ELEVATE NATURALLY

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Coming to Ontario August ‘23

Growing up in Bowmanville, Ontario, Meghan Patrick listened to No Doubt and Muddy Waters. The music, she says, got into her bones. “I realised I had a passion to perform,” Patrick says. “I always knew I wanted to make music, but it’s only on this last record that I figured out exactly what I wanted to sing.” Patrick, 36, recently released her fourth record, The Greatest Show on Dirt, and sold out the legendary Grand Ole Opry. She has eighteen Canadian Country Music Awards and, like Willie Nelson before her, is an advocate for weed.

KIND: This is our music issue, so can you talk about the music of your youth?

Meghan: Neil Young, the Eagles, the Allman Brothers, and while my mom also listened to Motown, my dad gravitated towards the blues, Son House, Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters. As I got angstier, I turned to metal and punk.

KIND: You have a bit of a punk attitude. Is there any pressure to pose with whiskey instead of a joint in your photos?

MP: I’m allowed to say whatever I want and honestly, I’m a huge fan of cannabis.

KIND: Remember the first time you got high?

MP: I was a competitive snowboarder and had a severe fall when I was 18 and broke my back—it was hell. I was taking five painkillers and didn’t like the way it felt.

KIND: It can be such a slippery slope.

MP: I was in pain, depressed, having trouble sleeping, eating. I was nauseous, and then a friend was like, “Have you tried smoking weed?” I’d have tried anything, but it helped with headaches, appetite, nausea and pain, and to this day it helps me with insomnia and when I want to be creative. I also use topicals, creams and balms. I’m a huge advocate for what it does health-wise.

KIND: I’ve also found it works when you’re outdoors in Bowmanville taking in an outdoor country music festival show.

MP: In terms of having fun, it’s great. I enjoy getting high because it feels good, but there are also so many health benefits.

KIND: The tale you tell on The Greatest Show on Dirt feels immediately close

MP: I always wrote personally but never before like this.

KIND: I think a lot of people will relate to tunes like “He’s No Good for Me,” we all actively make bad decisions.

MP: I wanted to document the internal struggle of trying to move on to a new chapter of my life, including choosing healthier habits and getting rid of toxic aspects of my behaviour.

KIND: Are you talking about life as a Canadian rising star trying to find your way in Nashville?

MP: The last couple of years have been challenging. Obviously the pandemic was not great for anybody, but now I can see the value of those toxic struggles, which forced me to become more introspective.

KIND: It’s not just country music, but the drinking culture seems to be an all-around musical cliché.

MP: Nashville is very centred around drinking and being out at bars. It can be difficult to feel like you can fit into the community and have fun, but not to the point where it affects you negatively.

MP: I’ve been in a toxic relationship and wanted to get out of it, but after too many drinks wind up back at their place and it’s like, “What am I doing?” Or else after a few too many drinks I lose my temper. Alcohol is a depressant. It might take the edge off at the moment, but the next morning you feel ten times worse.

KIND: Do you consider yourself a Canadian artist?

MP: Absolutely. I only left home six years ago and I love Nashville, but, you know, I’m thoroughly Canadian, especially in the summer. Sometimes I think about summer in Canada and being on the lake fishing when I’m sweltering in Tennessee under 104-degree heat.

KIND: What are your plans for the summer?

MP: I’m making more new music and trying to get on the road and tour as much as I can, both in Canada and the US.

KIND: What’s it like performing live in the summer?

MP: The first few times I was onstage I’d never felt adrenaline or happiness like that. I understood quickly this is what I was meant to do.

KIND: We love that and look forward to seeing you out this summer.

MP: Being a great entertainer is my focus. I remember so clearly: in high school I saw No Doubt and I’d never seen a female artist like Gwen Stefani. I was already obsessed with her music and style, but after watching her performance, I thought: “I want to be like that.” I still feel grateful that the thing that made me feel my best is the thing that I get to do.

KIND: Obviously it’s hard to live through but, since George Jones, as fodder for a country album it makes great material

For the most up-to-date Meghan Patrick summer concert dates, including shows in Saskatoon, British Columbia and Ontario, see meghanpatrick.com.