Gone Country - Here for the Cure, Cloverdale Amphitheatre Millennium Park in Surrey, July 27. Doors 4 p.m. Tickets $40, ages 19+. All proceeds benefitting the Shaun G Foundation and the Easter Seals House.
Contributing Writer FOR country singer Aaron Pritchett it all began with a karaoke performance of the song "I've Been Waiting for a Girl like You" by Foreigner.
"I reluctantly went up and I sang a song that almost killed me because I was so nervous," Pritchett says. "I didn't really know if I could sing in front of anybody or if I could sing at all."
Since that karaoke performance more than 20 years ago he has received a Juno nomination, released five albums and toured with artists such as Alan Jackson and Toby Keith.
Tomorrow Pritchett will perform alongside Dallas Smith at the Gone Country - Here for the Cure event at the Cloverdale Amphitheatre Millennium Park in Surrey to raise money for cancer research.
"It's for such a great cause. Raising money to fight against cancer is a big deal. It's affected my family," Pritchett says. "It's going to be great to come back home and play a show in the area. It's been a year since I've been playing in the area really. It's going to be something, and really fun and to play with one of my best friends, Dallas Smith, is going to be unbelievable. For him and I to share the stage together and have a bit of fun with the crowd is something I'm really looking forward to."
The British Columbian grew up with a wide range of influences. As a kid he listened to music by artists such as Van Halen, Motley Crue, Stevie Wonder, James Brown and The Miracles. When Pritchett was in his late teens he discovered his love for country music.
"In 1987 I saw Randy Travis sing for the first time and I just thought, 'Wow this is amazing,'" he says. "People still have that sort of stigma with country music now, where they think it's all twangy. But even back then it was a lot about true stories and having fun and that's what being a country music lover is," he adds.
Pritchett's exposure to Motown is largely because of his parents and he says some of that sound is now slowly working its way into his newer material.
"With the new material coming up you can hear that R&B, Motown influence and rock edge that I grew up with. It's a lot more apparent than it ever was."
His most recent single "Suntan City," released in May, was written by American country singer Luke Bryan.
"I took a listen to it and went, 'Wow this is great.' It was a Luke Bryan track and he wasn't going to release it," Pritchett says. "My first reaction to the song was I love this track and it deserves to be on the radio."
When it comes to picking songs that Pritchett has not written he says he must personally enjoy the song.
"I have to like the song in order to sing it. That is something that is extremely important," he says. "I have to look at my fans and the crowds that I play to and what they would want to hear and how they would react to it."
In 2006 Pritchett released his fourth album, Big Wheel, which was produced by Tom McKillip and contained one of his most popular songs "Hold My Beer." In 2007 Big Wheel was nominated for Best Country Recording at the Junos and that same year Pritchett was named Independent Male Artist of the Year and Songwriter of the Year by the Canadian Country Music Association.
According to Pritchett his most memorable moment in his career came when he was performing in Dauphin, Man., in front of 18,000 fans.
"As soon as I heard the crowd chanting 'Hold My Beer' over and over again I just got shivers. I still think about it now and I still get such a rush," Pritchett says. "This is exactly what I wanted when I was a kid, was to be able to hear that kind of a thing to be happening. It was amazing because I wasn't expecting it."
While Pritchett has overcome a number of obstacles in his career, he says there has always been one challenge that has remained a constant.
"It gets more and more as you get older and the longer you're in the industry, but the biggest challenge is being away from your family and not having that connection," Pritchett says.
Frequent spells on the road have caused him to miss important events back home.
"I sure missed a lot of birthday's and key moments in my kid's lives and my family's lives that I should have been there for," he says. "That's the biggest challenge to me. It's not trying to create the best music and having radio not play a single."
Two of Pritchett's sons are now active musicians. His eldest, Jordan, is the lead guitarist for the Juno-nominated band Faber Drive and his middle son, Breydan, plays in the Kelowna-based band Westshore Falls.
Going forward Pritchett plans to continue to release new material and perform live. However, he has also started to dip into the artist management scene. The Juno nominee is currently working with country singer Leanne Pearson.
"She's a 23-year-old with just an incredible amount of energy on stage," Pritchett says. "She just has real potential in the industry and I want to try to help her get to some places that I've been and even further, which would be great."
"It's a lot of fun because it's a challenge I've never had," Pritchett adds.
Aside from his passion for country music, Pritchett is also an avid hockey fan.
"I am a huge Canucks fan. I was the kid that slept with the little transistor radio under my pillow," he says.
Pritchett believes the Canucks' new head coach, John Tortorella, will be a good fit for the team.
"I think he's fantastic. I think it's a good thing that he's here to be honest," he says. "At first I didn't know if it was a good idea, but I think he's going to be able to take the focus off the players. The media will be looking for sound bites from him as opposed to beating up Daniel and Henrik."
For more information on Aaron Pritchett visit aaronpritchett.com or follow him on twitter @AaronPritchett. For tickets and more information about Gone Country - Here for the Cure visit twinscancerfundraising.com/.
