Jess Moskaluke’s country uprising
The rumblings started early for Jess Moskaluke, and hit a fever pitch this year: The next Shania Twain.
The early indicators were all there. The small- town charm. The popcountry hooks. The fact she’s the first Canadian female country singer to go platinum since, yes, Shania Twain. If anyone deserves the title, it’s this 27- year- old from Saskatchewan who won for best country album of the year at this year’s Juno Awards.
Bring up the comparisons to Moskaluke, and she’s humbled but not surprised. She grew up on a steady diet of Shania.
“Shania Twain is my all- time favourite Canadian artist, so when I hear people make comparisons sonically, I’m like, ‘ That makes sense, that’s my major influence growing up,’” she says. “I had every one of her records. You could name me a song and I could probably quote you every lyric in it.
“But when people say things like ‘ She’s the next Shania’ … I’m almost speechless. That was never the plan, but obviously that’s an immense compliment. I would never shy away from a career like Shania’s. I would be very fortunate to have that.”
Whether she reaches the Shania stratosphere or not, Moskaluke is already one of Canada’s top female country stars. Since emerging in 2012, she has three Canadian Country Music Association awards for Female Artist of the Year ( 2014 to 2016), one bona fide anthem with her breakthrough 2014 single Cheap Wine and Cigarettes, and — in November — became the first Canadian female country singer to crack the top three at country radio in nearly a decade with Drive Me Away, the first single from her wellreceived third EP Past the Past. It was last done by Terri Clark in 2008.
She’ll join Simple Plan, Marianas Trench and The James Barker Band for the annual Niagara Falls New Year’s Eve show at Queen Victoria Park. It caps a triumphant year which also saw her get engaged and win her first Juno.
“It’s been insane,” she says. “It just seems like, every year I think ‘ How am I going to top this next year?’ It’s a lot of pressure, but I’m so fortunate to have an incredible team behind me to help out with that.”
She feels it during walks and store trips — things she used to do casually but now has people snapping photos and asking for autographs.
“I try to remain excited and realize how cool that is,” she says. “Its something I’ve had to become used to, because that’s not a natural life experience! Not everyone in their lifetime will have someone come up to you and say, ‘ Oh my God, I love you!’ and it be a complete stranger. Not everyone will tweet you and say, ‘ Were you at Shoppers in Brandon Mall?’
“The thing is, it puts pressure on my everyday life, not just my professional life. It feels like the pressure’s there to be perfect all the time. I’m sure that’s pressure I’ve put on my myself … it’s not like you can run uptown in your pyjamas any more.”
Born in Langenburg, Sask., ( population: 1,048), Moskaluke grew up on a steady diet of country music. There wasn’t much else on the menu.
“That’s literally all we had access to,” she recalls. “We didn’t have any rock radio stations, at least nothing I could get in my area. ( Country) is what my family grew up listening to, that’s what all my friends were listening to, and it’s all I knew.”
Twain was her blueprint — fearless about blending pop, rock and country. Twain’s 2002 album Up, released in both country and pop versions, was a revelation to Moskaluke.
“I thought that was so cool, that she was staying loyal to her country fans and to herself, while exploring creatively another genre. As artists, sometimes we’re unintentionally put in a box. Like ‘ Oh, she’s country,’ and if you start to branch out, they’re like, ‘ That’s not country.’
“My job is to be creative, so why would you stifle that?”
Past the Past, released in November, is a huge leap in confidence and songwriting. And it changed course midway through recording when she got hold of the contemplative title track.
“Someone sent us a song called Past the Past that I did not write, but it sounded like I had,” she says. “Everything in this song was a life experience of my own.
“We recorded it and it changed everything. It changed the tone of the album, it changed the theme, and of course it changed the title. It’s one of those once in a lifetime songs that come around that really can shape the next year for me, probably.”
New Year’s Eve will also be Moskaluke’s first glimpse of Niagara Falls. She’ll be able to see it from the stage, while trying to stay warm.
“I just performed in Ottawa on Parliament Hill for the illumination ceremony. I thought, I’m a Saskatchewan girl so I’m used to the cold and this was going to be no problem … but it’s a different cold there. Oh my gosh!
“It was pretty chilly, and I have a feeling Niagara is going to be a similar cold.”