A Golden-born musician cleaned up at the International Singer-Songwriter Association (ISSA) Awards last week in Atlanta, Georgia, with Travis Pickering walking away with two awards amongst his five nominations.
The ISSA is a platform and community of people in the industry that are dedicated to helping out and supporting musicians at all stages in their career, they attempt to navigate the industry, says Pickering.
Pickering picked up an award for Male Rising Star of the year, after his first single “She Gets Me” hitting #1 on the Canadian Indie Country charts this year, as well as Music Video of the Year for the same song.
Pickering said it was a special moment to be able to celebrate in person with his wife, Brielle, as he wrote the song about her and their relationship. Their two-month old daughter was also there to celebrate.
“It’s even more special that it was that song, the one that I wrote for her,”said Pickering.
“To be recognized alongside my peers and so many people in the industry that I’ve looked up to for so long, it meant everything to have her there.”
While Pickering now resides with his family in Calgary, he has always stayed loyal to his Golden roots, coming back to perform on numerous occasions throughout the years.
He says that his musical upbringing in Golden is a large part of why his career has taken off and that he feels and loves the support he gets from his community.
“Golden has been everything to me, the support I’ve had from my hometown has really been the driving force in my career,”said Pickering.
“Without Golden, this whole musical dream of mine doesn’t happy. I’m proud to represent Golden on the big stage, it’s a dream come true.
Pickering is already looking ahead and has released his follow up to “She Gets Me”, a duet he wrote with his father Larry Pickering called “Fallin”. The track has already made it to CBC Music Country, a milestone on its own, and currently sits at #37 on the Canadian Indie Country Countdown.
He’s also hoping to do a Canadian tour and continue to play live shows.
“Thank you so much to everybody whose been in my corner since day one, this really is a dream come true.”
