The last time we spoke with Justin Fancy it was for our 5 Quick Questions, Holiday Edition – 2020 Playlist! That’s almost a year, and so much has been going on that we felt it was time to catch up again.

Since we last spoke to Justin he’s released his debut album, “Sure Beats a Good Time,” won Newfoundland’s Country Artist of the Year, and he had his first top 50 on the Billboard Canadian radio chart. On October 22, he released the single “Beauty Queen.” Shortly afterwards, The Recording Academy invited him to perform on their Press Play At Home concert series. You can find him on grammy.com or you can find him on The Grammy’s YouTube channel. He’s the first Canadian country artist to participate since the program started up in 2018. That’s a whole lot of special!

“When I heard I had been invited to perform “Beauty Queen” on Grammy.com, I was absolutely floored,” says Justin. “My journey as a recording artist has been nothing short of amazing so far, and now I’m being given a unique opportunity to perform for a whole new audience south of the border and beyond. I’m looking at this as a huge stepping stone in my career.”

Fancy’s finishing out 2021 with three Music NL Award nominations for Solo Artist of the Year, Fan’s Choice Entertainer of the Year, and the big one, Album of the Year. He’ll be following it all up with his upcoming sophomore EP, which is due out in the Spring of 2022.

Press play on the video to find out who Justin thinks you should be listening to, what his dream stage is, and more!

5 Quick Questions with Justin Fancy – Beauty Queen Edition

Q&A

Tell us about you — growing up, finding your way to music, etc.

Well, country music certainly was a part of my life as long as I can remember. My extended family were musically inclined on both sides of the family, so music was introduced to me at a very young age. It wasn’t until the age of 13 I picked up a guitar. I remember my Dad buying me a guitar for my birthday and putting me in guitar lessons that Fall. I think I went to a total of 3 lessons and then just learned on my own after that. Once I had 2-3 chords down, I was ready to learn on my own.

Finding my way was easy for me, I just had a pure passion for emotional and heart-hitting songs, and we all know country music is where that’s at. I remember my Aunt handing me an old songbook, when I first started playing guitar, that she had made many years ago containing a variety of songs they had learned, sang, and listened to growing up. That songbook is still with me today and I believe that was the foundation of my love for country music. That book had everything from Merle Haggard, George Jones, Waylon Jennings, to The Eagles, Simon & Garfunkle and the Rolling Stones.

The first song I learned how to pick and play on guitar was “The Wildwood Flower” made famous by the Carter Family back in 1929. I saw the love for this song and the memories it brought back in my grandparents and grew a passion for learning how to play and sing this one. I recorded my rendition of that song with a great friend of mine, Ron Kelly, last year and you can find it on YouTube.

Can you describe the writing and recording process for “Beauty Queen?”

I wrote this song around the same time I wrote “Makes Me Wanna”, which was my last single I released back in April. It was just one of those songs I just woke up one morning and had thoughts in my mind and started writing and strummin’ the guitar. I always write in the early mornings, fresh thoughts and ideas come to me as soon as I wake up for some reason. It’s a weird but consistent thing I find, and it’s the best time I write.

The song is really about a reminiscence of a past relationship that went south that took a really long time for me to get over it. I lost sleep, oftentimes I couldn’t even socialize, couldn’t live life the way I wanted to and it was frustrating for me. It’s that, and the flip side of getting over that person and kind of being done with it all, you know, kind of like “I’m done with this feeling and I’m going to turn this around, I need to turn this around”. A lot of my songs I’ve released have that same relative theme. I love writing passionate music, relatable music really, and this one really goes along with that idea.

Justin Fancy – Beauty Queen (Official Video)

Who would you say has influenced your sound?

Oh goodness. There are so many people who have helped me find my way/my sound, but I have to say from a personal standpoint, it was gigging night in, night out, on George Street for so many years. It was on that famous street I really found myself and discovered who I am as an artist. There is no better way to hone your craft than to get in front of audiences and just sing your heart out and see how they react, and I did that night in night out for a number of years.

As for someone famous that influenced my sound? Alan Jackson. Hands down, to me, one of the greatest country music artists of our time. Growing up in the 90’s, you heard a lot of Alan Jackson. Truth be told, they took away our only country music station here in the mid 90’s, but that didn’t stop me and my friends from listening to country music. We bought the compact discs and played the heck out of those tunes.

Is there anything I didn’t ask that you’d like to share with our readers?

If anyone wants to hear my music, it’s available on all streaming platforms. The best place to direct you to is my website at justinfancymusic.ca. There you’ll find my music, links to my music videos, and a store where you can purchase my music and some merch if you’re so inclined. Other than that, thank you so much for having me.

Thanks to Justin for taking the time to answer our questions, and best of luck in the future. We’re happy to sit back and watch him soar.

Photo Credit: Ritche Perez

Justin Fancy’s Links

Web / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Spotify / Apple / Beauty Queen

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Trish Cassling

Writer/Photographer/Editor

Toronto Music Blogger