At 13 years old, Penticton’s Beamer Wigley is already on the path to country music stardom.
Picking up the guitar at age five and signed by local production/promotion company Invictus Entertainment at the age of 11, Wigley has been performing all over the Okanagan and is now releasing his first album and single Meteorite.
“I’m super excited, it’s still unbelievable,” Wigley said. “I remember being in the studio in February and now I’m in London, Ontario for the launch it’s crazy.”
The Western News caught up with Wigley prior to Canadian Country Music Week.
It’s the second time at the CCMA Awards for Wigley, who attended last year’s event in Halifax.
“It’s incredible, it’s a blast. There’s a lot of people I know here in the industry. It’s great to hang out with them and meet a lot of new people as well,” Wigley said.
He never thought at 13 he would be attending the biggest event in Canadian country music for the second time.
“I thought maybe someday when I’m 20 I’ll get to go to the CCMAs, but them my manager told me ‘yeah you’re going to the CCMAs this year,’ and I was like wait, what? That’s insane,” Wigley said.
He notes the laundry list of people he needs to thank for his career and the lead up to the release of Meteorite (Big Star Recordings Inc.), but cautions it would “take up a whole page in the paper.”
“(My parents) have been incredible. On that entire page they would be the first people I would thank,” Wigley said.
The album has been in the works since November, 2015.
“It’s hard because it’s my debut album, so we tried to put everything on it. There’s music that’s more folk-inspired, more blues-inspired. I think there’s something on it for everybody and I hope it’s well-received.”
He maintains the influence he has often cited before from Keith Urban is a major part of what inspires him.
The album is accompanied by a music video for the single and title track Meteorite. Wigley stars in the video shot at Whytecliff Park in Vancouver.
“It was great. The team I worked with was absolutely incredible. They didn’t take any shortcuts. We were out in that outdoor area for 12 hours,” Wigley said.
He enjoyed the powerful scenery, however, it was a touch on the warm side while filming in the summer months.
“I wasn’t necessarily wearing summer clothes in that video,” Wigley laughed.
His favourite part of the experience was one particular shot towards the end of the video where he is depicted looking out off the top of a cliff.
“That’s my favourite part of the shoot and my favourite part to watch,” Wigley said.
Wigley also shot a video in Penticton which is coming out at a later date. The video shot some footage on Penticton’s scenic Front Street.
“It was awesome. I love doing things in Penticton. It was very cool because a lot of my friends were in the video too,” Wigley said. “It’s so cool watching the video with my friends going ‘oh yeah, we know exactly where that was.’”
Wigley has another single coming out he hopes by the end of the year. What’s Penticton’s young country phenom looking forward to after putting out his first album?
“I’d love to go on tour. That’s definitely a huge goal of mine. Either as a headliner or even an opener. Just going on tour would be a dream come true.”
Meteorite is out now and available on iTunes and a soundcloud.com/bigstarrecordings.
For more information on Wigley check out www.beamerwigley.com.