Country star Gord Bamford took his time to release his latest CD Tin Roof, and in the process moved his family down to Nashville.
He will be playing The Enmax Centre with Joe Nichols and Trevor Panczak on April 9, just in time for the official release date of his new CD “Tin Roof.”
“ I’ve been coming down here for 15 years to write songs and it’s been great, other than the allergies,” Bamford said, sneezing, as he was leaving the gym.
Bamford has numerous hits on the radio including “Where a Farm used to Be,” “ Country Junkie,” “Is It Friday Yet,” “Farm Girl Strong,” “ A Cowboys Last Ride, “ “ Day Job” and Drinking Buddy” and “Blame It On That Red Dress” to name a handful.
“ I’ve got a three year visa, so it won’t be permanent. It is nice. It will do for now,” he said.
He is excited about the new album, which he recorded with a new producer, Phil O’Donnell.
“ The process was a lot different. I worked with a different producer and spent a year writing songs for it. I’m really excited about it. I think its the best I’ve ever done,” said the Australian born musician, who moved to Lacombe before moving to Nashville in April.
“ This album is different, especially with everyone releasing EPS these days, this has 15 song son it. I recorded 25-27 songs, but couldn’t keep cutting them down,” he said, adding the subject matter and styles of the songs varies.
“I have a song about my son called ‘Apple’ then I have a song called ‘Breakfast Beer,’” he chuckled.
“ I just wanted to pick songs I thought country fans could relate to. That’s always the goal,” he said, adding he wrote or co-wrote 12 of the songs.
He also took a break from recording with long time producer Byron Hill, who produced his last six albums to work with Phil O’ Donnell ( who wrote a lot of popular hits including the number one hit “Doin’ What She Likes” (Blake Shelton), “Give It All We Got Tonight” (George Strait), and “Back When I Knew It All” (Montgomery Gentry), and also produced Craig Morgan‘s six-week No. 1 country hit, “That’s What I Love About Sunday.”)
“ He’s from New Brunswick but has been living in Nashville for the last few years. He wrote the last number one hit for George Strait,” he said adding O’Donnell also works with his publishing company ole.
“ I got to write with a lot of songwriters I know and songwriters I haven’t worked with before and people who run in Phil’s circle,” he said.
Bamford is excited to co-headline a tour with Joe Nichols who is releasing his new CD “Crickets” and has a variety of his own hits including his latest hit “Freaks Like Me” “ Brokenheartsville,” who has a variety of his like “Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off.”
“I‘ve been a fan of his music for a long time. This is the first t co-headlining tour of a Canadian and an American artist,” Bamford said.
“Trevor Panczak is also playing. So I want to thank Ron Sakamoto for putting it together,” he said.
“It’s our tour, so there is no real headliner. We’re both playing 60 minute sets,” he said, noting there won’t be a lot of the new CD played at the show.
“As a music fan I don’t like to go to a show and hear a lot of stuff I haven”t heard before. I’m fortunate to have a lot of hits on the radio, so I’ll be playing them and maybe a few songs to showcase the new album,” he said.
“And Joe and I might get together and do something at the end. So hopefully that comes together. We’re both big fans of Merle Haggard,” he said.
“It’s going to be a great time. I know the economy is bad up there, but I hope people will come out and forget all that for a night,” he said.
The concert begins at 7:30 p.m., April 9 at the Enmax Centre. Tickets cost $51.25, $71.75 and $86.75.