For the past few years, Sykamore has treated her latest batch of songs like children, raising them with precision and care.
Now it’s time to send them off into the world to let others fully enjoy them.
At the end of this month, the Carseland-raised singer-songwriter will be releasing a six-song EP, and she’s extremely excited to finally be able to give fans a chance at owning her latest offerings.
“This feels like a really good time,” said Sykamore, who has had a busy summer travelling the festival circuit, including a stop in early June at Studio Bell in Calgary.
“I’m really excited to share them. I’ve been playing them live for a long time and people ask where they can buy them. It will be great to point them in that direction or just sell them the record. It’s really exciting.
“You go through things where songs and albums have their time with you and you start writing new ones, so you want to keep evolving.
“I’m not sure I’m there yet. I’m not fatigued with these songs. I still really like them. I have a bit of time. I want to get them out so I’m sharing them and not keeping them a secret all the time.”
The 27-year-old now resides full-time in Calgary, but her schedule means that she’s travelling constantly. She hasn’t forgot her home though, as her parents are still living near Carseland.
It’s been many years since she left home to attend Ambrose University, but prairie living still influences her music in a big way. Whenever she gets the chance, you will her find her at home on the range.
“I want to see my parents obviously but I just like the country,” Sykamore said. “Staying in the city forever can be a little suffocating.
“People sometimes from a casual observer’s perspective might look at me and say that I might not seem like a country artist. I don’t give off a country vibe.
“People are sometimes surprised I play country. I have to tell them I grew up on a farm and my parents are rodeo athletes. We grew up in a super rural setting. It helps people connect the dots a bit better.
“My prairie and ag roots can be heard in my music. Sometimes you can see it in the way that I live. Those details are firmly rooted. It comes out most in my music.”
After the EP is released, Sykamore will be making an appearance at the Canadian Country Music Association awards in Saskatoon. On Saturday, Sept. 9, Sykamore will be participating in the Songwriter’s Circle with host Carolyn Dawn Johnson and fellow artists Aaron Goodvin, Jessica Mitchell and JJ Shiplett.
It’s a great opportunity for her to show off her songwriting chops with some fellow rising stars.
“We will play a song and then tell the story off how they wrote it. You go around three times,” said Sycamore, who gets inspired in a curious place these days.
“Honestly I’ve done a ton of writing sitting on my jacuzzi in my house. I practice and play and have written a lot of songs that way. I just sit on the edge. The bathroom acoustics are nice.”
