More than a million North Americans are probably unaware a former St. Albert country singer-songwriter’s music is in their home.
Aaron Goodvin penned Out Like That, one of the tracks on Luke Bryan’s Crash My Party pop-country album released on Aug. 13. It sold 528,000 copies in the first week of album sales. At the end of six weeks, the CD had gone platinum with more than one million records sold.
“When I played it for Luke, he loved it and cut it. I was so excited. It was a big dream come true. I grew up reading the back of records and when I came to Nashville I knew who wrote what even if they didn’t know who I was,” chuckles Goodvin.
He further mentions that the average payout in the United States for a hit single release is $1 million.
“That’s why everyone hopes for a single,” he said.
Now a permanent resident of Nashville, the Paul Kane grad writes songs for Warner/Chappell Music, voted the 2013 Music Publisher of the Year.
His offices are located in the same building as the label Warner Music and it’s not uncommon to be rubbing shoulders in the elevator with celebrities such as Sheryl Crow, Blake Shelton, Randy Travis or Faith Hill.
But high-wattage celebrities and a gravy-train payout aside, Goodvin keeps the business side of his craft in perspective.
“I try not to be too business-minded. I try to be creative and write good songs.”
And that’s precisely why he’s holding a pre-Christmas all ages concert at Edmonton’s Mercury Room on Friday, Nov. 22.
Since he became part of the Warner/Chappell stable of writers in February, he’s written more than 70 songs and he’ll be singing some at the concert.
“I’ve got all these songs and I never get the opportunity to play. A lot of people in Edmonton have followed my career, and I want to give them something to remember,” he said.
In addition, Goodvin is working on recording his six-track EP with long-time friend, mentor and producer-songwriter Bart Butler.
A self-described “emotional writer,” Goodvin specializes in relationship songs, and the concert is a perfect venue to test out the new lyrics and sound.
The upcoming EP has a pop-country groove with a balance such as Radio Town, a co-write with Nicole Galyan.
“It paints the picture of a small town like Grande Prairie where I grew up and all the relationships in that town,” he notes.
And in That Kind of Kiss, another co-write with Jody Stevens and Jacob Martin, it talks about getting into a truck and getting away from it all.
Goodvin plans to shop the six-track around in the hope of obtaining a singing deal from a label. But if labels just want his songs for other artists, Goodvin chuckles once more and says, “Hey, I call that a good problem.”
But in the meantime, his future as a songwriter is assured. Scotty McCreery has singled out Carolina Eyes, a co-write between Goodvin, Adam Sanders and Cole Swindell, for his See You Tonight album. And in January 2014, Jon Pardi will release his debut CD Write You a Song, with Trash a Hotel Room, another Goodvin co-write with Matt Jenkins.
“My career is really going well. A lot of things have happened. It’s been a long time in coming and things are falling into place. It’s all happening with synchronicity,” Goodvin says.
Showtime for the Goodvin show is 9 p.m. The Mercury Room is at 10575 114 St. Tickets are $20. Kids 12 and under are free. Click on to www.aarongoodvinmercuryroom.eventbrite.com.
