The stardom searchlight has set its sight on Humboldt as local resident Ray Whitton was chosen as one of CBC's Searchlight contestants.
"It was actually a friend that suggested I throw in a song that I wrote for my wife," said Whitton. "I wanted people to hear it without promoting it pushing it too much and I wanted to see where it went from there."
The Searchlight contest is an annual event put on by CBC Music and CBC Radio One to elect Canada's best new artist.
Anyone can vote for his or her favourite band or artist and the winner receives $20,000 worth of musical equipment from Yamaha Canada Music. The winner will also receive a professional recording with CBC Music and a spot at the CBCMusic.ca festival in Vancouver.
"Ultimately, I've never had any real good plans of becoming rich and famous and quitting my job," said Whitton. "If the song does well, I'm good with that. If I had to get paid to do this, I'm much more comfortable getting someone else to sing the songs that I write."
For Whitton, music really is the core of his life. He was going through a tough time several years ago; he was struggling with an alcohol addition and his girlfriend had left him. According to him, it was her absence that gave him a much-needed kick in the pants.
"I needed something to occupy my time," he said. "Having never played guitar before, I went out and grabbed a guitar and started playing other people's songs. Pretty soon, I started writing my own."
For him, music was about personal growth. After giving up alcohol and starting his journey with music, his girlfriend came back and married him. Three years ago, they moved to Humboldt and he became a board member of Arts Humboldt.
"There are some things in my life I'm super proud of and some things I'm not, but music has really done things for me," said Whitton. "I can legitimately say without a shadow of a doubt that I don't know where I would be without music."
Currently, Whitton lives in Humboldt with his wife and two-year-old son. He works at Discovery Ford and keeps his music as a beloved hobby.
"I like it a lot and I enjoy it, but I'm doing it for the sake of the songs," said Whitton. "I look at the songs like babies.
They're created and born and maybe through little changes, there's a chance for my babies to grow up a bit and just be."
To vote for Whitton, go to music.cbc.ca.
