Platinum-selling Canadian Country artist Jade Eagleson had the perfect first date planned. He would get some Chinese food, drive out into the country, and set up a picturesque picnic for the beautiful girl that he just couldn’t get off his mind.
There was just one problem.
Jade and Marina Eagleson.Austin Chaffee
“Love happens when you don’t expect it,” says Eagleson. “Before, I was always just working and wasn’t really thinking about love.”
Jade Eagleson.Austin Chaffee
Granted, it’s understandable that Eagleson was a bit distracted at the time. As 2018 began, the Ontario native was busy pursuing a country music career that would soon have him setting the record for the most-streamed debut album in Canadian history with 185+ million global streams and 85M+ views on YouTube. But first, there was this girl.
“Once we really got to know each other, it was almost like we just knew that we were in it for the long run,” he says. “That’s how I was feeling. That’s how she was feeling.”
Eagleson sealed the deal when he flew to Europe later that year to surprise Marina for her birthday, as she was there living with her family. “I was like, OK, this is the first time this guy ever left North America,” Marina, 23, tells PEOPLE with a laugh. “He must be the real deal.”
The two married in 2019, just a week before their son Levi was born. “We ended up at the last minute just going with our families to the church in our town and got married really quickly,” Marina says. “Maybe after Levi gets a bit bigger, we’ll have another wedding.”
For now, the couple is content in basking in the sweetness of watching little Levi grow up in their new home in Nashville. “He’s got such a beautiful heart and soul,” Eagleson says of his son. now 2. “We can see that. We know he is going to be an amazing man someday. He really cares about the people around him.”
But Levi does have the feistiness of his daddy too.
“I was a pretty crazy young kid, always into mischief and he’s just exactly like that,” says Eagleson, who grew up on his grandparents' farm in Ontario. “He’s a little cuter than I was, so he might get away with a bit more!”
Jade, Marina and Levi Eagleson.Austin Chaffee
It’s this precocious side that is featured in the music video for “She Don’t Know,” a stunning musical dedication to his wife that is currently sitting within the Top 15 at Canadian country radio. Shot entirely on iPhones, the music video features the sweet reality of life with a toddler who happens to love making French toast.
“That’s really just our everyday morning,” Eagleson says of the scene in which they do exactly that, in the video exclusively premiering on PEOPLE. “Luckily, we didn’t have to clean it up because we had to go and shoot some other stuff. Some poor fellow that got dragged into a video shoot had to do all the cleaning up! I felt bad for him.”
Marina and Jade Eagelson.Austin Chaffee
The video for the song featured on Eagleson’s sophomore albumHonkytonk Revivalalso shows off the natural beauty of Marina, especially first thing in the morning. But according to her, looks can be deceiving.
“I donotwake up like that,” she admits with a laugh. “Jade will tell you that I have the worst morning breath. So, you definitely don’t want to be kissing me in the morning.”
Marina Eagleson.Austin Chaffee
And while the video shoot took place at an Airbnb out in the country, Eagleson says that it certainly represents the landscape in which they envision living in someday.
“As soon as we got there, I was like, ‘This is where I want to someday put a house down, on land like this,” Eagleson says quietly. “It was just so nice. And obviously, coming from Canada, the weather is just so much nicer here.”
source: people.com
