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George
Canyon tour hits Calgary
By
ANIKA VAN WYK -- Calgary Sun
Most winners of reality show singing competitions fade quickly.
Where
are Idol winners Ruben Studdard, Ryan Malcolm and Kalan Porter?
But
Nashville Star 2 runnerup George Canyon has managed to use the
fame garnered in the spring of 2004 from the American reality
series and turn it into a solid career.
Just
last week, Canyon was named the Canadian Country Music Association's
male artist of the year for the second time. He also won the
top single honours for Somebody Wrote Love and country music
special for George Canyon's Christmas which aired on CMT.
"It
was a great weekend," he says of the CCMAs.
"Right
now all my awards are in Nashville. We're getting them shipped
up to the ranch," says Canyon, who lives on a ranch in
the Okotoks area with his wife and two children.
Now,
Canyon, who struggled for more than a dozen years in the music
business efore his TV stint, is embarking on his biggest tour,
which travels with two buses and a semi and hits Calgary tonight
with a show at the Jubilee Auditorium.
"It
amazes me that I'm doing a headlining tour. And this is a big
one. I'm blown away by the production and look of the show."
Canyon
is particularly looking forward to the I Want To Live (new single
due this spring) part of the show. "We didn't want it to
be just a song that slips by, but an event," he says of
the song about fallen troops. "I get choked up just singing
it ... but we're adding to it ... we didn't care what it cost
we just wanted to show respect and tribute."
Parts
of the Calgary show will also be filmed for future release on
DVD.
Canyon
was one of the first Canadians to make a mark on a U.S. TV singing
competition. He has since been followed by back-to-back wins
on Rock Star -- Lukas Rossi (Supernova) and J.D. Fortune (INXS).
"I
grew up with J.D. (in Nova Scotia). We were in a musical together
-- Grease. I was Johnny Casino and Jason was Danny Zuko.
"When
he won Rock Star I was real proud."
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