Casual Cover Monday ~ November 16, 2020

What this world needs now is more 'JOY' this season! Who better to bring it to you than Luke, J.J., Ty, Brock, and Dusty from the Hunter Brothers? They're our pick for 'CHRISTMAS COVER MONDAY' this week. Enjoy their version of 'Joy To The World' that they recorded a few years ago. If you'd like what you hear they have also recently released Santa Claus Is Coming To Town and 'O Holy Night ' and you can find it here for download! 

~~>https://music.apple.com/.../santa-claus-is.../1534414933...

~~>https://music.apple.com/.../o-holy-night-single/1534999719

Growing up, Meghan Patrick's mom always went all out with decorations, food, music, and traditions at Christmas time. One of her favorite traditions was watching White Christmas on Christmas Eve every year, and one of her favorite songs in that movie was Bing Crosby’s version of “I’ll Be Home For Christmas”. She wanted her version to be reminiscent of that, but also wanted to keep the delivery raw and emotional to make it her own. As someone who moved out of her parents home young and has spent a lot of time  road since, going home for Christmas was always something she always looked forward to. 

In light of this year’s challenges with Covid, and knowing that some people  (like herself) may not be able to go home to be with their family because of it, “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” seemed like the perfect choice, to give everyone a bit of nostalgic hope leading up the holidays. 

We absolutely love Meghan's version as it show's such a different incredibly soft side to this Canadian country girl! Enjoy our 'Christmas Cover Monday' and have a great week!! 

 We're thinking that 2020 could use some EARLY Christmas cheer this year! Our 1st 'CHRISTMAS COVER MONDAY' of the season comes from a gentleman who was once a Vancouver Canucks draft pick, now a critically acclaimed country music star, 

Chad Brownlee Music.  This British Columbia musician brings us '(Christmas) Baby Please Come Home'. We hope it gets you a little in the mood for the holiday season this first Monday of November!  

Today's 'CASUAL COVER MONDAY' is from a young gentleman we became instant fans of last week when he performed on In The Country with Dave Woods 'Stories, Songs & Six Strings' live stream. Graham Scott Fleming has a voice that is so pleasing to the ear and the tones in his voice are beautiful! Originally from Elmvale Ontario, he's spent several years in the states performing in Broadway shows such as 'Miss Saigon', Kinky Boots' and 'Hair'. He's recently decided to follow his love of country music and become an independent artist and we're thrilled to hear that! 

Have a listen to him sing a cover of Garth Brooks single 'More Than A Memory' that he did a few years back. Good luck on your musical journey Graham!

Our 'CASUAL COVER MONDAY' feature comes from an artist we recently came across on Instagram..he's JR Charron and he hails from Winnipeg, Manitoba and he has a brand new sing out called 'Song For You' which was written with his Dad in mind. Growing up in a musical  household, JR's parents stressed individuality and creativity from a young age. Writing music since his early teens, JR has had the opportunity of performing on Songwriters stages in Nashville TN. You could say music has been ingrained in him since before birth. He has an EP coming out this Friday October 23rd called 'IMPRESSION' which will be available on Spotify!  If you get a chance go check out his new video for 'Song For You' on Youtube!! Enjoy his cover is Dallas Smith's single 'Autograph'!

Youtube link--> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EEk_rSDNvU

Spotify link---> https://open.spotify.com/album/6PcnWbC4EXQaswx1ukZuIVre.

Here's a special treat for your Thanksgiving holiday! For this week's 'CASUAL COVER MONDAY' we've gone to the archives to dig up a really cool version of Suspicious Minds that Leah Daniels covered 9 years ago!! Her and her long time love Tim Deegan  got married this past Saturday! Wishing them much love and happiness!!  She's one of our favs and we're very thankful for her music and her beautiful voice! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! 

Barrie, ON-based country singer-songwriter John Anderson Music initially grew up with a passion for baseball, until one day he picked up a guitar and learned the song, “Thinking Out Loud”. He sent it to his mother, an elementary school teacher, who listened to it with her students, and they loved it. John then started entering and winning contests, including Magna Hoedown Showdown in Aurora, Ontario.

Anderson's music has been described as upbeat Country, with rock & pop influences, and some classic rock splashed in! He loves performing and has opened for some big artists like James Barker Band, Tebey & Blue Rodeo.  John’s fan base continues to grow with every performance he does!

Check out his awesome cover of Chris Stapleton's hit 'Millionaire' for our 'CASUAL COVER MONDAY' feature! Have a fantastic week everyone as we head into a long Thanksgiving weekend!!

This week's 'CASUAL COVER MONDAY' spotlight artist is from rural Ontario but is now Nashville based and is starting to make a lot of waves there! Madison Kozak is not only a country singer but a musician and songwriter. Growing up the seventh child in a family of eight siblings, Kozak's father taught her everything she knows and loves about country music. At just 10 years old, Madison was selected to perform at the Havelock Country Jamboree, a music festival drawing an audience of 30,000 people. At only 22, Kozak is primed for a big future. At 14, she convinced her parents to move to Nashville where she continued to hone her skills as a vocalist and also learned that she wanted to write songs — a discovery she made while studying music business at Belmont University.

When she first moved to Nashville, she kept hearing one piece of recurring advice, which was that was that ‘three minutes can change your life' and that's exactly what happened to her!. Madison was discovered when she performed ‘First Last Name’ for a panel of publishers that Belmont put together to critique the students’ work. There were four publishers on the panel, including Big Loud. By the time Kozak finished singing the first chorus they were all weeping. 

It wasn’t long before she found herself opening for Willie Nelson and Morgan Wallen, as well as performing at Nashville’s legendary The Bluebird Cafe and CMA Fest. Kozak is also a newly minted recording artist — the first signed to Songs & Daughters, Big Loud's new female-focused joint label venture with award-winning songwriter Nicolle Galyon. The company’s mission is to be a music house for female creatives and address the gender disparity in country radio by nurturing female artists. We came across Madison on Youtube covering Morgan Wallen's recent hit 'More Than My Hometown'. Remember her name..big things from her will be coming our way very soon!!

 This week's 'CASUAL COVER MONDAY' features Country Music Association of Ontario Rising Star Nominee Dustin Bird who is pushing the boundaries of modern country music. In the past 12 months, he has achieved five top 100 singles on the Canadian Country Airplay Chart as an artist, songwriter, and producer. Building off of the success of ‘Together We're Strong’ a charity single he produced and co-wrote featuring artists such as Aaron Pritchett, Jason McCoy, and Alee, Dustin will be releasing new music in the fall of 2020, along with his debut record "The Hard Way" in early 2021. The project, which was recorded in a Live Off the Floor format with his five band members at the famed Catherine North Studios in Hamilton, ON. will feature four new songs written and produced entirely by Bird, with the lead single ‘Falling’ originally recorded by Harry Styles setting the pace for the project. Enjoy this hauntingly beautiful cover by Dustin and have a great week everyone!