Kat Harlton
Photos provided via PR team
Jake Vaadeland & The Sturgeon River Boys have hit the road across Canada as direct support for the Hunter Brothers. This caps off an incredible year for 20-year-old Jake Vaadeland and his band The Sturgeon River Boys. His exceptional rise in the Canadian music industry is turning heads, and gaining fans quickly. He has performed over 85 shows this year, including festivals like Mariposa Folk Festival, Big Valley Jamboree and SaskTel JazzFest, along with direct support for artists like Dean Brody and Charley Crockett.
Jake was selected to perform at AmercianaFest in Nashville as a part of Canada House, a popular showcase that takes place annually during the festival. During the showcase, members of the Hunter Brother’s had the opportunity to see Jake perform and invited Jake to join them on their Canadian tour.
Jake’s career continues to grow as he was recently nominated for Roots Artist of the Year at BreakOut West and the Saskatchewan Music Awards. Additional awards include a recent win for Saskatchewan Country Music Award (SCMA) for ‘Alternative Album of the Year’, along with three previous SCMA wins, and two Saskatchewan Music Award wins.
With the recently released I Ain’t Going Back to Nashville landing on the Top 5 Most Active Indie list (Yangaroo) and new music set for 2024 along with special announcements and collaborations, Jake’s career is continuing to pick up momentum.
I had the opportunity to chat with Jake, about his musical journey so far, what fans can expect from tour and more.
Kat: Can you share with us a bit about yourself and your music journey so far?
Jake: I am a multi instrumentalist and songwriter from Saskatchewan. I started writing my own songs when I was in about grade 9 or 10. I left school after grade 10, and decided to finish online instead. This way, I had more time to write songs in the morning before I started on my schoolwork. So I came up with most of my material when I was in grade 10, at the age of 16-17. Leaving school early was a good idea, as it gave me lots of time to prepare for the career path I had chosen.
I was a stuck up Bluegrasser back then. I wouldn’t listen to anything but traditional music, and I certainly never intended to have any electric instruments on my show. But, it’s Saskatchewan. So, I didn’t have a lot of options when searching for musicians who would give up there day jobs to come along on the road with an 18 year old kid, fresh out of high school, with the crazy dream of somehow making a living playing music. Even though all of my music at the time was written and intended to sound and be played like bluegrass music, I ended up hiring a young electric guitar player, Joel Rohs, who has since become my right hand man and tour manager, taking on a lot of the dirty work behind the scenes. Along with the electric guitar, I hired a bass player. However, when I found out he played electric bass, I quickly handed him an upright acoustic bass to learn before our first show. One electric instrument on the show was enough for me, and was already one huge step out of my comfort zone. So, I wasn’t having another one. The bass player, Stephen Williams, learned how to play that thing within only a few hours, and he has been Saskatchewan’s best and most favoured bass player ever since we hit the road.
Shortly after the addition of these two phenomenal musicians, I realized that the music I was playing just wasn’t my sound. It had turned into pure rockabilly. This just wasn’t me. So, I felt the need to take things back to my roots just a little bit more. I convinced a young banjo pickin fella, Jaxon Lalonde, whom I used to work with from time to time during my bluegrass fixation, to try working on the road with me. Adding him allowed us to merge the lines between bluegrass and rockabilly music, creating a unique sound that set us apart.
I started working on the road with this outfit before I finished grade 12, which made it challenging to finish school. But I was prepared to choose music over education. As soon as I graduated, I hit the road full time, with no hesitation. I’ve been working on the road full time for 3 years now, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Turns out, my “crazy dream” wasn’t so crazy after all!
Kat: You’re currently supporting The Hunter Brothers on their “Burning Down The Barn” tour. How did you meet The Hunter Brothers? and how does it feel to be sharing the stage with them across Canada?
Jake: We are very thrilled to be supporting the Hunter Brothers on their “Burning Down The Barn Tour! To me, The Hunter Brother are just like neighbours. We are all from Saskatchewan, and although we have never directly worked together, we and our families have crossed paths many times. So, it feels as though I’ve always known them personally. I think it’s a great fit, and I’m very excited to be joining them on the road!
Kat: What has been a career highlight for you so far? What have you learned along the way
Jake: Winning the 5 SCMA awards, along with the two SMA awards, for a total of 7 music awards, has probably been one of the most memorable highlights of my career! I consider those awards to be the music industry’s equivalent to a university degree. So I consider them to be my right of passage in a way, although, I am not one who believes it necessary to have a degree, and or an award to make a go of it in any case.
I have learned a lot while working on the road over the last 3 years. So many things in fact, that I shall refrain from discussing them in their entirety here. But one thing is for certain, and it is something that many people on the outside ought to know before telling musicians to “get a real job”. There is way more to the music business than playing a guitar and singing on stage. It is a full time job and a half, and that is the truth. There are so many things required, so many moving parts, and hundreds, if not thousands of important people, from all over the country, and around the world, involved in getting us on that stage to play music for people.
Musicians, and those in the music industry, are some of the smartest and most top notch business people on earth. They have to be to make a go of it. And that is one of the most important things I have learned, and continue to learn as I feel my way through this industry.
Kat: What are you currently working on now, and what can fans expect from you in 2024?
Jake: We are constantly on the road playing shows of course. So, as usual, we have lots of tour dates in the works for 2024 that we are looking forward to sharing with fans.
Along with that, we recently had the pleasure of working down in Nashville, Tennessee, doing some studio work with the amazing Artist, Tebey. We are really looking forward to sharing more about this with all of you in the near future!
One of the things we are most excited about in the new year, is the release of more new original music! We have lots of new songs we are really looking forward to getting out on CD and Vinyl, as well as on all streaming services for all of our listeners to enjoy!
Connect With Jake
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jake_vaadeland
Website: https://www.jakevaadeland.com