Me and some lucky members of the Tartan Army got to meet Johnny Reid Wednesday night before he burst onto the stage at CN Centre during his A Place Called Love tour.
We lined up two by two to go behind the magic curtain to meet the Canadian Country Music Fans' Choice award winner.
I spoke to several members of the Tartan Army and even a self-proclaimed Johnny Tart before we met Johnny Reid.
Two of the ladies I spoke to, Cheryl Buxton and Susan Harper, both said basically the same thing.
"Johnny Reid talks to your heart," said Buxton.
When I spoke to the super-fans several of them got teary just anticipating meeting the great entertainer. As they all described how they felt about Reid, they were filled with strong emotion.
"His songs aren't just about nothing, they all have something to say," Buxton said.
As we got closer to the front of the line I looked around to see excited people everywhere. The security people were bouncing on the balls of their feet and smiling at the reaction the uber-fans were exhibiting before and after meeting Reid. The star's public relations people were talking to the fans, telling them what a privilege it was to work with Johnny Reid. There was no bad attitude anywhere near Reid.
As me and my boyfriend stepped around the curtain Reid made immediate eye contact and winked.
Sigh. The breath I was unconsciously holding whooshed out and I stepped forward to meet a true gentleman who cares deeply about what he presents and represents to people - the voice of everyone who just can't seem to find the right words to express themselves.
He gets it when you say you finally found your true love, he gets it when you introduce your dream man to him and he makes sure to connect with said soulmate by giving him a two-handed handshake and calling him brother. Reid gets it and he makes sure you know he understands about love. He always says he wears his heart on his sleeve and you know it's true.
He surrounds himself with lovely people as well, his public relations man was very attentive and went through the entire meet and greet with us, guiding us every step of the way, making sure we knew what to expect - a professional photographer is standing in front of Johnny Reid to take a photo of the fan and the star - the photo will be emailed in about a week, have your CD ready if you want an autograph - that kind of thing.
When the fans were done meeting Reid, smiles were large and knees were shaking, said Susan Harper the Johnny Tart.
You leave the meet and greet feeling like something wonderful happened and it did.
And now on to the concert. Check out the photo album of the Johnny Reid concert in the photo galleries under Community on our home page.
