While I’m out in Vancouver pursuing my dream, I feel so proud to be from Fernie and am grateful to have so many people reaching out and enjoying the music I have produced. The feedback and support from the community has been amazing, and through Internet networking I have been able to reach a wide base of fans much more easily than would have been previously possible.

For me, photography is something that has just kind of happened. Sure, I used to flip through old National Geographic magazines and think how cool it would be to take the photos I saw, or wonder how I could get into Powder Magazine, but that was because I wanted to be a professional skier; I never really thought of being a professional photographer.

Every band remembers their first gig. Most bands park their van in a dingy back alley, unload their instruments through the back door of a local bar, do a sound check, and nervously get through a well rehearsed set for very little money. For our first gig, we unloaded our instruments onto a chairlift and played 6,316 feet above sea level.

When I asked people this question their answer was often “no”. Even people who have lived in Fernie their whole lives. Outside of Fernie, people had never even heard of the Flathead.