Chatham native Aaron Allen is in the running for two big awards at this weekend’s Country Music Association of Ontario (CMAO) Awards.
The 99.1 Spotlight artist is a finalist nominated for both the Male Artist of the Year and the Rising Star Award.
Sarnia’s Eric Ethridge is also a finalist for the Artist of the Year Award.
Awards will be dolled out during a special drive-in event in London, where Allen currently calls home.
Born and raised locally and coming up as part of the Chatham-Kent music scene, including projects with Aaron Allen and the Small City Saints, Talk Radio and more, Aaron has become well known across Southwestern Ontario and the province at large over the past few years.
His latest release and EP Highway Mile has been a breakthrough for Allen, who believes it to be his best body of work.
Teaming up with renowned producer Jeff Dalziel for the EP has helped break those barriers. Dalziel is also once again up for the CMAO Producer of the Year award this weekend, an award he has taken home in each of the past two years (2018 and 2019).
The latest EP is available everywhere and has been called emotionally charged with raw and honest songwriting.
“I wanted to make something that stood up over time,” said Allen on the new EP. “Highway Mile is really about the stories from my real-life experiences — I just tried to be transparent with the hope that maybe my story would connect with others. I hope we’ve done that with this new record.”
Quickly becoming Allen’s fastest-growing single, the new releases’ title track — “Highway Mile” — was added to 7 playlists on Apple Music out of the gate, gaining almost 200,000 streams in its first month. Set to surpass the previously released “Where Music Comes From,” “Highway Mile” demonstrates Allen’s dedication to creating deeply personal stories through music.
“I didn’t really intend for this song to be recorded but when Dalziel heard it he said we had to,” said Allen when speaking of “Highway Mile.” “The song is meant as a reminder to slow down — to take time for my wife and myself. Life can be so darn busy, especially in this industry, so I need that reminder every day. “
In addition to its title track, the new EP includes three previously released singles and a handful of new tracks including his new single “Can We Go Back,” “Superman” and “Mine All Mine.” Featuring many of the same players throughout, the record has a unique, cohesive feel that the listener can identify with from the first song to last. The songs are mature, honest and relatable. It’s easy to see that Allen is carving out his own path in the industry and taking the road less traveled with this new release.
Since his first release to radio in 2019 Allen has quickly become one of Canada’s most promising rising stars. With more than a million streams to his name, Allen’s style remains as true-to-life as ever but after years of forging a devoted fan base as an independent artist, the time has finally come to take the next step. Pushed by the support of Dalziel (Dan Davidson, The Washboard Union, Andrew Hyatt), Allen has created music that will definitely have the industry listening.
Aaron’s story will sound familiar to many. Faced with some serious personal challenges as he entered his teenage years, country music became his lifeline and songwriting the outlet for his pain and frustration.
Allen made a promise to himself that he would make country music his career, even though – thanks to his wife – tattooing eventually helped pay the bills.
“All I had was my voice and a guitar so country music was really the only way to go for me,” Allen says. “I’ve always loved how simple and direct great country songs are. They go straight to the heart and that’s what I’ve always tried to achieve with songs I write. I feel like my favourite artists are speaking specifically to me and I hope people have that feeling when they hear my songs.”
