Since starting Sound Check Entertainment I have always had one goal, to find new artists of all genres and find new and exciting ways to promote them and help them accomplish their dreams. Although we haven’t publicly announced this we are now a full fledged artist marketing and publicity firm. Over the next couple of weeks we’re going to introduce you to the artists in our growing roster!

Today’s feature is Ches Anthony the one who started it all.
 
Back in the fall of 2018 Ches approached us with an idea. He wanted to start his solo career and although he was well versed on the music side of things he wanted help on the marketing side and the streaming side. Not one to run from a challenge we jumped at the opportunity to work with him.
 
Starting with a single “Written in Stone” and a dream one thing was clear the future was anything but written in stone. His goal was to have “Written in Stone” out and streaming before the end of the year giving us just over a month to develop a marketing campaign and get it out there. The “Written in Stone” release was a 100% team effort. The plan was to shoot a promo video, part music and part an introduction to Ches so as to introduce him to the Canadian Country Music audience. On December 1, 2018 I brought a videographer and a photographer to Little Texas Bar and Grill in Kingston, Ontario for a morning shoot with Ches. This was the result of that morning:
On December 14, 2018 “Written in Stone” was released and the true journey would begin. I have to be sure to thank Country 101.1 in Ottawa for their early support with this single. Amanda and her crew got Ches on for an interview quickly and sponsored the official single release party at Ridge Rock Brewery in Ottawa. Dave Woods is always a huge supporter of Canadian Indie country artists with his In The Country podcast, he was one of the first to feature Ches and the new single within the first two weeks of it’s release. Ches headlined a sold out single release party in Nashville you can check out the highlight video from that night here!
Fast forward one year, 4 months and 5 days and “Written in Stone” has been streamed 57.5 thousand times and has been featured on over 200 playlists on Spotify alone, not bad considering we were learning on the fly.
“Written in Stone” was followed by, what would turn out to be his biggest release to date, “Carolina” on March 29, 2019. “Carolina” has been featured and over 600 playlists and has been streamed over 285 thousand times on Spotify. “Carolina” was also his first official radio release through RPM Promotion and was the first single to feature a lyric video.

With the success of “Carolina” you might actually think we knew what we were doing. Ches is one of the hardest working artists we’ve met. He’s always thinking two singles ahead, this is part of his success strategy and it’s working.
“Old School” was released in July 2019 and really showed Ches’ versatility as an artist. The sound on this song was more bluesy than his previous tracks while staying true to the vibe that Ches was showing through his previous singles. “Old School” has amassed over 83 thousand streams and has been featured on over 300 playlists on Spotify.
Also in July of 2019 Ches delivered his debut album, Where I Belong. Featuring the his first 3 singles (“Written in Stone”, “Carolina” and “Old School”) plus 9 new tracks the album has been streamed over 600 thousand times on Spotify.
The album’s second track, “Home” was released as his fourth single on January. Ches, a Saskatchewan native, had moved to Ontario a few years ago to follow his musical dream as the front man for a well known Canadian country band. With his solo career gaining steam there was no question that his roots were starting to call, quietly at first but it was the start of what would ultimately draw him back to Saskatchewan a few months later.
“I was on a radio tour promoting my single “Carolina” and after a long day of travelling,  I was sitting alone in a hotel room in Toronto, thinking about home. I am always writing, laying down melodies, and a good friend of mine Nelson Sobral “Nelly” came by the hotel for a visit. He brought a guitar and beer and we started jamming out some tunes. I came up with an instrumental bit and spoke to him about where I grew up. Nelly said “wait, this is a great idea! Let’s write a song about that and call it Home!”
The song was done within 35 minutes.

Pete Swann (Producer) and I got together in studio and really put ourselves into the rustic authentic lyrics of “Home” and formed the production with real chain sounds, industrial hammers, cans, drums, to make up the foundation of the song really reflects how I feel about home. Growing up with a father who played harmonica had to be a big part of the song as well!

“Home” would also be the first single to feature an official music video produced by Saskatchewan’s Strike Films.  “I had the amazing opportunity to work with Strike Films for the music video. Having the old hot rod cars and rustic barn/store front on the farm in Saskatchewan was just too perfect for the video. The video really brings the lyrics to life and shows the listeners all about my home!”

On January 31 of this year Ches released his 5th official single, “Devil by Your Side“, and the first song not included on Where I Belong. Co-written with Cory Marks this is easy the edgiest song Ches has ever released. Although Ches opted not to release “Devil by Your Side” to radio and with no official promo or press attention the single continues to grow in streams on Spotify with currently over 31 thousand streams. It’s also Ches’ best performing song on Apple Music to date. Without question “Devil by Your Side” is one of our favourite Ches Anthony songs.

Ches’ 6th single “Bettin’ Man” was released to streaming on March 4 and then to radio April 9. Once again Country 101.1 and #1 For Country were early to the party joining SiriusXM Country as the first stations to pickup the single. Since it’s release the song has seen support from country radio across Canada and was featured across the Rogers #1 for Country network on their Concert from the Couch series: watch here! Be sure to request “Bettin’ Man” on country radio today!

“Bettin’ Man” again features an official video shot by Strike Films in Saskatchewan which stars Spencer the Boston (Ches’ Boston terrier).

On April 17 Ches’ 7th, and latest, single was released. We think “Get Through” is self explanatory. We’re in unprecedented times right now and we’re all just tryin’ to get through.

We love to support emerging artists and help them realize their dreams. Right now artists like Ches are relying on their fans more than ever. Whether it’s streaming their music, downloading their music, buying CDs or buying merch every penny counts! We have a limited selection of Ches Anthony merch in our store, you can check it out here: https://www.soundcheckentertainment.ca/product-category/ches-anthony/

Still to come this year for Ches? More music including a single pitched to him by Chris Stapleton himself.

You can find Ches on all the streaming networks:

Spotify

Apple Music

Amazon Music

Tidal

YouTube

For more about the services we can offer artists visit https://www.soundcheckentertainment.ca/artist-marketing/

Here’s a video of Ches performing at Boots and Hearts in 2017!