Blake Berglund was only 10 years-old at the time and was in his mother's vehicle doing their routine trip from Kennedy, SK to Langbank to pick up groceries. The radio was tuned to 104.9FM The Wolf when he first heard the song. That was the first time I heard "High way To Hell". It was the first song that I was like, wow, this is music and this is what it is suppose to do to somebody, "the 29 year old Berglund remembers. The hard rock song fueled Berlund's love not just for AC/DC's genre of music but allowed him to discover another genre that's not immediately associated with the band. But he later had his fair share of self doubt, questioning if the path he chose was the right one and if he could put a finger print on country music in Canada. "I had many, many, moments like that, lots of ups and downs with questioning; is this the best thing, is this the hardest thing or am I good enough to do it or does it matter if I'm good enough and am I just doing it for myself? But the first time I heard AC/DC, I was like what is this." he said.
Berglund got his answer this past weekend in Saskatoon, finally imprinting his passion on Canadian country music. His discovery of AC/DC led him to country music; such is the power and irony of music, that the discovery carved a path that allowed Blake Berglund to win the Roots Artist of the Year award at the Saskatchewan Country Music Awards on April 27.
"I feel amazing, we were up for numerous ones and I had my fingers crossed for this one I was just very honoured that the association and my peers and the panel that makes the decision sees that we are working. Sees that we're out on the road playing every night and writing and recording and doing what I think what working musicians are suppose to be doing," he said
Berglund said he and his father who played a role in developing his career approached music in an introspective way. Admitting that they know when they are writing good songs and know when they can work harder, which he said is the bases of all the decisions made by him and his band. He emphasized that awards are bonuses and that it brings out the human element when you win.
"You hear your name or you hope to hear your name, you hear the first "Bah" the first syllable and I jumped out of my seat before I think they even finished my name," he said.
"I always feel very confident in front of a crowd and when I have a guitar in my hand, I can stand up in front 300 or 400 people, I'm calm. It's easy to talk to those people like your taking to one or two people. But for some weird reason I got nervous as hell and I pulled out my little list of people it was just one of those moments of complete appreciation."
Burglund, a native of Kennedy, SK was nominated in six other categories but said his journey was focused on going back to the core of country music. Burglund confessed he was a late bloomer in country music saying it wasn't until he was 26 that he really solidified himself in the genre. But said that didn't take away from the love he had for the genre and that he tries to remain true to what country music means.
"My heart really sits in that category; I've always been an extreme lover of country music. But have always question why it has taken the turn that it has, it went from a very authentic real genre where I think the lyric meant everything soul was put into every song. In the last 10 years of the genre I've just pulled back from the direction it has taken and I understand that every genre has ups and downs and changes at the core of it I'm a traditionalist," he said.
"I thinks the roots category is that category that says the traditionalist, it's the guy who really likes the fiddle and really care about the lyrical content and how the art of the song is portrayed, so in much humility as I can say that it means a lot that they put me in that category."
