Tim Hicks is having a good year.
After years of playing gigs just about anywhere that would have him, the Ontario-born country star is trying to find places on his wall for the platinum and gold certifications he’s collected.
He’s up for two CCMA Awards this year (he won the Rising Star award in 2014) and will perform during the broadcast on Sept. 10. He’s also warming up for an unlikely tour of Quebec this winter.
“To be four years in and to have a year like we’ve had is pretty unbelievable,” Hicks admitted in an interview only hours before he played the Budweiser Stage in Toronto.
“The whole ride has been unreal. I spent a lot of years grinding it out and had resigned myself to the fact that I was never going to get anywhere.”
Hicks has just released “Forever Rebels,” the fourth single from his album Shake These Walls. It’s a song about following your own path in the face of adversity — so it’s deeply personal for Hicks.
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It’s one of the songs he performed at Budweiser Stage, a venue where he’s previously been in the crowd — including a few nights earlier for Blue Rodeo.
“I definitely had a moment during that show where I’m like, ‘I’m going to get to play this place next week.’ And that’s unreal, man,” he recalled.
Hicks told iHeartRadio.ca he believes Canadian country music is surging in popularity right now because the genre has shifted.
“When people first get turned on to country, they’ll say ‘Tim Hicks, I don’t like country but you’re alright.’ And it’s like, fooled you again,” he explained. “Because if you like what I’m doing, you’re going to like what 10 other guys are doing.”
What has also shifted is the way fans connect with artists. Hicks calls social media “so important” to his success.
“I’m at a point now where I do have some help but early on it was all me. I was responding to DMs and PMs and tweeting back and forth to people, and I still do that to some degree,” he said.
“I live for that. I love the instant connection.”
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Hicks admitted one of the first things he does when he returns to his dressing room after a show is check his Twitter feed for feedback from fans.
Isn’t that setting himself up for blows to the ego?
“Sometimes,” he said, “but that comes with it. You gotta take the good with the bad.
“You can’t believe it all. I mean, you’ve got to take it with a grain of salt.”