Back
August
4, 2007
George
Canyon turns back hands of time
Canadian country star plays to his biggest audience of summer
Peter North, Special to The Journal
FESTIVAL
PREVIEW
Where:
Big Valley Jamboree
When:
Tonight
Tickets:
At the gate
CAMROSE
- Hopefully, the day will soon arrive when George Canyon can
say,
"I had a lot of time to work on this record."
The
Canadian country music star, who saw his star rise as a contestant
on
the Nashville Star television series, always seems to be racing
to or from
the next gig, session or engagement.
Of
course, that sense of urgency is a confirmation that the multiple
Canadian Country Music Association award winner is in demand,
not
something all successful recording artists can boast about in
these
strange times in the music biz.
To
his credit, Canyon knocked off a Christmas disc in the space
of a few
days two years ago and came up with a winner that will register
at retail
outlets and on radio for years to come.
And
on the heels of his Somebody Wrote Love recording of 2006, Canyon
has
dusted off his favourite country songs of yesteryear and expects
to see an
album titled Classics released to coincide with a coast-to-coast
fall
tour.
"I
don't think I've ever worked so hard meeting a deadline,"
he says from
his ranch outside Calgary.
Canyon,
who headlines the Big Valley Jamboree tonight, is excited about
the sessions that allowed him to turn back the hands of time.
"This
was about letting the music become the music and it wasn't about
the
music biz. The songs that made the cut included Folsom Prison
Blues, Ring
of Fire, Hello Darlin' and Seven Spanish Angels."
"I
produced it and we tried to stay true to the originals, mixing
them
truer to the tone.
"In
the case of Ring of Fire, the original was cut with only three
instruments, so we added a bit more but stayed away from the
kick drum and
led with the snare.
"It's
a fine line to walk," admits Canyon, who also singled out
Seven
Spanish Angels as a real challenge.
"I've
waited patiently to do this project. You don't want to push
it. But
everybody was onboard and we actually have enough material picked
to do
two volumes. I'd like to record more Canadian material by Hank
Snow, Wilf
Carter and Ian Tyson," adds the amiable and humble singer,
who has started
trolling for audiences in Europe.
"We
were hired to play a show in a castle for a birthday last year
and
that has led to a concert appearance in Scotland for next year.
And I'm
off to play two festivals in Germany and France right away and
we're
hoping that opens a number of doors."
This
all comes after a making the rounds at the Calgary Stampede
on both
public and private stages, just as he received word he was once
again
nominated as Entertainer of the Year by the Canadian Country
Music
Association.
Tonight
will find Canyon playing to his biggest audience of the summer
as
the Big Valley music compound will likely play host to about
30,000 fans.
"You
just try and reach the back of the crowd, let them know that
you know
they are out there. And we'll keep all the upbeat material in
the set
list," says Canyon, who has scored on radio over the last
few years with a
number of tunes, including I Want You to Live, I'll Never Do
Better Than
You, Somebody Wrote Love and Drinkin' Thinkin'.
Back
