Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Johnny Reid brings friends for February concert

One of Canada's country music kings is coming to Prince George, and he's bringing along one of Canada's Celtic queens. Johnny Reid will return to CN Centre Feb. 5.
johnny-reid--natalie-macmas.jpg
Johnny Reid sings to 4,500 fans at his concert Monday night at CN Centre. Reid is on his cross Canada tour 'Fire it Up Let Love Live Again'. He will be in Dawson Creek Tuesday night.

One of Canada's country music kings is coming to Prince George, and he's bringing along one of Canada's Celtic queens.

Johnny Reid will return to CN Centre Feb. 5. With him will be special guest Natalie MacMaster, who has also brought her sizzling fiddle talents to Prince George in the past.

And for extra good measure, the two of them will be joined by two very different country acts, Aaron Goodvin and JJ Shiplett. Both of these up-and-comers are making names for themselves in the Canadian country music scene, and Reid is bringing them along to make his concert appearance into more of a travelling festival when four quality acts are lined up on the same night.

Tickets go on sale Nov. 13 at Studio 2880, CN Centre Box Office or online via Ticketmaster's website.

Adding extra value to the Johnny Reid show is the charity he is supporting on the What Love Is All About tour. Reid is donating one dollar from each ticket purchased in participating markets in support of MusiCounts Band Aid Program and the Plus One organization, both working together to keep music classes alive in schools across Canada and puts instruments into the hands of children who need them most.

The same day tickets go on sale, Reid's new album What Love Is All About also hits the streets.

Tour promoters called Reid "a critically acclaimed vocalist widely known for his lyrical honesty and musical ability, as demonstrated by his extensive catalogue of hit songs, album sales totalling over 1.1 million units, countless awards and multiple sold-out national arena tours."

The new album was produced by music legend Bob Ezrin (Canadian Music Hall of Fame producer/musician for Pink Floyd, Peter Gabriel, Kiss, Phish and many others). It is also Reid's first package of new material in more than two years, so time was taken to make the album strong.

MacMaster is a superstar of Cape Breton's rich fiddling history and a member of the Order Of Canada. She has recorded with Yo-Yo Ma (that collaboration won a Grammy Award) and The Chieftains, toured with Carlos Santana and Alison Krauss, and did a musical TED Talk duet with Thomas Dolby, among many other personal and professional highlights.

Shiplett has made a solid name for himself in his hometown of Calgary, where he put out his first recording in 2007 with the EP called Colours, that led to winning a Rawlco Radio grant to produce the full-length album Drifter in 2012.

Like Reid, Shiplett is ahead of the curve in getting young people the tools required to play music. In 2009 he started a society with friend, Daniel Huscroft, called The Hus and Banger Society For Kids Who Can't Afford Musical Instruments. He said it is dedicated "to help Canadian kids whose families might not be able to purchase quality instruments, to help them learn the fundamentals of music, and to assist in the learning of one of life's most important aspects - art."

Goodvin was born and raised in Spirit River, Alberta, which almost makes him a British Columbian (Dawson Creek is the nearest regional centre). He caught the performance bug after getting a round of applause at a shopping mall singing event at age 12, by 18 he was writing his own music to the point that trips to Nashville became regular, and when Luke Bryan cut his track Out Like That, well the Goodvin horse was out of the barn. He met Reid, who took him under his touring wing, and now they are out on the road together.

Goodvin's latest single is Knock On Wood which starts with the line "I'm gonna change the world, just me and this guitar" which loops right back to the theme of this tour - funding the musical education of children in Canada because that simple act can build a person up, influence a community, and indeed change the world.