JR Charron: The gritty, powerhouse voice carving out the next chapter of Canadian Country
JR Charron is a must-watch name in Canadian country music. A gritty, powerhouse vocalist whose sound fuses modern edge with traditional roots.
His debut EP Impression (2020) put him on the map, with Song for You hitting the Top 10 on the Canadian Indie Country Charts and Broke breaking into the Top 50. From there, JR’s momentum hasn’t slowed. This Train earned him national attention on CBC Searchlight, while Day Worth Living For (Jump The Clutch) cracked the Top 15 on iTunes’ Country chart.
Known for high-energy, crowd-grabbing performances, JR has become a standout on major festival stages across the country. In 2024, he scored five Manitoba Country Music Award nominations, taking home one trophy, following his 2022 Fans’ Choice Award. His single Killin’ Frost became one of the most-played tracks on SiriusXM’s Top of the Country, and his latest release Different Goods is already turning heads at radio worldwide.
With a commanding voice, relentless drive, and a loyal, growing fanbase, JR Charron isn’t just making noise—he’s carving out a place as one of Canadian country’s must-watch artists.
First off care to introduce yourself to our readers?
I’m JR Charron, a Manitoban country-rock singer-songwriter and performer. I grew up on traditional country music as my parents wouldn’t let me listen to rock. I think that might have made me a little rebellious into my teenage years – as the only thing I listened to was rock. You could say I came back to my roots eventually. This fall’s been a big one! I’m up for five Manitoba Country Music Awards, plus a sixth for my Highwaymen tribute project. A lot of what I write is from real life experiences with the goal of writing songs that create moments for my listeners. I love the studio, I live for the stage, and I’m grateful for all of those who support me, stream, and listen to my music and buy tickets for my shows.
Tell us a bit about your recent release.
The new single is called “Halo.” We (Max Dupas, Dan Poperechny and I) wrote this one during a winter songwriter retreat at a cabin in Winnipeg Beach—no insulation in the floor….definitely a seasonal cabin that shouldn’t have been on Airbnb, lol.
Halo came together fairly quickly if I remember correctly. The three of us sat in the living room of that cabin with just guitars, a whole bunch of beer and that spark you chase as a writer. Sonically it blends my country roots with a little soul/R&B flavor, and there’s a trumpet intro I wasn’t sure about at first…until I heard it back and realized it absolutely worked. Credit to our producer (Derek Benjamin) for that vision. “Halo” has become my most downloaded track to radio to date, and I think it resonates because it’s honest, it’s sexy and it definitely allows your imagination to run wild 😉
How do you typically go about the songwriting process? Do you have a specific method or creative routine that you follow?
I try to write from the heart for the most part. My goal as a writer is to create music that is pleasing for me while hitting genre crossovers that listeners will keep coming back to.
I definitely have several different ways of putting writes together. Some days a concept seemingly falls into my lap after reading something in the news, or from someone saying a phrase. Other times it’s a melody that comes to be out of the blue that I add words too. Of course, we also get together for writes where we put concepts together, share ideas and create songs together. Songwriting for me is an absolute release and I don’t think anything gives you quite the euphoric feeling you get as to when you write something that makes the hair on your arms stand up.
Looking ahead, what are your plans for supporting this new release? Are there any upcoming tours, music videos, or additional content that fans can look forward to in connection with this project?
We’ve currently got several dates on the calendar with our Highwaymen project (with more dates to be announced). But for JR Charron, I’m looking forward to taking it easy this fall and winter as far as playing shows for my own project are concerned.
The music video is pretty well done, and you can expect to see that one pretty soon! I wouldn’t rule out a live performance video either.
We always like to put a small merch line with our releases as well. So be on the lookout at JRCharron.com for new Halo swag 😉
Looking back on your musical career, is there a particular moment or accomplishment that you consider a turning point or a highlight?
There are definitely a couple moments that stand out to me.
When I was in University, we (former band: Jump the Clutch) released a song called “Day Worth Livin For”. That song went in the Top 15 on the iTunes Country Charts. Pretty cool to see a song chart higher than artists like Tim McGraw and Taylor Swift. Especially seeing as we were a bunch of broke college kids who had never been in the recording studio.
Our release of our single Killin’ Frost paired with a hilltop performance at Dauphin’s CountryFest saw our streaming numbers and radio airplay take off. Coupled with the fact we were playing the hilltop stage at the same time as Walker Hayes, and people were leaving the Walker Hayes show to watch us was definitely a career moment.
One more…back in the spring we were playing a sold-out show in Brandon, MB. This was for our “Tribute to the Highwaymen” – a show where we honour the music of Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson. However, we also play a couple of original tunes in our sets…. After the show, this girl and her friends flagged me down. They had travelled something like 3 hours to see me play, knowing that it wasn’t necessarily a night of original music. That’s pretty damn cool.
Last but not least, it’s time to pay it forward, what upcoming band or artist would you recommend your fans check out?
This is. tough question…but only because there’s not one single artist or Band that I can recommend – given that Manitoba is an absolute untapped gold mine for Country, Rock, Western and more. With that being said, I’m gonna give you a couple:
Club Wagon Creek – Perhaps one of the most technically talented Western bands on the prairies. Do NOT sleep on these gentlemen. Zak – their lead singer is one of the most talented vocalists I know. So good that in fact he’s been mistaken for using autotune at live shows… That voice is natural.
Hamburger Island (Max Dupas) – I’m lucky enough to call Max a good friend as well as to have him in my band. Truly one of Canada’s greatest lead guitar players, and one heck of a writer.
Prairieline – Pretty well a mini-Manitoba Super Group. If you love 90s Country, Aaron, Brad, the team at Prairieline have a new single out (Long Way To Go) that’s well worth the listen.
Heartsleeve – I can’t say enough good about Gareth and the boys at Heartsleeve. Just do yourself a favour and give them a listen. They also might have a new album coming out.