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Classic Canyon
Pictou
County’s country star heads out on provincewide tour
By
ANDREA NEMETZ Entertainment Reporter - Halifax Herald
GEORGE
CANYON doesn’t want people to score him on his versions
of country classics like Folsom Prison Blues, He Stopped Loving
Her Today and Kiss An Angel Good Morning.
"The
original versions are the best, I’m paying homage to what
I cut my teeth on, the music that inspired me," says the
humble Canyon, who recorded covers of 13 timeless tunes from
superstars like Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings
and Charley Pride for his latest CD Classics, that was released
Oct. 9.
"It’s
not as if I can even hold a candle to the originals. It’s
a true honour to record them."
The
square-jawed country singer is in Gander five weeks into his
cross-country In A Quiet Room tour that has taken him from Vancouver
Island to Newfoundland. And after so many days on the road,
his voice is hoarse, though he’s friendly as ever.
He
begins the final leg of his tour, the Nova Scotia portion, on
Saturday at 8 p.m. at the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium in Halifax.
He
also performs at Strathspey Place, Mabou on Nov. 8; Membertou
Trade and Convention Centre, Sydney on Nov. 10; Chedabucto Place
Performance Centre, Guysborough on Nov. 12 and 13; the Bicentennial
Theatre, Middle Musquodoboit, Nov. 14; Astor Theatre, Liverpool,
Nov. 15; Evergreen Theatre, Margaretsville, Nov. 16; Kings Theatre,
Annapolis Royal, Nov. 17; Mermaid Performing Arts Centre, Windsor,
Nov. 18; Marigold Cultural Centre, Truro, Nov. 19 and wraps
up at the deCoste Centre in his hometown of Pictou on Nov. 20
and 21.
"We’re
having a wonderful time, telling jokes, bantering back and forth,
answering audience questions. It’s like a big kitchen
party. It feels a lot like when I first started playing in small
pubs where it always felt like a kitchen party."
The
tour, which features Canyon’s full band, will include
all the songs on his new album, as well as favourites from previous
albums like One Good Friend (2004), Home For Christmas (2005)
and Somebody Wrote Love (2006).
"It’s
not all about the Classics album, but about sitting down and
visiting with the audience, telling stories and jokes and getting
to know the fans again.
"When
you play for 55,000 people you lose that feeling. I want to
get up close and personal again, to have that rapport. As well,
we want to go to towns and smaller places that live music doesn’t
always go to. While we’ve played a few cities like Halifax,
the majority of the places we’re playing are smaller venues,
smaller towns."
Ring
of Fire, the first single from Classics, is already hitting
national airwaves.
Many
see it as the signature tune for the 36-year-old cowboy, who
now makes his home on a ranch in Okotoks, Alta.
The
1963 Johnny Cash tune vaulted Canyon into the spotlight at the
Nashville Star auditions four years ago. Ultimately, he finished
as runner-up to Brad Cotter and got to hobnob with stars like
Nelson during the tapings and perform at the Grand Ole Opry,
with Trace Adkins in attendance.
"Ring
of Fire was instrumental in getting me onto the program,"
Canyon says. "I’m so grateful to Johnny Cash for
singing it and to June Carter Cash and Merle Kilgore for writing
it."
Canyon
hopes the songs — from 1954’s Release Me by Ray
Price to 1984’s Seven Spanish Angels by Nelson and Ray
Charles — will trigger happy memories for fans.
"I’ve
had people tell me they used to listen to them with their granddad.
The songs let people go on a trip down memory lane."
Canyon
and his wife Jennifer spent hours going through songs that meant
something to him growing up — like Good Ol’ Boys,
the theme from the Dukes of Hazard, a favourite TV show for
the young Canyon, then known as Fred Lays, Jr., who listened
to stars like Nelson, Stan Rogers, Gordon Lightfoot, Freddy
Fender and Pride.
"We
selected over 40 and had to narrow them to 12, although we ended
up recording 13. It was heartbreaking. I wanted to do them all."
Canyon’s
happy to return to the Maritimes, particularly the Pictou shows
which are sure to be full of family and friends. But he’s
also looking forward to spending a few days with Jennifer and
his kids, son Kale, nine, and daughter, Madison, seven when
the tour ends. The family doesn’t go on tour as the kids
are in school and Canyon wants to give them as stable an environment
as possible.
Then
he’ll shoot a couple of TV specials — one for CMT
and one he’s not allowed to talk about, he jokes.
While
Classics hasn’t yet been released in the U.S., he anticipates
touring there and Europe next summer as well as Canada.
In
the meantime, he’ll be giving the fans what they want.
Tunes like I Want You to Live and Drinkin’ Thinkin’
(both from Somebody Wrote Love) are perennial requests along
with My Name (which he doesn’t play at every show) and
Ring of Fire.
"Everyone
expects to hear Ring of Fire and if they don’t hear it
right away, they get anxious," he reports.
(
anemetz@herald.ca)
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