Canadian country group stops in at Willamette Country Music Fest

BROWNSVILLE - "Nothing has been an overnight success for us," Emerson Drive front man Brad Mates reflected recently over the phone while on the band's tour bus between gigs in Iowa and Washington State.

The Nashville-based group, which has racked up 15 years worth of fans in the U.S. and in Mate's native Canada, will headline the first night of this year's Willamette Country Music Festival with a performance at 9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 28, at an outdoor stage near Brownsville.

Emerson Drive is known for such hits as 2001's "I Should Be Sleeping," 2003's "Only God (Could Stop Me Loving You)" and "Lucky Man" and "Moments," both from 2006.

In 2007, the band won "Group of the Year" at the Canadian Country Music Awards as well as "Single of the Year" and "CMT Video of the Year" for its song "Moments."

The group's latest CD, "Believe," was released in May in Canada and includes 2008's "Belongs to You" and 2009's "Believe" and "I Love this Road." The album was produced by Josh Leo and Teddy Gentry of Alabama and a U.S. release is scheduled for as early as this fall, but festival-goers will get the chance to hear many of the new songs live, according to Mates.

"This is the album that will define Emerson Drive from this point on," Mates said. "I think you can hear in each song the fact that we're at a very comfortable place in our career when it comes to knowing who we are as a band."

In addition to lead singer Mates, Emerson Drive is made up of Danick Dupelle (lead guitar), Mike Melancom (drums), Dale Wallace (keyboards) and David Pichette (fiddle). The group favors dramatic songs that highlight Mates' passionate singing style.

Although Dupelle and Pichette have been with the band for 12 years, Mates is the only remaining member of the band's original lineup - a group of guys called 12 Gauge that got together in high school circa 1995 in Mates' hometown of Grand Prairie, Alberta.

"We took a chance at it," Mates said. "You learn really quickly the hard work involved … the difficult obstacles and hurdles that you have to climb."

In 2001, the band relocated to Nashville, Tenn., and changed its name to Emerson Drive (a reference to the Emerson Trail in Alberta) because the name 12 Gauge already was registered to an American hip-hop group.

In the last decade, Emerson Drive has dealt with the frustrations of being bounced between record labels DreamWorks and Midas Records and the Valory Music Company, as well as the sadness of losing former bass player Patrick Bourque to suicide in late 2007, and the fickle nature of the U.S. and Canadian music charts.

"We probably have six or seven songs that have been top 5 in Canada that have never been released in the U.S.," Mate said.

Other groups performing at this second annual festival include Chris Young, Concrete Cowboys and Coyote Creek on Friday; Keith Anderson, Jason Michael Carroll, Rockie Lynne, Derek Sholl and Taryn Cross on Saturday; and Neal McCoy, Lonestar, Amy Clawson and Alexis Ebert on Sunday.

CHECK IT OUT

WHAT: 2nd annual Willamette Country Music Festival sponsored by Bi-Mart

WHO: Emerson Drive, Keith Anderson, Neal McCoy and more.

WHEN: 1 p.m. to 11 p.m. Friday, Aug. 28; 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 29; and noon to 9 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 30.

WHERE: Just southwest of Brownsville on the Halsey-Sweet Home Highway, Hwy. 228.

COST: Box seats three-day pass $100 to $125; adult three-day pass $75; adult one-day pass $50; youth (ages 7-12) $25 for three-day pass and $15 for one day pass; and children age 6 and under admitted free. Overnight camping: $15-$60 for weekend.

INFO: www.willamettecountry

musicfest.com or 541-497-7588.