Scarlet Sway aimed for the top in Searchlight 2018 with their original song “Room of Mirrors.”
On Thursday they moved one step closer to that goal after placing as a Top-10 finalist in CBC’s country-wide talent competition.
Now the Dawson Creek band, which includes Trail natives Karli Harrison and Kim and Jordan Fines, is only days away from finding out if they will be crowned the winner.
Beating out thousands of Canadian artists, Scarlet Sway advanced as a top-five finalist by vote. The six-member band joins five finalists as judged by CBC Music to round out the group of 10, that are now in line for some great rewards.
“Considering we got here because of our communities is an extremely humbling feeling,” Harrison told the Trail Times.
“The fact that people cared enough to take the time to support us as much as they did is incredible.”
The winner will be announced March 19 at 8 a.m.
Searchlight 2018 began in January with 2,000+ Canadian artists submitting original songs from every province and territory. Hundreds of thousands of votes were cast and counted before the Top 100 advanced to a final voting round from March 1 to March 7.
Those results were whittled down to the Top-10 finalists this week. Now CBC Music does the rest with celebrity judges determining the ultimate winner.
The winning group/musician of Searchlight 2018 will receive a prestigious placement at the week-long 2018 Allan Slaight JUNO Master Class in Toronto, Canada’s premiere artist development program (valued at approximately $100,000), as well as an industry showcase to cap the week.
The winning group/musician will also win a trip to the 2019 JUNO Awards to perform at JUNOFest and take in all the festivities, including the awards show. As well as a week long recording residency at Studio Bell in the National Music Centre in Calgary and a performance at the 2018 CBC Music Festival at Echo Beach in Toronto.
In a contest with so much talent, what propelled Scarlet Sway to the top?
“Swagger.
“That’s what this northeastern B.C. band offers in its original, confident take on rock, blues and soul,” says Grant Lawrence from CBC Searchlight.
Locals will have the chance to see Scarlet Sway live during Silver City Days. The group will return for a second year as the festival’s top entertainment, Saturday night in the Trail Memorial Centre Arena.
“We get to play around the Peace region so much,” said Harrison. “Now we’re excited to head back to the Kootenays for Silver City Days and show the people how much we’ve appreciated their support.”