Nipissing First Nation musical talent takes the next step
By Jamie Lee McKenzie
NIPISSING FIRST NATION – After years of covering the music of some of his favourite artists, Josh Stevens or JW Stevens as his fans know him, from Nipissing First Nation, decided that it was his time to create his own music and show the world what he can do.
“I’m trying to give the world a taste of all my talents as a singer,” states Stevens.
This is another big step for the up-and-coming country singer, who is in the process of recording his first EP (extended play) of original music, that he wrote himself.
Stevens previously released a demo of covers, with only one of his original songs. After realizing that he wanted to make his music career go further, he decided that he needed to release his own music.
“After I released my first demo, I did put one of my own original tunes on it and I wasn’t really a big fan of how it turned out, it didn’t sound like me,” says Stevens, “I just really wanted to get my own sound, the way people know me and remember me by, the way I sound live.”
“This will be my first EP with all my own original songs on it,” says Stevens. The EP will be a mixture of music, with the songs ranging from light and fun, to more heavy and serious.
“All five songs on the CD are pretty dynamic with different feels to them,” says Stevens, “I played the songs for a bunch of folks before I picked them and the people took a liking to them and I decided these are the ones.”
It’s been quite the process of creating and recording the EP. After making the decision of creating his own music he had to put together a band and find someone to produce the EP.
“Ben Leggett who is the producer on the EP, gave me a call and asked if I wanted to work with him, which was an absolute definite,” states Stevens.
JW Stevens is known in many of the bars in the area and has received really great support from a lot of friends and family.
“It’s really great to have the support, everybody is working around my schedule which is great and allows me to play different shows, I can use all the support I can,” says Stevens who is thankful for all the people who have helped him get to this point.
“I’m just so happy about how everything is going right now, I’m just playing my tunes, which is nice, no more covers,” says Stevens.
“A lot of my music is life lessons,” states Stevens who claims he pulls from all different life experiences to create his songs. Stating he gets his inspiration from relationships, heartbreak and even just days of having fun and drinking with buddies.
Stevens’ summer is filling up fast with many different music festivals and events. You can expect to see JW Stevens at Dokis Summerfest, Mattawa Voyageur Days and Kipawa Countryfest, just to name a few.
Stevens hopes that the JW Stevens EP will be released sometime in August 2016.