Emerson Drive

Emerson Drive is a five-piece country band from Alberta, Canada. The band formed in the wake of a high school talent contest in 1995, originally recording under the name 12 Gauge - a nod to the ubiquitous shotgun round. Though the band's lineup has changed frequently throughout the years, the band's current lineup consists of singer and sole remaining founding member Brad Mates supported by guitarist Danick Dupelle, drummer Mike... More >

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Emerson Drive is a five-piece country band from Alberta, Canada. The band formed in the wake of a high school talent contest in 1995, originally recording under the name 12 Gauge - a nod to the ubiquitous shotgun round. Though the band's lineup has changed frequently throughout the years, the band's current lineup consists of singer and sole remaining founding member Brad Mates supported by guitarist Danick Dupelle, drummer Mike Melancon, keyboardist Dale Wallace, and fiddler David Pichette.

As 12 Gauge, the band built a loyal fan base across Canada throughout the late 1990's. The band released two independent records during this time, 1996's Open Season and 1997's Until You Walk The Tracks. After their success in Canada, the band decided to expand their horizons and moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 1999 to pursue a career in the lucrative American country music industry. While in the United States, the band decided to change up their act; they renamed their band Emerson Drive (the name 12 Gauge was already taken; it belonged to a rapper from Agusta, Georgia) and revamped their image, ditching the old black duster coats they used to wear and adopting more cosmopolitan country fashion.

The band signed a recording contract with DreamWorks Records (Buckcherry, Danielle Peck) in 2000, fulfilling their desire to break it big into the American market. Based on the success of 2001 single "I Should Be Sleeping", Emerson Drive released their first self-titled album in 2002. A surprise success, Emerson Drive produced two more hit singles and went on to rise to the 13th spot on the Billboard Top Country Albums index.

In 2004, Emerson Drive released their second album What If?, featuring a more relaxed and pop-inspired sound. Though the album sold about as well as their first, none of its four singles charted well and as a result the band was dropped from the DreamWorks label, which folded in late 2005. Unfazed, the group was snapped up by upstart independent label Midas Records Nashville in early 2006, releasing their third album Countrified later that year.

The band's most successful album to date, Countrified charted highly in both the United States and Canada. The album's third single "Moments" rose to the #1 spot of the Billboard Hot Country Songs index in early 2007, making it the band's first #1 hit to date. The album's second single "You Still Own Me" also charted respectably, just months later. Emerson Drive plans to release a new record in 2008; the title of the first single has been revealed to be "The Extra Mile", which hits airwaves summer 2008.

From Lastfm:

Emerson Drive, is a country music band which started out in Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada in 1995. They received the 2002 Billboard Music Award for New Country Artist Of The Year. Their albums include Emerson Drive, What If?, and Countrified. Members of Emerson Drive are Brad Mates (lead vocals), David Pichette (fiddle), Danick Dupelle (lead guitar), Mike Melancon (drums) and Dale Wallace (keyboards). Mates is the only member of the band that now hails from Alberta, while the other members hail from British Columbia (Wallace) & Quebec (Dupelle, Melancon, & Pichette).

Read more about Emerson Drive on Last.fm.

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From Wikipedia:

Emerson Drive is a Canadian country music band founded in 1995. The band is Brad Mates (lead vocals), Danick Dupelle (guitars and backing vocals), Mike Melancon (drums), Dale Wallace (keyboards and backing vocals), and David Pichette (fiddle).

Early on, the band found minor success in Canada, releasing two albums under the name of 12 Gauge. The first album, Open Season, was a product of winning a local "Battle of the Bands" contest. They then charted two singles on the Canadian country charts and a music video on CMT. By 1999, they changed the name to Emerson Drive, and had moved to Nashville, Tennessee to find a major label record deal. Emerson Drive recorded two albums on the DreamWorks Records label, and charted several hits on both the U.S. and Canadian country music charts. After DreamWorks' collapse in 2005, Emerson Drive signed to Midas Records Nashville, where they resumed their streak of hit singles, including their first Number One single in "Moments". In summer 2008, Midas Records closed their country division. Emerson Drive then signed with The Valory Music Co. and the CD which Emerson Drive had been working on, Believe, became a co-partnership with Midas Records, who kept ownership of the CD while The Valory Music Co. was in charge of promotion and distribution of Emerson Drive and Believe.

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