Emerging Country Artist Angelica Appelman Returns Following Brain Injury With New Single “Finding My Feet”
Angelica Appelman has unveiled her latest single, “Finding My Feet” on January 31st—a deeply personal song about resilience after a devastating car accident.
Co-written with Jesse Slack, Daryl Scott, and Rich Cloke, this heartfelt track is the latest from her upcoming EP. Since debuting in 2022, Angelica has made waves in Canadian country music, earning radio features and festival spots, including Cavendish Beach and Kemptville Live.
Now, she’s sharing her most personal story yet. Let’s dive into “Finding My Feet.”
First up, what have you been up to since we last spoke?
Oh, my goodness! It sure has been awhile since we last spoke. Well, I released my debut EP, “A Reason or a Season” which has over 400,000 streams, and played a sold-out release show at the Rivoli to celebrate it with Rich Cloke, I was support for Dean Brody at Kemptville Live Music Festival 2024, I played Cavendish Beach Music Festival 2024, I opened up for Robyn Ottolini in Chatham-Kent 2024, wrote a bunch of new tunes for a sophomore EP – which will be out later this year. I got into a life-changing car accident that almost ended my life but also gave me a second chance to share my story of hope with my new single “Finding My Feet” and my proud partnership with the Canadian Mental Health Association. I released two new fun singles, “Ringtone” and “Best Behaviour” that opened a lot of doors for me. Ringtone is doing well on radio and Best Behaviour is doing well on Apple Music, earning me a slot on their Canada’s Country: Best of 2024 playlist, as well as Today’s Country… Wow. It’s kind of cool to recap and see how far I have come. Just so many amazing milestones, music I am so proud of, rollercoasters, growth, etc. Oh yeah, and I am currently learning how to play the guitar and navigating living and working in a new town, Stratford Ontario.
Your upcoming single, “Finding My Feet,” shares your journey of healing after a devastating car accident. What inspired you to channel such a personal experience into music?
Honestly, it started off as an avenue for me to find hope and healing from the incident and everything I had been through. Then as we were writing it, I realized that everyone can relate to a story of struggle in one way or another and that we could capture those universal feelings that we all go through to really make it relatable for all. I waited awhile to release it until I truly felt like I could tell the story of hope and not a story of “woe is me” – it truly is a song with a positive message and when I got to that point in my healing journey, and was able to see it from that lens, I knew it would be a story that would bring a lot of comfort to my listeners. Also, I must give credit to other artists like the Reklaws and Andrew Hyatt who did it first and who have been so vocal about their stories of trauma and their struggles and connection with mental health. It was their bravery and vulnerability in their music that made me know I wasn’t alone, and it was safe to do that on a public platform because in the end, it isn’t about me or them, it is all about the impact that the message and music has on the listeners who need to hear it.
Can you tell us about the process of co-writing this track with Jesse Slack, Daryl Scott, and Rich Cloke? How did their contributions shape the song’s final version?
Jesse, Daryl, and Rich are such mentors for me. They are such talented and experienced songwriters, so I knew I was in good hands. They were instrumental in helping me take such a personal experience and focus less on every detail of my story. They encouraged me to be broader and simpler in the storytelling so that we could allow others to relate and create a more universal experience for my listeners. Not everyone has been in a devastating car accident, but everyone at one point or another knows what it is like to struggle and the feelings and thoughts that go hand in hand with that. Once we said it simply, and not in a fancy way, it provided a safe space for me and encouraged me to just say it how I or any human would say it. Right from the heart. That was a great lesson for me because when you stop being crafty, those elements come together naturally. Explaining through experiences and small stories of what I was going through sparked visuals that captured the message better than just saying, I struggled but I found hope.
“Finding My Feet” is part of your forthcoming EP. What can fans expect from the rest of the project? Will it carry similar themes of personal growth and healing?
Fans can expect similar themes of personal growth and healing, but with that comes different colours of what that looks like. The EP is called “Breaking the Habit” and each song encompasses lessons learned or habits worth breaking. Some of the stories are fun, refreshing, learning your worth and knowing what you deserve themes, accepting being in a healthy relationship and that journey, allowing yourself to be present and taking ownership of your life, and other human struggles such as patterns we keep repeating that aren’t serving us, blaming others, etc. It is my most honest, genuine project yet. I am excited for people to see all the different sides of me. I like to share where I am at with my fans and the life I have lived already with the hope that others can relate and find themselves too. When we acknowledge it, we can do something about it. It is important to me to have a streamline of hope in my music, even in sad tunes. I feel that is a message needed in this industry and in this world. Hope is in everything.
Your 2022 debut single “Happy Place” introduced you to the Canadian country music scene. How has your sound evolved since then?
I think I have grown a lot since then as a person and as an artist. I have worked hard on finding my unique voice both in songwriting and in performance and I think what it comes down to is, that I have done a lot of exploration in the writing rooms and vocal booth/studio and aligned myself with a team and producers who give me the agency to be me. Truly me. They allow me to try things without fear of failure, always pushing me to my full, authentic potential. My team takes my strengths and points out sweet spots in my voice or in my melodies that suit my voice and feel natural and easy. They light a fire of confidence in me to take control of my music and my stories. Because of their faith in me, I found faith in myself and was sure to have my stamp of approval or disapproval on every step of the process. I also think playing a ton of live shows these past three years helped me cut my teeth and was a tell-tale of what was working for me, as well as for my audiences – and often, what was working was one in the same.
With over 150,000 streams for “Happy Place” and the success of your past releases, how does “Finding My Feet” build on that momentum?
As much as I would love to get 150,000 streams or more on “Finding My Feet” as I did with “Happy Place” – “Finding My Feet” has different goals and different measures of success. This single is more about impact and getting this message of hope out to those who need to hear it. I am working with the Canadian Mental Health Association to create a stronger impact and get this song out to the CMHA communities and beyond. I think this song will build momentum on my successes from past releases because this single is my story and shows a deeper side to me and will open a new lane of listeners to explore not only this single but the rest of my catalogue. I always fall in love with an artist who allows their audience to come alongside their personal story and their reason for doing music and I think it will just solidify that connection with new and current fans of mine.
What are your plans for live performances in 2025? Can fans look forward to hearing “Finding My Feet” on stage soon?
Absolutely! 2025 is gearing up to be a big year, especially for showcasing “Finding My Feet” across Ontario, and possibly Canada (fingers crossed). I will be playing Lindsay, ON Field and Ice Show in support of the Lindsay Minor Hockey League at the Lindsay Armory on February 1, 2025, with Chris Clark and Mason Moxley. I am playing a writer’s round, hosted by Dave Woods at Stonewalls in Hamilton on February 13, 2025, where I will also be playing “Finding My Feet” and I will be the ambassador for Shoppers Drug Mart’s Run for Women in Partnership with the CMHA in May 2025. I will have the amazing opportunity to share my story and my song “Finding My Feet” and play a live band show for all attending. I am also so thrilled to be playing Sauble Beach Party 2025 with acts like The Reklaws, Brett Young, etc. it is going to be such a fulfilling, fun year! ☺