Country boy named Boots and Hearts emerging artist
A country boy from Bailieboro was named emerging artist of the year at Boots and Hearts on Sunday.
Jade Eagleson, 23, beat out seven other finalists to take the title.
“I was actually in disbelief, I was excited, but I was in disbelief. Even today I feel like it’s not true,” Eagleson said on Thursday.
Boots and Hearts is a popular country music festival near Barrie. It has featured well-known artists such as Keith Urban, Blake Shelton, Tim McGraw and Luke Bryan.
The former Crestwood Secondary School student had been to the festival twice in the past – but he never imagined he’d grace the stage there one day.
After submitting a video for emerging artist and making the initial cut, Eagleson competed against several others on August 10, the festival’s opening night.
But getting up on stage wasn’t so easy. Eagleson was so nervous, he was sick to his stomach.
“I was really terrified,” he said.
Once he got on stage though, everything changed. “Then it became fun.”
From there, Eagleson and his band made it to the top two, performing again on Sunday. And an hour after wowing the crowd, he was announced as the winner.
“Joy, excitement and disbelief would describe how I was feeling.”
Eagleson and his band, made up of lead guitarist Dar Kimble, bassist Brian Kerr, steel guitarist Brian Martin and drummer Brandon Taylor, faced The Redhill Valleys on Sunday. They’re a three piece folk-rock group from Hamilton.
Though Eagleson was ecstatic to win, he said would have been just as happy if it had been Redhill.
“They’re really talented, but they’re also the nicest people you’ll ever meet.”
That recognition, however, has brought Eagleson one step closer to seeing his dreams come true.
He earned a year-long contract with Universal to release a song. And if it goes well, they’ll sign him again.
The country singer-songwriter first picked up a guitar when he was 12-years-old. He initially dreamed of being a lead guitarist, until he starting writing and singing several years later.
Growing up, Eagleson listened to a mixture of rock and classic country, taking notes from Def Leppard, Van Halen, Johnny Cash, Keith Whitley, Randy Travis and Hank Williams.
But instead of diving right into music, the voice of reason got the better of him. Eagleson put away his notepad and guitar to move to Alberta for work when he was 19.
He was working towards his ticket in sheet metal when he realized his passion for music wasn’t fading.
So he moved back to Balieboro to pick up where he left off.
He now lives just down the road from his family farm on Carmel Line – a farm he hopes to buy one day.
That farm is what ignited Eagleson’s desire to make it in music.
“When I started doing music, that was the main drive behind it all, was to buy it,” he said.