Aaron Pritchett happy to be back in the Townships
Canadian Country singer Aaron Pritchett will be performing at ‘The Gait’ at Bishops University on February 20th as part of his 2019 “Out on the Town” Tour. This is not the singer’s first trip to Quebec. He was here in 2008 at The Piggery and he recalls coming at The Ayer’s Cliff Fair. He is happy to be back.
Pritchett and his crew have been on the road for almost six weeks now, playing 21 shows out of the 35 planned for this tour which will end in the Maritimes. This is a longtime away from home and his family.
“Being on the road is not that bad, it is kind of fun,” said Pritchett when reached by phone for an interview on my radio show. “The team is like a family, they’re my friends and we make more friends along the way.”
“Everyone in the team has a different personality and we have to find a way to get along.” He continued, saying that the whole crew has one thing in common and it is to offer a high-energy show every time. “We want fans to escape, to be in a different world, to forget about their problems and have fun.”
“Out on the Town” is also the title of his new EP which was released on January 11th, 2019. The new album marks a happy time in Pritchett’s life and career.
“For this release I wanted everything to be different, I wanted diversity with the songs. That was the goal when Scott Cooke, my producer, and I started the process over a year and a half ago. All the songs are different from one another” he explained about this new collection.
The collection includes one song that he co-wrote titled “Ain’t Stressin,” while the other numbers are songs that were pitched to him.
“There’s a lot of good songwriters out there and I listened to a lot of songs before I decided which ones I wanted to record,” he explained about putting this album together. “I go with my feelings, I go with my gut and at the same time I take a big risk.”
“I have to be able to relate to a song and I make sure my fans will as well,” he stressed. “I like songs that tell a story, that is what country music is all about, the story. Picking songs can be a tiring and emotional process.”
Pritchett said that the same thing applies to his songwriting, but in a different way.
“It is hard to find inspiration just from my life. I am mostly inspired by other people’s stories or events I hear about on television. It can be sad or happy as long as I relate to it” he explained.
Country music has always been about telling stories (except what has been coming out during the bro-country movement, which is dying now) and that means a lot to Pritchett.
“That’s the reason I got into country music, those stories really appeal to people. It might have been simplified for a while with songs about wanting to party, watch bonfires sitting on the tailgate and drink beer, but the story songs are still there and this is what I want to give the fans” he explained.
The first single from this collection “Worth a Shot” was a success and the current one “Better When I Do” is climbing the charts as well. After nearly 25 years in the music industry Pritchett is still going strong.
With 14 career top ten singles, a gold selling smash hit, a recent string of top 10 songs, and a massive headlining national tour, Pritchett continues to evolve with the same consistency.
The Vancouver native is one of Canada’s most electrifying entertainers. With multiple Canadian Country Music Association Award wins, and Juno nominations to his credit, Pritchett is faithful to his roots.
The artist recently celebrated five more British Columbia Country Music Association Awards wins, which brings his career total to 38 awards.
Asked about his own favourite artists, Pritchett pointed to Keith Urban because of his style, his sing along song/anthems, his personality and the way he rocks a stage. When it comes to songwriters, he said he also has a lot of admiration for Canadian Patricia Conroy.
“She is beautiful inside and out and she writes with passion,” Pritchett said. “I just love collaborating with her, like we did on “Ain’t Stressin”.
Pritchett is also the proud father of three sons, all musicians.
“Jordan was the lead guitar of Canadian rock band Faber Drive for eight years, but now he is forming a country duo with his girlfriend Danielle,” he said. “They’re coming out with their own stuff. It’s going to be amazing.”
“There’s also Brayden (22) and Mayson (16) who play together, but they are more into R&B and Jazz,” Pritchett added, “I couldn’t be more proud of my three sons.”
What concert goers can expect this time around is fairly simple:
“I feel like I am 25 years old so the show is high energy. We start the show with a bang and end off with a bigger bang. In between it will be a non-stop experience with songs from the past and present. We want people to sing along to every song” he said.
Canadian Country singer Kira Isabella is opening the show. You can reserve your tickets by calling the box office at 819-822-9692