Homegrown Country with Crystal Gage

BY CASSIA COLLINS August 7 09

Crystal Gage is one of Windsor’s few, but cherished, local country singing talents. From a very young age, Crystal decided that singing was going to be her life’s work. When she was only eight years old and watching Star Search at home, she saw a young girl not very different from herself performing and was inspired to do the same.

With a little coaxing, her parents brought her to the Canadian Conservatory of Music for her first set of singing lessons. At first, the conservatory was hesitant to teach such a young girl, but after hearing her voice they were more than willing to work with her. As she grew up, her love of singing and performing grew with her. Going into high school, it would have been convenient to go to Herman which was very close to where she lived, but she wanted to continue to pursue her singing and attended Walkerville instead.

She wasn’t always a country singer though. In her younger years and at the beginning of high school, she sang pop songs by artists like Céline Dion and Mariah Carey. It wasn’t until she toured with a local country group when she was fifteen that she started to get into country as a genre. What also changed her musical direction was the direction that pop music had taken. Artists like Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera were becoming the new pop stars, and Crystal couldn’t seem to fit the mould that they were shaping. This wasn’t a problem for long, as country and all that came with it began to grow on her.

“I just fell in love with it, the lyrics and how real country music is. Also how dedicated the country fans are. They’re crazy, awesome,” says Crystal.

It only seemed natural to her to study the genre from there. She started learning some Patsy Cline songs and tried to be a real country singer, as opposed to a pop singer singing country music. Since then, Crystal has tried to make country music as much a part of her life as possible. Although she has had other jobs out of necessity to pay the bills, lately she has been able to maintain a fully musically supported lifestyle singing in nursing homes, giving singing lessons, putting on shows and releasing albums. She says that it isn’t easy, however.

“Talent is a very, very small part of it. So many people think if you’re good it’ll just happen. Unfortunately it doesn’t work that way. People who really do well are the ones who put the time in,” Crystal says.

Crystal has been fortunate enough that her family has been very helpful and supportive of her, putting her through singing lessons and calling around to help her find places to perform.
Since taking her professional start, she has released two albums in Canada: Dust to Diamonds is the most recent, as well as No Stone Left Unturned. She has performed at large events like BayFest. As well, she is played on many North American radio stations, including 92.7 in Leamington and 100.7 on Manitoulin Island.

None of these things have seemed to change her personality though. In fact, the first time she heard her song being played on 92.7 while she was driving, she actually started playing with her stereo thinking her CD player accidentally started playing. She was so excited she had to pull over to the side of the road. It was especially touching for her because the radio station has sponsored one of her CD release parties.

This coming weekend, Crystal is performing at the Manitoulin Country Fest. Although it might not be as big of a show as far as ticket sales compared to BayFest, Crystal says it could be one of the biggest shows of her life because it is all Canadian musicians such as Michelle Wright, Julian Austin, Doc Walker, Johnny Reid, and Crystal Shawanda. CMT (Country Music Television) will be hosting the show and she is very excited about all of it. She was actually invited to sing at Country Fest after being asked to open for Jaydee Bixby at a free show earlier. She explains how it is just another example of how you do someone else a favour and later on, you have a connection which could lead to another show in the future.

As a performer, Crystal likes to bring something extra to the table as well as her talent, and as a person, she certainly has a way of making an excellent first impression. “I want you to leave feeling like I was your friend for an hour and not like you saw some nice girl sing some nice songs,” says Crystal. Locally, Crystal can soon be seen at the Leamington Tomato Fest on August 14, the Apple Fest at Colasanti’s at the end of September, as well as the radio release of the song "Dust to Diamonds" on August 10.