There is still a Canadian team in the NHL playoffs and Barrie musician Doug Bedard makes it very clear who he cheers for while also opening up about his personal struggles with addiction.
The Edmonton Oilers are in tough against the Colorado Avalanche — down 3-0 in the best-of-seven series — but a new video from Edmonton-raised Bedard may be the spark the team and their fanbase needs.
While the first single and video, Great Ones (E’s Up), was dropped on Tuesday, the new album Who Am I To Judge from Plex (Bedard’s stage name) doesn’t have a release date yet.
“Due to the timing of the playoffs and the hype around the team, we figured this was as good a time as any to get the song and video out,” Bedard told BarrieToday. "I did have hopes it would be the Oilers and Toronto making the final, but maybe next season. The Leafs looked great, too”
Bedard says he is a big fan of the game of hockey and his hometown team, but admits the song is definitely more about the pride he has for northern Alberta city.
“It comes with good and bad; not everyone’s story is all roses. There are things I mention in the song that are part of my traumas,” he said. “I feel it’s an honest song and it was originally intended to be a tribute to my city.”
Bedard said he had seen the city “down for a while,” with industry trying to survive, the pandemic coming in and hurting businesses more, he tried to help the way he knows best.
“I felt the city needed a boost and I know there are songs out there about Edmonton, but this is my story, my rise so to speak,” he said.
And what a story it is.
Bedard opened up to BarrieToday about his love for his western city and as to why he felt he had to leave it.
“I spent 30 years in Edmonton, everything I knew was in Edmonton. I struggled with addiction while there, spending probably six or seven years a victim to my own addiction,” Bedard said. “I was working on walking a sober path, but back there I found a lot of people who wanted to celebrate small wins and I was surrounded by those who wanted to celebrate them. I needed to move forward.”
Bedard added that while it was difficult to break out in the national music industry in Edmonton, locally he was performing a lot.
“I got a lot of gigs, performed a ton and was popular all over there, but a lot of those times were spent celebrating,” he said. “It's easy to say I was living a rock-star life in Edmonton.”
Prominent in the video and song is 118 Avenue, an area Bedard told BarrieToday is a rough part of Edmonton.
“It's the section I lived in and there is a 60-block stretch of that road where most people would consider the more impoverished part of town. It's also the road that connected me and other rappers,” Bedard said. “I pretty much got my start in a group called 118 with a rapper name Rellik and we were an Indigenous rap group, but not necessarily recognized that way.”
Bedard said 118 was getting noticed with non-Indigenous gigs, but also for shows related to his background.
“We would get a lot of Indigenous-based shows, youth conferences and meetings. We ended up travelling a lot through that, all over Canada,” he said. “In the late '90s, we were on the path to being a big thing.”
Bedard said he and others in the group definitely fought the urge to become statistics.
“We had young fathers, a member who was in a psychiatry ward, one in and out of jail and then me, struggling with my addiction,” he said. “We missed out on a lot of opportunities because of those factors.”
It was his meeting with now wife Jennifer Podemski where Bedard's life changed.
“I definitely met my soulmate. She’s not really a ‘let's talk about things’ (kind of person) — she is more about action,” Bedard said. “While I said I planned on moving to Toronto one day, she was telling me to just do it. First thing I did was change my phone number to a Toronto number so I was at least into the first step. Four months later, I moved.”
Bedard admits the addiction didn’t just go away with the move and he still dealt with it in his new city.
“It definitely didn't just disappear and even after a few years in Toronto I was still trying to walk the sober path, but now I’ve been sober for the better part of a decade,” he said.
Bedard said when he returns home, it's still a little difficult as people want to celebrate without seeing truly what he went through.
“They don’t necessarily see the struggle, because of social media they see the little parts of the victory, so I have to be an Edmontonian from afar. That’s where my love for the Oilers gets to shine through.”
Bedard and Podemski moved to Simcoe County in 2010 and while dabbling in his music passion, Bedard owns a company that specializes in creating marketing material for real estate agents, specifically photography, video tours, virtual tours, aerial drones and other services.
But even after working 20 hour days while trying to create his passion for music, nothing means more than family.
“I love being with my family. Playing with the kids, spending time with Jennifer and enjoying life, that's the most important thing I do,” he said.
Bedard doesn’t shy away from his Indigenous roots, nor does his wife, who is a well-known actor and activist currently in Manitoba producing what will be Crave TV's first original drama.
“Sometimes I see some artists trying to distance themselves from their Indigeneity so they're not considered just an Indigenous performer. I have no issue being that person," he said. "I feel the art that Jen and I create transcends that boundary.
“I take full pride in people recognizing me as an Indigneous artist. Especially when I hear from people and youth from Edmonton who tell me that I helped them with their own struggles," Bedard added. "It's really special to hear from someone Indigenous who is becoming successful and says they saw me make it out and now they can, too.”
The new video is on YouTube now and can be seen here.
And while Bedard hopes people enjoy the song, he really hopes the team will make a comeback.
"They've got to dig deep and win this. We need this win."
