Johnny Reid - Dance With Me Tour 2009 Part 4 - Winnipeg

One week passed - I arrived home from the Ottawa shows and went straight to Vancouver Island. I got together with guitarist David Gogo and worked on material for his upcoming record. I visited with my Dad and Nana. I recorded an album with Soren Lonnqvist and the 'Heartline House Band' at Soren's studio in Abbotsford. Before I knew it, it was time to leave again.

The tour resumed in a big way. I flew to Winnipeg and arrived at the Club Regent casino. What started as four sold out shows over two nights became five. Johnny - ever the humanitarian - volunteered his services to play a benefit concert for the Red River relief fund to benefit victims of Manitoba's current flood crisis. The fifth show was added on Sunday night and - according to casino box office folk - sold out in SEVEN minutes! Johnny donated all profits from the show to the fund - effectively doing the show for free.

As I write this - we have not done the fifth show but the previous four have been wonderful. It was nice to see some familiar faces and incredible Johnny Reid fans. Winnipeg holds some of the best music supporters I've ever seen (and they know who they are). It was nice to see Abby White and his gang as well - one of the nicest guys in radio.

Johnny received great support here - glowing reviews and articles and excellent crowds. What a great way to start out again after a one week break.

PS - Thanks to Johnny's donation, the people who bought tickets to the show and the Manitoba Lotteries Corporation (who matched the profits dollar for dollar), The Red River Relief Fund raised over $30,000.00. Well done. CCMA members - take note - vote Johnny Reid for the Humanitarian Of The Year award.

Johnny Reid - Dance With Me Tour 2009 Part 3

March 15 - Kingston - The Grand Theatre - SOLD OUT!

Kingston is a remarkable town. Home to The Tragically Hip, Don Cherry, Dan Ackroyd and many other Canadian ambassadors, it drips with charm and class. I wandered around the town and at one point I attained perfect balance in my life - the temperature was cool yet the sun warmed my face, Lake Ontario was glistening with the remains of the winter ice hanging onto dear life, the Americano I sipped was hot, and Donnie Iris' 'Ah Leah' found it's way into my IPOD. I ate some delicious Indian food and we had another great gig.

March 16 - Hamilton ON - Convention Centre

A big venue - ALMOST sold out .... a great gig (This is redundant. From here on assume all gigs are great UNTIL I tell you otherwise). The catering - oh my goodness - a lady named Michelle came bearing a bounty of culinary delights. Who says you lose weight on the road?

March 17 - Kitchener and/or Waterloo - The Centre In The Square

See above - exact same comments as Hamilton ..... HOWEVER tonight (and for the two nights afterwards) I am doing double duty - playing with Johnny and opening act One More Girl. This is exciting for me as Britt and Carly are two very good friends and a pleasure to play with.... young stars getting ready to occupy their place in the showbiz universe.

March 18 and 19 - Ottawa ON - The Centrepointe Theatre - SOLD OUT x 2

It was home court advantage for Yvan, Ben and Johnny who spent a lot of time here. I saw a lot of friends myself. It's a nice way to end the first leg of the Canadian tour. Home tomorrow - go to visit my Dad and Nana, write with David Gogo, play the Yale, do a session for Mr. Soren Lonnqvist and maybe do some laundry!

Johnny Reid - Dance With Me Tour 2009 Part 2 - More Pix

Johnny Reid - Dance With Me Tour 2009 Part 1

I was asked by singer Johnny Reid to join him on a tour to support the release of his latest CD entitled 'Dance With Me'. I've had the pleasure of accompanying Johnny on a few occasions in the past. For those of you unfamiliar with him, he is a fine Scottish lad (from Glasgow I believe) who moved to Canada with his family as a boy. He grew up in Brampton Ontario and paid his dues playing the '401 circuit' in Ontario. Fast forward several years - he has recorded two CDs which have sold exceedingly well. All evidence indicates the new CD will break all past records he has set. While his music is most likely heard on country radio, in my opinion his sound resembles the 'blue eyed soul' genre .... his voice resembles Rod Stewart, Sam Cooke, Otis Redding with a touch of Tony Bennett thrown in. My role in the band is the utilities player - guitar, keyboards, vocals and my precious saxophone. I get to hang my toes off the side of the stage and wail on a few solos - which is cool.
The band is pretty big and VERY good - longtime guitarist Yvan Petit, bassist Nick Czarnogorski, keyboardist Dave Cohen, fiddler Ben Rutz, drummer Chuck Fields (who plays with Terri Clark and in the past has worked with Paul Brandt, Chris Cummings and Martina Macbride) and singers Miku Graham and Saida Baba Talibah (both of whom work with Jully Black). The crew - FOH man Ken Turta, lighting tech George Gorton and monitor man Alex Livland are great as well. We have two buses and two great drivers - Mikey and Craig. And so the adventure begins in the Canadian province of Ontario:

March 5 - Brantford, Sanderson Centre Theatre - SOLD OUT!

The first gig was a complete success. The PA went up quickly and the monitors (thanks to Alex tweaking our in ear monitors during the rehearsals) were tremendous. The band played well and to my mind the audience was thoroughly entertained. We had a long day and sleep came quickly.

March 6 - Belleville, The Empire Theatre - SOLD OUT!

Delicious dinner, delicious theatre. The venue apparently sold out the show in a day ... demonstrating Johnny's popularity at this point in time. A second show was added. We'll be back here in a few days.

March 7 and 8 - Gravenhurst, The Opera House - both nights SOLD OUT!

A charming theatre - over 100 years old. The 8th was our first solid night's sleep on the tour. The band is rocking now .... the set is tight and it's a lot of fun.

March 10 - Toronto ON, Canada AM TV Show

The 6AM lobby call came far too early, however we mustered up the energy and at 8:51AM I struck the opening chords to 'A Woman Like You' - Johnny's new single. We played two more songs to the audience in studio off camera and then hopped on the bus and headed back to.....

March 10 - Belleville, The Empire Theatre - SOLD OUT!

Deja vu! They sold out the first show and so they set up another. Great crew BTW. Record time set up and load outs. Johnny's new album was released today as well. Apparently in Canada he sold more CD's this day than U2..... pretty good....

March 11 - Brampton, The Rose Theatre - SOLD OUT!

Home court advantage for Mr. John Reid. This is the town he grew up in. He received a big welcome. The theatre was AMAZING. Really nice people. The big news is we were joined by opening act One More Girl! Britt and Carly (along with Tom, Lynda and mandolin/ guitarist Denis Dufresne) will join us for the rest of the shows! Very exciting to hang with my favorite show biz family!

March 12 - Lindsay, The Academy Theatre - SOLD OUT!

And the sellouts continue! A prior engagement with Jully Black has us down one BG singer as Ms. Miku Graham could not make this show. As a result I step up to the plate to cover her BG vocals with lovely Ms. Saida..... A quick rehearsal and I'm good to go. The show goes well. The big news .... Johnny's new record... 48 hours after it's release was certified Canadian GOLD (50,000 copies sold!). This is an amazing feat and proof that I'm on a pretty great gig!

March 13 - London, Centennial Theatre

A sellout gig? No! Our first of the tour. 40 tickets shy of a sellout! A huge crowd nonetheless and an amazing gig. One More Girl were outstanding and we were pretty good too (if I do say so myself).....
I write this on our bus (we call it the 'Soul Bus' due to the enormous amount of soul music we listen to while riding on it). Everyone is asleep except Mikey the driver and myself. I sit in the front lounge and it is 1:30AM. I look out the window and the moon is big and beautiful. MASH reruns are on the TV. I have internet and gingerale. I again am reminded what a charmed life I lead.

March 14 - DAY OFF!! Go to the gym, get my haircut and comp some vocals for Ms. Sidney York's record....