Canadian singer-songwriter Genevieve Fisher will make her Highlands on-stage debut this summer as the headline act at the 2024 Gooderham Music Festival.
The country star will roll back the years, performing hits she’s penned and perfected over a 15-year career. Now 32, Fisher got her start as a teenager when, upon graduating from high school, she left behind friends and family in London, ON to pursue her dreams in Nashville.
She said fans can expect fun tunes with deep lyrics when she comes to the Robert McCausland Community Centre July 27.
“This is going to be one of my first shows of the summer – it’s always super exciting to get back up there,” said Fisher, who has spent most of the past year away from the industry after giving birth to her second son in January. “We have some great sets in store for everyone – it’s a mix of country, with some rock songs included. It’s going to be a high-energy show. We’re ready to bring some heat to Haliburton.”
The singer has fought to make a name for herself on the Canadian country music scene. She has earned nine top 50 hits on both Billboard’s BDS and the Media-base Canadian National Country Chart, and has been nominated for Single of the Year and Songwriter of the Year at the Country Music Association of Ontario music awards.
She is best known for hit singles July, which reached Top 40 in the Canadian charts in 2011, and Take it on Home, which peaked in the Top 20 in 2017. Fisher has performed at some of Ontario’s biggest music festivals, including Boots and Hearts, Havelock Jamboree, Manitoulin Country Fest, and Trackside.
While her influences are many, Fisher said Shania Twain is a standout. She remembers when, as a young girl, she’d dance around her grandparents’ kitchen while old-school country music played over the radio. She always got a twinkle in her eye when one of Twain’s tracks came on.
“I just fell in love with the genre, and with her. Listening to Shania definitely helped me to form my sound,” Fisher said. “At the beginning, I had more of a traditional country sound but as time progressed, and country music started to change, I’ve had to adapt to that… I’d say I’m more pop-country now.”
Fisher works with a producer in Nashville – Jason Massey. She has been writing new material recently and hopes to release an album later this year.
“It’s been kind of a slow climb, but I’m proud to say I’ve gotten where I am through hard work and perseverance,” Fisher said. “This is a crazy industry to be in – one minute you’re flying high and the next you’re thinking to yourself ‘well that was a quick 15 minutes, what now?’
“It’s really easy to get sucked into the industry, but it’s important to remember where you came from, what got you there, and just keep working hard,” Fisher said.
Valerie Dugale, chair of the Gooderham Community Action Group, which hosts the local music festival, said local bands Ragged Company and Gary and the Rough Ideas will also perform sets at the July show. There will also be an open mic for aspiring artists to take to the stage.
The event, now in its fifth year, is free for the community to attend. Last year’s concert drew around 700 people.
“We’re really trying to build this festival, and bringing high-profile singers like Genevieve helps us to do that,” Dugale said. “We think this festival has a lot of potential. We want to make it one of the big shows in Ontario. With the addition of the open mic, it’s an exciting opportunity for people to see what kind of up-and-coming talent we have on the rise – there will be something for everyone.”
