July
11, 2006
Canyon pit stop doesn't disappoint
Pictou's
own superstar thrills hundreds of fans at Bayers Lake Wal-Mart
By Heather Sawers
The Daily News
MUSIC
- The parking lot of the Bayers Lake Wal-Mart turned into Canyon
Country
yesterday.
Several
hundred fans lined up to get a few minutes with country singer
George
Canyon, who spent 90 minutes signing autographs and chatting
with fans. He made
the stop to promote his new album, Somebody Wrote Love.
Cathy
Larade drove from Pictou County to see her hometown hero. She's
attended
every Nova Scotia concert Canyon has ever done.
"I
was at his very first show at the Pressroom (in Pictou),"
said Larade,
62. "There was only 12 fans there."
Just
two years ago, Canyon was a stay-at-home dad in Pictou County
who
performed at night. He dominated the second season of CMT's
Nashville Star - a
Canadian Idol-style show looking for a new country crooner -
but lost in the
finals to Brad Cotter.
Canyon
looked like a celebrity as he sat on the small covered stage
yesterday.
His face was shaded by his black cowboy hat and sunglasses,
but his mega-watt
smile brightened up the darkened stage.
"He's
just a real nice guy, really down-to-earth," Larade said
as she stepped
down from the stage, clutching an autographed photo. "And
I'm not just saying
that because he's from Pictou County."
Canyon
lived up to his reputation. About 15 minutes into the autograph
session,
he left the stage to greet several fans in wheelchairs. He also
knelt down on
the pavement to chat with the youngest fan in the parking lot,
four-year-old
Paige Michaud.
"He
told her his daughter's middle name is Paige, and that 'Paige'
means 'princess,'" said Paige's dad, Craig Michaud, 35.
"He also said her dress
was pretty."
Paige
was quiet as she watched the excitement around her, but when
her dad
carried her back to the car, she started yelling "Bye!
Bye! Bye!" and waving at
Canyon.
Lois
Parsons arrived more than an hour before the autograph session
to claim a
place at the front of the line. She had a special reason for
wanting to meet
Canyon.
"I
would like to sing a song with him at his concert," said
Parsons, 51, who
sings in a band called the Country Cousins.
She
marched onstage to make her pitch - a scheduled duet with Canyon
at his
Oct. 26 concert at the Halifax Metro Centre - and spent several
minutes talking
with the country star.
"He
said it doesn't happen that way," Parsons announced when
she climbed off
the stage. "He said to just jump onstage at the concert,
so that's what I'll
do."
She
paused and laughed.
"The
security guards will probably throw me off!"
CANYON
COUNTRY
HELP
FROM HOME : Canyon's song My Name was co-written by fellow Nova
Scotian
songwriter Gordie Sampson. The emotional song about a miscarriage
won Song of
the Year and Single of the Year at the 2005 Canadian Country
Music Awards.
Sampson also co-wrote Jesus Take the Wheel, which won Single
of the Year at the
2006 Academy of Country Music Awards for American Idol winner
Carrie Underwood.
BEFORE
THE FAME : Before making it big as a singer, Canyon worked as
a law
enforcement officer, a slaughterhouse beef inspector, a shipping
receiver for
Kraft and the owner/operator of his own recording studio.
GOLD
STAR : Canyon has only been singing professionally for two years,
but
he's already won a staggering number awards. They include a
Canadian Radio
Music Award, two Music Industry of Nova Scotia Awards, three
Canadian Country
Music Awards, four East Coast Music Awards, and one Juno Award.
Photo
Fan favourite: May Diswanger of Sheet Harbour gets her CD signed
by George
Canyon in Halifax yesterday. (Photo: Andre Forget)
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