The country scene has many up and coming musicians that are starting to make waves. Of those, a brother-sister duo, from Cambridge, Ontario, are absolutely making their name known. Going by the name The Reklaws, Stuart and Jenna officially popped onto the scene in 2013 as a CCMA Discovery Program Artist.

Their song "Kiss Kiss" has hit radio waves across Canada and their video for their new single "Hometown Kids" already has over 130,000 views. They have just been added to Apple Music's "Canada Country" and "Breaking Country" playlists and have 64,000 Spotify listeners and counting.

I was lucky enough to interview them and ask them about their musical influences, the Canadian music industry, and how it feels to be breaking into the country music scene. I hope you feel like you've gotten to know them a bit through the interview below:

Question 1: How did the two of you decide to pursue country music instead of a different genre?

Stuart: Country music has always been a part of our lives, especially growing up. We both love all types of music, and we have even written pop songs, but country is where we feel the most at home as far as music goes.

Jenna: I remember going to my friend’s house and trying to explain to them that country music was the genre, and they would think I was right out of it. I think I was onto something, as it is now one of the largest genres in music! Growing up on a farm also had its influences – once you begin to actually live out the songs that so many of these country artists sing about, you develop a deeper appreciation for it. Country music is built in us through and through, and we feel so excited that we get a chance to write and perform along side people who have inspired us for years.

Question 2: Are your musical influences in line with the type of music you make? Who are they?

Jenna: Most of our musical influences are in-directly related to the type of music we make. We are in love with artists like Florida Georgia Line, Sam Hunt, and Thomas Rhett… as is the rest of the world… but we look up to their “pushing the limits” kind of songs and the way they introduce other genres. We’re also crazy about artists outside of country, like Rihanna and Julia Michaels with their new age party songs and an epic beat - all things that we pull from when creating our songs. Although our “beats” would be mixed with a banjo or acoustic guitar keeping our country roots close.

Stuart: Personally, one of my musical influences has to be Drake. I’ve never rapped, and I don’t drink Hennessy, but the way that he uses his own career references and grind of the industry in his lyrics is unlike anyone else – that type of stuff truly inspires me. As Jenna mentioned, Florida Georgia Line – they’re a duo with the longest standing number one streak over any other country artist ever! That gives me hope from the fact that we are a duo as well.

Question 3: Do you think growing up in Canada affected how music influenced you? (In reference to different musicians there and the popularity of certain artists in Canada compared to the US.)

Jenna: I think as Canadians we have the opportunity to be introduced to so many different artists, on top of the artistry in the U.S. The country music scene in Canada is of great influence on us; these are artists that we have grown up listening to and have crafted the soundtrack to our lives. Our Canadian strength is largely displayed on the pop charts with artists like Justin Bieber, Drake, and Shawn Mendes just to name a few and the bar they set inspire us every day. Canadians continue to run with the best and our goal is to take the scope of Canadian country music to that level and bring everyone along for the ride.

Stuart: There was definitely a noticeable gap even 5 years ago as far as what American country and Canadian country artists were and sounded like. That gap is slowly closing, which is an amazing thing. Canadians continue to crush the country music scene as time goes on. As Jenna said, in other genres, especially pop, Canadian artists already own the industry. Our goal is for our listeners to question whether we’re from Atlanta, Georgia or Cambridge, Ontario.

Question 4: What was your experience like breaking into the music industry in Canada?

Stuart: Getting into this industry was a very slow break. We, as they say, “released” ourselves about 4 times before things actually happened. For those who think it was an overnight success, we would say this break came from years of not knowing if we were making the right choices for our careers, and continually pursuing this dream strictly through belief in ourselves.

Jenna: You could say we have been at this for what feels like a lifetime, because for us it really has been, as we started to pursue this dream when we were just 13 and 15 years of age. There were so many times we felt that “we were ready”, and the truth is we weren’t. It took us these last 10 years to get on a page where we feel confident in our music and ourselves, for many it will seem that we are just starting out… but this has been a dream for a very long time. Breaking into the music industry in Canada has been not been easy, but if you are persistent and continue to believe in the reason why you started, then it will just come down to the correct timing. Thank God.

Question 5: How has it felt to be featured on playlists such as Apple Music's "Canada Country" and "Breaking Country" playlists, alongside people such as Hunter Hayes and Kelsea Ballerini on the "Breaking Country" playlist?

Stuart: It’s a dream to be a part of these kinds of playlist’s, artists go into writing rooms in Nashville everyday with the goal of just getting added on one playlist like this. We couldn’t be more surprised in the short time our new music has been out to see the fans make our streaming numbers fly.

Jenna: This is something that we cannot even begin to wrap our heads around. Seeing our name beside people that we strive to be like is such a compliment. It will always be crazy to us, because not only are we country artists, we are firstly country fans. You could definitely say that we are “fan girl-ing” hard over the fact that we get to be beside people like Kelsea Ballerini or Hunter Hayes as we know every song they sing, and jam it at the top of our lungs on car rides or in the shower.

Question 6: Your music video for "Hometown Kids" has over 130,000 views and counting! How has it felt to watch those numbers rise? What was it like to film the music video for this song? What inspiration did you pull from?

Stuart: Hometown Kids in its entirety has been nothing but a blast to release to the world and the music video was everything but work for us. We had a house party where things got out of hand and we made a rope swing off our hometown’s downtown bridge into the Grand River which was way too much fun. The inspiration of the song was basically a sum up of what a weekend with The Reklaws would be like.

Jenna: We didn’t want to hide from being ourselves; we want our fans to know exactly who we are and where we come from. So we did things that we would regularly do and we just filmed it, we are inspired by our fans that live life and find happiness in the small things.

Question 7. How did you decide on the band name "The Reklaws"? What does it mean to you?

Jenna: Deciding on our duo name was something that took time, although it was right under our noses the whole time! For the longest time we were “The Walkers”, but we knew it sounded too boring to us.

Stuart: “Reklaws” is actually our last name “Walker” backwards. And because there’s two of us we added the letter “s”. Our mom was the one who said “Reklaw” sounds way more country and cooler than Walker. We haven’t thought twice about the name since.

Jenna: It felt cool and fit so well. Really, we cannot take credit for the name, so thanks Mom!

Question 8. How do you maneuver the brother-sister dynamic in a working relationship, especially with something as vulnerable as personal musical expression?

Jenna: This has definitely been a journey on its own, and is close to being the number one question we get asked! There are of course times where our sibling rivalry comes out, and we know the buttons to press to make the other angry but we know not to go there. The dream we choose to chase is bigger than our pride, and its not like we can ‘break-up’ so we just deal with problems when they come.

Stuart: There’s ups and downs, but at the end of the day you’re pursuing something you both believe in, and that is what makes it work.

Jenna: We find ourselves fortunate because with all the traveling and shows that we have to do, it’s nice to have a piece of home with you. When it comes to writing, we know that sometimes we need to express ourselves in a vulnerable way, but we are both very open and supportive of what the other feels and are respectful of what they may need to get off of their chest.

Question 9: Being Canadian musicians, do you find it hard to break into the US market?

Jenna: Of course. Living on-and-off in Nashville makes it easy to see that you are not the only one with a dream. Even just walking down Broadway you’ll hear artists with songs that could be on the radio right now. It’s Music City, it tends to humble you, but lights a fire as well. As I mentioned earlier, the success that Canadians have seen on the pop charts shows a promising future for Canadian musicians, and I feel that it will just be a matter of time until the U.S. sees this in the country genre.

Stuart: In many ways, anything above the Bible Belt shouldn’t count as country according to some – we plan to change those people’s minds.

Question 10. Do you guys have any plans for upcoming music and/or touring?

Stuart: I can’t even talk about it ‘cause I get too excited. There will be new music out in the early new year and a tour announcement so keep your eyes open!

Jenna: We are so excited about what is to come! We have literally spent the last year making sure that our songs and what we want to say lyrically are on point with who we are. This has resulted in too many songs to choose from, which is actually a good problem to have. You could say that "Hometown Kids" is just the beginning for us, as it really is, it is also one of the safest songs that we are going to have on our album. We are going to be introducing different sounding country songs, which will surprise, but hopefully intrigue our fans, because they are us through and through. We are humble and proud of the fact that we are just at the starting line that has taken us 10 years to get to! Timing is everything.

Keep your eyes and ears open for new music and tour dates coming your way from The Reklaws really soon!