Good Place to Start
By Adelle Ellis, Times Reporter
Photo Courtesy of Robert Scott
The seven-song extended play (EP) album Good Place to Start is the first album Gregory has released where he, along with several co-writers, was able to write every track – a goal he had always set for himself but was never able to accomplish until now.
“Getting in the room with better and better writers over the years and even some of the same writers who have gotten better themselves: I just take it from them and learn it from them,” he noted. “Same as anything, you’re just trying to learn how to be better at something … it’s paid off with this album.”
Gregory said he has spent time developing his own craft and what he and his co-writers were writing was more ‘him’ than anything that was being pitched.
Although the goal for every one of Gregory’s albums is to find the fans that connect with the lyrics and the music, it was also important to him to stop thinking about the business side of making music and get back to where he was when he first started playing and to just enjoy his craft.
“When you start thinking about the business side of things the music can sound a little canned, and you get a lot of stuff that can sound similar. I want to find that market and play for those fans who are a lot like me,” said Gregory, who added he has always aspired to build his musical career the grassroots way.
Although lyrically Gregory’s songs are distinctively country, some of the songs on the album are definitely party songs with a pop feeling to them. Some are rock songs modelled after his idol Bruce Springsteen’s style; and some songs were written and recorded just because he liked them. In a surprising change of direction for Gregory, the title track, Good Place to Start, is an emotional yet powerful song written after the Las Vegas shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival in October 2017 – and it also happens to be Gregory’s favourite track on the album.
“It’s not a political song in a sense but it does talk about some pretty sensitive subjects,” said Gregory. “It just talks about how every side needs to listen to each other a little more and show a little more love. It’s a simple message but I think one that needed to be said; it’s definitely a different one for me but I’m excited to have this one out.”
Good Place to Start has a secondary meaning to Gregory – he associates it with when he first started playing, when he played for a love of music and performing, and ultimately, how he wants that genuine love of music to show first and foremost on this album.
“When you’re first starting as a songwriter you just have to get on paper what’s going through your head,” said Gregory. “I think that mindset was kind of important to get back into, that kind of starting mindset about being an artist again and not worrying so much about the business. I think that’s why the title is a good fit for the album.”
Gregory won the 2015 Association of Country Music in Alberta (ACMA) Male Artist of the Year, the 2016 YYC Music Awards Male Artist of the Year, and 2016 ACMA Album of the Year.
Gregory will be performing at several shows this year, including the Guy Weadick Rodeo in High River, the Canada Day celebrations in Drumheller, the Calgary Stampede’s Fluor Rope Square Stampede breakfast and at Nashville North, Big Valley Jamboree, Country Thunder Calgary, the Dauphin’s Countryfest in Manitoba, and many more. Locally, Gregory appears at the Strathmore Station on Aug. 5 during the Strathmore Stampede weekend.
Copies of Gregory’s newest CD, Good Place to Start, can be purchased on iTunes or at drewgregorymusic.com.
“It’s just kind of fun to have an album out right at the start of summer,” said Gregory. “I like to think it’s the strongest we’ve put out yet.”