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Sean Hogan SINGER/SONGWRITER/Roots/Country
ARTIST
The
response to Sean Hogan's 1996 debut
album over a decade ago was nothing
less than spectacular! With a stylistic
sound that some industry observers
have described as dangerously balanced
between "alt-country authenticity"
and "modern rustic pop appeal",
his first release immediately caught
the attention of country radio programmers
and listeners across Canada. Their
reaction earned him the first-ever
C.C.M.A. Independent Male Artist of
The Year Award in 1997. Since then,
Hogan has become one of the highest
profiled Canadian singer/songwriter
artists, performing his own brand
of Country and Roots music in Canada
with an astounding SEVENTEEN videos
aired on CMT Canada.
The singer says he is "motivated
by the satisfaction of tapping into
a song idea, finding its true spirit,
carving out its continuity and creating
a song that reaches people with its
story as well as its sheer emotion".
He has tapped into that vein more
than once with such songs as Angeline,
Catalina Sunrise, Centered, A Cowboy's
Heart, Tired of Leavin', I'd Rather
Have You, Sure Fire Love, Dream Vacation
and Silver Lining Girl, just to name
a few.
Hijacked, Hogan's second album, along
with his third Canadian CD Late Last
Night, won two consecutive West Coast
Music Awards in 2001 and 2002, each
for Best Country Album. In 2003, Hogan
won C.C.M.A.'s Roots Artist of The
Year, the first Independent artist
to win this prestigious award.
Hogan's self-released U.S. Americana
album debut, Ruled by Mercury, went
Top 30, making it to #24 on the AMA
Americana Chart in January during
Hogan's self-organized debut tour
in Australia.
The following year, Hogan personally
planned and launched the Canadian
Country Christmas Concert tour, which
he affectionately calls "my baby".
In conjunction with Country radio,
the event assists communities across
Canada with funding for food banks,
hospital foundations and other essentials
for those in need. The first tour
was inspired by one of Sean's songs
which ponders the question, "Why
not live the whole year through like
it's Christmastime?" The inaugural
2004 tour was so well-received that
it has become an annual event. To-date,
the effort has raised over $60,000
for non-sponsored charities throughout
Canada, and his philanthropy earned
Hogan the S.C.M.A.'s 2005 Humanitarian
Award.
In 2005, Hogan toured 8 provinces
in Canada and shot his 17th music
video, A Cowboy's Heart, which was
filmed on location in the Arizona
desert. The release and promotion
of Hogan's album Catalina Sunrise
also found him performing live at
Nashville's Bluebird Café. In addition,
Hogan was accompanied by his full
band as part of the Western Beat program
of Billy Block's live-for-concert
radio program in Nashville at 12th
& Porter. During the year, Hogan
was nominated for 6 awards, 3 of which
he won, including the Saskatchewan
Country Music Award for Male Artist
of The Year and Video of The Year.
He also earned award nominations for
Best Independent Male Artist and Independent
Song of the Year for his album's title
track Catalina Sunrise. Arguably his
best yet, the album won 2nd place
position in the January review of
The Best Albums of 2005 with the internationally
distributed Country Music News. Another
track off the album, Conspiracy Radio,
began raising attention in the U.S.
on the late night talk radio show,
Coast-to-Coast Arm.
Hogan spent a good part of 2006 Stateside
in Nashville recording his forthcoming
5th album, The Southern Sessions,
while juggling several live performances
in Nashville and his native Canada.
Hogan's songs that have received heavy
radio airplay rotation have helped
raise his radio industry profile and
attract a large audience. 2007 found Hogan returning to
Nashville and breaking ground in the
'Red Dirt Country" of Texas and
the South East U.S. His second Americana album "Conspiracy Radio" is now available.
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