Today we’d like to introduce you to Cory Churko.
So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I am an LA Based musician who has live performance credits with Shania Twain, Kelly Clarkson, Reba McEntire, and Jordan Smith. I currently am Music Director and play guitar and fiddle with Shania Twain. I’ve gone from playing on the streets of Vancouver for spare change to performing on the Super Bowl Half Time Show with Shania Twain.
I grew up in Saskatchewan, on the prairies of Canada in a little city called Moose Jaw. My father, Roman Churko, was a music teacher and he taught me how to play piano and guitar at an early age. When I was seven, we started a family band and played a lot of weddings and parties. It was my sister, Kim, my brother, Kevin, my mom, Bonnie, my father, Roman and myself in the band. When we started getting pretty good, my dad took us out of school so we could start playing clubs across Canada. I was in 7th grade and took my education through the Correspondence School right through grade 12. School work for me was something I did on my bed in the hotel room after the gig at 3am haha!
My brother, Kevin and I had dreams of moving to the big city in Vancouver to start an original rock band so once we had both graduated from high school, the family band broke up and Kevin and I headed for the west coast. We slugged away at the scene there playing cover country music to fund our rock band, The Explorers. We had some mediocre success and ended up just getting very burnt out on the bar scene and the lukewarm attention to our original project.
Eventually, the band broke up and we all went our separate ways. For me, that meant re-evaluating my life’s direction. I didn’t have any skills other than music and didn’t want to work in a music store, so I decided to go to college for a 3d Computer Animation Degree. I borrowed money from my mom for tuition but needed day to day living money so I decided to try playing fiddle, for spare change, on the streets of Vancouver or “busking” as they called it. I felt like it was the lowest point in my career. I had worked so hard as musician only to find myself playing for donations. My attitude quickly changed when I found I had made as much playing on the street as I would have playing in a smokey bar full of drunks. Things were looking up. Up until that point, I wasn’t much of a fiddle player. Guitar had always been my forte. But busking was allowing me to hone my fiddle chops. I could learn whatever tunes I wanted and perform them for people as they’d walk by. No smoky bars and no drunks hitting my microphone stand into my teeth. This was great!
If I hadn’t done this street performing in my life, I wouldn’t have been ready for what was to come. You see, once I graduated from animation school, I got an amazing job working on a globally syndicated kids tv show called Beast Wars Transformers. I only worked there for six months when I got a life-changing call out of nowhere, left on my answering machine (remember those?). The call was from Mercury Records in Toronto who got my name from a couple of people. The label was looking for a young, energetic fiddler to play in the band of one of their artists. I didn’t think it would be anyone very established so I never called back. I was happy in my new career as an animator and didn’t want to starve on the road again for a new developing artist. The weekend went by and the label called again saying they were a little discreet about who it was they represented but that it was for Shania Twain and that I should really give them a call. Shania was a big deal in the late 90s so I knew exactly who she was and called back leaving a message immediately. They requested an 8×10 and a cd of my fiddle playing. Because I had just done four years of playing fiddle on the streets, I was well rehearsed and had CDs that I sold available. I sent my package away and two weeks later I was playing on the David Letterman show in Manhattan.
I look back and realize how important it was that I played on the streets for spare change. What I thought was the lowest point in my life was only preparing me for something much greater. I still play with Shania 22 years later. I also played for over a decade with Kelly Clarkson, following her win on American Idol. From playing with Kelly, I landed a year playing with Reba McEntire. I now live in Woodland Hills with my wife, Jody, and our two dogs. We love Southern California and are fortunate to call LA our home.
Please check out my band Toque (rhymes with Duke) on your favorite music streaming service. Toque is my pet project when I’m not touring with Shania. The band is Todd Kerns and Brent Fitz who play with Slash, Shane Gaalaas who played with the mega-band B’z from Japan and myself.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with C Squared Productions – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
I am a multi-instrumentalist (guitar, violin, keyboards, mandolin, bass, and vocals) but I made a living in between tours working as a digital editor and mix engineer in Los Angeles. Being able to wear a lot of different hats in this industry has helped me to survive the lean years when they happen.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
My plans are to continue playing with artists for as long as I can as well as producing and mixing music. Playing and recording with my band Toque in between all that is also a priority. I’m also a big fan of nature and the outdoors. I’ve been vegan for 13 years and do some activism in that area when I can.
Contact Info:
- Website: corychurko.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/corychurko
- Facebook: facebook.com/corychurko
- Twitter: twitter.com/corychurko
- Other: www.toquerocks.ca
Image Credit:
PhotoByEGO, Adrian O’Brien
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