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Barrooms, backflips and the Endless Highway
Rising Canadian Country Star Cameron Whitcomb to play Rockies Fest
By Ferdy Belland
Cameron Whitcomb’s musical career may only be a few years deep, but the colourful adventures achieved by the precocious kid from Kamloops is still the stuff of young legend. Case in point: Whitcomb’s recent performance at the Coast City Country Fest in Vancouver.
“It was pretty cool!” said Whitcomb. “I was scheduled to play this side-stage section of the big open-air fairgrounds at BC Place. About 20 minutes before my set began, I was onstage doing my soundcheck, and I was a little worried – there was nobody out there! But before I knew it, it was time for me to start, and there had to have been at least a thousand people all crowded, shoulder to shoulder! It was crazy and wonderful – a whole shwack of people who were bunched up against the stage were singing along to my songs. And not just the songs I’ve officially released, either.
“There were people singing along to songs that I’ve only posted on my social media. And even if they didn’t seem to know the words at the start of the song, they were singing along with them by the end. So cool! Such a great time.”
And the great times will continue when Cameron Whitcomb takes the stage on Friday, June 14 at the upcoming 2024 Rockiesfest at Western Financial Place.
“The past few years have been really cool. I went from working on a pipeline up north, getting all wrapped up too hard in the drinking and the partying, and now I’m clean and sober and focusing on songwriting and performing. I’ve been really honing in on music. It’s been an incredible experience all around.”
Whitcomb’s whirlwind musical journey is indeed the sort of stuff they write country songs about.
He left home at 17 to go rig-pigging in the Patch, and while partying after hours with his buddies at a karaoke bar, he discovered (much to his surprise) that not only did he have a great singing voice, but he loved the thrill of performing onstage. And as fate would have it, a production executive from American Idol came across one of Whitcomb’s singing videos on Reddit…and things haven’t been the same since.
Whitcomb appeared as a contestant on Season 20 of American Idol (2022), performing on several semi-final rounds and wowing the judges (Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie, among them) with startling, winning renditions of CCR’s “Have You Ever Seen the Rain,” Black Sabbath’s “Changes,” Bob Dylan’s “It Ain’t Me, Babe,” and the Steeldrivers’ “If It Hadn’t Been for Love,” and incorporating his onstage gimmick of pulling off full backflips – without handsprings! Although Whitcomb ended up disqualified, he is still one of only three Canadian artists to make it to the American Idol semifinals. Besides, he had better things to do in the long game.
TV excitement aside, Whitcomb grabbed his guitar and his muse and before anyone knew what the heck was going on, he’s ended up as a modern-day viral sensation, with over 1,000,000 followers across Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. From his debut single “Can’t Get Over You” to his latest single “Shoot Me Dead,” he’s been releasing a new song every month this year and will continue to do so through the end of 2024.
“As summer gets going I’ll be concentrating on writing more songs, but the live-performance stuff is gearing up,” said Whitcomb. “I have a show at the Fox Cabaret in Vancouver coming up at the end of June, which will be great, and another good festival show up in Fort St. John in July – I’ve got family up there and I’m really excited to see them! – but I think things will really be picking up when August rolls around. I’ll be branching out into the United States for more shows south of the border.”
Whitcomb has recently signed a contract with Atlantic Records, which has made his life even busier than before. One can only imagine the splash he’ll make the Country Heartland of the American South.
“I’ve always got new songs on the boil,” said Whitcomb. “I’m working on songs all the time. I’ve been spending a lot more time in the studio, at the farm in Port Alberni where I’m living now, and the creative juices are flowing – I’m just writing tunes all the time! There’s been so much happening in my life as of late that it’s hard to keep it all straight sometimes. I went to New York City and wrote a really cool song there.
“Writing at the farm has been so great…I really, really love where I live. Vancouver Island will always be Home Base. But I’m excited to get on the road again. I’m always wanting to see new places and meet new people and experience new things. That’s where some of the brightest inspiration comes from.”
The Cameron Whitcomb live experience is heightened by his crackerjack band, helmed by guitar whiz Ben Cottrill (2023 Fraser Valley Roots Artist of the Year).
“I met Ben last summer,” said Whitcomb, “and ever since then we’ve met up quite a few times and wrote a whole bunch of tunes together. He’s got a really good ear, and it’s great to work with him. And also, I recruited Spencer Bowman, who was my old drum teacher back in the day, to join the band – and he’s got to be the best drummer on Vancouver Island, hands down. We’ve got Ian Perry on guitar as well – I’ve known him forever; we grew up together and went to school together, such a good player.
“I’m lucky that I have such a great band! It’s one thing to be onstage with a good bunch of players, but the Hang is great too. There are no hard-partying wildcards in the band, so everybody’s professional, but it’s just a good bunch of people.”
Whitcomb is thrilled to be performing at Rockies Fest 2024, and the country-loving townsfolk of Cranbrook are sure to be as thrilled as he is.
“It’s my first time playing in Cranbrook!” stated Whitcomb. “I’m looking forward to playing more shows around the Kootenays, and across B.C. as a whole. Just making the gigging more frequent in general, you know? You get so wrapped up in songwriting, and polishing the recordings, and pushing the social media, so I’m excited to get out there and bring my live show to the people. I’m so excited to meet all my new Cranbrook friends…and maybe pull off a few backflips onstage (laughs).”
For more information, please visit www.rockiesfest.ca and www.thecamwhitcomb.com
Photos submitted
