Country trio taking steps forward

The biggest obstacle emerging singers face in the super-competitive music industry is finding an audience and igniting interest. A trio of contemporary country singers solved the issue by forging ahead with a concert they hope will bring them front and centre in Edmonton’s country scene.

St. Albert’s Emily Seal, St. Albert Children’s Theatre alumnus Sean Sonego and Edmonton singer Danielle Lowe have banded together for Three Steps Forward, an evening of solos, duos and trios this coming Saturday at Gateway Alliance Church Theatre.

And they’re rounding out the evening in the company of energetic sidemen — Ralph Pretz (guitar), Paul Roberts (drummer), Markus Bykowski (bass), David Aide (keyboards) and Nolan Raw (guitar).

Although the dynamic threesome explored individual avenues of entertainment as young children, they didn’t form any serious collaboration until this past summer. They are members of Pure Artists, an entertainment academy that not only polishes acts, but also encourages them to perform for non-profit agencies and charities.

The trio was booked at the July 2010 Alberta Summer Games in Peace River.

“It was a blast. We all got along so well. Emily and Danielle have such a great sense of humour and we were always joking around. And they’re both unbelievably nice people and that’s hard to find in the music industry,” says Sonego. With his curly-haired good looks, Sonego landed leading roles in the children’s theatre’s Just So, Aladdin and Narnia.

Despite their youth, all three have a solid track record winning the Country Vocal Spotlight Award. Seal also scooped up the junior division trophy at the Dauphin Fest Country Singing Competition and two coveted wins as International Vocalist and Entertainer of the Year in Nashville in 2006.

The big-voiced Lowe is the only singer in Edmonton’s history to win three major vocal competitions in the same year — Futures Fest, Vocal Spotlight and Northern Star.

As Seal explains, the upcoming concert is a vehicle to introduce their individual styles — Lowe’s pop country belts, Sonego’s new country blues and her own modern country modelled after Miranda Lambert, Taylor Swift and Lady Antebellum. “It’s a bunch of music we identify with,” she says.

The evening will be threaded with popular covers and originals such as Seal’s heartbreak songs You Can’t Rewrite History. and I Just Want to Believe or Sonego’s dance tune It’s a Party Here and Back Alley Blues>, a tune about homelessness.

The threesome have also concocted a Canadian country tribute of CCMA Awards winners with a medley of Johnny Reid’s Change the World, Carolyn Dawn Johnson’s Dress Rehearsal and Victoria Banks The Wheel.

Showtime is 7 p.m. Tickets are $20/adults; $15/students. Call 780-920-2178.