Cameron Whitcomb<\/a> went to record his debut album on the heels of a meteoric rise, he laid out one rule for himself. \u201cI want to tell the truth,\u201d he says of a record that explores mental darkness, teenage addiction, recovery and \u2014 eventually \u2014 hope.<\/p>\n\n\tThat record is The Hard Way<\/em>, a deeply personal full-length project for Whitcomb. A 22-year-old from Nanaimo, British Columbia, he\u2019s already seen three singles certified gold or better in Canada and was named Breakthrough Artist of the Year last month at the Canadian Country Music Awards.<\/p>\n\n\tThe Hard Way<\/em> stands as a 15-track record best understood as Whitcomb\u2019s autobiography. With the country music landscape now punctuated by a generation of young songwriters laying bare personal trauma and intense heartache, Whitcomb wanted his first full-length to capture his life so far, darkness be damned.<\/p>\n\n\t\u201cRecords that I really relate to are the ones that I can listen to, top to bottom, and hear the whole story,\u201d Whitcomb tells Rolling Stone<\/em>. \u201cLike, a work of art rather than a bunch of songs put together.<\/p>\n\n\t\u201cThe Hard Way<\/em> kind of summed it up. I feel like everything in my life, I\u2019ve had to learn the hard way. This record means a lot to me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\tThe haunting title track finds Whitcomb vulnerably revealing thoughts of suicide. \u201cWakin\u2019 up worthless, should\u2019ve worked up the courage to kill myself,\u201d introduce a journey through depression and self-doubt, and the ultimate realization that those feelings can only be overcome with a reckoning. That\u2019s where Whitcomb finds himself now.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI don\u2019t know, you write it, and it\u2019s easy, but it\u2019s hard to say out loud,\u201d Whitcomb says. \u201cI\u2019ve thought about killing myself forever. Now, I still have those thoughts, but things are so incredible, and things are so great. I can\u2019t do that \u2014\u00a0especially because there have been so many people who share their stories with me and say that I helped them. I couldn\u2019t be that guy. It\u2019s not an option anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n \t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n
\n\tBy his estimation, Whitcomb started drinking around age 13 or 14. Meth followed not long after that. He left home when he was 17 and took a job working on a pipeline in Western Canada. He spent his off-hours either singing karaoke or posting videos of cover songs on social media. In 2022, an American Idol <\/em>representative saw one of his videos and invited Whitcomb to audition. He finished in the top 20 for the season and decided to take music seriously in the wake. He started writing songs and quickly found an audience on social media. At the same time, he owned up to his own addiction and swore off substances by the time he was 20. His father and best friend were heavily influential in that decision.<\/p>\n\n\t\u201cI got clean because my best friend got clean,\u201d Whitcomb explains. \u201cHe nearly OD\u2019ed and went into treatment. I watched how everything kind of changed. At that point, I was trying to do the music thing, but doing music while also doing meth doesn\u2019t really work very well.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI got clean, and I started writing about it. I was writing songs that were for me, and not necessarily what I thought other people wanted to hear.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tWhile he was working through recovery, Whitcomb would write a song and immediately post it on social media, where he found an open-minded fan base. \u201cIt was crazy the reaction that I got,\u201d he recalls now.<\/p>\n
\n\tIt also explains the heaviness in Whitcomb\u2019s lyrics and the challenges they posed to a young artist. Over the past three years, his sound has oscillated between folk and rock. He sings with a gravelly voice that complements the intensity of his lyrics.<\/p>\n\n\n \t\tRelated Content<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n\n