Jerry is a Canadian Country Recording artist from Dauphin MB, who has gained popularity performing festivals across Canada, and the USA with acts such as Johnny Reid, Shane Yellowbird, and Jason Blaine, and is “making his mark on the Canadian Country Music scene” (APTN, 2008).
Having played venues ranging from acoustic performances in small lounges, to larger settings such as Dauphin Countryfest, and We fest Jerry continues to “expand his fan base with his upbeat rhythms and commanding stage presence”(Winnipeg Sun, 2008).
Drawing inspiration from the classic country troubadours like Hank Williams, and Johnny Cash to the modern rockers such as Eric Church, and Luke Bryan, Jerry began writing songs in 2003 and has a style of writing that combines the descriptive storytelling of classic country with the upbeat rhythms of modern country music. Jerry’s style of singing has been compared to the “styles of country rockers Garth Brooks and Tim McGraw” (Grassroots News, June 26, 2007).
Through his music he has secured two National # 1 hits with his debut album “Campground Cowboy” (nominated for “Best Country CD” at the 2010 APCMA’s), which displays a hint of the traditional music the Winnipegger grew up with, balanced with today’s contemporary country, all delivered with a pleasing vocal exuding confidence.” (Bruce Leperre, Winnipeg Free Press, 2009)
In the Spring of 2007 after many attempts at establishing himself as a country artist, Jerry was ready to hang up his cowboy hat and settle down. But under the constant encouragement from his mother, he decided to enter one more contest called “Star Catcher” headed up by the Manitoahbee organization. Much to Jerry’s surprise he placed 2nd in the competition, and with the win came the support to record his first single “Time”, and support from Manitoahbee to book his first year of shows. This support from Manitoahbee, and the Aboriginal Community rekindled the drive in Jerry to pursue his dream of becoming a country music singer. Jerry’s first single “Time” was released and featured on the Star Catcher compilation CD on June 21st, 2007
In 2008, Jerry auditioned for Canadian Idol, and made the top 200 contestants in Toronto, ON. After arriving in Toronto, Jerry made the first round of cuts to the Top 100 contestants where they were required to sing one song from an approved list. Jerry managed to maintain his calm cowboy composure until after singing his song in front of the judges. When deliberations began there was some disagreement among the judges, and they finally came to an agreement to bring Jerry back to sing another song at the end of the list of contestants. This event lead to an entire day of camera’s following Jerry, as he set out to learn a new song from the list that would impress the judges. After an emotional day Jerry took to the stage to sing one final song which put him through to the next round on the following day. In the end it became a technicality with footage filmed back in Winnipeg which was not cleared for broadcast that sent Jerry back to Manitoba.
With a firm resolve to make a name for himself, Jerry continued to write, and perform songs across Canada and the USA, until finally deciding to fund his debut album “Campground Cowboy” in the spring of 2009. The album was released on July 1, 2009 and it “displays a hint of the traditional music the Winnipegger grew up with, balanced with today’s contemporary country, all delivered with a pleasing vocal exuding confidence.” (Bruce Leperre, Winnipeg Free Press, July 25, 2009) Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
