Emerson Drive is a Canadian country music band consisting of Brad Mates, Danick Dupelle, Mike Melancon (drums), and Dale Wallace. The band was founded in 1995 as 12 Gauge, which consisted of Mates, Pat Allingham (fiddle), Steven Swager, Chris Hartman (keyboards), Dan Binns (guitar), David Switzer (guitar), and Remi Barre (drums); Swager was replaced with Jeff Loberg early on. After recording under this name, the band moved to the United States in 1999 and renamed themselves to Emerson Drive. They released two albums for the former DreamWorks Records Nashville branch: Emerson Drive in 2002 and What If? in 2004. These accounted for their first hit singles in the United States: "I Should Be Sleeping", "Fall into Me", and "Last One Standing". After DreamWorks closed, Emerson Drive signed with Midas Records Nashville for the 2006 album Countrified, which produced their only American number-one single in "Moments". Further releases in the United States were unsuccessful, but the band continued to chart in Canada through releases on Open Road Recordings and Big Star Recordings over the next ten years.
"Always on My Mind" is a ballad written by Wayne Carson, Johnny Christopher, and Mark James, first recorded by Brenda Lee and first released by Gwen McCrae in March 1972. Lee's version was released three months later in June 1972. The song has been a crossover hit, charting in both the country and western and pop categories. Elvis Presley's recording was the first commercially successful version of the song.
"Angel of the Morning" is a popular song written by Chip Taylor, originally recorded by Evie Sands but which first charted with a version by Merrilee Rush. The song has been covered by many artists including Chrissie Hynde, Dusty Springfield, P. P. Arnold, Connie Eaton, Mary Mason, Guys 'n' Dolls, Melba Montgomery, Olivia Newton-John and most recognizably by Juice Newton.
"Easy" is a song by American band Commodores from their fifth studio album, Commodores (1977), released on the Motown label. Group member Lionel Richie wrote "Easy" with the intention of it becoming another crossover hit for the group given the success of a previous single, "Just to Be Close to You", which spent two weeks at number one on the US Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart and peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1977.
"She's Not Just a Pretty Face" is a song co-written and recorded by Canadian country pop artist Shania Twain, recorded for her fourth studio album Up! (2002). It was released as the album's sixth single on October 6, 2003; the fourth released to country radio. Twain wrote the song with then-husband Robert John "Mutt" Lange, who also produced it.
American singer-songwriter Kelly Clarkson has released ten studio albums, eight extended plays, one compilation album, one remix album, and 56 singles. In 2002, she won the inaugural season of the television competition American Idol and was immediately signed to a recording deal with 19 Recordings, and RCA Records. She made her chart debut in September 2002 with the double A-side single "Before Your Love"/"A Moment Like This", latter of which topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart and eventually became the year's best-selling single in the United States. Her debut album, Thankful, was released in April 2003 and entered the US Billboard 200 chart at number one. Thankful produced the hit lead single "Miss Independent" and was certified double-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
"'It's a Heartache'" is a song recorded by Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler. Written by Ronnie Scott and Steve Wolfe, and co-produced with David Mackay, the single was released in November 1977 through RCA Records. The song topped the charts in Australia, Canada, and numerous European countries, and reached No. 3 in the US and No. 4 in the UK. Worldwide, "It's a Heartache" sold around six million copies.
What If? is the fourth studio album by Canadian country music band Emerson Drive. It was released on June 29, 2004 via DreamWorks Nashville and was the group's final release with the label. Like their previous album, American musician Richard Marx produced the album. The group co-wrote one song on the album, "If You Were My Girl".
"Making Memories of Us" is a song written by American country music artist Rodney Crowell that has been recorded by several artists. The first version was recorded by American country music artist Tracy Byrd on his 2003 album The Truth About Men. One year later, Crowell and Vince Gill recorded the song as former members Crowell's backing band called The Notorious Cherry Bombs, and was featured on their self-titled album.
"Fishin' in the Dark" is a song written by Wendy Waldman and Jim Photoglo, and recorded by American country music group Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, with Jimmy Ibbotson singing lead. It was released on June 7, 1987, as the second single from their album Hold On. It reached number-one on the U.S. and Canadian country charts. It was the band's third number-one single on the U.S. country music charts and the second in Canada. After it became available for download, it has sold over a million digital copies by 2015. It was certified Platinum by the RIAA on September 12, 2014.
"You're Like Comin' Home" is a song recorded by American country music group Lonestar and it was released in June 2005 as the lead single from their sixth studio album Coming Home. The song peaked at number 8 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. It was written by Brandon Kinney, Brian Dean Maher and Jeremy Stover.
"Fall into Me" is a song by Canadian country music band Emerson Drive, released on July 1, 2002, as the second single from their eponymous third studio album following the top-five hit "I Should Be Sleeping". It was written by Danny Orton and Jeremy Stover with production by American musician Richard Marx. It would peak at number three on the US Hot Country Songs chart in early 2003. It was their highest charting single in the United States until "Moments" reached number one in 2007.
"You Still Own Me" is a song originally recorded by Scottish-Canadian country music artist Johnny Reid. It was recorded on his 2005 album Born to Roll.
"Last One Standing" is a song by the Canadian country music group Emerson Drive. It was produced and co-written by American musician Richard Marx, with extra writing from Fee Waybill. It was released on January 19, 2004, as the lead single to their fourth studio album What If? (2004).
"Home" is a song by Canadian singer Michael Bublé, and released on January 24, 2005, as the first single from his fourth studio album, It's Time. The song was written by Bublé, along with co-writers Alan Chang and Amy Foster-Gillies. Bublé's version was a number-one single on the Adult Contemporary chart formats of both Canada and the United States, in addition to certifying platinum in both countries as well as finding chart success internationally. Following his original version in 2005, two cover versions were successful by other artists: one by Irish group Westlife in 2007, and one by American singer Blake Shelton in 2008.
The discography for Canadian country music group Emerson Drive consists of seven studio albums, one compilation, one EP, 33 singles, and 25 music videos. The band was formed in February 1995, under the name 12 Gauge, and released an independent debut album in 1996 titled Open Season. The group then released their second album, Until You Walk the Tracks in 1997. The album included the singles "Love's a Trip" and "Some Trains Never Come", which peaked at number 70 and number 36 on the Canadian RPM Country Tracks Chart.
"Tennessee Whiskey" is a country song written by Dean Dillon and Linda Hargrove. It was originally recorded by country artist David Allan Coe for his album of the same name, peaking at number 77 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart in 1981. George Jones' 1983 version of the song was included on his album Shine On, and reached number two on the Hot Country Singles chart.
"Rose Garden" is a song written in 1967 by American singer-songwriter Joe South. It was first recorded by Billy Joe Royal on his 1967 studio album Billy Joe Royal Featuring "Hush". Versions by South himself and Dobie Gray appeared shortly after the original. Gray's version became a minor hit in North America in 1969.
"Suddenly" is a song by American country music artist LeAnn Rimes, released as the third and final single from her fifth studio album Twisted Angel (2002) on February 24, 2003. The song was written by Desmond Child and Andreas Carlsson and produced by the former along with Peter Amato and Gregg Pagani. The song was included in the soundtrack for the 2003 box-office bomb View from the Top.
"Wild as Her" is a song recorded by Canadian country music artist Tyler Joe Miller. It was written by Morgan Wallen, Brett Tyler, and Kelly Archer, and produced by Emerson Drive member Danick Dupelle. Miller's version reached number eight on the Canada Country charts and was certified gold by Music Canada. It was later included on Miller's album Spillin' My Truth. Later that year, American country singer Corey Kent released a version of the song through RCA Records Nashville as his official debut single. Kent's version charted on Billboard Hot Country Songs, Country Airplay, and Hot 100 between 2022 and 2023.
