In the music industry, where so many are itching to scramble to the top, pronto, Colleen Rae is loaded with old-fashioned patience and grit. And for her it paid off in spades.
Back in 2006, the Edmonton-based country singer released her debut CD What You Need is Me. A veteran performer with more than a decade of experience, Rae had spent four years carefully crafting the 10-track with area producer Louis Sedmak.
They culled songs from 400 submitted demo tapes with an eye to covering all the country bases. And the tunes weren’t just from Joe down the street. Some came from heavyweights such as Cyril Rawson, who has had songs recorded by Keith Urban and Reba McEntire. There was even a submission from Harlan Howard, who penned Patsy Cline’s humungous hit I Fall to Pieces.
“We kept the momentum going by releasing singles. Some people thought we had two or three albums out,” said Rae.
The independently released 10-track album caught observers’ attention and in 2007 she was nominated for a Western Canadian Music Award, a Canadian Country Music Award and a Toronto Independent Music Award.
“From that material I recorded, we released seven singles. It’s unheard off. In country it’s usually only three to four songs and then the artist records another project.”
Some radio stations felt it was too traditional for their format, others too poppy. But in the end, What You Need is Me, the title track, charted close to No. 1 on CFCW and Family reached No. 1 on CFCW. All across Canada, the seven songs peaked in the Top 40 charts.”
With this kind of industry recognition, it might have been easy to get complacent. But Rae, the lead vocalist for Cornerstone since 2002, just worked harder touring the casino circuit two weeks on the road and two weeks off.
“It’s definitely tough, but it keeps my chops up. Your vocal chords are like muscles. If you don’t practice, you lose it. It also helps to build up energy and stamina for a four-hour show.”
Rae will be performing one of her live shows with Cornerstone support players Rene Boisvert (lead guitar/vocals), Del Cocks (bassist) and Randy Busby (drummer) at LB’s Pub this coming Friday.
“We play everything from Johnny Cash to John Mellencamp. But I also like Tammy Wynette, Sara Evans, Joan Jett, Fleetwood Mac and Terri Clark.”
LB’s Pub is at 23 Akins Dr. Show starts 9:30 p.m. Cover $5.
