with a very real decision. Walk away from the business they loved and get a day job, but during a global pandemic even that wasn’t an easy task, or put all of their energy into the fight to survive.

As the winter lockdowns started to lift and small venues were able to start hosting live music again an opportunity presented itself. With no big tours on the radar there was a hunger for live music. Suddenly indie artists, who always had to fight through the noise and excitement surrounding the million dollar touring acts, had an audience. An audience of music fans who wanted nothing more than to be entertained after months of getting their fix through acoustic live streams they wanted something more.

At the same time many of the big name label acts were holding back new music until after the pandemic so that they could coincide their releases with massive world tours, once again indie artists saw an opportunity. In 2020 we discovered 1,656 NEW artists. If each of these artists released a single 3 minute song that would mean 82.8 hours of NEW music in 2020 alone. This is the story of 21 such artists who saw opportunity in a year where it seemed opportunity was lost.

21: The Mystics – our newest discovery of 2020. The Mystics are a psychedelic rock band from Barrie ON, Canada. Their sound is a mix of hard-hitting blues, southern rock riffs and Canadiana storytelling. The group writes music to rock the crowd, and bend the minds of audiences and listeners. The band just dropped their newest single, “Black Widow” on Monday.

I’ll be honest coming from a die hard rocker who lost touch with the rock world over the last few years “Black Widow” takes me back to the days of rock that I remember. Could 2021 be the year that rock comes storming back? With bands like The Mystic leading the charge that’s a very real possibility. Check out “Black Widow” on Spotify below:

20: Merle Marlow Band – The best bands are made up of fans, and that is the case for the Merle Marlow Band. Coming out of Montreal, Québec, all members grew a deep-rooted passion for the 1990s era of country and rock at an early age. When they initially formed, they modeled their sound after idols such as Kenny Chesney and Lynyrd Skynyrd before developing their unique blend of guitar-driven country music. Merle Marlow Band first came onto my radar early in the year last year with their single “Tiki Bar Memories”.

If you’ve got a list of artists to watch these guys MUST be on it, I have no doubt that we’ll be seeing them at major festivals across Canada very soon! Make some “Tiki Bar Memories” with Merle Marlow Band on Spotify below:

19: Ryan Anderson – Ryan is probably one of Ontario’s most underrated country acts. With 5 singles to his name Ryan only delivered one in the last 12 months “Doing It” but still his list of accomplishments in 2020 are out of this world. He charted a top 10 and top 100 indie song of 2020 on the Canadian Indie Country Countdown, was nominated for 5 awards at the Red Carpet Award Show in Holland, hit the top 20 and top 10 on the Country Thunder Network North American chart and has his first sold out show Sideways Bar & Grill in my hometown Campbellford Ontario.

We were excited to catch Ryan this summer at Happy Green Acres where he impressed everyone so much that he was asked to return later in the summer and we’re super excited that he’s already booked to return in 2021 for Hank’s Classic Country Festival May 20-22!  Some are all talk, Ryan Anderson is “Doing It”.  Stream his latest single on Spotify:

18: Sentiment Falls – The only non-Canadian, non-North American act in our list this year is Swedish band, Sentiment Falls. One half of Sentiment Falls, Ronnie Wilde, reached out to us a few months back to introduce us to the project and ask for our help to build their Canadian / North American following. Sentiment Falls, is an award winning hot European New Country act fronted by vocalist/guitar Ronnie Wilde and vocalist Andrea Bond. Since the introduction Sentiment Falls has released two new singles “Get Over You” and “Mistake”.

Since their founding the group has been met with critical acclaim and accolades from around the world including a nomination for three different awards categories at the 2017 Texas Sounds International Country Music Awards where artists from 15 nations competed. Sentiment Falls won the coveted Entertainers Of The Year Award and also the award for Song Of The Year.  In July 2018 the band reached another high when they were awarded “Best Band” at Seljord Country Festival. In September 2018 they were awarded “Best Country Act” in the pop/rock genre in a Swedish National competition and heading back to Texas in November they returned back home with 3 awards, “Female Vocalist Of The Year”, “Duo/Trio Of The Year” and “Entertainer Of The Year”. In August 2019 they formed a 6 piece band and set of to a great start by winning the “Best Rock/Pop Country Act” in Sweden.

I became such a fan of Sentiment Falls that I created our Rising Country playlist, our first playlist that is open to non-Canadian artists. Their hard work in 2020 has proven not to be a “Mistake” with both singles combining to over 30K streams. We look forward to continuing our work with Sentiment Falls in 2021 and hope, should travel begin to open up, to bring them to Canada for a few tour dates in the fall. Until then stream the single that got me hooked “Get Over You” on Spotify:

17: Christina Hutt – Christina first came on our radar mid-July and boy were we impressed. Her style is best described as a country Americana with a taste of classic country. One listen to her single “Fifteen Shades” will transport you back to a different generation of country music. A time when the music was raw and filled with emotion.

Christina Hutt resides in Kearney, Ontario not far from her hometown, Sprucedale. She was drawn to music at the age of five when her parents bought her a wireless microphone and a Tina Turner album. She continues to be influenced by many artists, recognizing the soul in Etta James, Patsy Cline’s art of delivering a song, the poetry of Leonard Cohen, the warmth of Mary Chapin Carpenter, and the camaraderie of The Cowboy Junkies, to mention a few.

Christina sings Folk and Blues and has a special fondness for traditional Country. She continues to please audiences at small theatres, house concerts, markets, and pubs but her goal is to have the opportunity to play for bigger audiences while seeing more of the world. She and her band hope to one day play at Toronto’s world-famous Massey Hall. Christina recently released a single with titled “Fifteen Shades” and is currently working with her band on a Traditional Country album. She’s the real deal” ~ Jeff Bird

“Fifteen Shades” is the most under-rated single of 2020. You hear so much talk about people not liking the modern pop-country well here’s a modern day artist whose music is anything but. Don’t take my word for it. Steam “Fifteen Shades” on Spotify and see for yourself!

16: Justin Fancy – Coming in hot into 2020 is Conception Bay South, Newfoundland’s own Justin Fancy. No stranger to the stage Justin paid his dues performing live, night after night, on St. John’s vibrantly popular George Street pub scene and then chose 2020 as the year to launch his music onto the national country music scene. For many a global pandemic would quickly derail a plan like that but not for Justin. Early in 2020 Justin released back to back, stand-alone radio singles and videos, to test the waters for his music. “Long Time Comin’” and “Think About You” were received favourably, cracking over 145,000 streams on Spotify and being added at over 40 radio stations across Canada.

With a successful test under his belt Justin released his debut full length album, Sure Beats a Good Time on September 25. The title track has already garnered over 79,000 streams on Spotify.

With a year like that one can hope that 2021 will open up the borders again so that Justin can truly bring his music to the rest of the country, we could think of a few venues here in Ontario we’d love to have him perform! It’s a “Long Time Comin'” so until we can catch a live Justin Fancy show checkout the single that started it all on Spotify:

15: Deborah Lynn – Country girl Deborah Lynn was born and raised in Stirling Ontario.  She has been singing and playing guitar since she was young. After college she started a small business in Toronto and entrepreneurship did not leave much time for music but a late entry into 2019s Next Country Music Star gave Deborah Lynn the confidence to jump into the local music scene with both feet.

She has a classic country tone and a style that has been influenced by folk. In the early days of the pandemic Deborah Lynn released her debut single April 17th, 2020 called “Revive a Ghost”. With music venues and shows turning into ghost towns of their own no one would’ve blamed her for walking away. But thanks to an incredible support team backing her Deborah pushed on. She started a live stream series from her home bar, performed locally where it was allowed and continued to focus on new music. “Revive a Ghost” ranked #7 on the Canadian Indie Country Top 100 of 2020 a massive achievement for a new artist that speaks volumes of Deb’s talent.

When she first came onto my radar I immediately knew there was something special there. I brought her in for a show at Happy Green Acres to see first hand what she was capable of and let me tell you Deborah Lynn has all of the ingredients to be very successful.

Let’s hope that we can “Revive A Ghost” in 2021 and that Deborah can breath new life into the live music scene! If she isn’t on your radar yet make it your new year’s resolution to change that today!

14: Dan Petti – Singer-Songwriter in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Dan has been playing and writing music his whole life. He excelled at piano and guitar in high school, and played in a metal band until 2014. His passion for songwriting reached new heights after 3 successful trips to Nashville, Tennessee, where he got to meet with many diverse songwriters, artists, and publishers.

He currently writes Country music with many songwriters and artists all over North America. He is proud of the network of writers, musicians, and friends he has become a part of, and he has built up a respectable catalogue of songs over the years. He has a mix of upbeat happy songs, deep meaningful ballads, and anything in between. He sometimes performs live with his band, but he especially loves playing his songs solo acoustic, allowing the audience to experience the songs and lyrics at a raw, stripped down, and emotional level.

We worked with Dan on his debut single, “My Kind of Road” which exceed expectations for a debut and has netted him over 6500 streams on Spotify, it’s spent 15 weeks on the Country Thunder North American Chart peaking at #2, it hit number 1 on the Canadian Indie Country countdown and was ranked at 45 on the Canadian Indie Country Top 100 of 2020. New music is coming with his follow up single due early this year. Until then listen to the single that started it all on Spotify:

13: John Anderson – Our next artist came onto my radar only weeks before the pandemic struck. At the time he was still promoting his super successful debut single “Grew Up On It” with plans for his follow-up single in the works for an early spring release.

John was born and raised in Barrie, Ontario. John’s passion was being on the baseball field but has now transferred that passion to his music. He has won many awards and contests such as Magna Hoedown, Nashville North KICXfm, Wasaga Idol. Josie award nomination for best vocalist any genre, Barrie emerging artist, Simcoe Readers Choice for his great voice and stage presence.

We were lucky enough to have John Anderson perform locally at Happy Green Acres this summer so we could see first hand how he grows his fan base after every show. We suggest you add John Anderson to your watch list for 2021 after all “What’s The Worst” thing that could happen? Stream John’s latest single on Spotify today:

12: Rick Snider – Born and raised in Nova Scotia, Rick has made his roots in The Annapolis Valley. Some of Rick’s best memories is sitting back and watching and listening to his mother, aunts, uncles and sisters play and sing. Whether in the living room, or watching them on stage, it inspired a dream, and passion that still lives strong in Rick today.

We started working with Rick on his single Helluva Night! When Rick first approached me wanting to work together he pitched me a song he had been working on. It was the ultimate summer party song, it had everything a good country song should have. Trucks, mud, beer and a live band. “Helluva Night” would be Rick’s fourth single of 2020 but it has become Rick’s best performing song to date. The song spent 14 weeks on the Canadian Indie Country Countdown peaking at #1, it also debuted at #1 on the Country Thunder North American Top 20 and it was just announced that the song ranked at #4 on the Canadian Indie Country Top 100 of 2020!

Rick released his fifth single of 2020 in mid-December. “I Don’t Recall” is a playful song that one could say is the day after the “Helluva Night”. Check it out on Spotify here:

11: Strumming Stories – This group of guys from Ontario came onto my radar in early summer and boy have they quickly become one of my favorite new acts. Strumming Stories began in the fall of 2019 when a group of friends from the Kingston area came together as a band. By years end things were falling into place, and they developed a blue jean country / rock sound that falls evenly between Jason Aldean and Randy Houser.

Their songs are pumping and the wheels are trucking along at 100 miles per hour, with authentic accounts of what it’s like growing up in small town life with influence from the close big city lights.

We did some work together on their smash end of summer drinking party track “All My Friends”. Packing in every bit of high energy from the Strumming Stories live show into one song, it’s the next big happy drinking tune that is ready to be consumed. Written with easy to remember sing along lyrics, aggressive rock guitars and fiddle added as the country cherry on top.

The summer that wasn’t slowed down their touring but it didn’t slow down their studio time as they’ve been busy working in the studio and have loads of new music lined up. They closed out the year with a holiday song, “Small Town Christmas”, that anyone who grew up in a small town can identify with which should help satisfy the appetite of their fans until their next single arrives. Join Strumming Stories and stream “All My Friends” on Spotify:

10: Dustin Bird – Dustin Bird is another one of Ontario’s most underrated artists. Known for his singles “Wake Up”, “People”, “Every Little Town – Live Off the Floor” to name a few what many may not know is that Dustin is also a songwriter and producer. 2020 saw him release 5 of his own singles which garnered a combined total of nearly 75,000 streams on Spotify alone.

Dustin was also behind the inspirational Kansas Stone single “Together We’re Strong” with another one of our feature artists Brian John Harwood. But wait there’s more….Dustin also wrote and produced Deborah Lynn’s debut single “Revive A Ghost”.

With his debut record “The Hard Way” due in early 2021 Dustin continues to find ways to get his music in front of an audience. I guess you can say the future for Dustin is far from “Unscripted”

9: Aaron Allen – If you can pick an artist out of this list that one could say had a breakthrough in 2020 it would have to be Aaron Allen. Allen’s story will sound familiar to many; faced with some serious personal challenges as he entered his teenage years, country music became his lifeline and songwriting the outlet for his pain and frustration. Allen made a promise to himself that he would make country music his career, even though – thanks to his wife – tattooing eventually helped pay the bills. Allen is well on his way to keeping that promise.

It all marks a fresh beginning for Allen, who recorded his latest material with producer Jeff “Diesel” Dalziel (Brett Kissel, The Washboard Union, Andrew Hyatt). Allen’s style remains as honest and true-to-life as ever, but after years of forging a devoted fan base as an independent artist, the time has finally come to take the next step and reach more ears.

“All I had was my voice and a guitar, so country music was really the only way to go for me,” Allen says. “I’ve always loved how simple and direct great country songs are. They go straight to the heart, and that’s what I’ve always tried to achieve with songs I write. I feel like my favourite artists are speaking specifically to me, and I hope people have that feeling when they hear my songs.” Indeed, just as a tattoo is permanent, Aaron Allen’s songs make an emotional impact just as lasting. Look for him to soon be included in the conversation about Canada’s most promising country music stars.

If Aaron Allen isn’t picked up by a label in 2021 there’s a serious problem with this business! New music is a “Good Place to Start” a new year for Aaron and we’ve heard something is coming very soon. Until then take a trip on the Highway Mile that is Aaron’s career to date.

8: Mackenzie Leigh Meyer – Mackenzie first came onto our radar as a finalist for the 2019 Boots and Hearts emerging artist competition. It wouldn’t be until the summer of 2020 that we’d end up going all in on the Dive Bar Diva bandwagon. A downside to living and making our homebase in the Ottawa area is that we don’t often get many of the emerging artists who frequently perform in the Toronto area.

When the big shows and festivals got cancelled by COVID our summer schedule suddenly freed up which gave us more time to attend some of the smaller events that were still able to proceed. One of the first events we were able to attend was the Love Revolution Festival in Cavan, Ontario. It was only a few hours from home which was more than worth it to catch an incredible lineup of indie country artists we’ve had on our radar for some time. Mackenzie was one of them.

What I witnessed was an artist so comfortable on the stage that one can say she becomes one with it. Between her powerhouse vocals and an incredible band backing her it was a no brainer to work with my friends at Happy Green Acres to get her booked for one of our events later in the summer. Mackenzie returns to Happy Green Acres this coming May for Hank’s Classic Country Music Festival, if you missed her last time don’t miss her this time!

Here latest single is “Before You” check it out on Spotify here:

7: Nicole Rayy – Nicole Rayy before 2020 was a name we heard often but never really got to know, again much due to our distance from the Toronto area. It was a breakout year for Nicole, who hails from the Toronto area. Combining the distinctive sounds of classic country, pop, and rock, while refusing to compromise on the raw, emotional honesty that is prevalent throughout her entire body of work, Canadian Country singer-songwriter and pianist Nicole Rayy is a dynamic and powerful force of musical talent.

Her distinctive and brutally honest songwriting paired with her energetic performances come through seamlessly no matter where her music is played, live on the stage or in her critically acclaimed recordings.

She set the bar high early in 2020 with the release of her single “All Women” which led into an EP of the same name. We had our first opportunity to see Nicole live, along with Mackenzie Leigh Meyer, at the Love Revolution Festival in July. Seeing her perform left no doubt as to why she’s performed on stages across Canada and around the world including performances at the World Music Festival in Shanghai, China for four consecutive years. If this young lady isn’t already on your radar perhaps 2021 is the year for you to change that!

Nicole released her biggest single to date in August, “Broken Boys” currently sits just shy of 300K streams bringing her total streams in 2020 to about 500K. Stream the single that started 2020 for Nicole below:

6: Drake Jensen – Robert K. Oermann of Music Row Magazine, Nashville TN“Unmistakably country, but with a certain sonic majesty … he sings with open throated confidence and clear conviction. A winner.”

Drake and I had just started working together about a month before the pandemic hit. He was getting ready for his grand come-back to the country music scene after a brief absence and wanted our help to make a splash. I was familiar with Drake prior to this but didn’t know him well and had never seen him perform but it only took one meeting for me to sense his deep rooted passion for his music.

But the music is only one part of the artist’s work. Part of his artistry is in his videos where he demonstrates a keen and evolving sense of style and imagery. As an activist, he has raised awareness to the anti-bullying movement, and held very successful fundraisers for various causes.Drake Jensen remains to be a driving force, and a man on a mission, to bridge the gap between the LGBTQ Community and Country Music.

When Drake and I started working together he had just wrapped up work on his leadout single “Burn the Floor”; an innovative, modern country tune borne out of the collaboration between Drake and Nova Scotia LBGTQ singer/songwriter/producer Jon Hemingway; and Rob Preuss, former keyboardist of The Spoons and Honeymoon Suite, and former Associate Musical Director for Mamma Mia on Broadway. The single hit 100K streams on New Year’s Eve, making it his biggest single ever.

Also on New Year’s Eve Drake released his next single, a poignant cover of Corey Hart’s “Never Surrender” dedicated to all of the front-line workers who are at the centre of the global COVID pandemic. The single and video released simultaneously at 8pm on New Years Eve. At this time the video has already surpassed 1,000 views and the single is also just shy of 1000 streams on YouTube. The track is the lead single to Jensen’s upcoming 5th studio album, “ICONIC”, which will be released in the Spring of 2021 and include covers of ICONIC Canadian songs from Lennie Gallant, Gordon Lightfoot, Anne Murray, Leonard Cohen, and Rita MacNeil. Songs that he grew up with and shaped his musical style.

Stream “Never Surrender” on Spotify here:

5: Josh Norrad – It was a cold afternoon in March when I got the first call from Josh Norrad. Josh was gearing up to release his first single, “To The Wind”, in about 5 years but wanted to go big. We chatted for a bit and he told me that the single was co-written by Doug Folkins and produced by CCMA Award winning producer Jason Barry and featured Jason and other members of Dean Brody’s band. Later that day he sent me a copy of the single and the rest, as they say, is history.

Josh Norrad is a country/rock performer from Upper Miramichi, New Brunswick Canada. Since the release of his debut album, he has been nominated for 6 MNB awards including 2x Country Artist of the Year. In 2017, Josh was one of only 25 in Canada to get the popular vote in the CBC Searchlight competition after netting the most votes in his region.The following year Josh was named the winner of the nationwide “Country Liberty Cover Contest” which landed him a performance spot at Cavendish Beach Music Festival!

“To The Wind” was scheduled for release on April 7th but somehow it released a day early on Apple Music and on that day the song peaked at #11 on the iTunes charts. When it released on Spotify the next day it simply took off. The track hit 30K streams within the first month of release easily surpassing all of his previous singles. Today 9 months later the song continues to perform well, new radio adds are coming with every week. The track has spent 7 weeks on the Country Thunder Network North American Top 20 where it currently sits in 5th place and it was just recently ranked #98 on the Canadian Indie Country Top 100 singles of 2020.

We were lucky enough to host Josh for his only performance of 2020 at Happy Green Acres this summer where he was met with warm reviews. Josh is currently home in New Brunswick working on new music with hopes to get a new single ready for release by spring 2021!

Stream “To The Wind” on Spotify and be sure to follow Josh so you don’t miss a beat!

4: Mike Robins – If you’ve been paying attention to Canadian country music a little bit over the past 10 years then the name Mike Robins should be a familiar one.

Mike Robins exploded onto the Canadian country music scene with his chart topping group Autumn Hill. The duo achieved huge radio success with multiple top 10 and top 20 singles such as “Blame”, “Anything At All”, “Mixtape” and “Can’t Keep Waiting”. The band’s music video’s as well topped the CMT charts, with “Blame” hitting #1.

Mike has been nominated for four Canadian Country Music Awards, two Juno Awards and four Country Music Association of Ontario Awards and has been the winner of the CMAO’s Rising Star and Best Group/Duo Awards. He has been invited to perform on these award shows as well, including the CCMA National Television Broadcast. One of those performances featured his band’s duet with the incredible Canadian legend Jann Arden.

Mike has headlined tours throughout Canada and has shared the stage with many of Country music’s finest, such as Keith Urban, Dierks Bentley, Florida Georgia Line, Dean Brody, Dallas Smith and Tim McGraw to name a few. Mike has captivated crowds with his high energy and unforgettable live performances at all major Canadian country music festivals such as Boots and Hearts, Havelock Jamoboree, Country Thunder, Cavendish Beach Fest, The Calgary Stampede and Big Valley Jamboree.

In 2020 Mike is hoping that lightning does strike twice and that his success with Autumn Hill follows him to his solo career. I’ll be honest when it comes to country music fans I was a HUGE Autumn Hill fan, so much so I booked them to play at one of the festivals I was promoting. This new direction as a solo artist fits Mike, being in a band or duo can be complicated but as a solo act he’ll have more freedom to be himself.

His debut solo single, “Lightning Don’t Strike Twice”, arrived in October and, to date, has been well received. I love the track and in the end I’m the only critic whose opinion I care about anyway.

Help us show Mike that lightning can strike twice by streaming “Lightning Don’t Strike Twice” on Spotify!

3: Courtney Bowles – I discovered Courtney Bowles through one of her live streams throughout the pandemic. The interesting part is that, due to really bad country internet, I didn’t watch a lot of live streams because the frequent buffering just wasn’t enjoyable for me. I believe it was in the East Coast Kitchen Party group or somewhere similar that she caught my attention and I discovered that not only did she have an incredible talent she had a very wide range of styles and genres to pull from.

One day she had posted on social media that she was looking for help and advice on getting her single “Beautiful Daughter” to radio. I commented and arranged for her to come up to play an evening at Happy Green Acres. We met, we talked and a plan was hatched. You know that expression “she could sing the phonebook and make it sound good”? Courtney totally could. The song “Beautiful Daughter” was an incredible song so I was definitely intrigued to work with her to help get it out there.

The song hit streaming in June, we followed it up to radio on October 2nd, by then it had already been streamed over 145,000 times. As of today the song has been streamed 227,075 times on Spotify alone.

Courtney came to Happy Green Acres 2 more times over the summer and even took the time to mentor a young new artist we’ve been working with. The two of them shared the stage for an impromptu duet which gave everyone in the audience goosebumps.

We are hoping to release the follow-up single to “Beautiful Daughter” this February until then listen for yourself and hear the song that nearly 200,000 other listeners have fallen in love with.

2: Brian John Harwood – Prior to 2020 Brian John Harwood was just one half of Kansas Stone. 2020 saw success for Kansas Stone but it was the rise of Brian (that could be a movie title but I digress) that really stood out for me. 5 new singles (one that involved a proposal…she said yes), a huge collaboration and 2 new Kansas Stone singles made for a busy year…I guess when there’s no shows or tours you might as well write and record music.

Raised in the town of Innisfil, Ontario in the ‘90s, Brian John Harwood grew up to the early sounds of country, rock & pop and now putting them together in a brand new way. Hooked on this sound and a love for performing, Harwood started the country/rock band Kansas Stone in early 2015. The band went on to achieve success across Canada, opening for acts such as Zac Brown, Brothers Osborne, and Dallas Smith and many more.. signing with Wax/Universal records in 2017. After touring with the band, Brian decided it was time for a new sound. Retaining his role in Kansas Stone, he embarked on a new journey as a solo artist in order to separate the two different styles. In 2019, Dustin Bird (producer, co-writer) and Harwood began work on this new project, creating a blend of country, pop and 80’s style rock music that reflects Brian’s most personal tastes and experiences.

He’s been nominated for a CMAOntario award, has amassed over a million streams across platforms, and has released multiple top 100 charting singles on the Canadian Country Airplay charts. Having written with artists & writers such as Steve McEwan, Jason Blaine, Dave “Dwave” Thomson, and many more, Brian John Harwood is a seasoned rising star on the Canadian country music scene.

Brian started the year off with a personal favourite of mine, “Growing Old”; his biggest hit of the summer came with the single “Hotter Than Summer” (it’s since been streamed over 110,000 times). “All That I Was Missing” was accompanied by a music video in which Brian proposed to the love of his life (she said yes). He closed out the year with a song that tugs at the heartstrings to anyone who has ever had a dad…the song “Dad” is an incredibly emotional and powerful tribute that hits you right in the feels.

The 4 singles above were joined by probably the biggest collaboration of Brian’s career to date “Together We’re Strong”, the Kansas Stone smash which featured guest performances by some of the biggest names in Canadian country music was co-written by Brian along with Dustin Bird and has been streamed nearly 300,000 times on Spotify alone.

After a year like 2020 I can’t wait to see what Brian has up his sleeve for 2021.  Checkout the single “Dad” on Spotify but be warned you might want to keep the tissues handy.

1: Suzi Kory – What can I say about Suzi Kory? The reason she’s our #1 Indie artist of 2020 is actually simple. Before probably April I had never heard the name Suzi Kory and chances are neither did you.

Country rock artist Suzi Kory, born in Beirut and raised in Toronto, burst onto the music scene in 2017 with a rock EP, entitled ‘Spellcasting’, produced by John Angus Macdonald (The Trews).

Following performances in Canada, the USA and Brazil, she released two singles, ‘The Secret Garden’ (2018) and ‘Pretty Little Things’ (2019), co-written and produced by Brent Woods (Vince Neil, Sebastien Bach, Taylor Hawkins).

Her classic country love ballad ‘Settle of the Dust’, released in January 2020 was recently described by FYI Music News as ‘a lusciously arranged ballad reminiscent of Linda Ronstadt’s glorious country roots.’

It was with shortly after “Settle of the Dust” was released that Suzi came onto our radar. At the time she was just starting to make waves on the indie scene. I tuned in to a couple of her live streams in which, for the most part, she wasn’t actually performing just meeting and getting to know her fans. There was just something about her personality, a kind of genuineness that really struck me. “Settle of the Dust” was followed by “Outlaw” and in late June it was followed by the single “Love Revolution”. Little did we know at the time but that single was going to become far more than a song, it was going to turn into a movement and rally call for indie artists.

It was within days of the single release that I got a message from Suzi. “Hendrik”, she said, “if I were to put on a country music festival north of Toronto, would you come?” Naturally I said that one way or another someone from Sound Check would be there. At the time I was intrigued but the thought “what kind of festival could an artist that no one had heard of a few months ago put on in the middle of a pandemic” did cross my mind. About 2 weeks after that I get another message from Suzi…with a festival poster, festival name and….an incredible festival lineup filled with some of the best known emerging artists Ontario has to offer (several of them listed above). The festival would be called the Love Revolution Festival and it would take place on July 18 in Cavan, Ontario and it was one of the biggest highlights of 2020. In a matter of 3 weeks, Suzi Kory went from idea, to venue, to lineup to actually staging a full day event I had never seen anything like it.

But wait there’s more. If you think the grueling task of planning a single day drive in festival in Ontario in 3 weeks wasn’t hard enough Suzi decided she wanted to raise the bar another notch. She was taking the Love Revolution on the road….to Tennessee. I honestly almost doubted she’d pull it off, especially with all land crossings into the United States closed to non-essential traffic since March. But heck if she’s insane enough to pull of a festival in the middle of a pandemic in 3 weeks and knowing some of the magic pixie dust that’s followed her throughout her career (ask her about her chance meeting with her idol, Axl Rose or how she met Billy Ray Cyrus…or just click here to go to her website and read about it for yourself) I knew that she’d pull this one off too, and she did.

After meeting her in person and seeing her perform live I knew we had to get her booked for a show at Happy Green Acres so while she was performing I sent a video to Henry at the venue. By the end of her set he was ready to make it happen and by the next morning the two had worked things out for her to come up for a show. Suzi Kory is the real deal, and she’s my greatest discovery of 2020!

Join the Love Revolution and give Suzi some streams on Spotify:

Suzi is a shining example, as are the other 19 artists above, of how when you love what you do you will find a way to do it. None of these artists let a pandemic get in their way of success in 2020, none of them ever had the word quit come out of their mouth.

The best thing we can do for these artists, and the hundreds or thousands of others who continue to fight to stay in the game, is to buy and stream their music, buy their merch, and GO SEE THEM LIVE!! These artists are still performing, perhaps not at the moment as there is a lockdown in effect but as soon as they can get out there they’ll be out there and they need us to be there too. When the pandemic ends please don’t forget about these artists because even when the stadium shows return these artists will still be fighting to stay in the game.

There are hundreds, maybe thousands of other artists around the world that are just as passionate as the 20 featured above. There are hundreds in Canada alone, many you won’t hear on the radio simply because Canada’s biggest stars are the emerging artists to radio who look to the USA to find the superstars. With your support these artists can get their chance.

Please support Indie artists, they are our future stars. Every star was once an indie artist.

Big thanks to all of the venues that open their doors to these stars of tomorrow, I especially want to thank Henry Boar at Happy Green Acres. Thanks for trusting me and booking artists based on my recommendation, it’s nice to finally have a venue East of Belleville that will host tomorrow’s stars today! Visit https://www.facebook.com/happygreenacres to see some of the events they’ve got planned for 2021!

I want to send a special thanks to Walter Scott James who manages the Canadian Indie Country Countdown. Many of the artists I discovered in 2020 I discovered through that countdown. Walter just announced the Top 100 Canadian Indie Country songs of 2020, you can checkout the official playlist here:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/45pZ6xqgmbQXNAP93b3iTg?si=gFmVyNIOQ8G-FNc3_Kc9jg

Last but not least, to the other 1,456 who we did not feature above we love you too. We’ll find ways to promote you all in the coming year! Thank you all for, honestly, making 2020 a pretty darn good year!

For more Rising Country Music from around the world be sure to check out our Rising Country Playlist below: