Time: 7:30 p.m.
Tickets: $28
When Johnny Reid decided to name his new record Dance With Me, it was as
much an invitation to his fans to get up and dance, as it was a call to
celebrate the things that bring you home, even if home is thousands of
miles away.
“Life gets busy,” he says simply. “You get caught up in work and the
worry of life and business, and before you know it, it’s kids and school
and basketballs, and you forget about the small things.” He should
know. With a family of his own and a busy touring schedule you might
think he’d lose sight of the small things himself from time to time. But
the truth is, on Dance With Me they’re never far from his mind…
Over the past two years, Reid’s 2007 sophomore effort, Kickin’ Stones,
has been kickin’ ass. Certified Platinum in Canada, it has garnered the
Scottish Born, Nashville based Canadian singer/songwriter CCMA’s for
Top-Selling Canadian Recording and Top Male Artist in 2008, as well as a
Juno nomination for Country Recording of the Year. Its also gone a long
way to establishing Reid as an undeniably bright star in the Canadian
Country Music firmament, yielding two top ten radio singles in Love
Sweet Love, and Kickin’ Stones, and the runaway hit, Darlin’, which
sailed into both the top five at radio, and the number one spot on CMT
last year.
Out of the gate Dance With Me is promising to be an even bigger success.
It’s already making an impression with the lead single, A Woman Like
You, which went straight into heavy rotation at CMT and was the 1 most
added track at country radio in January 2009. And now, well before Dance
With Me hits stores on March 10th, Reid’s Spring Theatre tour is
selling out multiple nights in both major and secondary markets across
the country – including 4 consecutive days at Winnipeg’s Club Regent
Casino.
In 2008 Reid racked up over 120 shows, and his fans – his Tartan Army –
have packed them all; singing every word and connecting with him on what
he feels is a whole new level. “It’s been a great year. Unbelievable,
and unbelievably humbling, to have so many people not only buy the
record but show up to the concerts.” On Dance With Me Reid returns the
favour, speaking directly to the front row with songs like Hey-O.
Telling his crowd to ‘Look to your left. Look to your right. Everybody
here is a friend tonight.”
“The big thing with this record was that I wanted it to be danceable. I
wanted for people to be able to get up in their living room, or at the
bars, or at the concert hall and dance.” Between the infectious grooves
of standouts like Take It Outside and Keep Workin’ On Me, they won’t be
able to help themselves.
With a nod to the upbeat flavour of his debut, 2005’s Born To Roll, and
an eye to kicking his live set up a notch, Reid adds some serious steam
to his sound on Dance With Me: rollicking pianos, soaring strings and
tight horn arrangements that mine Country, old time Soul, R ‘n’ B, and
Rock and Roll alike. But he does so without ever losing the forthright
intimacy that fuelled Kickin’ Stones success.
“Anyone who knows me knows that I try my very best to keep it as simple
as possible. When I sit down with a guitar I really try to be straight
to the point, straight to the heart, and make sure whatever I’m singing
is cold, stone, truth.” And that’s what drives people to his music: his
ability to deliver the straight goods. Deeply personal sketches of
transcendent, yet simple moments, taken directly from his life, but
painted in broad enough strokes you can inhabit them your self.
“Here’s the thing,” Reid says. “You gotta take care of the people that
take care of you. I really wanted to make a record that would speak to
all the people who listen to Country radio, all the people who’ve
changed my life.” Over the past two years of shows he’s gotten the
chance to know some of those people. Meeting them and hearing their
stories, he explains, allowed him go into the writing and recording
process of Dance With Me with an exceptionally strong sense of what the
content and rhythm of the album should be.
While recording in Nashville’s Blue Room studio, Reid and co-writer,
producer, and close personal friend, Brent Maher, placed the emphasis on
getting strong performances live off the floor, cutting vocals and the
band’s tracks simultaneously. To do so they brought together a crack
roster of talent and got the bulk of the album in the can in only two
days: return appearances by Vicky Hampton, who’s backed legendary
performers like Garth Brooks, Dolly Parton, Bruce Springsteen, Kenny
Rogers and Billy Joel; Keyboardist Gordon Mote and co-writer and
guitarist Mark Selby; members of Mark Knopfler’s touring band, including
Glen Worf (Bass), and Richard Bennett (Guitars). As well as bringing in
new players, like Nir Z on Drums and Percussion, who’s recorded with
the likes of Genesis, Joss Stone and John Mayer. The chemistry was
undeniable says Maher. “We captured almost all of Johnny’s vocals with
the band. Nothing, nothing compares to the band and the singer reaching
the moment together, and making a record at the same time.”
“I wanted there to be a real sense of continuity between Kickin’ Stones
and Dance With Me,” Reid explains. There is. It’s drawn from the very
heart of Kickin’ Stones’ final single, Thank You, an open letter home
from Johnny to his family. But where songs like A Moon To Remember and
Brings Me Home follow in the same vein, the title track, Dance With Me,
picks up right where Thank You left off. “I wanted a song just like
that. That was simple, pure, and spoke the truth,” Reid says. “When I
first met my wife we rented a wee place. We had a couple of kids, you
know, and sometimes at night we’d just go into the kitchen or living
room, throw on some music, pour us some wine and just dance. That’s
where Dance With Me came from.”
Whether it’s on playful songs like Old Flame, or those that speak
painfully and candidly about his own losses, like My Old Friend, Dance
With Me never fails to throw the simple truths that threaten to escape
us in the noise and hustle of everyday life into stark relief. “It’s
about how you live your life. It’s about takin’ a wee bit of time to
spend with the person you love, to sort of get lost in a moment and get
back to basics.” That is, perhaps, his greatest strength as a songwriter
and a performer. An ability to reaffirm for himself, and his audience,
that nothing is more important than love, family and the small things
that makes life more livable.
Regardless of whether you’re an old fan or new, Dance With Me is a
reminder to make room for them, and to treasure the memories that can
bring us all home when we most need them to.
(403) 320-4040
The City of Lethbridge ENMAX Centre was built as a lasting legacy of the 1975 Canada Winter Games.