Kellie Loder: A seasoned Newfoundland artist's persistence

Kellie Loder is determined. A keenly driven individual with an infectious glow, it’s their passion for making incredible music that keeps Loder continually charging forward.

Maybe it comes from a background in sports—hockey was a major part of Loder’s life, playing hockey on Team Newfoundland for a number of years—but when they see something they want, they work tirelessly to make it happen.

“I’ve always been a fan of the idea, If it’s not happening, make it happen for yourself,” Loder says. And the notion has certainly paid off.

This September Loder opened for Melissa Etheridge at the Iceberg Alley Performance Tent in St. John’s, N.L., after lobbying for years to be included on the bill. “This time they had somebody that would be a good fit, so they asked me to open for her,” Loder remembers. “It was pretty awesome—amazing, really. I keep daydreaming about it. It was so incredible.”

A chance conversation led to the highly acclaimed single Fearless, created by Loder and long-time collaborator Daniel Adams specifically for the IMAX Superpower Dogs trailer. But Loder knew it would have a life elsewhere, as well: “The minute we wrote the song, I said, ‘This would be such a good Team Canada anthem.’”

“I thought, ‘This is a long shot, but I want to send this song to whomever does music for the Olympics. I really believe it’s a fitting track.’” And eventually, through a network of contacts and a never-give-up attitude, the song became the audio for CBC’s closing ceremony video montage.

The Fearless single is a quintessential Kellie Loder song—accessible lyrics and a deceptively simple melody that are at once both stripped down and filled with stacked layers of sound. The depth of that recording, with backing vocals and instrumentation, was there from the very beginning.

“When I write a song, I hear the whole, finished thing,” Loder says. “Even when I’m doing a solo show, I hear everything happening with me.”

The song found yet another life on the Blundstone Playlist V—but almost didn’t. Recording artists have been hit with a barrage of scamming emails over the past year, and when the message came in from Blundstone it missed Loder’s inbox. It took multiple messages, and a prod from Adams, to read and respond before the deadline. “I thought, Wow! This is really legit!” when it finally reached them. Loder is grateful the track is reaching another nationwide audience, and that the entire band is outfitted with “amazing” new boots.

Currently musing about recording a new album, finally laying down tracks to many of the songs long included in their live show, Loder is also looking forward to time back on stage.

“I was so excited about how well we did opening for Melissa Etheridge, the whole band and I. And people loved it. We gained a lot of new fans that night,” says Loder. “Afterward, it was really emotional. We were all saying, ‘Let’s do this again! Let’s go on the road!’”

With the positive, take-charge outlook Loder is known for, they will make that tour happen, one way or another.