Fernie music artist Nell Smith is part of a new documentary series called Out There, about Canadian youth who found success in small communities in the digital age of connectivity.
The video series follows five teenagers from rural and remote communities in B.C and Alberta, as they pursue their dreams and passions.
Director Rhi Blossom and filmmaker Nathan Drillot visited Fernie and Cranbrook to meet Smith and record her as she went about her day. Smith took them to some of her favourite local haunts where she found musical inspiration.
“I had a lot of fun creating the series with them. They were great people to work with and I love working with new people,” said Smith.
Smith thinks that launching her career in a small city and having an online presence has given her more freedom and made it easier to build connections with other artists. She collaborated with local band Shred Kelly on her second album — to be released later this year.
“I wrote one of the songs on the album while the documentary was being filmed,” she said. “I was doing a session with Sage and Tim [from Shred Kelly]. We were just sitting in their living room and wrote one of the songs.”
READ MORE: Nell Smith partners with Shred Kelly, Penelope Isles for second album
However, she also mentioned that living in a small city with a public persona hasn’t been easy, and has lead to a lack of anonymity and pressure to maintain a certain image.
“My first album, it was a big thing for me and it was a very lucky opportunity that I got. It just blew up and there was a lot of media and attention from it and it was quite overwhelming a lot of time,” she said.
“People recognize me. I guess that’s part of being in a small town,” she added.
She addresses this topic in her upcoming album in a track called Anxiety which delves into the struggles that come with always being part of the public eye.
Smith’s new album is officially finished, thanks to a kick-starter campaign last summer which raised $17,265 from 154 backers, but a name and release date have not been finalized yet.
She graduates from high school at the end of the month with a plan to focus more on her music going forward and has set her sights on doing a Canadian tour.