Best Country Album Award winner true to his roots

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When country singer Mitch Daigneault stepped on stage at SkyDome in Toronto to accept the Best Country Album Award at the Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards in November, he was truly in awe of all the musical talent surrounding him.

"It was a nerve-wracking couple of months after the nominees were announced," he said. "I hardly slept at night." He was backstage when the Best Country Album winner was named. "I felt so honoured. There was a tremendous number of wonderful musicians and to be chosen from among all of them was humbling and hard to fathom."

His album, entitled Keep on Believing, tells the story of his own personal struggles to promote his career. "To actually be achieving a major milestone by the recognition this award brings to me was truly a moment I'll never forget," said the 31-year-old from Battleford. Daigneault writes most of his own material, and he created both words and music on nine of the 10 songs on the album.

Daigneault insists some of the credit for his success should go to C-Weed, the legendary band fronted by Errol Ranville that he has been a member of for the past seven years.

"They are an awesome group of musicians and are featured throughout the album." Their devotion to their music is obvious as they travel from various home locations in Manitoba, Ontario, and other parts of the country to perform and record.

Growing up in Saskatoon where he attended school, Daigneault always enjoyed playing guitar in his leisure hours. "I graduated high school and attended university for a couple of years," he said. "My heart was always on my music. I was in the classroom during the week, but I was living for the weekends when I could be singing and playing before a live audience." Eventually he took a recording engineering course in Ohio and began concentrating on a musical career.

Daigneault claims a rich Aboriginal heritage through both parents. "My father is Cree from Ile-a-la-Crosse and my mother is Saulteaux. They're both Saskatchewan born and raised and I'm very proud of my roots," he said. He feels his heritage is very much a part of him personally, although it doesn't come across strongly in his music. "My mom is my number one fan, and my twin sister and her family have been very supportive."

Daigneault grew up listening to Hank Williams, Merle Haggard and other classic country artists. "That's the style of music I like to play," he said, adding that he also admires fellow Saskatchewan artists Chester Knight and Buffy Sainte-Marie. He feels he speaks from the heart, and features an emotional approach to the lyrics of his songs.

"What I hear on country music radio stations today I call 'popcorn' music. There's no substance to it. Nobody makes you cry anymore with their songs." He represents the country music aspect of the songs he and C-Weed perform while other members specialize in rock or the blues so that they can please their audience and its diversified musical preferences. "But it's the country music lyrics that really speak to the soul."

Daigneault sees a bright future for Aboriginal musicians. "It used to be that we had to be more mainstream in our approach in order to be considered for awards. But in the last few years, we've becoming recognized, such as the Juno Awards which now feature an Aboriginal category," he said. "More non-Aboriginal music fans are purchasing our CDs and becoming aware of us as artists," he added. "And radio stations, such as NCI-FM in Manitoba, and some Saskatchewan stations, have been playing our music. The song, Keep on Believing, when released as a single, got a lot of requests and actually was nominated for single of the year on NCI-FM."

While he's achieving success with his solo projects, he's still very much involved in C-Weed, which performs across the country and enjoys entertaining at some very prestigious events, such as a recent Assembly of First Nations Christmas party in Ottawa. "We had an engagement in North Dakota at New Years and we're returning to Europe for a tour later this winter," he said. A new C-Weed CD is also being planned for spring release, and will feature songs written by Daigneault, as well as songs by Jay Ross, another C-Weed band member who was named Best Male Artist at the Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards.

"I do most of my writing on the road, so there'll be lots of opportunity in the coming months to get material ready," Daigneault said.

The fifth annual Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards were part of the Canadian Aboriginal Festival and Powwow, held in Toronto from Nov. 28 to 30.