Without a lot of fanfare, Belleville natives The Wilkinsons have become the latest homegrown country music success story.
In the space of one year after signing a recording deal, the trio of father Steve, daughter Amanda and son Tyler have rocketed to the top of the North American charts with a catchy little ditty titled 26 Cents.
As is usual in the cases of fast-out-of-the-blocks chart toppers you have to dig below the surface to see that this was no overnight success.
"It began simply because I wanted to have something that we could do as a family," says leader/dad Steve Wilkinson during a recent interview stop in Toronto.
"Once the kids got comfortable we'd end up at the relatives' houses. That evolved into doing parties and weddings which evolved into working county fairs and festivals and then eventually opening for U.S. country acts who'd play here."
While Steve toiled as a house carpenter in the Trenton area by day, the family worked on their performing chops with both Amanada and Tyler finding success on CJOH's Homegrown Cafe.
"Amanda won on Homegrown Cafe and then a couple of years after that when the two kids started singing harmony stuff together, they both won again.
"As a result we did a lot of shows in the Ottawa area, including dates in Smiths Falls, so you can refer to us loosely as a home town act," he laughs.
Eventually Steve's songwriting began to pay dividends as he placed four tracks into the mix on rising star Lawnie Wallace's CD I Thought I Was Dreaming in '96.
And then it was time to make some hard choices.
"I figured that if I really wanted to make a mark as a songwriter we had to go to Nashville. So, it took a couple of years of soul-searching before we made the move to Nashville," he says.
In fact, he almost pulled the plug on the idea of relocating to Music City.
"About three weeks before we were to leave I went to my wife Chris and said: 'I can't move my family to a foreign country, it's just too selfish of me,' " he reveals.
But the bottom line in the genesis of their meteoric rise is one of family support, love, trust and belief in one another.
"Chris just looked at me and said: 'What's the worst that could happen? Maybe no one will be interested in you as a songwriter or the family as an act. So we'll burn up our equity and after a couple of years we'll come home. Big deal!' "
A gutsy move for anyone's partner for sure and a real indication of what this family is made up of.
"She's the best part of what I am," Steve says of his wife.
The phenomenal success of 26 Cents is due to the warm family-oriented story about a young girl leaving home, but knowing her mom will always be there for her when she needs to call.
"The underlying thread is about relationships between parents and children and comes from how I feel about my kids.
"And I'd like to think that parents in Canada, the U.S. or around the world feel the same way. Love between parents and children goes on in spite of miles and time and death separating them.
"It carries on forever."
As a payment for that support The Wilkinsons saw the fruit of that labour come in a special way.
"Our song went No. 1 the same day as my anniversary. I said to the record company: 'You guys gave me the best anniversary present I ever got, and you didn't even need to wrap it!' "
