Chad Brownlee kicks off Whoop -Up Days country style

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B.C based country singer Chad Brownlee, who opens Whoop Up Days, Aug. 20, leads a blessed life.Chad Brownlee plays Whoop Up Days, Aug. 20. Photo Submitted
He was on track for a career in professional hockey until injuries set him on a different career track —  a career in country music. He was drafted by the Vancouver Canucks in 2003 and spent four years at Minnesota State playing with the Mavericks, and played in the ECHL. He spent several years playing in the Canucks’ farm team system in Dallas


“The transition was difficult. Like a lot of  hockey players, it becomes your identity. And when it stops, you don’t know what to do when you give it up,” said Brownlee from Toronto, where he is writing his new album.
  He is best known for his songs “Love Me or Leave Me,” “Smoke In The Rain” and his latest single “Crash.”
 The switch to music turned out being a wise choice for him as since recording his debut CD in 2010, he has a string of hits playing oncontemporary country radio including his next hit “Where’s The Party At?”
 His songs are inspired by everything around him.


“ I get ideas from everyday life. I’m always writing them down,” he said adding he like collaborating with other writers as well.

“I like to come in organized,” he said.
He noted he  writes about subjects other people can identify with.


“It means a lot when I hear one of my songs helped them through  something. Music is about the sharing of emotions and energy,” he said.
He has always played music.


“I played piano when I was about six and tenor saxophone in middle school and picked up a guitar when I was 17,”  said the 29-year-old.


“So music has always something I was interested in,” he said.
“I can’t  complain. I’m writing the new album now. It’s coming together, but it’s obviously a long process.,” he said from Toronto,  in the middle of a busy summer which has included a lot of festivals.
He will be heading down to Nashville to record the album later in the summer.
 He has already been playing some of the new songs live.



“Tell Me Where The Party At,” is already a hit with audiences.


Brownlee enjoys the live show.
“ We love it.We have a lot of fun on stage. We’re fuelled off the energy of the audiences. We love watching the people,” he said, not going into detail about the songs to be played.


“We have to leave something to the imagination. You’ll have to come out and see.”
Brownlee will be opening Whoop-Up Days, Aug. 20 with Trevor Panczac and Rough Stock.
Trevor Panczak and Rough Stock are on stage at 7 p.m.
 Chad Brownlee is on stage at 8 p.m.

A version of this story appears in the Aug. 14, 2013 edition of the Lethbridge Sun Times

— By Richard Amery, L.A Beat Editor

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Last Updated ( Friday, 23 August 2013 14:30 )