Jess Moskaluke - Past The Past EP (2017)

Sweeping, clear-eyed country-pop from the Juno Award winner.

Growing up listening to, and falling in love with country music, Jess Moskaluke (MDM Recordings Inc. / Universal Music Canada) adored the greats, from Terri Clark and Carolyn Dawn Johnson to her idol, Shania Twain. Today, she is amazed at the road she now travels. Acclaimed as the first Canadian female country artist to have a song in the Top 5 since 2008 (Drive Me Away – #3), and the first female Canadian country artist since [her childhood idol] Shania Twain to achieve PLATINUM single status (with her hit track “Cheap Wine and Cigarettes”), Moskaluke continues to dazzle the Canadian country music world achieving not one, but three Top 10 hits with her respective singles, “Kiss Me Quiet”, “Take Me Home” and “Drive Me Away”. In 2016, Moskaluke had the #1 Most Played Song (“Take Me Home”) at Canadian Country Radio and was the top spun Canadian female artist for the second year in a row.

A small town girl from Langenberg, Saskatchewan and proud resident of Rocanville, SK, when she first posted her music online, no one could have anticipated the bright future that lay ahead. Many years later with her growing fan base, she now has over 32 million views on YouTube to date, and she received her first JUNO Award for Country Album of the Year in 2017 and third consecutive Canadian Country Music Association® (CCMA®) Award™ for Female Artist of the Year in 2016 (the first resident of Saskatchewan in the history of the awards to achieve this title).

Moskaluke agrees, “Everything happened so quickly, it has been a wild few years! I am so proud to be part of the country music industry. We support and celebrate each other, and I am thrilled to be a member of the Canadian community and this genre.”

In between her tour dates, including performances at the Calgary Stampede, Boots and Hearts and Big Valley Jamboree, Moskaluke spent a great deal of time in the studio recording her third EP Kiss Me Quiet (release date: September 25, 2015). Featuring 6 tracks, and 2 bonus acoustic tracks, the album showcased her signature pop/country style. A little musical ‘something’ for every fan’s taste, the album explored an array of emotions, from the upbeat pop vibes found in “Kiss Me Quiet,” to vulnerable power ballads like “Take Me Home”.

With “Kiss Me Quiet”, she hit another new career milestone, becoming the top charting Canadian artist on both the BDS and Mediabase country radio charts. Moreover, in November of 2015, she was the most spun female Canadian artist on Canadian country radio in that year, as well as the #2 most spun solo female country artist on Canadian country radio, only behind Carrie Underwood.

2015 marked a year of many exciting firsts for Moskaluke, including her first JUNO nominations (Country Album of the Year and Breakthrough Artist of the Year), a cross-Canada tour having joined Chad Brownlee’s When The Lights Go Down Tour, as well as her first arena shows! In October 2015 Moskaluke also joined Paul Brandt and Dean Brody’s Road Trip Tour throughout the Western Canada dates.

Moskaluke shares, “I could not wait to join the tour after the CCMAs. It was amazing — Paul Brandt was actually the first concert I had ever attended!” In July 2015, she and Paul released the single “I’m An Open Road.” She continues, “Paul is incredible to collaborate with, we had so much fun making the music video.” They also performed the song during the CCMA national live television broadcast on CBC TV in September of that same year.

In April 2014, Moskaluke released her 10-track album Light Up The Night, which featured “Cheap Wine and Cigarettes”, a single produced by Corey Crowder (Chris Young, Jamie Lynn Spears) and mixed by Scott Cooke (Dallas Smith, Florida Georgia Line). The single quickly became the highest charting song on the iTunes top 200 singles chart for any Canadian artist. Following the release of her new album, a ½ hour CMT Canada special, Jess Moskaluke Live at The Edison aired nationwide on April 21, 2014. In celebration of this album release, Moskaluke partnered with retailer Sexton In The City, introducing her first ever make up line (also released in April 2014); a six colour lip gloss collection aptly named after her album, Light Up The Night.

John Wayne once said, “courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway,” these words mean everything to Moskaluke. She can still hear her father sharing this, encouraging her as she contemplated what the future might hold. Sadly, he passed away in 2006 after a lengthy battle with Multiple Sclerosis, but his memory lives on in her music. In reflection Moskaluke shares, “My dad is my hero for teaching me how to be brave, and that being brave is not the absence of fear, but rather in the presence of fear possessing the ability to overcome such emotions and persevere.” She is a devout supporter and spokesperson for the MS Society, actively participating in many philanthropic initiatives in hopes of one day finding a cure. When she is not on the road touring, Moskaluke primarily balances her time at home (with her fur-baby Nala!) in Saskatchewan, and the US, writing in Nashville.