“I’d rather have an impact on a thousand people than have songs that maybe have a broader appeal but that just come and go. Those songs that touch no one.”
It’s a philosophy and an approach to music that Metis Canadian singer/songwriter Kyle McKearney has come to embrace, and the results are spectacular.
Now, the truth is that, like many great performers, the journey to find his true voice hasn’t always been easy for McKearney.
Originally from Fort St. John, British Columbia, McKearney spent much of his early career trying to fit into a mould that wasn’t his own.
“There was a moment when a project that I was working on wasn’t happening and I was just so tired of chasing hit songs and success and trying to break through,” McKearney says. “I took a break from all that and took an offer to play guitar on the Queen musical (We Will Rock You) and it was while I was on tour with that show that I got some advice to stop chasing what I thought people wanted to hear and just be myself – write and sing the songs that came from inside me.”
Ironically, McKearney had been writing those songs for years but, never thinking they would resonate with the public, had them on the shelf.
“It was funny. I’d been writing these songs for a long time and when I was on tour (with the Queen Show) I kept writing them. I had a lot in the bank.”
When his tour was over, he returned to Calgary in 2020 and began regularly posting his songs online, a move that led to the release of Down-Home an album that, contrary to his initial fears, won critical acclaim and was a nominee for Alternative Country Album of the Year at the 2022 Canadian Country Music Awards.
At the 18th Canadian Folk Music Awards in 2023, McKearney was awarded Contemporary Singer of the Year, and was nominated for Contemporary Album of the Year and Indigenous Songwriter of the Year.
That same year he released another album, A Traveler’s Lament and was nominated for the CCMA Alternative Country Album of the Year (which he won), Innovative Campaign of the Year, and Record Producer of the Year.
Of course, the music in McKearney’s soul should have come as no surprise.
“My grandparents made a living playing their music in bars and, in the 1980s, my father did a run with a group called The East Coast Riders and went on to chase a career down in Nashville. It just made sense to me to follow in their footsteps.”
Still, McKearney’s approach to music is uniquely his own; a perfect example is his band, The Outliers, composed of McKearney’s wife, Sarah (vocals and guitar), Dave Oostra on drums, Lisa Jacobs on bass, Russell Broom on guitar, Telia Becky on fiddle and mandolin, and James Jannetty on keyboards, vocals, banjo and mandolin.
“The name of the band is perfect because that’s what we are – outliers,” Mckearney says. “I don’t think any of the band would normally play (traditional) country. But what I do isn’t traditional country. It’s a has an influx of blues and rock and bluegrass and it’s about things that I know. It’s music about struggles and travelling and it comes from the gut.”
The approach is obviously the right one for McKearney and his band.
“I love making records and touring and there is a moment when you connect with an audience that is incredible. You can sense it – feel the moment when it happens, and everyone is on the same wavelength. That’s what it’s all about.”
McKearney will be appearing in Victoria May 3 at the Duke Saloon, and in Duncan May 4 at the Cowichan Performing Arts Centre as part of his To the River album release tour.
For more information, visit imkylemckearney.com.
