CODY KAREY

HOMETOWN: Fort St. James, B.C., Canada
INFLUENCES: Josh Groban, Andrea Bocelli, Alan Jackson
ALBUM: Cody Karey, out now
WEBSITE: codykarey.com

Clad in cowboy boots and jeans he’d been given by his grandmother, British Columbia native Cody Karey began performing at age 6. As a teen, he shifted musical styles from country to traditional pop. “I was pretty certain that was the music I wanted to do,” he says, “which was certainly weird for a kid from hockey-loving B.C. I never had the opportunity to get a world-class education in how to sing this kind of music.” After reaching the finals of a talent show hosted by Grammy-winning producer David Foster, Karey, 23, signed with Verve Records, and served as opening act for the Three Tenors and Andrea Bocelli. Produced by Foster, Karey’s self-titled debut album includes songs in Italian and Spanish. “People love the romance of relying on the performance to tell them what an artist is trying to say, without necessarily understanding all the words,” he says. “I’ve always been someone who connects with chords and rhythm more than lyrics.”