When Barrie’s Glenn Coulson began taking vocal music at Eastview Secondary School in 1989, he never imagined how high music could take him.
It was there where he met Marty Beecroft and Joe Heslip, friends and fellow musicians, with whom he went on to form VIP.
“It’s Just My Luck”, a song about the sad reality of a boy facing rejection, catapulted them onto the Top 20 charts.
Changing times changed music tastes and so Beecroft, Heslip and Coulson changed their music to a more country beat. A new band, After Tuesday, took them to Nashville and onto the Easter Seals Telethon, which opened even more doors.
Next Friday, Coulson and his fellow songwriters will see a movie inspired by their melodies on the big screen. Country Crush makes its Canadian premier Mar. 31 at the Uptown Theatre.
The flick is also on DVD – but it can be hard to come by as copies are selling quickly.
Starring country music singer Jana Kramer (who also strutted her style as she made it to fourth place in Dancing With the Stars), Munro Chambers of Degrassi fame and Sophie Tweed-Simmons (Gene Simmons’ daughter), the movie is the cinematic debut for Madeline Merlo, a rising star on the Canadian country scene who plays an aspiring singer focusing on making her big break in New York City.
“It was great to see the professionals come together and work on something we created in small town Ontario,” said the 41-year-old Coulson, who is overjoyed at the star power in Country Crush, a movie written to tie some of the best songs together as Mama Mia ties together Abba hits.
He credits writer and director Andrew Cymek for being so inspired by the years of songs to create such a memorable storyline.
“It was amazing to see what he shaped the songs into. It’s a whole new life. He turned them on their ear and incorporated them into this wonderful storyline.”
The flick also created an opportunity for a new challenge: writing a song for the top, a song about doing some good.
“I wrote that one afternoon and it became the opening song,” said Coulson, adding the songs he, Beecroft and Heslip have been writing lately are quite harmonic.
“These are actually country songs and they help progress the story. They don’t have to be big. Not every number is a big pageant. There are some nice tender moments.”
He added all the major characters in Country Crush sing.
“There’s dialogue and they become overwhelmed with emotion and burst into song. If you actually look at the lyrics on the page, you could say the lines.”
The idea for a country musical occurred to the local songwriters about four or five years ago. They got some funding and some investors, said Coulson, who has worked for the City of Barrie as an arts project fundraiser and who has kept writing and playing with his high school buddies although professionally they’ve gone their own ways.
Country Crush’s enduring romantic appeal as it tells the story of the aspiring musical star whose dreams are given second thought after her car breaks down on the way to a cottage party and she meets a tow truck driver (Chambers) pulls on her heartstrings and causes her to reevaluate what she truly wants.
Shot in Parry Sound, Sudbury and North Bay, the Canadian landscape fills in for the American south, the heartland of country music.
Already Country Crush has been screened at the film festivals in Florida and California.
The Canadian premiere here involves the support of the Barrie Film Festival, as well as Boots & Hearts’ producer Republic Live, KICX 106 and Downtown Barrie.
The energy and excitement with the partnerships and the stars is more than three Eastview boys could ever imagine.
“Each artist has their own flair and they’ve taken (the songs) and interpreted them and added their own flair,” said Coulson.
Still nothing compares to next Friday’s screening at 7 p.m. at the Uptown, which will be followed by include a question and answer session with the cast.
“I’m looking forward to doing (the Canadian premiere) here. I grew up here. It’s where it all began.”
Madeline Merlo who's plays Nancy and Munro Chambers who plays the lead Charlie will be in attendance at the event.
Tickets to the screening are $20 and include a question-and-answer period after the screening at Uptown Theatre and no line, no cover privileges into Mavricks for the official after party.
