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"When I found out this opportunity was possible, it was a very easy decision for me."
It sounds just like a country song. A small-town girl from Allan, Saskatchewan makes it in the music industry and is invited to walk to the red carpet at the Billboard Music Awards.
Well it ain’t a song; 18-year-old Laneise Scharback is living out her dreams. Not only has she just released her first single, called Blue, but she’s fresh from rubbing elbows with the biggest names in music.
“Oh my gosh! It was really cool. I ended up getting a last minute ticket and I was in the first couple of rows. My producer pretty well called me and was like, ‘hey, how fast can you get to Las Vegas?’” Scharback said of the Billboards.
When she arrived at the awards show, Scharback said she walked the red carpet at the same time as artists Meghan Trainor, Thomas Rhett and Tove Lo. She couldn’t believe she was now in the same category as some of the biggest performers in the industry.
“As I was walking across there’s tons of people screaming my name and telling me like, ‘look here, look here!’ And they’re all trying to get your attention. It’s really exciting, I’ve never experienced something like that before,” she said.
Scharback said the highlight of the event was chatting with Steven Tyler and Wiz Khalifa, and watching Britney Spears perform not more than a metre away.
Not bad for a girl from a town of roughly 650.
Currently studying education at the University of Regina, Scharback knew early on she was a born performer. Not only was she an avid karaoke singer, “as bad as that might sound,” she said with a laugh, but she couldn’t help but break into song at home.
“My mom used to play Shania Twain throughout the house when I was little and I would get up on the coffee table and I would sing along. My favourite song, and the song I knew all the words to, was ‘Man, I feel like a woman.’”
She called herself a country artist explaining, “I like the vibe that country music is. I think it’s really easy to relate to, it’s easy to dance to. It usually tells a really good story.”
Her rise to success was, by all means, meteoric. It only took Scharback a year of trying to get to the place she is now.
She participated in a singing competition called the Big Talent Showcase, August of 2015 in Las Vegas. Immediately after the show, she received call-backs from different record labels eventually signing with independent label Upscale Records and producer Manny Mijares.
After a second go at the same showcase in February, this time in Los Angeles, she recorded her first-ever singles.
“I just recently received them back and we’ve released one to iTunes. Which is awesome, I’m extremely excited and we’re actually doing a music video at the end of June,” Scharback said.
She submitted her own lyrics to Mijares’ songwriters, who wrote her singles, including Blue. Scharback described the song as two people who’ve known each other for a long time, but one partner sees the other in a different, more romantic light, for the first time. She quoted the lyrics “Baby you came right out the blue, tell me how you do the things you do.”
Scharbuck said she’s focused on promoting her music and is particularly keen on getting airplay for her singles. While she plans to continue with her education, she her heart belongs somewhere else.
“Music is always, and will forever be, my goal.”