Celebrating southern Alberta talent

Often referred to as the universal language, music bridges any number of borders and cultures to unite people in rhythmic syncopation.

That widespread charm is due in part to the strong sense of community that often develops around local artists.

One driving force in southern Alberta is that of emerging record label Cottonwood Records.

Cottonwood is an independent record label that aims to connect talented artists with music fans by turning their eyes and tuning their ears to local music.

Captained by brothers Clayton and Joel Varjassey, Cottonwood records just celebrated their first year of business in their home-based studio in Coaldale, Alta.

The brother says a small location and operation doesn’t stop them from operating on a system of big talent and even bigger dreams.
Knowing how difficult it is for small-town artists to get their music out, Joel says they’re aiming to help emerging artists beat the odds by doing whatever it takes.

“We do a lot of stuff ourselves. Everything from costume design and recording to video production, we do it. We’ve been there, we know what it’s like so we try to do everything on budget and give back to the artists.”

Joel Graduated from the University of Lethbridge’s Digital Audio Arts program, and although it helped hone his skills, they didn’t start nor end there.

“When I was 16 I got into audio. I watched a YouTube video and I was hooked. From there I got into photography and motion-graphics. Then it just turned into these cinematic stories, and developed that way,” said Joel.

Twin brother Clayton occupies the spaces behind the scenes.

Graduating from the University of Lethbridge with a bachelor of management, Clayton operates the business end of Cottonwood but still has a passion for music.

Clayton says the concept of contributing to the local music scene is a key component to how they operate.

“It’s pretty important to us that we focus on getting the community behind us that we live and work in first and then branch out further and further from there.”

Clayton also knows diversity in music genres is key to success and Lethbridge has plenty of varieties to choose from.

“There is talent in pretty much every genre here in Lethbridge. We don’t feature the same genre of music all the time. We try to give people a diverse selection of music to choose from. It’s nice to be able to showcase all the local talent in all sorts of different music worlds,” said Clayton.

The brother’s prides themselves on finding and featuring different local artists every month. They then produce professional audio and video content that is distributed through multiple platforms.

For the month of December, the dynamic duo teamed up with local artist Alyssa McQuaid.

The country-rocker has been pursuing her music career for many years, and has been making a name with her band, Coyote Junction. She says it’s important for the community to have partners like Cottonwood records.

“It’s really cool that they are so talented and do so many Amazing things for our community.”

The songstress continued to praise the work Cottonwood is doing and the benefits for the artists of the community.

“It’s just so helpful and useful for us artists to have them here to help us not only grow but get our names out there,” said McQuaid.

On top of their monthly work with artists, the inspired duo say they have many ideas rolling around in their heads, and can’t wait to see which ones become a reality in southern Alberta and beyond.

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