Up-and-coming local pop star Lexi Strate has been nominated for artist of the year for the 2016 Western Canada Music Awards.
Strate, 22, was born in Calgary and has called Cochrane home for the last five years. What started as a childhood hobby of performing covers of songs with her friend and posting them to YouTube soon turned into a career thanks to her winning the Virgin Radio Star Competition in 2012.
“Me and my friend ended up uploading over 60 videos to YouTube and getting lots of subscribers – it was kind of cool just seeing that people were really interested in it so it made me think of doing it more as a career,” Strate explained.
As part of winning the contest, Strate was sent to Vancouver to record her first original song Turning Point with chart-topping songwriter Mike James. The song was played across the country on Virgin Radio and won her Astral Media’s Breakthrough Artist Award within a month of being released.
“The contest is the thing that got my career going because up until that point I only had cover songs that I would sing. So that gave me the opportunity to perform original music and release it,” Strate said.
Since then, Strate has released multiple hit singles, a music video and, most recently, a debut EP album titled Waves. Her voice has been described as rasp-filled and sultry.
“The rasp is kind of a natural thing but it might have a lot to do with the fact that I listen to a lot of rock music and soul music, Amy Winehouse is a huge inspiration. All my original songs are definitely the mainstream pop but I try to bring all those other influences from other genres into the pop music as well,” Strate said.
When Strate began her career, she had little to no experience songwriting but quickly rose to the challenge of composing her own music. Alongside producer Jeff Dawson and top-10 Canadian recording artist Laurell.
“Songwriting can come super naturally to some people but, for me, I’ve really had to work at it and I think one thing that held me back at the start was my confidence. I felt like I didn’t have the experience that everyone else did so I was very hesitant with being open with the ideas that I had,” Strate said.
“I’m pretty new at songwriting still, it was something I didn’t do too much of when I was younger so I’ve only been songwriting for a few years. I’m really enjoying it and learning a lot so I’m just trying to write with more people and learn from people and just get some more experience,” Strate said.
Strate said there has been a major improvement in her composing ability over the last three years and is proud of the accomplishments she’s earned so far. She plans to bide her time over the summer with writing new music and performing at multiple events across Alberta.
“It was very exciting to receive the nomination. It’s another kind of step up for me. I’ve never been nominated for any kind of award like that. For me to be nominated, it feels really good to get recognition since my label, Hands Up! Music, and I have been working really hard this year and we’re very proud of the music we’ve created,” Strate explained.
The awards will take place in October in Regina. For more information about Lexi Strate, visit lexistrate.com.
