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Country rocks Whistler

CCMA nominated new talent, Jason Blaine, set to perform alongside Trooper and The Roadhammers at second annual festiva
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Style & Substance Canadian country rocker, Jason Blaine, is just one performer coming to Whistler this weekend for the Campground "C" Festival

What: Campground “C” Country-Rock Festival

When: Saturday, Aug. 23, noon to 10 p.m.

Where: Whistler Driving Range

Tickets: $60

We’ve had a few weeks to recover from the music festivals that took this town by storm in July, and now it’s time to dig out your trusty cowboy hat and boots and get ready for the last big musical party of the summer.

The second annual Campground “C” Country-Rock Festival is coming to Whistler Saturday, and the event promises a day full of great musical performances by nine talented acts.

Byron James of Echo One Productions, the company organizing the festival, said this year’s event should be bigger and better than the first, which drew a crowd of about 1,250 people.

“We’ve got a great lineup this year,” James said. “We’re very excited with having The Roadhammers as our headlining band and Trooper being our rock component.”

This year, visitors can also expect to see vendors, beer gardens and a mechanical bull round off the festivities.

Among the artists performing this weekend is Jason Blaine, a country performer from Ontario.

Blaine and his group are currently touring across Canada promoting his latest album, entitled, Make My Move , which was released in May. A mere three weeks later, the third single off the album hit the Top 40 charts.

Blaine also just found out a few weeks ago that he has been nominated for a 2008 Canadian Country Music Award for Best New Male Artist of the Year, and is set to perform during the awards ceremony.

“I’m really honoured,” said Blaine. “The CCMAs are full of history, and it’s really cool to be considered in amongst all my peers in the business.”

But the humble up-and-coming musician points out that everyone — from his record label, booking agent, management team and others — have helped him get to this point. It’s been a long journey to where Blaine is today, and he’s worked hard for his recent successes.

Blaine was fully immersed in music during his childhood; his father is a bass player who played with a local band in his hometown for 25 years. So it was only natural that his son wanted to follow in his footsteps.

“I remember as a kid, from a really, really young age, after my dad would get home from a show on a Saturday night… I would wake up Sunday morning and I’d open up his bass guitar case just to smell the smell of cigarette smoke and old guitar strings mixed in with the smell of the guitar case,” Blaine remembered wistfully. “I tell people, I always joke, it should be a cologne.”

Blaine started playing around on his dad’s acoustic and electric guitars around the age of seven or eight, learning the basics. As a teenager, he began writing music and playing local gigs at fairs, festivals and dances. After college, he moved to southern Ontario to record an independent record, which resulted in three top 10 videos and top 20 singles.

“It’s just been an evolution for me — I just kept on doing it,” Blaine said.

And in October 2006, Blaine and his family packed up and moved to the country music Mecca — Nashville, Tennessee.

“That’s always been a dream of mine,” Blaine explained, adding that he’s been able to immerse himself in the creative environment of the “NHL of country music.”

But he said he has known for a long time that he wanted to make music his career.

“Since I was eight, nine, 10 years old, I knew that I would be on a stage touring around with a band and having videos on TV — I just really felt like that was going to happen,” Blaine said, though he’s quick to point out that he’s encountered obstacles along the way.

“This business is not for the faint of heart, because there have been moments where I thought that it would all not work out,” he added.

So why was he drawn to country music, specifically?

Blaine points out that modern country is a lot more flexible than other genres. “Underneath this umbrella that we call country music exists a lot of different styles that you can play — some kind of southern rock influence, a little bluesy or kind of American pop… and you’re actually able to do a little bit of everything,” he explained.

Canada’s country rock is also quite different from the more traditional country south of the border.

“Stylistically, we have a broader spectrum of styles in Canada,” Blaine explained. “Even to some Celtic, to some kinds of folk and Americana, right to mainstream country.”

And it’s getting more popular each and every day, as Blaine points out that Country Music Television is going strong, and more country radio stations and festivals seem to be popping up.

“I think the amount of Canadian talent on the radio airways and on TV is probably as strong as it’s ever been,” Blaine said. “I’m really thrilled to be a part of it.”

What’s more, country lyrics are deep and meaningful, full of pictures and, usually, a story. And for a songwriter like Blaine, lyrical content is vital.

“I like the whole idea of creating something new, the fact that there’s always going to be new songs on the radio and every week there’s going to be a new number one song. And I was always amazed, even when I was a little kid, at where these songs come from and how people keep coming up with new ideas,” he said.

Blaine first began trying his hand at writing music at the age of 15, and he’s still trying to master the craft.

“It’s still a learning process of writing a song versus writing a really fantastic song and just working at it as a craft.”

Blaine is set to take the stage at Campground “C” from 5:30 p.m. until 6:30 p.m., so if you’re looking to check out some new Canadian country talent, you know where to go.