Johnny Reid heeds advice from Beloved grandmother
It’s all about the revival for Johnny Reid. The 43-year-old hit the road Feb. 26 for a cross-country tour in support of his latest album, Revival. The album has garnered great reviews and has been nominated for a Juno Award. Reid recently sat down for a Q&A session with Jeff DeDekker during a break in his schedule. Q Let’s start with 44 shows in 58 days. Seems a little much.
A It did seem like a little much but now I’m up to 49 shows (laughs). It’s a bunch but I don’t get the chance to do this very often — life is family and other commitments and other things. I’ve always valued that relationship between me and the people, it’s the one thing that’s been consistent. I want to make sure to take it to the people. I remember as a wee boy, my dad saving up money to take us to a concert. Then the day would come, my dad would have to get off work early and then it was a big, long drive and it was all that kind of stuff. My feeling has always been, ‘Let’s just get out there and take it to the people.’ Let’s go to some of these places that don’t normally get a show of this size and that’s how we got up to 49 shows for this tour.
Q I’m guessing the reason you got into this business is to perform on stage.
A That’s been it for me from Day 1. I like writing songs and recording and releasing them but it all comes down to a conversation I had with my granny when I was a wee boy. She told me that I had a gift and that I had to promise that I wouldn’t waste it. I just love taking something that I was given and sharing it with people. I say that humbly but that’s really what this is about, sharing my time with people, sharing my life with people, sharing my songs and my stories ... The performing aspect of things is something that I cherish. As long as people keep showing up, I keep being there.
Q You seem to have stepped away from the spotlight. What have you been up to?
A In life you have to prioritize things and my No. 1 priority, obviously, is my family. So the last couple years I’ve been enjoying them. I’ve been working on a number of other projects, I’ve actually got another album recorded. It’s already done, it’s in the can. There was a lot of internal stuff happening with record labels, EMI was purchased by Universal, so there was a little business there and it was part of the hiatus, working through that contractual stuff. And then working on the Glass Tiger record was six months of my life. And then the big thing is writing a musical about my granny.
Q You’ve spoken of your grandmother many times in our past conversations and it seems the musical, like your grandmother, is dear to your heart.
A The musical is called My Bonnie Lass. It’s a dedication to my granny, I lost her when she was 87 and since the day she left this world I’ve been trying to figure out a way to bring her back. It just dawned on me a year and a half ago that the best way to bring my granny back was to tell her story through music and the best way to do that was a musical. So I’ve been working with a young fellow by the name of Matt Murray, a stage director by the name of Mary Francis Moore and a musical director by the name of Robert Foster. The musical has now been picked up by Michael Rubinoff (of M. Rubinoff Productions) and they’re really excited about this piece ... I’m hoping that by 2020 I’ll be able to bring it across the country, put my granny on stage and give people the chance to meet her.
Q Revival sounds different than your previous albums. Was that a conscious decision on your part or just the natural evolution of you as an artist?
A I think it’s a combination of both. It definitely had a specific direction. The idea of the record was to record it live. I wanted to cut it old school, I wanted to go into the studio, I wanted to put it on two-inch tape in the studio, I wanted to bring in an incredible band. Usually you use drums, bass and guitar and then add other instrumentation later. I wanted everything live off the floor so we had four horns, three backup singers, two guitars, bass, drums, a Hammond B3 organ, a piano and me behind the microphone. We then just recorded everything. We cut the entire Revival record in two days. Of course, there was some pre-production to make sure the songs were ready and that we knew what we were up to but the actual recording of the record took place over two days.
Q And now you get to take the music to the people.
A I wanted Revival to be recorded like that because there’s a truthfulness to it. My biggest fear is for people to come to the show and say, ‘He really doesn’t sound like his record.’ The greatest compliment anyone could give me is, ‘Man, you sound better than the record.’ For me, the best way to do that is to take all these musicians and put them on stage, so that’s what we’ve done. So for the Revival tour, there will be 13 people on stage, 14 counting myself. People are in for a treat. These musicians are absolutely incredible.”
Q I’ve noticed lately that your attire has changed. Gone are the days of the white jacket, the red pants and the white shoes. Have you become a little more reserved in your choices?
A (laughs) For me, I don’t think those days are gone, per se, but I wanted to make sure that I was dressing (appropriately) for the event. My attire for this tour is a bit more comfortable than it’s been in the past. I don’t know if I could get those red pants on me now. (laughs) I might have to pull them out now, you never know.