CURIOSITY CREATED THE COUNTRY MUSICIAN.
Taking things from your parent's room at the age of 13 doesn't always result in positive endings. But that's exactly what happened for country music artist Codie Prevost.
"My mom had an acoustic guitar upstairs in her closet," Prevost says. "One day I snuck upstairs and took the guitar down to the basement and I kind of locked myself in a room for three years or so and taught myself to play."
He began writing his own music and started a rock band at his high school.
Now 27, Prevost has released two full-length albums titled The Road Ahead and Get Loud and an additional six-track EP. He has also received numerous awards and accolades including a 2011 CCMA Rising Star nomination. He is also a three-time recipient of the Saskatchewan Country Music Awards Fans Choice Entertainer of the Year Award.
"That was one of the biggest awards that I had received," he says. "That one is from the fans . . . and it's a great feeling."
In April Prevost performed at the Saskatchewan Country Music Awards weekend in Prince Albert and later this year he will be performing at the Canadian Junior A Championship RBC Cup in Humboldt and at Canadian Country Music Week in Saskatoon.
Prevost's pathway into the country music scene really began when he was just 17.
"I had a close uncle of mine who really loved country music," Prevost says. "He played guitar and he unfortunately passed away and I had to go to Calgary to attend the funeral."
Prevost planned to take the money he had saved up working in road construction in the summer and purchase an electric guitar on his trip to Calgary. However, a funny thing happened on the day he went to buy one.
"I went into the store and I was trying out a bunch of electric guitars and I just decided to hop into the acoustic guitar room for a bit and I ended up buying my first acoustic guitar," Prevost says. "Ever since then I have been performing country music."
Provost's first album, The Road Ahead was released in 2005 and was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee produced by fellow Canadian Steve Fox.
"For the first record I wrote I knew that Steve wanted to produce it and help me down in Nashville," Prevost says. "I just wasn't sure how I was going to obtain the funding for the record."
Prevost and his manager put together a five-year business plan and went to Community Futures, an organization that gives out small business loans entrepreneurs in rural areas, office and made their pitch.
"They approved the small business loan and that's how I was able to go down to Nashville," Provost says. "It was tough to find the funding. So when we went into Community Futures and they approved the funding, it was a pretty exciting moment."
"Without that loan I would have probably been stalled for even longer," he adds.
When Prevost decided to record his second album, Spin 6-Pak Vol. 1 in 2008, Community Future's decided to partner up with him.
"We went across Western Canada and went into different schools and talked to youth about following their dreams and what options were available at Community Futures," he says. "I would tell the story of how I got my first loan from Community Futures to go do the record and I would play the songs I played in the boardroom."
"I made it into a presentation. It was a really cool experience for me because I really love working with kids."
Prevost grew up in the small farming town of Archerwill, Saskatchewan, with a population of less than 500.
"I think there are a lot of positive things about being from Saskatchewan," Prevost says. "As a musician coming from this province you have to use creativity, more than not, to find shows."
Unlike a major urban area such as Montreal, Toronto or Vancouver there aren't as many venues to perform at in Saskatchewan.
Prevost began performing at small town pubs and bars but decided he needed to be more creative. He also started going into high schools and performing in front of students.
"I've had to do a lot of different things," Prevost says. "I decided early on to get out of the bar scene and do more concerts and shows."
"I grew up on a farm my whole life and just coming from that background has really helped me connect with the audience that I play in front of," he adds.
In 2010 Prevost appeared on an edition of ET Canada.
"It's pretty exciting for a small-town guy who comes from a town of about 300 people," he says. "It was a great experience."
Prevost's latest album Get Loud was produced by Tom McKillip in Vancouver and released in the summer of 2010.
"Get Loud is a different album for me and the reason being is that on this album I decided to approach it a bit differently," he says. "On the first two albums I really concentrated on recording all songs that I wrote."
Prevost decided to change how he approached building an album. He says he had more than 70 songs that he selected from with most of them being songs that he had written.
"In the end I narrowed it down to the top 12 songs and I even put a cover song," he says. "I took the best songs that I thought were going to make the best project possible. I am really excited and happy because I think Get Loud is my strongest project."
He is currently working on a new album that he expects to release this coming autumn.
"I am probably going to be releasing it sometime in the fall or maybe early in 2013 and I am planning a tour across the country," Prevost says. "That will probably happen in the fall right after CCMA time."
Prevost also has plans to release a new single this month.
"I am excited to get it out there and get some new stuff on the radio," Prevost says.
Prevot's single, "Standing Still," off his latest album has received airtime on various radio stations in Canada and the music video was seen on CMT. His song "Spin" was named Country Song of the Year at the Independent Music Awards.
Last year Prevost made his European debut with a performance at the Country Bike Festival in Tours, France.
"Every year in France they put on an event called Canadian Country Music Night in Tours. Every year they bring in two Canadian acts," Prevost says. "I wasn't sure what to expect going over there. It was just such an exciting to travel to another country to share your music with people."
Prevost can currently be heard on a variety of radio stations in B.C., including stations in Kamloops, Terrace and Penticton.
"I've been really lucky over the past five years," Prevost says. "Not only to have support from my hometown but to have support from my team. It's definitely not only the artist in any case there are always more people involved."
