A country music artist from Parry Sound, Ont., who graduated high school last year, is hoping a national competition will rocket him into stardom, but he needs help.
Sully Burrows is one of eight semi-finalists in a contest to find the next big Canadian country music star and is the only one from Ontario.
As part of the competition, he recorded a new, original song called ’Rally Around’ with the help of producer Derek Hoffman at a Toronto studio last month.
“That was honestly like such a cool experience in general, just like the opportunity to go into the studio with my band and play a song that I had written, that was honestly, really cool,” Burrows told CTVNewsNorthernOntario.ca in an online video interview Wednesday afternoon.
He said the song was inspired by the energy that goes through his hometown on game day or during a tournament.
“It’s a hockey town … everybody kind of comes together and supports our hometown team,” Burrows said.
Needs votes to move to next round
The music video for Burrows’ new song is online along with those by his seven competitors in the ‘Top of the Country’ contest.
The public can vote up to once a day online until April 8 and the young musician is hoping people “rally around” him.
Burrows had previously worked with his video’s director, Ben Knechtel, last October on the video for the single called ‘Youth.’
A panel of industry judges will use the number of votes to choose three finalists.
Prize could help launch career
“The finalists get the mentorship opportunity of a lifetime” with a week-long trip to CMA Fest in Nashville, including a spot in the SOCAN Songwriting camp.
They will also perform at the U.S. festival in June while they are there, the Lasso festival in Montreal in August and the finale at the Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) Awards in Kelowna, B.C. in September.
“At the finale, the winner of the contest will be chosen live by a panel of industry judges based on a number of performance elements including, but not limited to originality of material, stage presence, audience response, voice quality and instrument talent and overall impression,” the contest rules said.
The winner will receive $25,000 and a spot at an international SOCAN songwriting camp.
The two runners-up will each receive $10,000.
The money is to be used to develop recorded musical content and musical performances.
“It’s kind of cool because this opens doors for so many artists like myself and their music careers,” Burrows said about the competition.
Fresh off tour with Andrew Hyatt
In addition to his studio recording, Burrows is fresh off a tour with Canadian country artist Andrew Hyatt, of Sudbury.
Hyatt won the CCMA award for Rising Star of the Year in 2022 and passed on his wisdom to his young colleague.
“He had so much advice to give me … I was very grateful for the opportunity. He’s just a really nice guy,” Burrows said of Hyatt.
“He was honestly such a great guy to look up to throughout this run and I honestly just really enjoyed the experience.”
Burrows said he came down with a cold his first weekend on tour where they played four shows.
Hyatt took the time to give him some good advice on how to take care of himself while on the road, he said.
“He was kind of just talking about when you have off time, just do nothing. Like don’t talk, don’t do anything because it’s important to rest your vocal cords and with a cold, that obviously affects them quite a bit and obviously just drinking fluids and eating right,” Burrows said.
‘Bit of a shock’
When it came to fan reaction during the tour, Burrows said his age – 18 -- came as a bit of a shock to some people.
“It was actually really cool to kind of connect with everybody face-to-face,” he said.
“It was kind of cool just to have a connection with people afterwards … to get that experience, to build fans and kind of just chat with people.”
Upcoming live performances
In the meantime, Burrows has many other upcoming live performances scheduled.
“Sully is refining his sound while preparing for a packed summer of shows,” the contest website said.
“His heartfelt storytelling and raw authenticity continue to captivate country fans.”
