Family, music, and deep Peace Country roots
Interview by Judy Kucharuk
It’s clear after only a few moments of chatting with Brad Rempel, that despite the success of High Valley, he remains at heart a small-town guy with small-town roots and values. Growing up in La Crete – a small community in Northern Alberta provided a solid, grounded upbringing that has continued to influence Brad and his music.
Last week, I had the opportunity to have a phone call with Brad where I asked him about his family, his music, his ties to the Peace Region, and surprisingly how we have less than six degrees of separation.
Q: I love the message in the song Grew up on that especially the phrase “Keep a good name.” As someone who also grew up in a small town, those words resonated with me and how I was raised. I feel like it is a message that many of us who were raised either in a small community or rural setting heard regularly growing up. Can you tell me how you keep that in mind as your career has developed and grown?
A: Family has done a wonderful job of keeping me grounded. For example, I had the opportunity to appear on the Regis & Kelly Show in New York and I called my mom to tell her and perhaps to brag a wee bit. *laughing* Mom had no idea who they were and didn’t even get the television channel. My community keeps us humble, and we care about keeping a good name. At the end of the day, you want to be a good person and treat people the way you want to be treated.
Q: High Valley music has been described as “positive-minded, blue grass-tinted country” and you have been quoted as saying that you believe we (all of us) could be happier and more thankful. How do you stay positive in this wild world that we live in?
A: We have been fortunate enough to travel quite a bit as a family and we try to show our boys that North America is just a small part of the world and that there are many who are not as fortunate. We also try to give back whenever we can and share that opportunity with our sons Drew and Cash. Rebekah and I took the boys with us to volunteer at a soup kitchen in Nashville where they could interact with folks who are experiencing hardship. They handed out meals, visited with the guests, and enjoyed the special time – we need to do more of that.
Q: The quote in the Pure Country interview where you talk about instilling with your children, “The more you can let yourself go and not be afraid, the more you can truly reveal what you have to offer.” Is this something that has been important to you throughout your life? Is it something that you learned later on or is it something that you have always believed in?
A: Self-confidence comes from the hours you put in and being comfortable. I have been doing this for 27 years and I will tell you that the first few albums were not great, but we kept working at it and over the last 10 years we have become really comfortable with our sound and what we stand for. We tend not to worry about what other people think is cool. We hope that our music brings joy to a lot of people.
Q: Is that something that you share with young/new artists who are just starting out? Is that the attitude that you reinforce as the Manager of Tim and the Glory Boys?
A: Those guys have no problem being themselves! They have lots of energy and are very talented. We are lucky to get to work with them. In a few years, we will be the lucky ones when they ask us to open for them.
Q: When we first announced your February 18th concert and tour titled Small Town Somethin’, we asked our followers on social media, “What is the best part about living in a small town”. We were overwhelmed with responses like, “The generosity of the people and how the community is so supportive” and “Small town people are humble – have each other’s back.” The responses really resonated with me. How has the support of your community in La Crete contributed to the amazing success of High Valley?
A: I will always be a small-town guy. When we decided to move to Nashville, we didn’t want to live in the city, so we found a town that is about 40 minutes away. It has grown considerably, but even at the size that it is now, a person can have close relationships and find that you run into the same people over and over again. That doesn’t happen in a big city. When you are continuously interacting with the same people over and over, you develop lifelong friends.
Our sons have been involved in sports: Football, hockey, basketball, and baseball. In fact, as soon as we are finished this call, I am off to watch my son’s basketball game!
Q: Your wife Rebekah is originally from Fort St John?
A: Yes, Rebekah is from the Fort St John area, i.e. Charlie Lake/Prespatou and we lived in Fort St John for a couple of years after we got married. We live in Nashville now, but we try and make it up north to spend Christmas with family.
We wrapped up our conversation by playing Six Degrees of separation and it took mere seconds for us to discover his family friend was my family friend and was from the same community where I was raised. That is definitely a Small-Town Somethin’ else!
Experience High Valley in concert at the Ovintiv Events Centre on February 18th! It is Sunday night, but it is the Family Day weekend in both Alberta and British Columbia, so what better way to spend it than with some great music and a great crowd!
Tickets are on sale now at lakeviewtix.com or by calling the Lake View Tix Box Office at the Ovintiv Events Centre 250-782-7443
