Barrie area-based musician Jason McCoy has been making his mark, along with his band the Road Hammers, on the international country music scene for years.
However, his roots are in the community.
And there are accolades running out a screen door.
But let’s see, where to start?
The awards include the 2001 male vocalist of the year at the Canadian Country Music Awards (his hair still looks the same, but the beard’s a little greyer), three SOCAN (Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada) song of the year awards, 19 CCMA nominations, and five Juno nods.
There’s also the Global Artist Award at the Country Music Awards in 2006 and he’s released hits such as Learning a Lot About Love and All the Way.
But he’s also just a helluva nice guy. Is there an award for that?
He and his bandmates' gigs have taken them across Canada, North America and sometimes the world.
Being on the road means you can wake up in a different place, but yet it can be familiar. Home is what you make of it.
“For me, even since I’ve been touring as a solo artist, you play in one town and you come back six months later and see familiar faces and places,” McCoy says from his Midhurst home. “It’s kind of like having a second home everywhere you go.”
Even in a place like Down Under.
“We were just in Australia again this year — we’ve been there several times — and there was a guitar store in Sidney where we were at.
“You meet a guitar player who played in such and such a band and you get these familiar faces from dots all around the globe,” McCoy says. “It’s pretty neat. It’s like time stands still for a bit and you drop back into that little movie scene, and there you are again.”
And then back to Midhurst and his family: wife Terrine and their two kids, where someone may or may not recognize him while he’s picking up some milk and eggs.
“It all depends on what’s going on, whether you have a new release or things like that, or how active you are,” he says. “Heck, I grew up (around here) so I pretty much know everybody in the area anyway.”
It’s not just about pluckin’ and croonin’ for McCoy, however. He’s got a place in his heart and on his sleeve for people in the community he wants to help.
He does a morning show on Pure Country 106 and has done numerous fundraising events for families and organizations such as the Seasons Centre and Radio for Cardiology, to name a few. He also performed between periods at last month's Boots and Hearts Barn Burner fundraising hockey game at the Barrie Molson Centre.
Putting his brain to the test, he can’t quite recall all the community-based things that are on his plate.
“Gosh, I don’t know: it’s anything and everything that’s going on,” he says. “I like to get the kids out and involved and there’s fundraisers and things to go to and answer their questions about why and how and for who.
