After releasing one of her first song compositions into the Music BC/MAP Program in 2005, home grown singer-songwriter Pauline Kyllonen has been a busy bee in the music world.
Taking on her first musical tour of Alberta, Kyllonen is geared up to play Calgary, Lethbridge and Canmore, where she’ll play Good Earth Café on Friday (July 12) at 7:30 p.m.
“This is my first little music tour of Alberta. I’ve been here a few times, driving through it, but I have a showcase at the Stampede and so I thought I’d book some other shows around it and make a few weeks of it,” Kyllonen said.
Pursuing music has been a lifelong endeavour for the rising singer-songwriter, but it wasn’t until a decade ago that she decided to go full bore into the world of music.
“I’ve always been into music, but I didn’t start doing it professionally until about 2003. I started thinking that life is short and if you want to do something bad enough, you just have to go out and do it. And I just love music and there’s nothing I’d rather do, so if I can do it and make a living at it, then that’s great,” she added.
With a smattering of folksy and country styles within her songs, Kyllonen finds it difficult to pinpoint any direct influences, as she listens to a wide array of music.
“I love all kinds of music and don’t really have any specific influences. I like everything from old country standards to new electronic stuff. I love music and there have been lots of people who have influenced me over the years. I have so many favourites that there are too many to count,” she noted.
Recording her first official debut, four-song EP in April of 2008 at The Factory Studios in Vancouver, Kyllonen had the opportunity to work with some world-class musicians.
Most notable of the session players were drummer Pat Steward, who has played with Bryan Adams and Matthew Good and Shaun Verreault and Doug Elliot of The Odds.
“It was amazing having all of these pro musicians around me. It was sort of like a dream because I’d never been in a studio before. But having guys like that was quite cool. The owner of the studio said ‘I have some real good guys who can play with you’ and so that was all pretty cool and huge for me,” Kyllonen said.
Kyllonen learned a lot in a short amount of time about the many facets of the recording process, as the album had to be done in three days.
She also took on the promotion and graphic design of the album herself to save costs.
“It was a big learning curve, having never been in a studio before. We didn’t have a producer, either, and so it was all pretty fast,” Kyllonen added. “All of the promotion and marketing I’ve done on my own, and so the whole independent artist thing has been one big learning curve and I think I’m kind of getting the hang of it now. But it’s been fun and a big adventure and I don’t think I want to do anything else.”
Satisfied with the final product, the busy singer-songwriter wants to keep expanding her fan base, but she has also learned to appreciate the little victories along the way.
“I didn’t know what to expect and I think a lot of musicians listen back to their old album and say ‘Oh gee – I wish I hadn’t done this’ so I have a bit of that going on, but for it being my first CD, it was amazing. I had lots of good press and lots of good attention and so that was good enough for me,” she said.
Kyllonen was also recently featured on the Chevy Cross Canada Countdown on CMT, and was grateful for such a massive amount of exposure.
“That was pretty cool – my friend phoned me up and said ‘Pauline – I was listening to CMT this morning and you were on there’ and I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t even realize it had happened, but they played it every day for a week so that was huge exposure,” she said.
“I have never been to Canmore, but I’m looking forward to it. It’s pretty amazing what those people have been through as Mother Nature can be pretty unkind at times.”
Kyllonen hopes to record a brand new record in Nashville, Tenn. sometime in the near future.
