Joel MacNeil, Pictou County's newest rising star.
If you happened to tune into the Pictou County Telethon this year you may have been blown away by the talent on hand. One particular singer that hit all of the right notes was fifteen year old Joel MacNeil. Aside from the telethon, Joel has also been on YTV, East Coast FM and has a large following on YouTube, yet somehow until recently I had not even heard of him.
Check him out on the 2011 Pictou County Christmas Fund telethon singing a cover of Adele’s “Someone Like You”, accompanied by Craig MacEachren and Dan Baird:
The following is a Q&A interview I conducted with Joel to shed a little light on this future phenomenon:
1. First of all, how old are you?
Joel: 15 years old
2. Where do you go to school?
Joel: Grade 10 at North Nova Education Center
3. At what age did you get into music?
Joel: I started singing as far back as I can remember. I started playing percussion in School bands in the 4th grade.
4. When did you realize you had a talent for singing?
Joel: I don’t know when I actually realized, I just sing because I enjoy to sing and really enjoy all avenues of music.
5. Do you play any instruments? How/when did you learn to play them?
Joel: I took piano for 2 years when I was in elementary school and still try and play a little. I started playing percussion in grade 4 and continued through grade 9 playing in School bands. This year I have been playing, Saxophone and Percussion with the NNEC Concert and Jazz Bands as well as I am learning to play guitar.
6. When did you first publicly sing/perform?
Joel: The first time I actually sang a solo was at AG Baillie elementary school in grade 2. Mrs. Miller, our music teacher asked me to sing at a Christmas assembly in front of all the students and staff. I sang “Somewhere In My Memory” from Home Alone.
7. What came first, YouTube or YTV?
Joel: YouTube
a. Briefly tell me about your experience on YouTube (i.e. What kind of reception did you get? Did you gain a following? Has it been a big part of your success thus far?).
Joel McNeil and his friend Luke MacDonald after accepting an award
A friend of mine, Luke MacDonald, and I entered a talent show at the Pictou Exibition in September 2010 and we won first place, so just for fun, we put the video of our performance on Youtube and it went over really well, so I decided to set up my own YouTube Channel and post a couple of my own videos. I have family that live away who never get a chance to see me sing, so YouTube allows them to see some of the Performances that I have done. Overall, the feedback has been very positive and I’ve gotten invitations to perform locally at different events because of someone who may have seen one of my video’s on YouTube.
b. Briefly tell me about what, why, how of being on YTV.
Joel: I heard about “The Next Star” auditions coming to Halifax and thought it would be fun to try it so, I went to Halifax, May 2011 and auditioned for YTV’s “the Next Star” . The Next Star is an open national singing competition for 15 years and younger and I was fortunate to have been called back as a Regional Finalist and was asked to sing Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep” for the celebrity judges, who in turn gave me some very positive feedback. There are some clips of my audition and comments from the judges featured on Episode 3 of the TV series,“The Next Star”.
I was also selected as 1 of 6 finalists chosen from across Canada in YTV’s “the Next Star” Virtual contest from an audition tape that I submitted.
8. Briefly tell me about any media coverage, invites to perform, etc you have received.
Joel: I took private voice lessons from Janice Alcorn for a couple of years and she has been a big help with my music, she’s a great teacher. The past 2 years I performed in the annual Music Festival, held here in New Glasgow and both years I was recognized as one of the “Stars of the Festival” and won individual awards for Promising Voice and “outstanding” Junior performer in Musical Theatre. I have performed the past 2 years on the Pictou County Christmas Fund Telethon and a “shout out” to Ann MacGregor, ECFM for inviting me to perform on ECFM Radio Relay and from that I was invited to join the band Mendiva on stage at the outdoor Relay for Life in Parkdale, which was lots of fun. Craig MacEachern has helped me out a lot with my music and anytime I’ve needed someone to play guitar for me, he’s been there , he’s awesome. Dan Baird, John Muirhead and Evan Curley have also given their time to help me out, which I greatly appreciate. I got to join Craig and some of his friends on stage at the New Glasgow Downtown Christmas Tree lighting this year and now I’m looking forward to Craig and I doing a couple of songs at the Heart N’ Home Roots for Youth fundraiser, taking place at Glasgow Square, February 14th. My music keeps me very busy, I’m a member of the NNEC Concert and Jazz Bands as well as the Jazz choir and I am presently rehearsing for my roles in this years NNEC big production of Les Miserables.
9. Do friends your fellow students treat you differently/look at you as a celebrity?
Relay 4 Radio 2011 on East Coast FM
Joel: I don’t consider myself a celebrity and my friends are my friends because of who I am, Joel. A lot of my friends are also in music and we all support each other. I just sing for no other reason other than, I love music.
10. Have you recorded any music professionally/are you working on a CD?
Joel: No, but if I was every given the chance, I would love to.
11. Do you intend to pursue music as a career when you finish school?
Joel: I’m undecided at this time, just having fun with it.
12. Do you write/perform any original music?
Joel: I play around with it but not anything I’m ready to share.
13. What artists do you like to cover?
Joel: Bruno Mars, Adele, Michael Jackson
14. Who is your favorite band/singer? Who is your biggest inspiration?
Joel: All Time Low, Queen are two of my favorite bands. My favorite
Singer and biggest inspiration has to be Michael Jackson.
15. How can people find out more about you?
Joel: Just ask my mother, kidding 
16. Is there anything you would like to add?
Joel: Music is only 1 of my interests, I love sports as well. I play and referee hockey, golf, ski and wakeboard.
Joel already has the talent and apparently a good head on his shoulders, so with the support of Pictou County and a little hard work, there is no stopping him on his road to success.
If you would like to hear more from Joel MacNeil, check out his YouTube page and be sure to subscribe.
Kris