The last time airdrielife featured local singer/songwriter Christian Hudson, he was fresh off the release of his debut single, Four Leaf Clover, and had just won the once-famed Calgary Stampede Talent Search contest where he gave away his $10,000 prize to the Calgary Drop-In Centre live on the stage, immediately after being handed his winner’s cheque.
Humble with his words, he said, “‘I won that competition’ is not the same statement as, ‘I was the best in that contest,’” solidifying his personality with one single line.
The experience was a proud moment for the then-up-and-coming artist and he wouldn’t trade that moment in for anything, though he now believes there is room for everyone to have success and that “the spirit of competition (in music) needs to die.”
Talent and charisma can get you far in life, but Christian Hudson is proof that kindness, generosity and honesty can get you even further.
Hudson has been up to a quite a bit over the past few years, and, surprisingly enough, music is not at the top of that list. After a whirlwind couple of years following his debut single, Hudson decided to take a step back from music and focused his energy into other projects, like working in construction with his brother, Hunter. Construction was a good fit, as he had the ability to still create and work for himself within the parameters that he set, not unlike his music career.
Working long hours, Hudson soon found himself humming out melodies while building houses. “The melodies would just pop into my head while I was working,” he says. “As much as I felt like I’d fight to keep them out, thinking to myself, ‘No, you’re done with music,’ the songs just said, ‘No, no you’re not!’”
One of those melodies happened to find their way into a song simply titled, Daisies, his latest single. Daisies is Hudson’s first release in more than two years. “I wrote it accidentally,” he says. The song’s laid-back vibe matches Hudson’s ability to not overthink the lyrics while he writes. Hudson reflects on the message of the song being: “Don’t worry, everything is going to be fine.”
Now an independent artist, Christian is back enjoying music the way it was meant to be enjoyed, writing the songs he wants to write to connect with people. “It is so nice to be in the position of complete creative control,” he says, adding it hasn’t always been the case since before his music was first discovered. “The music remains pure.”
With other planned releases coming out in the near future, and with a full band behind him this time around, Hudson is ready to take his stage show on the road in 2024, with plans to line up a tour through interior B.C. next spring/summer. You can catch Christian Hudson and his band right here in Airdrie on Dec. 15 at Atlas Brewing for a very special night of music. Tickets are available on Showpass.com, with 100% of merchandise sales and a portion of the ticket sales being donated to the Alberta Action Coalition on Human Trafficking.
“Thinking to myself, ‘No, you’re done with music,’ the songs just said, ‘No, no you’re not!’” – Christian Hudson
