Musician Christine Campbell finds that home is where the support is

P.E.I. native Christine Campbell has been a mainstay of the Maritime rock scene the last few years, first with her band Stone Mary and then solo.

She has a brand new album out in Aprilcalled Roller Coaster, and she launched it Saturday night at the Pourhouse in Charlottetown.

Campbell told Mainstreet's Angela Walker it's always great to come back to P.E.I., after living in Halifax for several years.

"It's just wicked to have a reason to come home. It's really tough these days to stay connected with anybody, not for lack of trying," she said.

"Whenever I can go somewhere where it's not just fans, but friends and family and I can see them all under one roof while doing what I love, it doesn't get any better than that."

Help from home

To make the new album, Campbell turned to crowdfunding, and the first people to step up were her relatives and friends.

"I'm not a big city girl by any means, so I really like being close to my family, being close to my friends, and people that hold doors for each other," she said.

"And then when you start getting support from all those people that you've known your whole life and have inspired you, like the aunts and uncles on the Campbell side, they were my biggest inspiration aside from records, because they would have all these kitchen parties, and it was a magic you can't describe."

The new album is pretty hard to pin down, she said, largely because of her big range of influences.

"Old school, '70's blues-based rock records like Zeppelin and Deep Purple. But I was a classical pianist, my mom put me in that first," she said. "I don't totally know how to classify what I've done, there's a lot of different tracks, hence the name Roller Coaster."

"Last Man Standing" is the first single from the album.

"It's a song about feeling a little bit broken, but remaining strong until you are strong again," said Campbell. "Just kind of faking it until it's the truth again. It had a R'n'B kind of beat, so I figured it might be something that worked well with Classified."

Collaborator Classified

She asked Halifax hip-hop star Classified to produce the album.

He's known for his successful collaborations with rock and pop artists, including his huge hit with David Myles, "Inner Ninja."

"Super cool," she called the sessions. "He's just a really down-to-earth guy, his lyrics are down-to-earth. I've always been a fan, I love his melody lines."

It was also good to have his input for the lyrics.

"It's nice to have some themes outside of my ex-boyfriend for this album," Campbell laughed. "I'm sure he'll appreciate that too."

Campbell's album release shows take her next to New Brunswick, and then a lengthy tour of Ontario, before returning to P.E.I. June 23 to play the Trailside in Mount Stewart.

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