Brandt back on the road to get some sleep
It’s been a while since Paul Brandt took his show on the road.
“It’s been four years since I was last on the road,” the Canadian country singer-songwriter says, starting out the window at the snow in Truro, N.S. earlier this week. “It’s nice to see people getting excited about us being back.”
Brandt will be in Prince George on March 4 for a concert at the CN Centre, with High Valley opening. By then, near the end of the current tour, he figures everything should be finely tuned.
“We try and get the cobwebs out in rehearsals before we go on the road,” he says, “but it usually takes two or three nights to really get the feeling back of being on stage.”
The Prince George date is part of the third stage of a 40-date tour, “the longest Canadian tour we’ve ever done”.
He’s found splitting the tour into sections works on a couple of fronts.
“It’s nice to get that time off between the sections, spend some time with family, get caught up on things. I’ve also found audiences back East seem to appreciate the acoustic show more. Out west, they like the bigger show, so that’s what we’re bringing to Prince George.”
Brandt will be working from his long list of hits, as well as songs off his latest album, Give It Away. He played the title track for William and Catherine, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, during their visit to the Calgary Stampede last year.
“That was a big thrill, to have the chance to play one of my songs for them.”
The Stampede is celebrating its 100 anniversary this year, and Brandt will be there for the whole thing – working, of course.
“I’ll be out at the Stampede all 10 days this year. We’re doing a show that tells the story of the Stampede over the past 100 years.”
For Brandt, it’s definitely a sign of a career that has come full circle.
“I sang at the Youth Talent Show at the Stampede when I was 16,” he remembers. “When I won, I went out the next day and saw my name up in lights before I did my show.
“Then the lights went to the next event after my show. The pig races.”
He laughs.
“I was opening for the pig races.”
Brandt wasn’t taking it easy in those four years off the road, as he and his wife, Elizabeth, spent time with their children, Joseph and Lily, on their ranch near Calgary. He says it was great to take the time to be a husband and a father more fulltime, but it meant changes for his songwriting.
“It was more challenging, because I had to be more disciplined about making time for writing. Before, it was easier to find time, but becoming a parent has given me new viewpoints on a lot of things.”
One of those new viewpoints became apparent when he got back on the road.
“Now I go out on the road and say, ‘I actually got eight hours of sleep last night’.”
While Give It Away is still riding high, Brandt is already close to finishing his next album, and it takes him in a slightly different direction.
“It’s a gospel-bluegrass alum called Just As I Am, and it should be out later this year. I had the chance to work with people like Patty Loveless and Ricky Skaggs on it, which was just awesome.”
One final question for Brandt, who wrote I Was There, the theme song for this year’s World Junior Hockey Championships: Who;s going to win the Stanley Cup?
He laughs, and the sound of him shaking his head is almost audible over the phone.
“I don’t even want to try to predict the Stanley Cup. I find I just like to watch the playoffs without pulling for one particular team.
“Unless Calgary is in it, of course, but it hasn’t been a good couple of years for them.”
Paul Brandt and High Valley are at the CN Centre on March 4. Tickets are available at all Ticketmaster locations.
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