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CarliÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥™s Corner: Ben Klick shares his country roots

CarliÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥™s Corner is a video project which features Kelowna musicians through a Q&A format
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Country musician Ben Klick sat in for the second session of CarliÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥™s Corner. - Credit: Contributed

Country musician Ben Klick is fresh from performances at the Calgary Stampede.

Flick won his first British Columbia Country Music Association Award in 2016, alongside five North American Country Music Association International (NACMAI) Awards in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

The Capital News spoke to the Kelowna musician about upcoming music, how he got into country music (it wasnÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥™t his family) and his favourite cowboy hat.

Q: What are some highlights from the Calgary Stampede?

We always play a little stage called the Window on the West and itÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥™s strictly acoustic which is really cool. So it was a guitar for myself, an upright bass for my bass player and a box drum for the drummer. It was really stripped down.

Q: How did you get into country music?

A: ThereÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥™s no musical background anywhere in my family. I had a Fisher-Price plastic guitar and purple microphone stand and I used to sing Shania TwainÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥™s Man! I feel Like A Woman at the top of my lungs for hours at my grandparentÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥™s place. I got tickets to see her concert and my eyes were glued on her and her guitar player the whole time. As my family were driving home I said Ï㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥˜I want to be like that when I grow up.Ï㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥™

Q: Have you also been influenced by the country lifestyle?

A: It was overall the music and story-telling behind it. The guitars, the steel guitars and drums that got me into country. In 2006, we moved to Kelowna and I was always listening to country radio. My goal was to play like Keith Urban and Brad Paisley. I spent years learning guitar and got blisters all over my hands. I named a song Blisters and geared it around those musiciansÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥™ influence. It took two weeks to write this thing because I had to stop for a few days at a time because of the blisters.

Q: Where do you get your song ideas?

A: IÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥™ve always got my phone on me which has a notepad of song ideas, what I call a hook book basically. One of the songs written from that last album was from a story a friend told me in college about her truck ripping around in the bush and getting stuck. ItÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥™s a lot of life experience from the people around me.

Q: New music to look forward to?

A: WhatÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥™s Going On has been playing across Canada on radio stations. ItÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥™s going to be riding that wave until the end of September. Mid-October, early November IÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥™m looking to release the next single thatÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥™s coming. In December IÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥™m looking at recording new songs in Nashville and to release a new album for the summer of 2018.

Q: WhatÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥™s your ultimate goal to achieve as a country musician?

A: A huge dream of mine is to be asked to play the Grand Ole Opry down in Nashville because of the history behind it and how many artists crossed that stage and played in that circle.

Q: WhatÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥™s your favourite cowboy hat?

Above all, itÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥™s my white Justin cowboy hat. IÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥™ve had it since I started country music when I was four years old.

Klick will be performing in Kelowna on Aug. 24 as part of Parks Alive! and Aug. 25 at the Ok Corral.

He is a part of the Capital NewsÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥™ latest video project called CarliÏ㽶ÊÓƵֱ²¥™s Corner. Every two weeks throughout the summer, reporter Carli Berry will interview local musicians in a quick Q&A on kelownacapnews.com. Email Carli at carli.berry@kelownacapnews.com to get involved.





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