Local singer hits new career highs, opening for top names in country

Olivia Mae Graham opened for Canadian country star Terri Clark at Burning Kiln Winery earlier this summer. She recently released a new song “Boots” which has climbed quickly in the number of views on social media. (Jeff Helsdon Photo).

By Jeff Helsdon

Local up and coming singer Olivia Mae Graham hit new career highs, opening for country star Terri Clark at Burning Kiln Winery and the James Barker Band at Norfolk Fair, and then watching her new song rocket to 100,000 views in a month.

Graham’s new song Boots was released in August. Since that time, it went quickly to more than 100,000 views on all social media, and 86,000 on YouTube alone. Calling it “pretty spectacular”, Graham said this was great performance for an independent artist in that time frame.

“It normally takes a longer time to build that,” she said. “When we released Red Rose, it took three months to reach that.”

Since the release of Boots, Graham has been doing radio interviews with independent stations in Alberta, Quebec, Saskatchewan and Ontario.

“It’s cool being based in Ontario, my song is being played across the country,” she said.

With local country stations owned by Bell, Rogers or Corus, getting air play is a tougher challenge, but Graham is working on that.

Tillsonburg performance on Dec. 1

Graham will be performing at the Carriage Hall in Tillsonburg on Dec. 1 at 2 p.m. She will be performing her own music, including her new holiday tune “Alone Tonight”, along with seasonal classics.

“This song is all about the little things that make the holidays special—watching the snow fall, singing along to favourite carols," she said. "No matter where life takes me, Christmas is about being with those I love, and it’s my hope that this season, no one feels ‘alone tonight’.”

Tickets are $20 each and are available on her web site at olivemaegraham.com

Opening for Terri Clark

“It was a dream come true,” Graham said when interviewed a few days after the July 18 show. “I woke up the next day and it was like a wild dream I had, but there were pictures on Instagram.”

Calling Clark an inspiration in her career, Graham said Clark paved the way for females in Canadian country music. The Frogmore resident was doing a photo shoot for her next song early in the week of the concert when she received a message asking her to be the opening act. Her mother was with her.

“I just screamed and said ,”Mom I just got asked to open for Terri Clark,’” Graham recounted. “She slammed on the brakes and we were both screaming.”

Graham had contacted Burning Kiln months earlier in hopes of being able to perform. She has been practicing the last six months, with hopes of being able to take the stage before her idol.

“I look at it as stepping stones,” she said. “For this one, I looked at it that if I don’t open for Terri Clark, I am still making music.

“It’s really cool to put in a lot of work the last couple of years and having the Burning Kiln team and Terri’s team recognize I was ready.”

Then with only one day to practice, Graham started to get nervous. “I always get nervous but everything was on in my nervous system,” she said.

Asked if that continued onto the stage, Graham answered, “I still had the jitters but I walked on the stage and all the nerves were gone.”

She was overwhelmed when people came up after the show and wanted their picture with her. Many said they were proud a Norfolk girl opened for Clark.

The crowd at Burning Kiln was the largest Graham has performed before, with the exception of singing the national anthem at a Blue Jays game.

After the Terri Clark performance, Graham opened for the James Barker Band at Norfolk Fair.

Growing up in Frogmore and attending Valley Heights Secondary School, Graham considers Tillsonburg the “town” closest to home. She told her mother at four years old that she wanted to be a singer.

“She asked why and I said I have a lot of songs to sing,” Graham recounted.

She started taking music lessons from Tillsonburg/Glen Meyer music teachers Alison and Darren Schott. The latter toured with the Good Brothers years ago. Graham studied music in university and built up a network on the recording side.

To Graham, each song is a story and building block. Her songs “Red Rose”, “Mean Girls”, “I Can’t Move” all have more than 40,000 views each on YouTube. The latter song “changed the needle” for Graham. She was balancing a full-time job and a music career, but the success of “I Can’t Move” led to a big decision.

“I left the job I was working and now’s it’s full tilt,” she said. “It’s gone crazy but it’s the crazy I asked for.”

Outside of YouTube, she has had incredible support on Amazon, Spotify and Apple Music.

Last summer Graham was playing all over Southwestern Ontario. This included performances at the Back Stage Capital in Delhi and in Tillsonburg.

On performing live

A show for Graham includes mostly her own music but also a few covers of other musician’s songs.

“I want them to have the time of their lives,” she said of the people in the audience. “I want it to be a bit different every time.”

A new YouTube video series called “The Music in Between” has also kept Graham busy this summer. In this series, she shares her journey of life, her daily routine of writing sons, practicing, the ride to the Terri Clark Show. She also started her own fan club called the Mae Flowers.

Watch Graham’s web site, https://www.oliviamaegraham.com , for updates or follow her on social media.