A Podcast Conversation With ...The Reklaws
The sibling duo of Jenna and Stuart Walker are major stars on the Canadian country scene, as shown by gold and platinum singles and sky-high streaming stats. Learn more in this FYI podcast.
By Bill King
Not that long ago the Alabamians of Little Big Town arrived and shook the pavement beneath Music Row in Nashville. Along with them, a lively mix of roots country, Americana, with a pop undercurrent. The music cut for the middle ground of radio. Nearby, The Civil Wars – the music duo of Joy Williams and John Paul White. After winning four Grammys, the duo broke up in 2014. The on and off friction between the two parties became the downfall of another freshly minted sound outside the usual boundaries of what’s country and what’s dismissed? Once again, that hybrid of folk, roots, country and Americana found a massive audience open to authenticity and originality. At this moment, it’s the Christian group We the Kingdom that carries the banner connecting roots blues, mountain music, Americana, traditional country empowered by the vocals of the Cash family. Enter the Canadian duo, The Reklaws.
The Reklaws have a way of connecting all the genre-related idioms and can still write about beer, lost love, family, bar fights, and tractors with sincerity. Let’s say growing up on a farm is where all of this begins. Small community and plenty of time to bring out the instruments and jam around the kitchen table. It’s also the classic setting where songs passed down, Loretta’s, Merle’s, and Johnny’s music lives on. The lyrics have a way of connecting generations and bridging the small victories and tragedy through melody and memory.
This is where we begin today—with Jenna and Stuart Walker—The Reklaws – this month’s featured FYIMUSICNEWS.ca podcast. More about the Reklaws
More on the Reklaws
Born and raised in rural Ontario, The Reklaws are made up of sibling duo Jenna and Stuart Walker. Finding breakout success when their single Long Live the Night became the most-streamed domestic song of all Canadian country artists and the theme song for the national broadcast of the Canadian Football League’s Thursday Night Football (2018/2019), The Reklaws' momentum skyrocketed after the release of their debut EP, Feels Like That. Awarded the 2019 CCMA for Album of the Year, the album’s title single was also The Reklaws' first #1 at Canadian country radio and is certified gold in Canada.
Known for bringing a time of your life party to every stage they step onto, it’s no surprise that with the release on Friday of 11 Beers feat. nine-time #1, multi-platinum entertainer and Big Loud Recording artist Jake Owen, The Reklaws have turned a hopeful love song into country’s next party anthem. With its ‘can’t help but dance to’ baseline and 80’s inspired pop-medley, The Reklaws continue to trailblaze against the boundaries of country music, leading the way for the genre.
Written by Nashville heavy-hitters Michael Hardy (Blake Shelton, Florida Georgia Line, Chris Lane, Cole Swindell), Ashley Gorley (Luke Bryan, Carrie Underwood, Thomas Rhett), Hunter Phelps (Florida Georgia Line), and Ben Johnson (Charlie Puth, Shane McAnally), the track transports listeners back to the wistful optimism after a great first date and then watching it slip away before the last drink. “We know our fans are going to relate to this track because we’ve all lived through losing something before, we felt it was finished,” explained The Reklaws’ Jenna Walker. “We’re so honoured that Jake Owen, an artist we’ve partied to and been inspired by since he changed all of our lives with Barefoot Bluejean Night, agreed to join us on it and bring his signature easy-going, breezy melodies to take this fun love song over the top.”
Together the trio has delivered an anthem full of potential. Taking the listener back to memories of the one that got away, 11 Beers is slated to become yet another massive hit for the incredibly deserving sibling duo. “We wanted to do something a bit different for our next single, but it still needed to feel like us,” said Stuart Walker. “We knew as soon as we heard this one that we could get on that stage and have so much fun singing it, which to us is always the most important part. ‘11 Beers’ will have couples reminiscing on their first dates while tapping their toes to that four-on-the-floor beat - something not every country song is able to do!”
2021 was a record-setting year for The Reklaws. Known for breaking the mould, the pair went viral on TikTok last year with their hit What the Truck, which was the most streamed Canadian Country song ever released during a one-week period and the fastest-ever Canadian country song to go gold in the streaming era (under 16 weeks). Last year also saw the pair recognized with a Juno nomination for Group of The Year —the only country act nominated in the category — as well as six 2021 CCMA Awards nominations, making them the most nominated artists for 2021, where the pair took home two monumental wins for Group or Duo of the Year and Top Selling Canadian Single (Can’t Help Myself with Dean Brody).
No stranger to success, The Reklaws have taken the world by storm since their debut in 2018 with the platinum-certified single Long Live the Night. The brother-sister duo from rural Ontario currently hold two #1s at Canadian Radio (Feels Like That, Can’t Help Myself), 6 gold and 2 platinum singles as well as a gold-certified debut album (Freshman Year). They also hold 4 of the top 20 streamed singles by Canadian Country artists since 2019 (more than any other artist) and have the most domestically streamed debut album in Canadian country history. With 230M+ global Streams since their breakout debut just a few years ago, it’s evident that The Reklaws are doing things differently and that the world is taking notice.
