Windsor country singer debuts amid trade war with 'Jack Daniel's Ain't A Friend of Mine'
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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.
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You can't make this up - the group that is throwing the Drake party outside of the venue Kendrick is performing at tonight & tomorrow in Toronto is now asking for donations cuz they dropped $11,000 on the 'OVO Takeover' 😭😭😭😭😭😭 — Joey (@gothamhiphop) June 12, 2025 This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Inside the venue, videos shared to social media showed it was all love between Lamar and the sold-out crowd that packed Rogers Centre. When Lamar dusted off his chart-topping Not Like Us , a diss track that seemingly ended his beef with Drake, the audience cheered relentlessly and pleaded for him to play the song 'One more time.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. It was a triumphant victory lap and perhaps the final word on a rap rivalry that started last spring a fter Lamar responded to a line in Drake and J. 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Drake ended up suing Universal Music Group, the label which represents both artists, accusing the company of promoting Lamar's false pedophilia allegations and putting his life in danger. But Universal Music said that Drake was a willing participant in the war of words when he released his own inflammatory diss tracks aimed at Lamar and hinted he was trying to take legal action because he was the loser in their rap feud. 'Plaintiff, one of the most successful recording artists of all time, lost a rap battle that he provoked and in which he willingly participated,' they responded in April. 'Instead of accepting the loss like the unbothered rap artist he often claims to be, he has sued his own record label in a misguided attempt to salve his wounds.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. In the lead-up to the pair of Toronto concerts this week, tickets for Lamar's shows were slow moving and prices dropped significantly. 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