FORMER OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALLIST READY TO ROCK ’N’ ROLL
Amazing Race Canada host proves he’s got the music cred to co-host the Junos broadcast with Jann Arden
Jon Montgomery is aware that he’ll be the odd man out onstage at the Juno Awards ceremony in Calgary on Sunday, but that doesn’t mean the former Olympic gold-medal skeleton racer and current Amazing Race
Canada TV host knows nothing about music.
Nope, Montgomery — who will co-host CTV’s Sunday Juno broadcast alongside tart-tongued Calgary homegirl Jann Arden starting at 7 p.m. Toronto time — has been a music fan dating back to his teen years in Russell, Man., although he modestly asserts that his musical experience “could fit on a single sheet of loose-leaf paper” compared to Arden’s.
We rang him up earlier this week to get a feel for what kind of tunes he’s into, which musicians he’s looking forward to meeting in Calgary and his overall “rock ’n’ roll-ness” in general. He was most obliging.
So are you a rock ’n’ roll fan, then?
Yeah, definitely, that would be the genre I’m most comfortable listening to. But as of late I’ve gotten into some old-school country as a result of my “Outlaw Country” XM station and my wife being a fan of the genre. So I’ve been diggin’ on that lately, as well.
Well, that’s fitting for a Prairie boy.
It is. But you know what? I grew up sort of bucking the trend, if you will. If people from my neck of the world listen to predominantly country, myself and some of my friends were going in a different direction. I’m old enough and mature enough now that I can appreciate any musical genre for what it is. I don’t have to be too cool to say that I like pop music or that I like Justin Bieber or anything like that. I can find nuances in just about every single genre out there, from African to Canadian to everything in between.
So what’s playing in your car when
you’re hurtling down the highway?
I listen to whatever my wife has got going on. And then if she doesn’t have anything that she’s made a point of playing, it’s honestly the XM dial and I’m switching from genre to genre. Station to station they all offer very different things, but I’d say that I’m locked mostly on the ’90s station on my XM dial. I grew up in the ’90s. That was sort of my coming-of-age decade.
You’re a child of the grunge years, then?
Oh, yeah. I distinctly remember where I was when I heard that Kurt Cobain had passed away. It was in 1994 in April and I was in Kamloops at the Western Canadian Bantam Championships. We were out there as the Manitoba reps and I remember it being a sad day because you have no idea how many times Nirvana played in our dressing room.
Are there any performers you’re hoping to see at the Juno Awards this weekend?
A buddy of mine in Calgary just tweeted a photograph of the seating arrangement in Avenue Magazine and I’m sitting next to The Weeknd and Alessia Cara. Bryan Adams is directly behind me. I hope he’s not giving me any wet willies. But these are people who I’ll be beside myself to meet and to get to shake their hands. I’m not gonna fanboy over any of them because, hopefully, I’ve developed a modicum of self-control.
Did any Canadian artists make an impression on you as a young sprout?
When I was younger growing up in Manitoba, the Watchmen came out with a local band from my hometown or one of the surrounding towns around Russell to play with them in Roblin, Man. So I went to Roblin to see the Watchmen when I was young. I really, really liked the New Meanies, too.
Are you ready for your hosting duties?
I’ll be the straight man. Jann Arden is a spitfire, that lady. It’ll just be an exercise for me to try to keep up with her. I’ll definitely be the straight man and that works great for me because these are her peers and I’m just honoured to be a guest.
Knowing what I know of Jann Arden, I’m guessing it’ll be impossible for you to get a word in edgewise.
You know what, that’s OK. I’m quite comfortable in my role. She’s a live wire, man.