In 2004, Emerson Drive released their second album What If?, featuring a more relaxed and pop-inspired sound. Though the album sold about as well as their first, none of its four singles charted well and as a result the band was dropped from the DreamWorks label, which folded in late 2005. Unfazed, the group was snapped up by upstart independent label Midas Records Nashville in early 2006, releasing their third album Countrified later that year.

The band’s most successful album to date, Countrified charted highly in both the United States and Canada. The album’s third single "Moments" rose to the #1 spot of the Billboard Hot Country Songs index in early 2007, making it the band’s first #1 hit to date. The album’s second single "You Still Own Me" also charted respectably, just months later. Emerson Drive plans to release a new record in 2008; the title of the first single has been revealed to be "The Extra Mile", which hits airwaves summer 2008.


From Lastfm:

Emerson Drive, is a country music band which started out in Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada in 1995. They received the 2002 Billboard Music Award for New Country Artist Of The Year. Their albums include Emerson Drive, What If?, and Countrified. Members of Emerson Drive are Brad Mates (lead vocals), David Pichette (fiddle), Danick Dupelle (lead guitar), Mike Melancon (drums) and Dale Wallace (keyboards). Mates is the only member of the band that now hails from Alberta, while the other members hail from British Columbia (Wallace) & Quebec (Dupelle, Melancon, & Pichette).

The band scored their first #1 in 2007 with the single "Moments". Emerson Drive has also been nominated for ACM and CMA Group of the Year in 2007 and a Grammy for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals in 2008.

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From Wikipedia:

Emerson Drive is a Canadian country music band founded in Grande Prairie, Alberta in 1995 as 12 Gauge. The band is composed of Brad Mates (lead vocals), Danick Dupelle (lead guitar), Mike Melancon (drums), Dale Wallace (keyboards), and David Pichette (fiddle). Former bass guitarist Patrick Bourque committed suicide in late 2007, and has not been replaced with an official bass guitarist.

Early on, the band found minor success in Canada, releasing two albums under the name of 12 Gauge, the first Open Season was a product of winning a local "Battle of the Bands" contest. They charted two minor singles on the Canadian charts and a music video on CMT. By 2003, they had been re-named Emerson Drive, and had moved to Nashville, Tennessee to find a major label record deal. Emerson Drive recorded two albums on the DreamWorks Records label, and charted several hits on both the U.S. and Canadian country music charts. After DreamWorks' collapse in 2005, Emerson Drive signed to Midas Records Nashville, where they resumed their streak of hit singles, including their first Number One single in "Moments". In summer 2008, Midas Records decided to discontinue their country division. As a result, Emerson Drive was moved over to The Valory Music Co. and the CD which Emerson Drive had been working on, Believe, became a co-partnership with Midas Records, who kept ownership of the CD while The Valory Music Co. was in charge of promotion and distribution of Emerson Drive and Believe.