Bobby Cameron – Emotional Drift Released 2003 

As if there were ever any doubt at the natural talent Bobby Cameron possesses, Emotional Drift would erase any!! What an amazing collection of songs that range in styles from a folksy groove (What Are We Here For) to a more country down home sound (Everyday And Night). Or, if it’s straight in your face blues guitar with Bobby's powerful, versatile vocals screaming right along with that singing axe that you're into .. then Fighter Who Believes and No Regrets are for you! Bobby moves VERY easily into a softer, mellow sound with the tracks Angel and the title track, Emotional Drift. Vocally, Bobby has a wonderful range, able to soothe the soul with soft melodic tones, or, step up and hit you square between the eyes with power and emotion. Lyrically, each song stands out as a master story in its own right. Whether its a tale of uncertainty in this life (What Are We Here For), a quiet yet heartfelt tribute to those effected by a horrendous act that changed a country forever (Emotional Drift), just every day occurrences, like getting your morning coffee (Coffee Cup) or changes and reactions as we travel down life's various different paths. Emotional Drift takes the listener on a journey down Bobby’s own life and loves, with finding inspiration for his writing in everything from love for his family, the love and “light” of his life, or life as the fantastic journey that it is. As a "guitar slinging - singer/song writing guy" Bobby deserves to be listed among the best in music. To paraphrase another gifted writer .. if music be the food of life .. play on Bobby .. play on! 

Peace, Blues, and a Good Cup of Morning Coffee!
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The song selection and the play order were perfect. It's the ideal disc to set a mood of fun, the plain kind OR the nasty kind! Cameron's guitar work is flawless as always and his vocals are strong and clear. On some of the "bouncier" tracks, more backup vocals would have been nice but the blues numbers are dead solid perfect.
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The songwriting part of his life is one that Cameron has been working a great deal on these days.

He’s been spending a lot of time in Nashville working with others and pitching those songs to more established artists, in the hopes that ultimately he can establish himself as a performer.

“I’m still keeping my focus — I’m an artist first and foremost, but it gets me to meet some industry people and maybe some people who are into what I’m doing to help move this along,” he says. “So both pieces are tied together to see if they can give legs to one.”

In keeping with the intertwining of his two ambitions, April 17 at Kaos, Cameron will be celebrating the release of Emotional Drift, a stellar disc melding country, pop and rock originally recorded with the intention of it acting as merely a demo to help shop him and his songs around.

The results were too good to go unheard by music lovers though, thanks in part to the A-team of session musicians Cameron worked with, including keyboardist Reese Wynans (Allman Brothers, Stevie Ray Vaughan) and Dan Dugmore (James Taylor, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson).

Already the album is making waves on radio, meaning that maybe, just maybe, Cameron will get that wish of finding wider acceptance as an artist in his own right.

“All that matters to me is just finding an audience to listen to what I’m doing and playing and having shows — spreading the word a gig at a time,” he says.

“That’s something I have influence over. The rest of it, it’s in the stars — if it happens, it happens, but I ain’t going away.”
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You don’t hear about too many music stories in which our hero moves to Edmonton to look for his big break, but then again, songwriter Bobby Cameron is not like the other boys. For instance, the Cape Breton-born Cameron has no stars in his eyes regarding the desire to have a record contract – instead, he has a publishing deal with Carlin America. That means Cameron shops his songs, not his soul, out to the arcane machinery of the industry.

"It gets me around the idea of just being an artist who just records and gigs. With the song publishing, it’s kind of another package," Cameron says from his Ottawa home, where he spends time with his wife between frequent trips to Toronto. He also still has a house in Edmonton, where he visited recently to perform a showcase during Juno week. "When I left home, I toured all over in bands, and ended up staying in Edmonton. Most people go to Edmonton to get work in oil. I went to be a rock star, because there were lots of gigs there."

Although he saw some great performances during Juno week, he admits, "I’m not a Juno kind of guy. I really believe that you create your own buzz. You do it one gig at a time. It’s about the live show, the songs and the people. Record companies try and manufacture it, and they’re wondering why it isn’t working."

This is why you won’t find Cameron’s new CD, Emotional Drift, on any major label. Produced in Nashville by Miles Wilkinson (Emmylou Harris, Guy Clark, The Co-Dependents), Cameron’s eight-song disc shows off the reason he’s signed as a songwriter. With more hooks than the sports section at Canadian Tire, the songs are naturals to get stuck on radio playlists.

Cameron is involved with every aspect of his record and has released it independently. "To paraphrase Mike Plume, I don’t need any help (from a record company) to screw up my career. I can screw it up for myself," he says. One career move he has been fricasseed for by old friends is his involvement with Canadian Idol’s Ryan Malcolm. "My old keyboard player in Edmonton hung me out to dry on that one, but it was a great experience," he says. "For days we met as different teams and just wrote songs. I got to work with Luke MacMaster and Jenna Gawne, who’s a great lyricist." The fact that the resulting song, "October Skies," appears on Malcolm’s platinum-selling album does much to repair the insult of being fricasseed by old pals.
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