Born in Ottawa and raised in the modest town of Aylmer, Quebec, Canada, Nelson grew up listening to country music. He discovered his talents at an early age, and when he received his first guitar, he was hooked for life. His influences were Merle Haggard, Ricky Skaggs, George Strait, Alabama and Alan Jackson.
Nelson started by performing at the age of sixteen in his home town, then he put a group together and did some touring in Ontario and Quebec for a few years. During that time, he entered all the talent shows he could find, and to his delight, winning first place in most of them. One such prize was the 1995 CKBY (Y101) Talent Search, where Nelson won a recording and touring package. After that experience, he wanted more. Passion for music was the driving force behind Nelson’s perseverance.
PURE STRAIT COUNTRY
In 2003, with the help of his good friend and band-mate, Al Bragg, Nelson put together a tribute show to his all time hero, George Strait, and named it “Pure Strait Country”. Working with Canadian Country Music Association award winning musicians, Nelson had a very successful run as George! He even had the opportunity to perform that show in several states in the U.S., including Texas!
Nelson has had the opportunity to be the opening act for several recording artists that have come to his area, namely Canada’s Michelle Wright and John Conley!
Today
Nelson now finds himself poised for success. He has recently gone to Nashville to record his new CD titled “Where I Belong”, penned by Nelson and his co-writing partner, Barry Brown from The Family Brown. With his new backup band, rightly named “The Riders”, his goals have come into focus, “Give the fans really good country music!”
