Today we’d like to introduce you to Rosewood Ave.
Hello Rosewood Ave, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
Our story has been in the making since we were teenagers. Due to a paper-mill closure in Dave’s hometown of Smooth Rock Falls, Ontario his family relocated to the small town of Iroquois Falls. As luck had it, Dave moved across the street from Sabrina. Sabrina noticed this cute boy moving in, but what caught her eye was a clip of Dave playing the guitar sent to her by a close friend. During that same month, Dave’s friend shared a song that Sabrina recorded and he was blown away by her voice. We added each other on instant messenger (MSN at the time) and decided it was time to hang out in person. We instantly bonded over music and it didn’t take long until we both fell in love and officially became boyfriend and girlfriend.
Throughout high school and post-secondary, we continued to write music and play local gigs as much as possible.
We tied the knot in 2017 and had a music-themed wedding with a live band performing (A.K.A. us of course!). We were happy during this time, but something was missing. We quickly realized that it was more music. In 2019, we decided to take the leap and pursue music professionally. Shortly after, the pandemic hit which shut down the live music scene. At that point, we felt that music was needed more than ever so we took the chance and did our first Facebook live stream. To our surprise we had hundreds of people show up. We continued to live stream every Saturday for over a year and were lucky to build a fantastic community of dedicated fans on our Facebook page. This launched our career and gave us the confidence to pursue it further. It’s been a whirlwind and a crazy ride, but we’re only getting started. We can’t wait to see what’s in store.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Our musical journey has been so rewarding, but to say that it’s been smooth sailing would be an exaggeration. We truly believe that if there are no bumps in the road, it’s a path not worth taking. The biggest obstacle we face is working full-time jobs while pursuing a full-time music career. There is so much work that goes into being a musician and artist. There’s a lot of work involved when releasing music, planning a live show, thinking about branding, merchandise, etc.
Being a musician is like that iceberg poster; the tip of the career is the music, but the behind-the-scenes work makes everything sound pretty. Another layer to that is making sure that we are taking enough time together to nurture our marriage. At the end of the day, if we’re not feeling happy in our relationship there is no music. What we’ve learned with time is that a music career is all about consistent effort while keeping a happy balance in everyday life. Above all our motto is: work hard, but have fun while doing it together.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
We’re a husband and wife country duo named Rosewood Ave. We come from a very small town in Northern Ontario, Canada. We’ve been playing music together for over 13 years but have been actively pursuing a professional career since our debut single in February 2021. Our debut single, “Fool For Love” was our first introduction to the Canadian country scene and was a true labor of love. It was produced by Grammy-nominated legendary producer Garth Fundis (Trisha Yearwood, Sugarland, Keith Whitley). “Fool For Love” showcases our traditional country roots and was released to country radio and played on Sirius XM Canadian Country channel. We wanted our debut single to tell our story so our music video was done DIY style using home videos of us throughout the years (clips of us as teenagers, some of our first shows, our wedding, etc.). It felt so special to release something so intimate to us and we were honored that it was a finalist in the 2022 Annual Canadian Independent Music Video Awards.
Our debut single was followed up by “Broke” which was a great follow-up single that showcased our fun side. We were lucky enough for it to also get picked up on Sirius XM Canada. Having grown up in very small communities in the North of Ontario, “Broke” was a quirky single that we could relate to and show our fans where we come from. We were able to show just that in our second music video, also made DIY, filmed right in our backyard.
This past summer, we’ve just released our latest single “Whatcha Gonna Do” penned by Nashville songwriters Walker Hayes and Kristian Bush. It’s a catchy, fun, and flirty song that was perfect for the summer months playing on stage at venues and festivals across Ontario. We filmed our very first professional music video for the single at the bowling alley in Russell, ON. Our theme for the video was an 80’s Stranger Things vibe that made the fun flirty side of the song come to life and we had so much fun starring in our music video. We are thankful to have “Whatcha Gonna Do” playing on country radio including once again Sirius XM. We also had a very special partnership with a local microbrewery Full Beard Brewing Co. featuring a limited edition Rosewood Ave – what do you Gonna Do version of their popular 705 Blonde Ale. Such a cool feeling listening to your new single while drinking a beer with the cover art of your single on the can!
Overall, we’ve garnered over 26 thousand social media followers, have been featured on Country Rebel- the world’s largest Country music network, racked up over 3 million Facebook video views, opened up for Dean Brody, traveled across Ontario to hit the festival circuit and more recently traveled to Calgary, Alberta to perform at showcases for the CCMAs. What we’re most proud of is that we’re doing all of these amazing things side by side.
What would you say has been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
Take one step at a time and have fun while doing it. Things have a way of working out and sometimes in ways that you do not see coming. It’s important to not put too much pressure on yourself but to challenge yourself whenever possible. For us, the main goal is to keep this passion we share, growing and alive while staying true to ourselves.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.rosewoodavemusic.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rosewoodavemusic/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rosewoodavemusic
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/rosewoodaveduo
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/RosewoodAve/featured
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4vVkRcAngiXV8RV6HMTnjC?si=rrDpBe3lTyOduowRP9WT3Q
Image Credits
Kamara Morozuk (Photography) and Bronwin Parks – Feisty Creative (Whatcha Gonna Do Artwork)
