Kat Harlton
Photos provided via PR team
Award-winning Alberta country music sensation, Drew Gregory recently released his new single “Neon Time” on July 14th via Willing Records and all streaming platforms.
Produced by Bobby Wills and Mike Pyle and written by Drew, and hit songwriters Jim Collins (Kenny Chesney. Jason Aldean, Gretchen Wilson) and Wade Kirby (Parmalee, Blake Shelton, Faith Hill), the new track delivers an undeniably catchy tune guaranteed to put listeners in the mood to grab their friends and head out to the local bar to spend the night having fun on “Neon Time”.
Born and raised in Standard, AB, Drew possesses exceptional talent as a musician, singer, and songwriter, in addition to his role as a farmer. He has become a staple of the western Canadian country music scene with an impressive track record of accolades such as bringing home the Country Music Alberta Award for“Horizon Male Artist of the Year” three times (2015,2019,2022) and being announced as the $50,000 winner of the Project WILD Development Program (2022). Other remarkable achievements include winning the CMAB Horizon Song of the Year Award for “Better in A Bar” (2019), the CMAB Album of the Year Award for I Was There (2016), and being named the Inaugural Male Artist of the Year at the YYC (Calgary) Music Awards (2016).
Drew’s music has resonated strongly with audiences across Canada, garnering over 22,000 accumulated spins on Canadian radio and accumulating over 1.8 million digital streams on all platforms. Notably, his EP Good Place To Start released in June 2018, made an immediate impact by securing the coveted #1 spot on iTunes on the day of its release.
I had the opportunity to chat with Drew about his musical journey so far, his new single, and what’s next.
Kat: Can you share with us a bit about yourself and your music journey so far?
Drew: I come from a town of about 350 people in Southern Alberta. In 2009, after a few years of being the campfire and kitchen party singer, I loaded up the truck and headed down to Nashville, as songwriting had become a bigger focal point at that time. That was really the start of music as a career for me. I hardly knew anyone in the Canadian music business, let alone the American one, so it was a long road to start, but through many great connections and friendships built since that first trip, both in Nashville and Canada, we’ve put together seven studio albums along with a “decade of hits” vinyl which was always a dream of mine. We’ve also played some fantastic stages across North America, and the passion for playing live has not changed a bit since it was just me and a guitar with a few good friends. With the experience gained so far in my career and some new partners coming on board, we are very excited to keep this musical journey growing for many years to come!
Kat: Can you share what inspired your new single “Neon Time”?
Drew: We cut our teeth in a lot of Honky Tonk Bars when we started, and I’ll admit I frequented many before my music career as well. I think this gave me a strong understanding of what people wanted to hear when we took the stage. Just some good, fun-loving country music. I explained this concept to co-writers Jim Collins (Kenny Chesney. Jason Aldean, Gretchen Wilson) and Wade Kirby (George Strait, Blake Shelton, Faith Hill). Wade spat out the line, “That’s just me on, neon time,” and there was no way we were going to entertain any other idea that day. I loved it!
Kat: What do you hope fans take from the new track?
Drew: I hope they see we’ve upped our game from our last major release. I spent a lot of time during Covid working on my vocals and songwriting with the extra time away from the road. In 2022, we were awarded $50,000 through an artist development program and competition called Project Wild. That program taught me so much about business and performance, and the winnings have allowed us to pull out all the stops in production through to promotion for this single. We’re very excited to be a part of the movement bringing some good old honky tonk music back to the mainstream country world!
Kat: What do you find is the most challenging part of your creative process?
Drew: Finding the time to create can be difficult. I have a family and also still work on the family farm, and if I’m not careful, creativity is the thing that gets pushed to the end of the to-do list. I try to create time each week for it and also still take several trips to Nashville each year, where I can concentrate on nothing but the creative process.
Kat: What has been a career highlight for you so far? What have you learned along the way?
Drew: The last album of original songs we put out was called the Barn Sessions and was recorded in the summer of 2020. Because all of our shows were cancelled, the entire crew was wide open, so we rented out a wedding venue barn for four days, built a temporary studio in it, and just created music. It brought me back to the beginning, just making music with really good friends who all love music as much as I do. I had no idea or even thought much about what the commercial success of it might be, and it really felt like everyone was there doing it for the same reason we all started it. Cause we love it. I want to take some of that into every project I have moving forward.
Kat: What else are you currently working on now, and what can fans expect from you for the balance of 2023?
Drew: This will be the first single from an upcoming album which we hope to complete over next winter. We have some other songs almost ready to go, so we are very excited to get back to releasing music at a regular pace. We also have a lot of big shows this summer, including Big Valley Jamboree in Alberta in August and Cavendish Beach Music Festival in PEI in July! We hope this album allows us to reach many more places over the next year!
Additionally, Drew has revealed his summer tour schedule, including stops in various cities across Canada. For more information on Drew and his upcoming show dates, please visit https://drewgregorymusic.com/.
Drew Gregory Tour Dates
July 29, 2023 – Rockyford, AB – Rockyford Rodeo
August 4, 2023 – Strathmore, AB – Origin Birthday Bash
August 5-6, 2023 – Camrose, AB – Big Valley Jamboree
August 11, 2023 – Mossleigh, AB – Southern Alberta Music Fest
August 12, 2023 – Rocky Mountain House, AB – Dancing In The Hay
August 19, 2023 – Grunthal, MB – Hanover Ag Fair
Connect:
Instagram: @drewgregorymusic
Facebook: /drewgregorymusic
Twitter: @drewgregory_
Website: https://drewgregorymusic.com