Early starting shows can be a blessing and a curse. A blessing for people who have to get up early to go to work, and a curse for people like me, who rushed back from Calgary to catch some upbeat country fun with George Canyon at Average Joes, Sunday, May 14.

 The show was pretty much over by the time I arrived to a packed bar, with most of the crowd gleefully  two stepping.

 Canyon was telling the story behind his hit  “Good Day To  Ride,” when I got settled in and played a hot version of it.

 I also arrived in time for a couple of newer hits including “I Got This” and “Daughters of the Sun.”

He dedicated “Somebody Wrote Love” to his wife before introducing his next single “Better Off in Love,” which he described as “a great two stepping song” and which is the one I really wanted to hear after hearing him talk about it during my interview with him last week.

He is known for playing excellent covers and wound the show down with his hit cover of Crowded House’s ’80s hit “Better Be Home Soon” from back in the day when “I wanted to be the lead singer of an ’80s rock band.”
He was called back for an encore after “I Got This,” and showed he is a pretty good guitarist by picking up an electric guitar and playing the lead on Eric Clapton’s “Wonderful Tonight.”

He ended the show at 10:20 p.m. with a great cover of Johnny Cash’s “Ring Of Fire,” which showed off keyboardist Mike Little’s prowess on accordion, who was a blur behind three keyboards and backing vocals throughout the show.