Kyle McKearney

Kyle McKearney has chased his musical dream to Nashville, through Kentucky and back to Vancouver in a variety of genres and acts. When he finished a six-month tour of North America as a guitarist for the Queen musical We Will Rock You, McKearney returned to his adopted home of Calgary and his family, feeling burnt out and a little disillusioned after 15 years of working to establish his name. That’s when he went into the studio with a handful of low-key, mostly acoustic, country songs to record his solo debut, 2021’s Down-Home. The songs tapped into the bluegrass and country music he listened to growing up in Fort St. John, B.C. thanks to the influence of his fiddle-playing grandfather and Nashville-bound father, whose band McKearney would join out of high school. Suddenly, when he least expected it, the music industry took notice and offered the warm embrace of multiple award nominations, artist representation from a major talent booker and acclaim for well-crafted roots songs that incorporate dollops of soul and blues into his style of country. McKearney’s 2023 followup album A Traveler’s Lament explores country-rock territory, with a few tender ballads and an original sound.