It isn’t always about ‘out with the old, in with the new’ – at least that’s how Canadian country artist Jake Mathews feels.
Mathews is set to release a not-yet-titled album in the fall and is sticking to what has been working for him as a Canadian Country Music Award nominated musician: a unique blend of country’s past and future.
Originally hailing from Sudbury, Ont., Mathews moved to Calgary 18 years ago. He said that in terms of pursuing a country career, it is a great place to be based out of and called Alberta the country capital of Canada.
Since then he released his self-titled debut in 2002 and 2004’s Time After Time. In 2011, he released a six-song EP titled Red Tail Lights.
“It’s really what I love and what I’ve always loved about country music is the traditional side of things and the whole storytelling of country music. I think it is an important part of what I do,” said Mathews, just over a week before his appearance at the Mountain Shadows Music Festival.
He went on to list artists such as George Straight and Dwight Yoakum as some of his biggest influences when he first started playing music.
“Style-wise, I think my voice really lends itself to traditional styles of music. No matter what I sing, it definitely has that more traditional flavour to it,” Mathews said with a laugh.
Mathews has already released singles ‘Beer Necessities’ and ‘A Woman and a Song’ that will appear on the upcoming album. The next single is called ‘In Our Own Backyard’ and will be released in the next few weeks.
Although those traditional elements are important to Mathews, he said this upcoming album has a little bit more of a contemporary element to it.
“I think just instrumentation and production wise, it is a little bit edgier than some of the stuff I’ve released. It is what the songs that I recorded called for,” Mathews said. “With the next single, it is just a really fun summertime kind of song, so we have a lot of electric guitars and it’s maybe a little more aggressive, but it’s still very country in a way as well.”
You can catch Mathews headlining the Mountain Shadows Music Festival Saturday, Aug. 23 at Mitford Park. For more information on Mathews visit jakemathews.com.
