Interview with JoJo Mason

In The Country with Dave Woods

When JoJo Mason walked in to a Christmas party on December 21, 2013 clutching a jar of that Ole' Smokey Moonshine, he could not have predicted how a strange combination of events would change the course of his life forever. Born in Regina, Saskatchewan February 26, 1990, JoJo spent most of his early years like many true Canadian kids - playing hockey on ice rinks and frozen lakes. With the opportunity of a successful career in the sport, he relocated to Victoria, BC in 2004 to play at the junior ranks. But this pursuit suddenly came to a screeching halt after suffering a herniated disk. This injury was devastating to his future in hockey and drove him down an unknown road without a destination - until now. As the story goes - that fated jar of moonshine resolved a debate Dan had had with a co-writer earlier that day: "During my writing session I wanted to use the line 'drinking moonshine out of a jar' because growing up in a small town, that's exactly what we used to do. My co-writer had never heard of this and we debated this line for some time - we never did settle on it. Later that night at a Christmas party, in walks some guy named JoJo and to my delight, he was toting a mason jar of moonshine. This was an immediate talking point for us and the rest is history." - Dan Swinimer - JoJo's producer