Up and coming Canadian country music artist Scotty Kipfer is on a road trip to promote his first album “Taking My Time” and stopped in Olds en route.
Olds is just one stop on Kipfer’s journey going coast to coast in his 2006 Volkswagen Beetle to radio stations all over the country.
Kipfer is more than familiar with small towns as he grew up in Milverton, Ont. and the sense of community he gained there helped inform what he does with his music.
“I think being surrounded by people who genuinely care about you and your up bringing, it can only be a positive influence on your music. Growing up in Milverton provided that for me,” Kipfer said.
Kipfer has memories from as young as three years old of being on stage at the Milverton Legion with his plastic microphone, being welcomed by members of band.
“I think that was one of the things that really led to me loving music and loving performing,” Kipfer said. “Just that sort of comraderie that came along with it and I’m really in debt to those guys.”
Kipfer has been writing music since he was 17. When looking back on what he wrote back then, he compares it to building birdhouses.
“You build 50 birdhouses before you build one that’s good. I think for me music was very much the same. You have to figure out a skill set before writing anything worthy playing for anybody.”
However, Kipfer is open to maybe eventually releasing the first song he wrote.
“Maybe down the road if I get some success in this, it would be kind of cool to go back and release the first song I ever wrote to encourage new artists to stick with it.”
Not only was Kipfer beginning to write songs at 17 but he was also working at a radio station, which led him to being more a part of the music industry; namely the record label and management part of it.
“The record label and management side of things definitely helps me with where I’m going now,” Kipfer explained. “Being armed with the knowledge of what it takes from a record label side of things is invaluable to what I’m doing now.”
While being an avid country music fan, Kipfer is also a TV fan; specifically the works of Aaron Sorkin, known for his quick, snappy dialogue, and that has had an influence on the music he writes.
“There’s nobody better at writing dialogue and I think when you dig into his shows, not just from a dialogue standpoint but from an emotional standpoint, I think there’s a lot to draw on as a song writer,” Kipfer said.
Kipfer came to Olds on May 8 at CKFM radio station with Cory Noel to promote his new album, which he releases next month.
