WOODSTOCK, P.E.I. – Cory Gallant can finally let the secret out of the bag.
The Brockton P.E.I. native learned last week that he has been chosen as the Prince Edward Island representative in the 2018 Canadian Country Music Association Spotlight Performance Contest, but he wasn’t allowed to share the news until an official release on Monday, June 11.
That CMA release triggers an online voting frenzy in which the contest’s nine contestants from across the country will be vying for online votes at www.ccma.org, right up until Friday, June 22. Click on CCMA news and follow the links to vote. The rules permit only one vote per IP address.
Up for grabs is a spot at this year’s Country Music Week, a lead-up to the 2018 Canadian Music Awards.
“To say I was excited is a bit of an understatement,” says Gallant who views his entry in the contest as a great opportunity to get his original material heard by audiences across the country.
“This would be a great opportunity to be seen on a bigger stage, in doing something that I love, and, I believe, was born to do."
Gallant’s placing his hopes in P.E.I. music fans to help advance him through the online contest. “We all know how PEI’ers can vote,” he said; “just look at how Hockeyville turned out.” He’s referring to the Town of O’Leary winning the national Kraft Hockeyville contest in 2017. He played a part in the Hockeyville celebrations, performing with his band the night O’Leary was declared national winner and again during the Hockeyville celebrations. He was also picked to sing the national anthem during Hockeyville’s televised pre-season exhibition game.
He’s currently recording an all-original album at Up West Productions in Alberton, and he’s in the lineup for the Cape Tormentine Beach Music Festival on August 3.
Gallant, a paramedic with Island EMS, lives in Woodstock, P.E.I. with his wife Destiny and their three daughters. He is a member of the well-known P.E.I. band, Old Doctor Young and a sought-after solo performer.
To cast your vote for Gallant click here
Gallant picked up the guitar at the age 12 and, except for a couple chords shown to him by his mother, he is self-taught. He launched his music career at the age of 19 when he travelled to Nashville to record a CD. While there he performed at the Grand Ole Opry and Nashville Place. After travelling all over the United States and Canada as a solo performer, he wound up in Ontario where he was frontman for a Hamilton band, Bareback Riders, for six years. In 2015 they won a national Battle of the Bands competition and opened the Canada Day celebrations for an outdoor concert in Toronto. Around the same time Gallant also launched a career as a Tim McGraw tribute artist, touring alongside a Faith Hill tribute artist for five years, which included two tours of Japan for the US Navy and two years at the Nashville North tent at the Calgary Stampede.