Abby Stewart
If you’ve been reading our blog for the past year the name Abby Stewart should ring a bell. Kingston, Ontario native Abby Stewart has been performing for a few years already but her career recently started to make some serious waves in country music after making the finals at 3 high profile singing competitions and then taking the stage with Canadian Country superstar, Dean Brody to perform his hit “Bounty”.
Fast forward 10 months and now Abby is preparing for two of the biggest shows in her career to date, opening up for Hunter Hayes and Dan + Shay in Kingston, later tonight, and London, Ontario on Saturday. Oh and did we mention she is just 13? We caught up with Abby earlier this week to talk about this weekend as well as her career to date and what the future holds for this young star.
Sound Check – So Abby let’s cut right to the big news that everyone is talking about. You will not only be attending the Hunter Hayes shows in Kingston and London you will be opening the show ahead of Dan and Shay. Your manager, Garry McColman, called you with the news, what did it feel like? How did you react?
Abby Stewart: Well he actually didn’t call me, he literally told me in the middle of a performance. I was performing in a park in the summertime and Garry got on stage in the middle of a show, before a song, and told me that I will not only be opening for Hunter Hayes here in Kingston but I’d also be opening for him in London. I had to take a minute before I could sing the next song, I was absolutely speechless. It was a pretty cool moment, Garry kind of looked at me “well what do you think of that?” and I was like that, that’s pretty good. I was stammering, I was very excited. It’s been a long wait since the summer time and now it’s only a few days away so it’s kind of just like sinking in and I’m getting excited and nervous.
Sound Check – This won’t be your first time sharing the stage with a superstar, your performance of “Bounty” with Dean Brody got our attention last year, how does a 13 year old (who would normally be excited to just be able to attend the shows and meet the bands) mentally prepare for an opportunity like this?
AS: Well, mentally it’s just trying to keep it all in. Like backstage before I was about to go on with Dean I was kinda like doing the ok deep breath, deep breath I will not freak out right now I’m going to go on there, I’m going to sing and hopefully everything will go just right and, um, I learned a week of that before and unfortunately during that week I had a sore throat so I was like panicking that it wouldn’t be gone before the Dean Brody show, but thankfully it did so that was good. I was really excited throughout that whole week and when it was done I was kind of like ok, can I do that again?
Sound Check – It’s not secret three of your biggest fans are your parents, Todd and Janet and of course your right-hand man Garry McColman. How different would your life be if you didn’t have those three people in your corner?
AS: Well that’s a good question because Garry has really helped me a lot but he keeps saying like, no you would’ve made it without me and I’m like well I don’t know but you’ve really helped me a lot and I really appreciate him for that. But I would still be singing and everything like that and hopefully I’d still be where I am now and I’m very thankful to be where I am, I’m truly blessed and thankful. My parents are very very supportive, I love them both very much and appreciate everything they do for me, and my little sister Annie as well. When I was performing at Calabogie she threw the T-Shirts into the crowd, she’s done that a few times as well, I appreciate her being there for me, I love her.
Sound Check – So let’s talk future for a minute, you clearly have a long and successful future ahead considering you are still only just ripe old age of 13. What are your future plans, both long term and short term? I would imagine that education is going to be a big part of the immediate future with you still being in high school but what lies beyond high school?
AS: Plans with education I haven’t really thought about it that much, I plan to join the musical groups and maybe try out for the plays. There are thankfully more music programs available in high school and that’s awesome. But for the future I really hope to get my first CD EP out with a few songs on it and even farther ahead of that…or shorter, maybe, hopefully…I would love to sing at the Grand Ole Opry. When I went to Nashville I had the great, great opportunity to watch the show two nights in a row and on the second night I had the great honor to sit on the stage so I was watching the show from behind and when everybody came off the stage I got a picture and autograph from them it was just amazing. When I got back home the first thing I said to my mom was, I really want to sing at the Grand Ole Opry, that would be amazing. My name on a brochure, oh my goodness it would be a dream come true.
Sound Check – I can tell you’re getting goosebumps just thinking about it now.
AS: I am, just thinking about the big crowds that I saw the nights that I was there…it would just be…amazing!
Sound Check – If you get on the Opry stage it’s pretty safe to say you’ve made it as a country singer.
AS: {laughs} that’s a good analogy that would be really cool, I hope to accomplish that, I really do.
Sound Check – Festivals across Canada have started to announce their huge headliners for the summer are there any on your radar this summer that you can tell us about, or perhaps any festivals in Canada you really want to perform at?
AS: Ya, there are many I’d love to sing at. I’ve got a few maybe lined up but I haven’t signed the contracts just yet so we’ll see what happens.
Sound Check – Let’s roll back the clock a bit for a minute, last summer you performed as part of the She’s The One competition at Ottawa Bluesfest and before that you were part of the Emerging Artist Competition at Boots and Hearts and a few years before that you actually placed second at the CNE Rising Star Competition. What do you take from these competitions, other than (I’m pretty certain) a dozen or so new friends (I know that our mutual friend Ria Jade featured you in a segment on her show eveRIAthing)? Have you ever considered collaborating with any of them musically?
AS: Yes I have thought of that before, it hasn’t really happened but who knows maybe it will. The She’s the One contest and the Emerging and the CNE I did a lot of great friends there the She’s the One I guess you could say I have friends from coast to coast they’re all over Canada.
Sound Check – As a young women in country music I want to ask you your opinion on what opportunities exist for women in today’s country music world. It’s a topic that comes up more and more often that we believe has some merit. Looking at festival lineups particularly last year’s Boots and Hearts which was predominantly dominated by the men of country music and now the new country music station in Ottawa which has a target demographic of women aged 18-35. Does this discourage you from following your dream or does it inspire you to be part of the revolution that puts the women of country back in the game?
AS: You know, I do think that there are lots of great women country talent out there, same with guys as well. I would say that that makes me want to work a bit harder to try to establish my ground in country music and set a place for myself and other girls my age that like country music. This summer I actually wrote with Michelle Wright and the Small Town Pistols, Amanda Wilkinson of the Small Town Pistols, they are female country and they were really helpful to me and they were trying to help me get new songs out and I also think that country music, Canadian country music, has really helped me out. Canadian country seems to have taken over, it’s become so popular right now. Even in my school, and they were all pop. I was one of the only country music lovers in my classroom.
Sound Check – When we last spoke just prior to She’s the One you mentioned that your favorite movie was Captain America 1 and 2, especially at the drive-in. So it’s no surprise that your current single is “Summer at the Drive In“, what can you tell us about the song and how it’s being received on country radio?
AS: Well the idea literally came from one night in the summer when we were at the drive-in. I took that song to Nashville where Michaela Clarke actually helped me with it at the SOCAN house and well we kinda took it to the studio and mixed it up there and got a cool new sound to it and then released it. The feedback has been really good, lots of people have said “I really like your song, Summer at the Drive-In” and I’m very thankful for that, to have people that genuinely like my music. It’s really humbling, I thank god every day that I have that talent and I’m just very thankful.
Sound Check – Before we let you get back to being a 13 year old we have to know what’s next for Abby Stewart? Is an album on your radar, perhaps some new music? Can you give us a scoop?
AS: This Friday part of the show is me showcasing a new song called “I’m Still Faster” a song that was inspired by my dad who used to be a race car driver, so I’m anxious to get the feedback from that. Also I have some gigs coming up and as I’ve said before I haven’t signed some of the contracts yet, so we’ll see what happens. Hopefully the future will be good to me.
Sound Check – So it sounds like it’s fairly safe to say we’re going to see Abby Stewart on the road this summer?
AS: {laughs} I hope so!!
We have no doubt that Abby is going to rock the stages in Kingston and London, if you are going to the show be sure to go early enough to catch Abby’s set. This kid is going all the way to the top, much like another 13 year old did many years ago (Brad Paisley).
Want to find out more about Abby? Visit her website www.abbystewartmusic.com
Thanks again to Abby’s parents and, of course, Garry McColman for setting up this interview and keeping us in the loop on Abby’s milestones! In case you haven’t seen it here’s Abby’s first major concert appearance with Dean Brody last February in Kingston.
