BY: BEN PAPAGEORGE
There is no slowing down for Jason Benoit. After a huge 2018, Jason Benoit is poised to make 2019 his biggest year yet. Benoit first broke out onto the country scene in 2013 and has been consistently making a name for himself ever since.
After he won the CCMA Atlantic Discovery Award, he went on to release four Top 30 hits including a Top 10 single in “Gone Long Gone”. That single was off of his ECMA nominated album “Waves”.
Benoit saw a banner year in 2018. He toured across the country to perform on some of the biggest festival stages such as Cavendish Beach Music Festival, Boots & Hearts, and the Calgary Stampede. He was also a top 3 finalist in the SiriusXM Top of the Country competition. His biggest moment to date though, came on the MMVAs red carpet.
“2018 was a big year for me. I walked three red carpets, one of which was the MMVAs Red Carpet. No country acts have walked that in a decade pretty much,” says Benoit.
“I was invited to represent independent country artists so that was a pretty incredible moment.”
Jason Benoit’s sophomore album is slated to release this year with two singles (“Slow Hand” and “I Won’t Go”) already available. This next release is a special one for a handful of reasons.
“It’s very unique to me. There are some songs I’ve written and some songs where I’ve used a Nashville based songwriter, J.T. Harding who is a great songwriter whose written for Keith Urban and Blake Shelton,” says Benoit.
“I think the songs I’ve picked and we’ve written really showcase me as an artist.”
Some of those songs were written years ago and have great stories to tell. His personal favourite off of the album is called “Endless Love” and is one of those songs.
“It’s a song I wrote 15 years ago. It’s got some history to it and I actually sang it at my brother’s wedding. I’ve revamped it and brought it into the modern stylings of new country,” says Benoit.
It’s not just the content on this project that is special to Jason Benoit, a lifelong dream is also being achieved.
“The first album I released was just digital. I haven’t had a physical release yet so this is the first one and it’s a huge milestone for me,” says Benoit.
One thing that has been consistent for Jason Benoit is the fact that he wants his listeners to have an emotional connection to his songs. That is the most important thing to the Newfoundland native and that mindset has not changed with his new music.
“It’s really important to me to release music that causes an emotional reaction. That’s how I grew up listening to country music,” says Benoit.
“I believe the songs we picked have a really great feel that the listeners and fans will really love.”
Of course the album isn’t the only thing Jason Benoit has cooking up in 2019. Fans can expect plenty of shows including three dates with Old Dominion and The Washboard Union on the East coast in May.
Jason Benoit’s career has been filled with many big moments but which one has been his favourite so far?
“Being able to do this is a dream so picking one moment is really hard, says Benoit”.
There will be plenty of big moments to come for Jason Benoit and 2019 is just the tip of the iceberg.
