Sean Hogan

The response to Sean Hogan’s 1996 debut album over a decade ago was nothing less than spectacular! With a stylistic sound that some industry observers have described as dangerously balanced between ”alt-country authenticity” and “modern rustic pop appeal”, his first album release immediately caught the attention of country radio programmers and listeners across Canada. Their reaction earned him the first-ever C.C.M.A. Independent Male Artist of The Year Award in 1997. Since then, Hogan has become one of the highest profiled Canadian singer/songwriters performing his own brand of Country and Roots music in Canada, as well as in parts of the U.S. and Australia in recent years, and has had an astounding seventeen music videos aired on CMT Canada promoting those songs.

Though Hogan loves to play live, and has become fond of saying “Go ahead call me, I’ll rock your stage”. The singer says he is “motivated by the satisfaction of tapping into a song idea, finding its true spirit, carving out its continuity, and creating a song that reaches people with its story as well as its sheer emotion.” He has tapped into that vein more than once with such songs as Angeline, Catalina Sunrise, Vulnerable, Centered, A Cowboy’s Heart, Tired of Leavin’, I’d Rather Have You, Silver Lining Girl, and What Would You Have Me Believe and Don't Sweat The Small Stuff to name just a few.

Hijacked, Hogan’s second album, along with his third Canadian CD Late Last Night, won two consecutive West Coast Music Awards in 2001 and 2002, each in the category of Best Country Album. In 2003, Hogan won C.C.M.A.’s Roots Artist of The Year, the first Independent artist to win this prestigious award. Hogan’s self-released U.S. Americana debut, Ruled by Mercury, went Top 30, making it to #24 on the AMA Americana Chart in January of that year, during Hogan’s self-organized tour in Australia.

The following year, Hogan personally planned and launched the Canadian Country Christmas Concert tour. In conjunction with Country radio, the event assists communities across Canada with funding for food banks, hospital foundations, cancer research, child development programs, and a whole host of other initiatives for those in need. In 2007 Hogan teamed up with World Vision on his national tour and found the combination very rewarding in fact nearly 30 children were sponsored in HIV affected Third World countries from the efforts alone in 2007. The first tour was inspired by one of Sean’s songs that asked the question, “Why not live the whole year through like it’s Christmas time?” To-date, the effort has raised over $60,000 for non-sponsored charities throughout Canada, this good will earned Hogan the S.C.M.A.’s 2005 Humanitarian Award.

Among other events in 2005, Sean toured Canada coast to coast released and promoted his 4th album Catalina Sunrise . and filmed his 17th music video, A Cowboy’s Heart, in the Arizona desert. Hogan won 3 more industry awards in 2005, including the Saskatchewan Country Music Award for Male Artist of The Year and Video of The Year. Catalina Sunrise, a seminal album, won 2nd place position in the January review of The Best Albums of 2005 with the internationally distributed Country Music News. Another track off the album, Conspiracy Radio, began raising attention in the U.S. on the late night talk radio show, Coast-to-Coast Arm.

Hogan spent much of 2006 stateside recording his 5th Country album, Southern Sessions. In 2007 Hogan’s success was back on mainstream Country radio with his debut single from Southern Sessions called What Would You Have Me Believe, and again gaining industry Roots artist accolades with a nomination for Roost Artist of the Year, at the 2007 CCMA’S in Regina. He also was included earlier in the year on In Tune Saskatchewan 2007 compilation CD. Chosen out of over 200 submissions to be one of 19 on the JUNO disc was his song Shangri La, the In Tune cd produced in partnership with SaskMusic. Hogan’s new U.S. Americana follow-up album Conspiracy Radio is now in the spring of 2008 receiving great accolades at U.S. Americana radio, and moving up the AMA album chart. Meanwhile also from his Southern Sessions release his song Don't Sweat The Small Stuff, has become a "Line Dance" favorite, across the world and in fact has a dance written to it and his song called "Centered", as well.

Learn more about Sean Hogan at http://www.seanhogan.net