It isn't easy for a young musician to break into the limelight, but for Ottawa Searchlight contender Henry Norwood, the contest has helped him get recognized beyond his hometown of Perth, Ont.
Norwood, the youngest Searchlight contender at 14 years of age, says the public response has been overwhelming. He's been getting supportive emails from across the country, and even had a songwriter in Nashville reach out to him with songs for Norwood to demo.
And what better person to mentor the classic country-crooning teenager than Canadian country legend Ian Tyson? We brought Norwood into studio to connect him with Tyson in the Albertan's hometown of High River.
After saying hello and chatting about their favourite country performers — Hank Williams, Waylon Jennings, Lefty Frizzell, Roy Acuff, Wilf Carter — Norwood got down to the questions he prepared for Tyson.
First up: does Tyson think there's still room for classic country in today's music industry?
"There will always be a place, Henry," said Tyson. "Because that's the heart and the soul of the whole thing. It's getting pretty weird out there with the new music, and ever since the internet invasion there's a lot of strange stuff, but if you're a traditionalist you've got to stick to your guns."
Tyson also warned Norwood against writing songs just for radio success. "It never worked for me. Whenever I tried to write a commercial song, it just came out sounding so dumb."
"There's hundreds of people down south, there in Nashville and L.A., that can do it better than you can," continued Tyson. "You write from the heart, write about your life ... don't stray too far from your roots."
Tyson pointed out Norwood's strengths as a performer: good pitch and strong guitar skills. And while Tyson acknowledged that Norwood is well on his way in his music career, he did have one last comment about Norwood's Searchlight entry song, "Another Bottle, Another Day."
"I don't know if you've got a drinking problem ... you're pretty young to be writing those songs," laughed Tyson.
"Yeah," chuckled Norwood. "I get that comment a lot."
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