The duo goes from pick-up truck game to TV comedy show

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It's no joke: A Chatham couple is turning their life in country music into a fun new life on television.

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Pat and Megan Whalen, who are classic country duo Deep Southwest, have landed a deal with Bell Fibe TV 1 to produce and star in the new streaming comedy series, Due Southwest, filmed in Chatham.

Deep Southwest, formed in 2020, began with the pair performing socially distanced in the back of a van during the COVID-19 pandemic.

They didn't think it would last, and then people liked it and we kept getting hired, Megan said.

When she first asked me to play on the back of a truck, I thought it was ridiculous, Pat admitted. And from there it just grew.

Both have experience in large theatre productions, and Pat said they first thought about creating a play before the Bell Fibe TV opportunity came up.

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Bell was looking for projects for a streaming TV series, Megan said. We thought, 'Well, what's funnier and more current than a small rural band trying to make it in the machine that is the music industry?'

But Due Southwest isn't a reality show, Megan said. It's a scripted comedy that reflects what they've been through.

Sometimes the stories we experience in reality turn out to be crazier than anything we could have written, Pat added.

Megan said the series will feature 15 original Deep Southwest songs, written by Pat, as a backdrop to this really crazy, fun comedy script that we wrote.

They will play an improved version of ourselves, she said.

The couple joked that they didn't need to do much research into being struggling Canadian musicians and what it's like to be turned down 100 times.

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Megan said the series tells the story of Deep Southwest trying to fulfill his dream of performing at the Hawaiian Pizza Festival in Chatham-Kent, considered the place where pineapple pizza was invented.

The musical duo believes this will help them land bigger and better gigs so they can afford to fix a leak in their basement. They come up with a plan to get 10,000 followers on their social media platforms to qualify for the festival gig.

Having at least 10,000 followers is very real in the music business, Megan said, inviting people to follow the band on Instagram at deep_southwest.

The series will see the couple encounter colourful situations and characters from Chatham-Kent, who try to help or hinder their bid for glory at the Hawaiian Pizza Festival, Megan said.

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The Whalens are thrilled to be working with director Gavin Michael Booth, known for his award-winning career in music videos, and Chatham-based cinematographer Ben Srokosz.

Even their beloved 13-year-old dog, Riker, will have a role to play and will soon have a vet appointment to make sure he is in tip-top shape.

He has to live, Megan laughed. He has to get to the shoot.

Several local cameos are planned for the series, which is expected to last three to five years.

Filming is expected to begin in the fall and will take place entirely in Chatham, in accordance with funding from Bell Fibe TV1, Pat said.

Produced by Whalen Entertainment and funded in part by Bell Fibe TV1, Pat said there will be advertising space at the beginning of each episode, so that local sponsors and advertisers can gain exposure to Bell's more than two million subscribers across Canada.

“What’s great about this opportunity is that it goes straight into production, which means we can employ more local people,” Megan said.

A fundraising concert for the TV series will be held on September 25 at the Red Barn near Blenheim, where Deep Southwest will discuss the episodes and perform the 15 songs that will feature in the series.

To learn more about volunteer or sponsorship opportunities, contact the Whalens on Instagram at deep_southwest or at deepsw.ca.

[email protected]

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