Q1, Would you like to introduce yourself?
Of course! I’m Alex Runions. I write, sing, and play country music and my newest single is called “Take It Out On Me”.
I grew up in a small Canadian town in southeastern Saskatchewan, Kipling, home of the world’s largest paperclip!
My fiancée, Erin, and I have 2 dogs, Franklin and Kinsey and a cat named Oliver. My fiancée and are were engaged to be married this November in Mexico but due to the restrictions from the coronavirus, we are delaying the wedding until 2021.
I love to cook, drive around down back roads listening to country music (cliché, right?) and I like working on little projects around the house and yard.

Q2, Do you know how any of your former teachers have reacted to your work?
A couple of them have.
One that is very special to me was my high school principal and phys-Ed teacher, Mr. Mansuy. He sent me an email one day and it really hit me. He spoke about my demeaner as a kid and that he always thought I would do something special with my life and he loved hearing my song “Passenger Seat” on the radio, which reminded him of his days in Kipling. He passed away a couple of years ago, suddenly and unexpectedly. I was honoured when his family asked me to help set up a fundraiser for the Kipling gymnasium to be named after him. I am proud to have been a part of that.

Q3, How would you rate your negotiating skills?
On a scale of 1-5, I am a 1.5.
I’m terrible and I always am upfront about it, which is probably rule number one of negotiation club. In my head, it seems selfish and potentially combative, which I hate. I understand the importance of being able to value your side in a negotiation, but I am still terrible at it. I also think that if you’re polite and state what you’re after, people can come to an agreement. It truly is one of the things I am working on…

Q4, Reveal a secret about yourself.
I’ve never had vocal lessons before. I just grew up wanting to sing and I trained myself and learned a few tips along the way. I would work on vocal trills and hitting high notes by listening and singing along to Boyz II Men, Peabo Bryson, Vince Gill, and Doug Stone. I’ve always loved a variety of music styles but country music is where my heart is and I sang along to my favourite artists through the years.

Q5, What was the last record you bought?
Physical copy? The last physical copy I remember buying was my friend, Blake Berglund’s vinyl album just a couple of months ago (gotta support local & Indie). Digital record would be Dave Barnes’ “Dreaming in Electric Blue”.

Q6, When did you last feel guilty?
After I bought my truck at the beginning of the summer. I had been looking at getting something old to run errands in, but then after weighing the options, I decided to trade in my Subaru (which I loved) and bought a new truck. I’m not used to having new things. I felt undeserving of it for some reason and never thought I was necessarily a “truck guy” (whatever that means). However, a couple of weeks later, I fell in love with it and have used it a lot for hauling things that I couldn’t before!

Q7, Which is your favourite cartoon character?
I guess Robin William’s genie in “Aladdin”…tough question. Also SpongeBob is quite funny and he just came out of the closet, which I feel is an important move by Nickelodeon.

Q8, And, most importantly, what is your favourite type of cookie?
I have yet to have a bad cookie, but I also don’t eat a lot of cookies. If I had to pick, I would say it must include chocolate. Maybe those “hay stacks” that mom used to make. Yeah, those would be my favourite!