Windsor country singer debuts amid trade war with 'Jack Daniel's Ain't A Friend of Mine'
An emerging Windsor country artist has received an unexpected boost, thanks to his debut single "Jack Daniel's Ain't a Friend of Mine."
Parker Ouellette wrote the single about a year ago, long before the United States launched a trade war with Canada by introducing sweeping tariffs on imported goods.
But the song was released in early March just as government liquor stores across Canada began pulling American brands off the shelves – including Jack Daniel's.
"I'm never going to say no to a bigger audience," Ouellette said of the fortuitous timing.
"But there's a lot of worry going on right now, and it's not unwarranted. … But I would be grateful for the opportunity to provide relief to people through this absolute joke of a song."
Jack Daniel's' maker Brown-Forman has expressed its displeasure with provincial decisions to remove Jack from store shelves.
CEO Lawson Whiting said on Wednesday that it was "worse than a tariff," according to Reuters, and a "disproportionate response" to levies imposed by the Trump administration.
But Ouellette said he needs some time apart from the famous whiskey brand.
"I'm going to go start hanging with my other buddies, J.P. Wiser's, and I'm going to … put my Crown on," he said, referring to Canadian whiskey brands.
Ouellette grew up listening to country music, and he's been writing songs for about four years, he said.
"Jack Daniel's Ain't a Friend of Mine" is the first single from his debut album.
"It's my contribution to the great pantheon of drinking songs," Ouellette said, citing Toby Keith's "Red Solo Cup" and the Irish Rovers' "Wasn't That A Party" as genre-defining examples.
It's a song about going out on a Friday night and regretting it in the morning, he added.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


CTV News
24 minutes ago
- CTV News
Hulk Hogan's storied wrestling career included iconic made-in-Canada matches
Toronto City Mayor Rob Ford (left) celebrates after beating Hulk Hogan in an arm-wrestling match to promote Fan Expo in Toronto on Friday August 23, 2013. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young) TORONTO — At the fan festival leading up to WrestleMania X8, World Wrestling Federation chairman Vince McMahon wanted to get a sense of who the audience would be pulling for in the anticipated match between Hulk Hogan and Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson. Hogan was still in his villainous 'Hollywood' persona while The Rock was the promotion's bankable baby face star heading into their March 17, 2002, showdown at Toronto's SkyDome. Canadian wrestling crowds, however, were famous for resisting the force-fed storylines trotted out by the promotions, and those in attendance gave a full-throated endorsement of Hogan. The ensuing fight, which has become something of a WWE legend, was one of many big moments in Hogan's wrestling career that came north of the border. Hogan, born Terry Gene Bollea, died Thursday at 71. Hogan's matches in Canada included a headline title fight against the Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania VI in Toronto — an uncommon Hogan loss and even rarer title fight between two baby faces — championship bouts against Paul (Mr. Wonderful) Orndorff and Ric Flair, and even an arm wrestling match with then-Toronto Mayor Rob Ford (who died in 2016) at Fan Expo in 2013. But Hogan's most memorable match in Canada came at WrestleMania X8 — and it wasn't even the main event. When he finally faced The Rock in the 'Icon versus Icon' showdown, the crowd's support for Hogan was unequivocal. In a remarkable display of adaptive storytelling, the two wrestlers switched attitudes mid-match. Hogan broke out some of the signature moves that wrestling fans remembered from his rise from wrestling star to pop culture icon in the 1980s. He exhorted the throng of over 62,000 to cheer him on, cupping his hand to his ear and leaning toward the crowd and 'Hulking Up,' which involved glaring wide-eyed at his opponent while seemingly impervious to pain, often accompanied by a finger wag before he unloaded some offence. The Rock cleanly won the match, but the Canadian response set up a storyline that would see Hogan break off from his heel New World Order faction and return to his do-gooder persona of the '80s. That version of Hogan was arguably best known to Canadian fans leading into WrestleMania X8, and perhaps why the crowd at SkyDome (now Rogers Centre) was firmly in his corner. Another key fight at the same venue came 12 years earlier, when Hogan faced the Ultimate Warrior — a rising star whose popularity at the time rivalled Hogan's — for the WWF title. The fight, which was well-received by the fans in attendance — and included future wrestling stars Adam (Edge) Copeland and Jay (Christian) Reso — was meant to be a passing of the torch as Warrior beat Hogan cleanly by pinfall — the first time that happened since 1981. However, Warrior's title run proved to be short-lived, and by WrestleMania VII Hogan was once again champion after defeating Sgt. Slaughter in the main event. Hogan also had a couple of successful title defences in Toronto, notably a decision over Orndorff on Aug. 28, 1986, at Exhibition Stadium before a crowd of over 60,000. In a confusing ending that was typical of the ongoing feud between the wrestlers, Orndorff was disqualified despite appearing to win the match after his manager Bobby ('The Brain') Heenan laid out Hogan with a chair. In another matchup between legends, Hogan defeated Flair on a May 13, 2002, episode of Monday Night Raw in Toronto to retain the WWE Undisputed Championship. In another messy ending, nWo member X-Pac interfered with a Hogan pin attempt of Flair in the no-disqualification match. Flair's attempt to win the match via submission was then interrupted by (Stone Cold) Steve Austin, who laid out the 53-year-old Flair, allowing Hogan to perform his signature leg drop and cover for the pin. In a less heralded matchup, Hogan took the fall in an arm wrestling battle with Ford at the 2013 Fan Expo pop culture showcase in Toronto. 'I own this town, man!' Ford yelled after the dubious win as Survivor's 'Eye Of The Tiger' played in the background. Hogan's main-event appearance at the first-ever WrestleMania in 1985 also had a Canadian connection, as he teamed with 'The A-Team' star Mr. T to defeat Roddy Piper — born Roderick Toombs in Saskatoon — and Orndorff. Curtis Withers, The Canadian Press


National Post
an hour ago
- National Post
An American sent to Canada was shocked by how furious Canadians are at the U.S.
Article content He discovered that Premier Doug Ford — 'brother of the late Rob Ford, the scandal-plagued Toronto mayor' — had pulled U.S. booze from LCBO shelves. He even visited Grizzly Bar, a Canadian-themed Toronto watering hole serving cocktails with names like TVO Kids and Hadfield. It features a Wall of Heroes featuring framed photos of Ryan Reynolds, Leonard Cohen, Shania Twain, Margaret Atwood, Alex Trebek and more; and a map of the key battles of the War of 1812. Article content Some of van Zuylen-Wood's finds were probably already known to many Americans, like Scarborough native Mike Myers' pro-Canadian appearances on Saturday Night Live. Others may have been news to New York-based readers of the piece, like the time that Jagmeet Singh 'was spotted attending a Kendrick Lamar concert' and 'groveled for forgiveness' from Lamar's Canadian nemesis Drake, claiming he had been there only to see the other headliner, SZA. Article content Van Zuylen-Wood's article unpacks the shaky but incontrovertible Canadian patriotism even among some separatist-minded Quebecers, the well-timed speech to Parliament by Charles III, King of Canada, and the recent political gains made by the Liberal Party of Canada against the background of Trump's talk of tariffs and annexation. Article content Article content 'Part of the purpose of this story … was to bring news back,' he said, 'and to tell Americans that this place that you thought you understood and that you thought was this placid, easygoing place is not so placid and easygoing any more.' Article content But in terms of, as he put it, 'rectifying that imbalance, reactions were what be deemed mixed. Article content 'There was a reaction of raised-eyebrow surprise,' he said. 'The first reaction is, 'Oh my God I had no idea of the extent of it.' And I think a curiosity and an eagerness to learn more.' Article content But beyond a sort of sombre head-shaking, and particularly from more right-leaning readers, there wasn't much sympathy. Article content 'Certainly on social media I saw a lot of taunting reactions to my piece,' he said. 'Who cares? We don't need them. We're the big bad elephant in the room. That sort of thing. But it's not deeply felt, even among Trump supporters. No one is listing it as their top issue.' Article content He reached out to political wonks and foreign policy types, 'and frankly they're thinking more about arctic security and critical minerals in Greenland than they are those issues in Canada. It was actually hard to find people who were thinking extremely seriously about this. It's not in the portfolio really deeply of anyone except Donald Trump it looks like.' Article content And where does it go from here? 'I think it kind of depends a lot on Canadian sentiment,' van Zuylen-Wood said. 'My prediction, not that you should trust my predictions, is that it will reverse itself on the American side, in that I don't think there's a strategic game here that would go beyond Trump. Even a highly protectionist JD Vance administration I don't think would include anything about the annexation threat, and I don't think it would be quite as erratic and bullying.' Article content That said, he spoke to some Canadians who claimed they were done with America. 'I talked to people who said, 'We don't care who the next president is. This relationship is over. We don't want to go. We don't feel welcome.' And I think a lot of people maybe mean it. For some people it'll thaw, especially if the next president is a Democrat. But my sense is it kind of depends on how Canadians feel.'


National Post
an hour ago
- National Post
Hulk Hogan's storied wrestling career included iconic made-in-Canada matches
TORONTO — At the fan festival leading up to WrestleMania X8, World Wrestling Federation chairman Vince McMahon wanted to get a sense of who the audience would be pulling for in the anticipated match between Hulk Hogan and Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson. Article content Hogan was still in his villainous 'Hollywood' persona while The Rock was the promotion's bankable baby face star heading into their March 17, 2002, showdown at Toronto's SkyDome. Article content Article content Article content Canadian wrestling crowds, however, were famous for resisting the force-fed storylines trotted out by the promotions, and those in attendance gave a full-throated endorsement of Hogan. Article content The ensuing fight, which has become something of a WWE legend, was one of many big moments in Hogan's wrestling career that came north of the border. Hogan, born Terry Gene Bollea, died Thursday at 71. Article content Article content Article content Hogan's matches in Canada included a headline title fight against the Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania VI in Toronto — an uncommon Hogan loss and even rarer title fight between two baby faces — championship bouts against Paul (Mr. Wonderful) Orndorff and Ric Flair, and even an arm wrestling match with then-Toronto Mayor Rob Ford (who died in 2016) at Fan Expo in 2013. Article content Article content But Hogan's most memorable match in Canada came at WrestleMania X8 — and it wasn't even the main event. When he finally faced The Rock in the 'Icon versus Icon' showdown, the crowd's support for Hogan was unequivocal. In a remarkable display of adaptive storytelling, the two wrestlers switched attitudes mid-match. Article content Hogan broke out some of the signature moves that wrestling fans remembered from his rise from wrestling star to pop culture icon in the 1980s. He exhorted the throng of over 62,000 to cheer him on, cupping his hand to his ear and leaning toward the crowd and 'Hulking Up,' which involved glaring wide-eyed at his opponent while seemingly impervious to pain, often accompanied by a finger wag before he unloaded some offence.