“That was a really interesting experience, traveling B.C. In February. It was fantastic, but really interesting. You never have to drive but you have to adapt to their very limited schedule and if you hit a snow squall, you end up being an hour late for a gig,” said Newberry over the phone from Nanton, where he was having lunch en route to a gig in Calgary.
He is touring in support of his new solo CD ‘When We Learn the Things We Need to Learn’ with guitarist James Lamb, who did the Greyhound bus tour with him. So far response has been great.
“The tour has been going great. We’re on the road again and it is fantastic. It’s been a lot of fun,” he said.
“James is a songwriter too, a really good songwriter, so he does a few of his own, and I’ll help him out on his too,” Newberry enthused adding the CD, which came out April 2, has already attracted a few fan favourites.
“Fourth Fret,’ ’Rabbit’s Foot’ and ’All My Friends Are Famous,’ are the ones people want to hear,” he continued adding ‘All My Friends Are Famous’ is the one he is enjoying playing the most. He is enjoying the live show too.
“James doesn’t play on the CD and I don’t restrict him to playing what the players on the CD played, so he’s taking it into a whole different direction,” Newberry continued adding he is also playing a lot of new material.
“It took two years to record this CD and I didn’t do any new writing. Now that it’s done, I have been writing a lot. So I’ve been playing five or six new songs. Some of them rock a lot harder than the CD, others have pretty much the same mellow rootsy feel,” he continued.
“I can’t write when I have other projects going. I have to set a time and write and then they come. But I’ve just been really super busy with touring and other jobs and projects. That’s what it’s like when you do this for a living,” he continued adding he is looking forward to the Lethbridge show. Especially playing with the Perpetators and Treeline.
“I enjoy the chance to play with local bands. It’s interesting to play for people who came to see you, but even more interesting to play for an audience who came to hear somebody else. You can see what they’re thinking and what they respond to,” he said adding he enjoys visiting new communities.
“I don’t like to come in late at night and leave early in the morning. I like to get to new towns early and take a look around, talk to the locals and find out where the good places to eat are,” he said adding he has been around southern Alberta before, though never Lethbridge.
“It’s really exciting for me. I get to see a lot of parts of the country I’d never get to see otherwise. There’s mountains and it’s a gorgeous part of the country that you get to see when you zip around the world like I do.”
— By Richard Amery, L.A. Beat Editor
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