Country singer realizing her dreams

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This article was published 27/07/2023 (1093 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Emma Peterson is making her move.

The Manitoba country-pop singer, who grew up in Winnipegosis and has lived in Brandon for the past couple of years, will be putting down roots in Winnipeg in August, a change of scenery that also signals the next step in her music career.

“Growing up in such a small community, I think Winnipeg kind of intimidated me,” says the 24-year-old Peterson, who won two Manitoba Country Music Association awards in 2022, including album of the year for Just For the Record.

“Now that I’ve been doing music and becoming more busy with it, I realized I was in Winnipeg once a week, sometimes two times a week, so it was time to make the big move.”

Her move coincides with a new single, Got It Back, and a busy summer performing at festivals around the province, whether large music events like Dauphin’s Countryfest early in July or the Manitoba Sunflower Festival in Altona on Saturday.

Perhaps the most notable of Peterson’s 2023 gigs is joining a list of performers for the 2023 World Police and Fire Games’ opening ceremony, which takes place Friday night at Canada Life Centre.

Peterson works part-time as a nurse when she’s not behind a microphone — “Nursing and music to me are very similar, where you’re trying to help people, heal people,” she says — and often works with first responders. She says she’s honoured to be performing for those competing at the event while reaching a musical goal she once only dreamed about.

“This will be my first time performing at the Canada Life Centre, in an arena, so I’m very excited for that,” she says. “To be a small-town girl… I grew up with no cell service, to now, to be able to say how many years down the road I’d be able to play in the big arena in Winnipeg, I feel I wouldn’t believe you if you ever told me that.”

Got It Back is about regaining self-belief after a breakup — “I can take a sip of Cuervo / and I don’t taste your lips,” Peterson sings — written by Nashville-based songwriters Dave (Dwave) Thomson, Patricia Conroy and Tina Parol.

“When I release music, I need it to be authentic to myself and I was thinking about a way it related to me,” Peterson says. “It’s about finding your individuality again and getting your confidence back and I feel, as a woman, that really struck a chord with me. I feel I became more empowered in my life when I recorded this song.”

The new single showcases Peterson’s wide vocal range, which lacks much of the twang of many country singers. That trait could allow for a potential crossover to pop in the future, in the same way Taylor Swift, one of Peterson’s idols, made the shift.

“I really loved what she did because she was country and she had that pop sound to her,” Peterson says, “and then she did Folklore, something more folk. I saw you can make your sound to be anything you want it to be, it just has to be authentic to you. That’s what I want my music to be.”

Peterson’s determination from a young age gained some respect from her family; she learned how to play guitar when she was 10 years old, even though she was unable to find someone in the small community of Winnipegosis, about 225 kilometres due north of Brandon, to offer lessons.

“My parents drove me to Dauphin to go to Walmart to buy a $50 guitar and I told them I would learn how to play. Our computer had two videos on it, teaching just the basic chords,” Peterson remembers. “Not that I didn’t think they believed me, but I think they were a little curious if I was able to do it.

“I sat in my room for months, watching those videos over and over again.”

The accompanying video for Got It Back has Peterson behind the wheel of a vintage Chevrolet convertible, cruising through the Manitoba prairies while singing the tune.

She knows the song by heart after recording, rehearsing and performing it countless times, which proved to be a blessing during the video shoot with the borrowed antique.

“I was so nervous. That convertible was so old it didn’t have power steering; I’d never driven a car that old before,” she says with a laugh. “The whole time I was singing and trying to smile have fun but in the really in the back of my head, I was ‘Please, nothing go wrong.’ “

Alan.Small@winnipegfreepress.com

Twitter: @AlanDSmall