Emerson Drive’s ‘Moments’ Brings Both Success and Sadness

Emerson Drive have faced major highs and lows since last year's ACM Awards. At the time of the 2007 broadcast, their song 'Moments' was in the Top 5 on the country singles chart. Only a few weeks later, it went all the way to No. 1, a success made all the sweeter since it happened during the annual CMA Music Fest. But September 2007 brought tragedy to the Canadian country band, as bassist Patrick Bourque committed suicide, making the career-boosting 'Moments' bittersweet. Lead singer Brad Mates spoke to Nashville's Tennessean newspaper about the sad irony of the hit, explaining that he had major reservations about recording a song about suicide.

"I was a little scared of it in the beginning, just because I hadn't gone through anything like that in my life before where it was really traumatic," Mates said. "I wanted to make sure that if I was going to sing this song, it was believable. It's obviously pretty ironic now that we have a song about suicide go No. 1, and we lose one of our members [Bourque] to suicide in the same year. It's crazy, and obviously meant for this band for a reason. I'm just so excited to know it still carries on."
After their whirlwind year, Emerson Drive is picking up the pieces. 'Moments' continues to bring them success, as they are nominated for both Top Vocal Group and Song Of The Year on Sunday's ACM broadcast.

"It's great to see the Emerson Drive name in a couple of categories, especially in the song of the year category for 'Moments,' " said Mates. "This is a huge year for us. There's a lot of weight on our shoulders, and a lot of people are expecting some big things . . . All we need now is some great songs to push us to the next step. And I have no question in my mind that we have that on the new CD."

While the band is looking forward to Sunday's events, one member is looking forward to Vegas for another reason entirely. Fiddle player David Pichette is getting married in the Valley of Fire, right outside of Las Vegas, on Saturday.

"We're going to be busy with a lot of ACM stuff and then making sure we enjoy Dave's wedding," Mates said.