SUNDAY FOCUS ' Going fora | SOngsitress Local singer gets Nashville Support for her first CD Michael Becker Newsroom Editor mbecker®nsnews.com THE trajectory of a rising Star is constant, an inexorable path to brightness. A certain momentum comes into play. North Vancouver's Sharon Parker intuitively knows of this quali- ty of persistence. It's necessary if she is going to shine as country singer. For much of her 37-year life she dared not dream beyond waking up and feeling well in her body. From the age of I4 on she says she was always sick. Her blood wouldn't clot and she suffered severe allergic reactions. Her throat would swell up and she'd find herself in Lions Gate Hospital. About 2% yeats ago she identified the root of the problem. She had been poisoned by the mercury in her 14 dental fillings. Says Parker, “My mer- cury count —- the safe level is consid- ered zero to three — mine was 210.” She had them all removed, had some blood work and reclaimed her life. “I had never thought of a career other than, ‘Gee, I teel OK today, maybe I can work.’ It’s just been part- time jobs. I was thinking whether I would ever five to see my child start kindergarten and now I know Pm going to be OK. “I love to sing and I didn’t know anybody would ever want to listen to me sing, but I put it out there and decided that every day I would do something with music,” she says. And that’s exactly what she’s gone and done. Customers at Eighties Restaurant in North Vancouver may know Parker as a part-time waitress there, but she’s far into the process of creating a promising debut album. Along the way she’s carned the sup- port of some of the Nashville music - industry’s best. Bue things didn’t fall into place overnight. -. Parker had worked for about six years bartending and waitressing at “the Fraternal Order of Eagles lounge -in North Vancouver. She also hosted , _, the karaoke entertainment at the hall. “As.soon as I decided that this (singing) is what Iwanted to do, within a week\a fellow came in and said, ‘You know I’ve listened to you sing and I think you are very good and I’ve got a friend who I think - should hear you.”” The friend had a studio in Gastown and asked her to come in to sing. He liked her voice, but said he didn’t deal with her genre of music. He connected her with a songwriter in Hope, Chuck Brickley, who gave her a first song, “Bad Itch.” Brickley "put her in touch with someone to record a demo. Parker’s next step was to show up for jam night sponsored by the B.C. Country Music Association (BCCMA). The BCCMA connection gave her access to songs thar had been submitted to a songwriting contest. One night Parker caught Alberta’s Brett Barrow Band at Boone County, a country music bar in Coquitlam. The band had strong songs and in her quest for material Parker asked if they _ wrote their own, Barrow had lived in “.. Nashville for a while and had friends with publishing companies. Parker sang a couple of songs for Barrow and he gave her the phone. number of Max ‘Hutchinson in Nashville. “He sent me amazing songs. He took. a chance. He was working. for Kim Williams Music at the time,” she says. Parker recorded a demo with the’ songs she had gathered and Hutchinson asked her to travel to Nashville tor the Fan Fair country music festival. Parker says her hus- band Matt offered this advice: “If you don’t try, the answer is no. You’ve got a Visa, you're a smart girl, if there is any trouble you can get out of there.” She went to Nashville last vear in June. There Parker met some top songwriters and gathered = more material for her record- ing. She brought her first demo to Hutchinson. He liked what he heard. “I asked him if he thought it was OK and he said it sounded better than most people’s third album -— don’t worry about it.” Hutchinson advised her to add live bass and drums and record at a high- er quality analogue studio. “Originally I thought, ‘I'll do a demo and maybe I'll be able to sing the praises of automobiles in commercials — that would be fun.’ And then I went to Nashville and checked out the showcases and [thought maybe I should go back home and take those secretarial courses that I'd been mean- ing to take all those years — I was so intimidated.” But she held on to the fact chat people who heard her sing down south were impressed with her voice. The encouragement ultimately saw her raise the level of her dream. On return from Nashville she brought her demo to producer and engineer Rob Begg in Langley. He put live bass and: drums to the tracks she already had. Parker wanted fresh ears for the mixing and was connect- ed with Alec Watson. Watson, now fing in Nanaimo, is a six-year Nashville music scene veter- an. He has worked as a studio engi- neer for producers Josh Leo (Lynrd Skynrd, Alabama), Mark Moffat (Split Enz, Crowded ffouse), Steven McClintock (Tiffany, Juice Newton) and Steve Booker (Natalie Ambrugiia). Watson has engineered more than 1,000 demos for Sony and Ten Ten PRODUCER and engineer Alec Watson brought the Nashville style of recording into a Vancouver siudis — six songs in six hours. He has high hopes for Sharon Parker. Sunday, September 24, 2000 — Nerth Shore News - 3 NORTH Vancouver's Sharon Parker joined musicians at Mushroom Studios tracks for her upcoming debut country music album. Music Group. His writing credits include four top 40 songs, “Rockin’ Me Blue,” “Brand New Me,” “Too Young for Elvis” and “All in a Day's Work.” He’s a keyboard player and vocal- ist for the studio recording project Dolt House with Ricky Fatar (drums/Bonnie Raitt) David Santos (bass/Billy Jocl) and Mark Moffat (lead guitar, producer/Split Enz). Watson also has 10 years touring experience as a plaver and vocalist for acts like Ronna Reeves, Rhodes & Marshall, Suzanne Gitzi and Doug and the Slugs. He has shared the stage with acts like Shania Twain, The Beach Boys, Tanya Tucker, Brooks & Dunn, Travis Tritt and Martina McBride. He knows the country music busi- ness. Watson is now the producer and engineer for Parker's debut disc, but when he first met her he was busy try- ing to turn off the music in his lite. Says Watson, “I made some poor investment choices, At one point I really needed music to pay off and it just wasn’t doing it. I was a little bit- ter about the music experience. I'd kind of always done it for fun. As soon as I started to make money, that was a really wonderful thing, but you get used to a standard of living and - when you are no longer achieving it you get kind of annoyed at the whole deal. Ieventually decided that the only way I could guarantee some- thing for the future I had to have a back-up plan.” He talked to his parents who have a house in Nanaimo. He moved there and is studying to be a high school teacher. Meanwhile Parker knew from peo- ple in Nashville that Watson had moved back to B.C. Last year he told her he wasn't interested in a major role in the project. He said he would play piano for her if she needed it. But says Watson, “When I actually heard her sing, I thought, ‘Wow, she sings really great.’ Iwas very impressed vocally with her. “In all honesty, Nashville is really particular about what they're looking for. Sharon doesn’t fic that bill, but Canada is a whole different: story NEWS photos Jutle Iverson recently to record the rhythm though. We can have people like kd lang become great stars that would have never got in the door in Nashville. We’re interested in artists up here.” Watson says he would be surprised if Parker’s first single doesn't break the top 40. The American machine is all about money, bur in Canada the Canadian content requirements go far to foster fledgling artists. He says Parker achieved some- thing verv unusual during her brief time in Nashville. “Canadians have a hard time getting access to great songs. Sharon did really great on get- ting songs. It is kind of shocking, She got top-shelf stuff.” According to Watson, Canadian recording artists usually don’t see the songs that are considered good enough for major U.S. acts. “She’s got songs from Kim Williams (he has eight Garth Brooks number ones). They must have been impressed with her on some business level. [f you can’t do that networking thing .... people in Nashville appreciate you if you are real,” Parker also scooped songs from Marty Dodson, a writer at Kim Williams Music. Dodson has a Dixie Chicks credit, which is not a bad thing to have these days, . The upsi:ot for Watson is that he’s back in the music game. “I'm for sure going to finish school. The fun is totally back in music now and it’s par- tially due to the fact that it doesn’t matter.” ; Watson set up a recording session at Mushroom Studios, which took place last week — six new tracks in six hours. He is looking for distribution in Canada for the eventual album. Parker has plunked down close to $10,000 of her own cash to get her to this point. She’s working towards a radio release of a single before Christmas and a CD release soon after. “Even if I put it out and it doesn’t go any further, I feel my life has been so completely enriched by the people I met. The journey has been so great. Pve meet people who will be lifelong friends. Anything else is just gravy,” she says. Stay tuned. Coming up in Sunday Focus oF NEXT week in Sunday Focus, Katharine Hamer examines hoxnelessness on the affluent North Shore. To suggest a feature story that deserves to be “In Focus” write to Martin Millerchip, North Shore News, 1139 Lonsdale Ave., North Vancouver, V7M 2H4, fax 985-2104 or e-mail .