Windsor is a border town that breathes diesel and manufacturing, but it has a funny way of producing voices that belong in a Nashville honky-tonk. Carson Janik is the latest anomaly to emerge from the 519 area code. He is 16. He is a grade 11 student. And he is currently outperforming half the veteran acts in the province.
Sitting across from Janik, you do not see a polished industry plant. You see a kid from Tecumseh who happens to have a preternatural grasp of melody and a work ethic that would make a shift worker at the Chrysler plant sweat. He is our Artist to Watch for 2021, and for good reason. His new single, Better Than That, is catching fire on the airwaves, but this is not some overnight fluke.
Janik is a multi-threat. He does not just stand behind a mic; he builds the world around it. When asked to define his identity for the uninitiated, he remains grounded in his roots.
"I’m 16 years old, born and raised in Tecumseh, Ontario," Janik says. "I am a modern country singer, songwriter, guitarist, pianist, bassist, and recording artist. I’m a social guy, I like getting together with friends and family. In my free time, I am also a grade 11 student."
The industry often treats teen stars like fragile commodities, but Janik handles his business with a bluntness that is refreshing. He is a "social guy" trapped in a world of social distancing, yet he has used that isolation to sharpen his craft. Better Than That is the result of that cabin fever. It is a track that leans into the polished, upbeat production of modern country while maintaining a lyrical sincerity that avoids the hollow clichés of the "bro-country" era.
Janik breaks down the origin of the track, noting it was born from the digital necessity of the first lockdown.
"“Better Than That” is a super fun and upbeat song about having that one love that is better than everything in the world," Janik says. "This was one of the first songs I wrote during the first lockdown and it started out with a melody in my head and a facetime call with my songwriting mentor. It was a blast to write and record, and now it’s even better to see it getting played on radio stations worldwide."
There is a technical proficiency here that suggests Janik is skipping the "amateur" phase of his career entirely. While most kids his age were figuring out how to use Zoom for math class, he was logging hours in the studio. His previous effort, Choked Up, served as a proof of concept. Recording a professional single at 14 is a gamble; your voice is a moving target at that age.
"I started recording “Choked Up” in early July when I was 14, back in 2019," Janik says. "I wrote that one, and a few other songs, around May of the same year. I wrote “Better Than That” in March 2020 right when everything started to shut down and then got into the studio as quickly as we could to start the recording process. At that point what started out as 2 singles in early 2020, started looking like something more."
But let’s be critical for a second. The transition from a 14-year-old’s register to a 16-year-old’s baritone is a minefield. On Choked Up, you can hear the youth. On Better Than That, you hear the artist. He is finding his pockets. He is learning where his breath control fails and where his grit begins. It is an evolution happening in real-time under the public eye.
Balancing the demands of the Ontario secondary school curriculum with the rigours of a radio tour is a logistical nightmare. Yet, Janik seems to view the pandemic as a strange sort of professional gift—a vacuum that cleared away the distractions of a normal teenage life.
"Well, I’m a ways off from being a professional musician but I’m constantly working on my strengths and weaknesses as an artist to someday become that pro musician," Janik says. "I’ve been lucky to be able to surround myself with so many industry professionals and I’ve learned a ton from them. Right now I find that it’s fairly easy to balance everything that is going on simply because of the lockdown. A lot of the things that most of us took for granted, like dinners out, getting together with friends, and hitting the gym, are not in the mix right now."
“Better Than That” is the leadoff single from my upcoming EP. It didn’t start out as an EP in early 2020. I had a couple of songs I hit the studio with last January, but the lockdown had a silver lining and I ended up writing another 5 songs and turned things into an EP.
There is an old-soul quality to his vocal delivery. It lacks the nasal whine that plagues so many young country hopefuls. When you hear him, you wonder where that resonance comes from. It sounds like a voice that has seen more than 16 years of Tecumseh winters.
"I’ve heard stories from my parents that as soon as I was able to talk, I started singing along to the radio and wouldn’t stop singing, which was a blessing for sure," Janik says. "Over the last few years, I have taken some vocal lessons to strengthen my voice and to make it sound as professional as it can be, especially when my voice first started to crack and change. I think the singing ability comes naturally from the family tree. There are so many accomplished singers in my family that I suppose the odds are with me. I’m still working on my voice to this day, and probably always will be. I just wish I still had my falsetto that I had when I was 12!"
That honesty about the "vocal crack" is pure Janik. He is not trying to hide the mechanics of his growth. He is working with the tools he has. The loss of a falsetto is a small price to pay for the chest voice he is developing.
The timeline of his rise is admittedly aggressive. Since launching his website in Aug. 2020, the momentum has been relentless. In the music business, momentum is a fickle beast; if you don't feed it, it dies. Janik is keeping it well-fed.
"You’re right, this last 8 months or so have unfolded pretty quickly and it’s given me a lot of stuff to do," Janik says. "I’m learning a lot about the business side of the music industry and that will hopefully help me in the long run. I’m super grateful to have been given the chance to work with so many amazing musicians from the Windsor/Essex Region. It’s helped me get the chance to even be played on the radio."
The upcoming EP, slated for an early summer 2021 release, was not the original plan. It was a byproduct of the world stopping. Janik took the "silver lining" approach, turning a couple of studio sessions into a full-scale project.
"It sure will! “Better Than That” is the leadoff single from my upcoming EP," Janik says. "It didn’t start out as an EP in early 2020. I had a couple of songs I hit the studio with last January, but the lockdown had a silver lining and I ended up writing another 5 songs and turned things into an EP. A follow up single will be released in the near future….but I won’t give too much away on that just yet. If everything goes as planned the EP should be out early summer 2021."
The technical backbone of this project was formed at SLR Studios. Spending 100 hours in a studio is a gruelling rite of passage. It is where you find out if you actually like making music or if you just like the idea of being famous. Janik chose the former. He surrounded himself with the heavy hitters of the local scene, from Justin Dow to Aidan Johnson-Bujold.
"I think I spent close to 100 hours at SLR studio this summer and it was amazing," Janik says. "I am fortunate to have worked with some amazing people including my producer Justin Dow, drummers Brandon Lefrancois and Troy Dawty, Cameron Fleury, bassist Keith Wilkinson, Aidan Johnson-Bujold of Buck Twenty, steel guitarist Dale Rivard, singer Madelyn Stein, and banjo player Ron Jubenville. These pros added their amazing talents to these tracks and it was even better to watch it in person and to be a part of it. When I wasn’t in the studio, I was at home planning what to do for when I was in the studio next, to be as prepared as I could be. I will never forget the time I spent at SLR Studios."
The inclusion of Keith Wilkinson and Dale Rivard gives the tracks a legitimacy that MIDI instruments just can't replicate. You can feel the physical vibration of the steel guitar. It adds a texture that Janik, even as a multi-instrumentalist, knows he needs to complement his own playing.
Janik’s musical education began early. Piano at seven, guitar at 11, and then the bass. He is a student of the craft, not just a performer. He credits Elite Studios for breaking his resistance to songwriting.
"I started off playing the piano at the age of 7, started guitar at 11, and bass just a year ago," Janik says. "It’s all come quite quickly and has been extremely fun to practice and hone my skills. I made a goal to myself the day I started learning bass, and that was to play bass on my next track, and I did. As a kid, I was always reluctant to the idea of writing my own songs, but quickly warmed up to the idea when I started taking songwriting lessons at Elite Studios with Aidan Johnson-Bujold. Aidan has been a big mentor of mine when it comes to songwriting and has helped me grow to where I am today."
The shift from "reluctant songwriter" to "recording artist" happened fast. For Janik, it wasn't a choice so much as an inevitability. It is in the blood.
"I always wanted to do music no matter what else I did in life but once I realized that there is a possibility I could do it as a career and live my life doing it, I jumped on it," Janik says. "Music is what keeps me going, and it feels like I was born to do it. There are so many musicians in my extended family that it’s literally in my DNA. I don’t know the exact age I finally decided that this is my lifestyle….14…15? I know for sure now, and there’s no looking back."
The most improbable part of the Janik story is the "how." Windsor isn't exactly a country mecca. We have the blues, we have rock, and we have techno. But country? That came from a school bus. It is a cinematic origin story: a grade 9 kid hearing Luke Combs through a distorted bus speaker and having his entire musical trajectory altered.
"I first heard country music on my school bus in grade 9," Janik says. "My bus driver would have it playing on my ride in and out of school. I was instantly drawn in when I heard Luke Combs’ song One Number Away. I grew up listening to pop music primarily and never really put too much into country, but now that I’ve gotten the chance to listen to what seems like every song in country music history, it’s safe to say I love country music more than any other genre, and it also intrigues me to think how much more different my life could’ve been if my bus driver wouldn’t’ve played country music."
That moment of discovery is what fuels the authenticity in his current work. He is a fan first.
Navigating a career launch during a global health crisis is a test of character. For an only child, the isolation could have been crushing. Janik used the NHL and gaming as a pressure valve, but music remained the primary anchor.
"It’s been really tough to cope with the pandemic and everything that is going on, being an only child that means you are alone practically all the time, so I try to distract myself with writing, playing, and listening to music," Janik says. "Like most teens, I also love sports and video games, so it has been awesome to see that the NHL is back and I can also play games online with friends. I believe it’s important to reach out to people to see how they are doing. A phone call or a text can really make a difference in someone’s life right now, and I’ve seen the effects firsthand."
Looking ahead to the rest of 2021, the goal is simple: normalcy. But "normal" for Janik now involves an EP release and the hope of a stage. He is ready to trade the FaceTime calls for a real crowd.
"Hopefully things start to get back to some sort of normal in 2021," Janik says. "I would love to get back to playing some live shows in front of a real audience, but I do know for certain that my new EP will come out this year and that’s what I’m focusing on, and maybe writing a new song or two."
Keep your eyes on the 519. Carson Janik isn't just a local kid with a hobby. He is a professional in training, and the training is almost over.
