It’s not easy going back after a major change in direction but for Ross Neilsen, the pull of blues music was undeniable. In 2015, after a long career as a touring musician Neilsen was burned out. He left the music industry entirely, moved to Saskatoon to raise a family, and get a “real” job. It wasn’t until a year and a half ago, on a trip to Ireland, that the music came calling.

“I decided to throw my hat into the ring.”

“Something in me shifted, I couldn’t stop thinking about music and just had to write,” says Neilsen. “I began to look at music more seriously again. The Saskatoon Blues Society had it’s Road To Memphis contest in 2023 and I decided to throw my hat into the ring.”

He didn’t win that year, Jack Semple took home the prize, but he continued to create and at the 2024 competition, Neilsen took home first prize.

“There were seven acts that night and I was lucky enough to be chosen,” he explains. “The very next morning I flipped the switch back on for my music career.”

“It’s a pretty good fantasy to think I’ll be recording with some of the same equipment that these legends used.”

First prize is a coveted spot at the 2025 International Blues Challenge in Memphis January 7 – 11, 2025. The competition is the largest gathering of blues artists, managers, and industry labels in the world and it’s great exposure for the contestants. Neilsen plans to make the most of his time in Memphis. He’s written new music, booked musicians and audio technicians, and will record a new album at Sam Phillips Sound Studio. Phillips is the producer famous for working with acts like Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley, and Johnny Cash.

“It’s a pretty good fantasy to think I’ll be recording with some of the same equipment that these legends used,” says Neilsen. “Just to be diving back into the creative pool feels amazing. It feels like the time is right.”

Making an album is an expensive business and Neilsen is grateful for all the local support he’s received from the community. The Saskatoon Blues Society and The Blues Foundation have contributed, along with donations to his GoFundMe page; all helping make his dream a reality. A concert dedicated to helping Neilsen on his Road To Memphis is coming up at Saskatoon’s Yard & Flagon Pub. Along with Neilsen’s performance, the afternoon will also feature a silent auction filled with prizes donated by local businesses. He counts himself lucky for the personal relationships music has given him.

“Expressing myself through original music is part of who I am.”

“If I look back over my years in music, it’s the connections I’ve made with people that are the most important. The common bond that music creates… you find out a lot about peoples’ lives. It’s cathartic, almost prescriptive for me,” he says. “To quote Tom Petty, ‘Music is probably the one real magic I’ve encountered in my life,’ you pull something out of the ether and put it down. It’s there forever. Expressing myself through original music is part of who I am.”

If you’d like to contribute to Ross Neilsen’s Road To Memphis here’s the link.

Road To Memphis

Sunday Dec. 8, 2024

3:00p.m. – 5:00p.m.

Yard & Flagon Pub

*Cover by donation

To find out more and follow Ross Neilsen, follow this link to his website.