Country singer Hailey Benedict can't wait to hit the Ponoka Stampede main stage on June 30.
The CCMA award-winning artist got her start at the age of 14 when Keith Urban pulled her onstage for an impromptu performance in front of a sold-out Edmonton audience, sparking international attention. Fans started taking note of the talented, young songstress.
Over the years, she has gone on to release several singles, and the positive buzz has grown steadily as well.
In particular, 2023 was a monumental year for Benedict, culminating in her victory at the SiriusXM Top of the Country competition.
She has also landed a spot on the Big Valley Jamboree main stage last year, and along the way has garnered a quarter-million followers on TikTok - a feat that helped her earn a CCMA award win for 'Interactive Artist of the Year' as well.
More recently, she also landed a nomination at the 2024 awards in the Breakthrough Artist category.
Last year also saw the release of Things My Mama Says, a wonderfully-crafted personal tune that wielded quite the impact as it spent six weeks in the top 10 at Canadian country radio, and was the number one played country song by a Canadian artist for five weeks running.
New music will shortly be available heading into summer as well.
Looking back to when the seeds of a recording career were planted, Benedict chuckled as she noted she didn't grow up in a particularly musical family.
But there was indeed a love for music. "They are big music lovers, so we did have music playing in the house all of the time.
"I went to my first concert when I was six, and I did try other things - soccer and dance - but nothing clicked. So I went to a summer camp that was about music and theatre, and I instantly fell in love with it. I was also always singing since I could talk! I just couldn't quit, I guess," she added with a laugh.
By the time she was nine, she was delving into songwriting. She was also learning how to play both piano and guitar.
"I feel like country music chose me in a way, too.
"But the turning point was when I started to write my own music. I realized that it was where my music was fitting into. I love to tell stories, and so much of the county genre revolves around a storytelling element," she said.
"So I felt country music was the best home for my songs. And I've felt it has always been where I can be my most authentic self."
And then, as mentioned, something pretty exciting - and totally out of the blue - happened at that Keith Urban concert.
"It was so crazy! Everyone always asks me if it was staged - it was not staged," she laughed.
"My sister and I had made these guitar-shaped signs for his Ripcord World tour. He saw them, and pulled us up onstage!
"He then asked both of us what we wanted to be when we grew up, and I said a singer/songwriter. He picked up his guitar, and said he had to here this.
"So I played my song Clean Slate in front of 20,000 people that night. It was an absolute whirlwind - just surreal, and a dream come true. I still can't believe it happened!"
Urban shared the clip on his social media platforms, and it proved a turning point for Benedict with the sudden and significant exposure it helped to generate.
"It was also, for me, an opportunity to show me this is possible. I always knew it could happen, but I think it was the catalyst to really start to double down on doing music as a career full time. It was definitely one of those out-of-body experiences!
"I am forever grateful for that opportunity."
The two met again last summer at the Big Valley Jamboree, and Benedict was grateful for the chance to personally thank Urban for the extraordinary opportunity he gave her all those years ago.
"I was able to tell him about my record deal and publishing signings. I had always wanted to thank him for that opportunity, because it was such a pivotal moment in my career, and in my life. It was a very special moment (at Big Valley) - he was tearing up, our family was tearing up - it was really sweet."
For Benedict, it's already been a remarkable and very memorable journey - rich in creativity and personal milestones along the way.
"I've always had this love for music, and how it can connect people - and how it's this bigger medium that can bring people together," she said.
"I think that's the part, for me, that I love the most about it."
For ticket information, head to www.ponokastampede.com.
