George
Canyon
The
Three Hills Capital
by David Nadeau
To
meet the romantic or the humorous George Canyon, tune in any
country music station in southern Alberta. Most everyone loves
George Canyon—with just cause.
To meet the showman George Canyon, it was as easy as surrendering
three hours at the Trochu Community Center last Tuesday. Accompanied
by fellow Canadian country singer, Lacombe’s Gord Bamford,
Canyon made sure Trochu was on his 30-stop “Somebody
Wrote Love” tour—a road trip that was planned
well in advance of his successful domination of the 2006 Canadian
country music awards in New Brunswick. Canyon won male artist
of the year and single of the year for his current radio-active
song “Somebody Wrote Love.” A full house welcome
the tour at the community center—little wonder—Canyon
is probably the hottest Canadian country act, male or female,
making domestic chart music these days.
But if you want to meet another side of George Canyon, whose
real name is Fred George Lays, a little chat turns up that
which is not part of his stage, radio, or screen persona.
He’s quick to call himself a Christian, likes to mention
that all the guys in his six-piece band are fellow believers,
and prefers an “every minute of every day” lifestyle
of good living and frequent prayer to sitting in a pew. “I
am continually aware of God,” he said in an interview
prior to last week’s Trochu stop, “and I am just
so thankful for His blessings every day.”
Married to Jennifer for over 12 years and the father of two
precocious children, Canyon, when not on the road or in a
recording studio, makes his home on a ranch south of Okatoks.
Without prompting, Canyon mentions that prayer is a real part
of his life on the road. “We pray as a band before concerts,”
he said. “Our little sessions seem to get longer and
longer. And another thing that’s getting longer and
longer is the line of people who want to meet me after a concert.
They tell me about their problems or ask for help. They know
I will pray for them. I think what we will do pretty soon
is get a hard-cover kind of scrapbook where concert goers
can write their names and prayer requests to help us remember
what and who to pray for.”
The “Somebody Wrote Love” tour zoomed out of Trucho,
headed for Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, and the Maritimes,
ending late in October in Nova Scotia, Canyon’s province
of origin.
The group not only makes sure each concert includes all of
Canyon’s current and recent radio hits—he surfaced
on country music radar after snagging runner up status in
a Nashville Star televiewer-vote competition—but they
ensure a poignant part of the program is set aside to honor
Canada’s participation in global peacekeeping and conflict
resolution activities.
