This week, the ninth of the 2012 Cariboo Idol contestants are being spotlighted.
John Robert Goodwin
Cariboo Idol contestant JR Goodwin hails from Quesnel.
His early influence is Hank Williams Sr., and JR says he has always liked Merle Haggard, Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings for style.
He got his first guitar at age 14, and learned to play by ear and feel, and by watching other pickers. JR says he probably knows about 2,000 songs off by heart “on a good day.”
He has been singing all his life and started writing songs around 1977, and 35 years later, he has four CDs and is still writing songs.
He has been nominated for three major awards by the British Columbia Country Music Association, and was inducted into the Quesnel Entertainers Hall of Fame 2010. He turned 65 this year and has no intention of retiring from the music scene for many years to come.
There’s a lot to do, he says.
“I am very privileged to be part of a song-writing group of individuals with the Cariboo Idols. They are real people, real songs, and real performances, with the tools to move forward and make history.”
This is the ninth in the series of 10
