Jade Eagleson is one of Canadian country music's brightest rising stars, and he's still just getting started. The 2019 Canadian Country Music Association Rising Star Award winner has released his first full-length album, with 11 tracks for country fans to dive into, and he's ready for them to hear 'em.
Fans who have been following Jade's career will be familiar with most of the songs on the album, dating back to his debut smash single Got Your Name On It and his first #1, Lucky. But as a nice treat, there are three new tracks on the album that they're going to want to turn up and enjoy.
Clocking in at just over 35 minutes, Jade Eagleson is a full album listen. Yes, as usual, I wish there were two or three more songs, but the acoustic version of Got Your Name On It is a nice addition at the end of the tracklist, and the selection of songs that Jade and his team put together on the album is a win.
Check out the pre-album release track, Hackin' Darts!
I had the chance to get on a Zoom call with Jade on Thursday to talk about the new album, his CCMA nominations, and more. As always, he was great to talk to, but I can't wait until we get to hang out in person again.
The first question I asked Jade about the new album was how it felt to be less than 24 hours away from its release. He told me, "It's a weight off the shoulders for sure. You put all this work in for the past couple years and now everything's out there, it's ready to go, and I'm really excited to see how it's received by the fans and everybody else. It's going to be an interesting season seeing what this album does..."
I also asked about the decision to release the album now, without the ability to hit the road to tour with the new songs. Jade told me that the team sat down to have some conversations about it, and in the end, the call was made to get the songs out to the fans so they could enjoy them.
Look, none of it is ideal, and we know that new albums and tour dates go hand-in-hand, but I commend Jade for taking the step to get the album out anyway, (in his words) the decision was made because they didn't want to "hold out on the fans, they're already losing out on so much with live shows not being around... It's kind of a gift to the fans - that was our idea behind that."
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From top to bottom, Jade Eagleson is an album that shows you what Jade Eagleson the artist has got up his sleeve. From the 90s inspired dancehall sounds of Hackin' Darts (which also gave me Paul Brandt feelings on those low notes) to the slowed-down broken-hearted Whiskey Tonight, he's proving that he's not a one-note cowboy.
Here's the other thing - Jade is still young (in his mid-twenties) and starting to build up his catalogue of songs. He told me that he's already been writing for whatever the next project will be and to build up that library of songs that he can reach for. He added that he feels lucky to have picked up songs from Chris Stapleton ( Boom Town) and Brad Rempel ( Good Country People) that made this album as he works on his own songs. What he didn't say (because he's a humble guy) is that he's got a writing credit on all of the other songs on the album.
Back to those CCMA nominations, Jade has picked up three nominations for the 2020 awards, pulling in nods in the Fans' Choice, Male Artist of the Year, and Single of the Year categories. Congratulations to him on that. When I asked him about the nominations he was predictably humble (again), telling me that he had forgotten that the nominations were even scheduled to come out. I wanted to push a little more though so I asked Jade which of his three nominations wowed him or surprised him the most. Here's what he told me, "All of them are so cool. But the Fans' Choice to me means a lot in the sense that you always put out music and you don't know who you're reaching and who's getting involved and paying attention to what you're putting out. So to be on that list with all of those other incredible names is such an amazing feeling. I can't even begin to elaborate."
We continued to talk for a little bit about the list of Fans' Choice nominees and the strength of the Canadian country music scene right now. Jade made a great point saying, "Canadian country music is just incredible. The talent is endless. It's really crazy to consider that we have this much talent in Canada when in the states we're the size of California on a populous perspective, it's incredible." He's not wrong.
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Related: 2020 Canadian Country Music Association Awards Nominees & Fan PollWhile I was on Zoom with Jade, I asked if he had a quick minute or three to play a round of 5 Quick Questions. Thanks to him for saying yes and pretending that we still know what Festival Season feels like and playing along with our special edition of 5 Quick Questions. Hit play to find out what his go-to drink is at a festival, who he would line up all day to see, and who he thinks you all should see too.
And, to check out Jade's round of 5 Quick Questions from January 2020!
Enjoy!
Jade Eagleson's debut full-length, self-titled album is a good country music listen from a talented young artist with his entire career in front of him. He's a singer, a songwriter, a dad, a husband, a farm kid, and all of that is going to leak into what he does, I can feel it. For now, we've got this collection of songs to listen to and celebrate as part of the next wave of talent coming from north of the border. And when the time comes for more, we'll be ready.
Turn up the volume on Close and keep it up all the way through to the end of the acoustic version of Got Your Name On It at the end. Then play it again.
Jade Eagleson Tracklist
