‘We spend our whole lives preparing for this’: Wilmot man wins Grammy award

Wilmot, Ont. native John “Beetle” Bailey joined an exclusive group of musical artists after his project took home Best Latin Pop Album at Sunday’s Grammy Awards.

The longtime recording engineer worked with Canadian singer Alex Cuba to complete the album “Mendo,” which beat out five other nominees (including Selena Gomez) for the honour.

Bailey said his work has been nominated for a Grammy in the past, but this is the first project that actually won.

“I’m still getting used to that idea,” Bailey told CTV News.

The duo completed the album during the pandemic while working from opposite ends of the country; with Bailey mixing audio tracks from his studio in New Hamberg, and Cuba recording the vocals in B.C.

“Alex would send me some stuff, I’d send it back to him, he’d do some more work on it, then he sends me back some other stuff,” Bailey said.

Bailey said he hasn’t worked with Cuba in-person since 2019, but was ready to do his part in completing the award-winning album.

“For those of us who spend a lot of time in our little caves, we spend our whole lives preparing for this,” Bailey said.

The pair was not able to travel to Las Vegas and accept the award in person, but Bailey said, “There’s only one thing cooler than being there to win a Grammy award, and that’s not being there to win a Grammy award.”

Bailey is also up for his third Recording Engineer of the Year award at next month’s Juno Awards. He’s been nominated eight times for the honour, winning the award in 2007 and 2020.