The Journey Tour’s convoy made it’s way to Ottawa

When Paul Brandt was in the early stages of planning his 2019 tour he had no idea how suitable the title, The Journey Tour, would be. After getting stuck on the infamous coquihalla highway in BC enroute from Alberta to their first stop in Abbotsford the tour finally rolled into Ottawa on Saturday night.

The star studded tour, which features some of the biggest names in Canadian country music, was kicked off by 5 brothers from Saskatchewan and some of the tightest and most connected harmonies I’ve heard in a long time. The Hunter Brothers may just be dipping their toes into the national music scene but their stage presence rivals that of many established acts. The Hunter Brothers are far from an acapella act but they could be, vocally I can’t think of another act (aside from popular country acapella act Home Free) that can come even close to rivaling their harmonies. If you get a chance to catch these brothers live in the near future do so. This is a band that you must experience live, their albums are good but their live performance is hard to beat. If you’re in Eastern Ontario and couldn’t get to Ottawa last night there’s more chances coming up in Oshawa and Kingston this week. Be sure to checkout their sophomore album State of Mind now, you can get it on iTunes here!

Following The Hunter Brothers was another Saskatchewan native, 3 time CCMA Female Artist of the Year and JUNO Award Winner, Jess Moskaluke. Let’s talk about vocals for a minute. When Jess opens her mouth to sing a tsunami of sound will knock you off of your feet. This was especially evident last night when she joined Paul Brandt on stage to perform “I’m an Open Road”. While Paul’s part of the song is a nice gentle slow roll, Jess’s vocal is a hard and fast. There’s a lot of words that she needs to sing very quickly, I have a hard enough time speaking her chorus without losing my breath yet Jess comes out on stage and delivers the part as if it was a simple lullaby. It’s amazing to see so much incredible talent coming out of Saskatchewan, can’t wait to see what they produce next! Jess is nominated for a JUNO Award again this year, we wish her the best of luck! It wasn’t performed last night but it was played during the intermission so I thought I’d share it here. If you’re a fan of Maren Morris and Zedd’s single “The Middle” Jess and the Hunter Brothers recorded a cover of it, check it out here:

Co-Headliners High Valley hit the stage next. Curtis and Brad are no strangers to Ottawa, an appearance at RBC Bluesfest a few summers ago led to a viral video of thousands of their fans singing “Make You Mine”. Last night was no different. High Valley had no issues keeping up the energy that the Hunter Brothers and Jess Moskaluke had built. Honestly every time I see High Valley perform they get better. Last night’s performance was one of the best I’ve seen to date. They even previewed a new song for the crowd while a camera crew filmed the performance for a future video. I don’t have any details on when “Single Man” might make it to country radio but I’d be betting on soon. Keep an eye on their iTunes page and Spotify profile, no doubt the single will appear there before anywhere else.

Up next was a man I first met about 20 years ago while working a festival in North Bay, Ontario. He was in the early years of a career that would see him become the most awarded Canadian country artist ever. Paul Brandt’s success was formally recognized when he was inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame last summer. I had the opportunity to chat with Paul earlier in the day about his Journey so far, watch for it soon.

Paul Brandt married his sweetheart in 1996 and you can tell, throughout the show, that she’s a major part of his life. On more than one occasion Liz’s photo would show up on the big screens behind the stage. With songs “All About Her” and “I Do” clearly being sung for her. Paul’s set was a 90 minute sing along. Starting with “The Journey” all the way to “Alberta Bound” the Ottawa crowd was on their feet stomping their feet, clapping their hands and singing at the top of their lungs all night long. Throughout the set The Hunter Brothers, Jess Moskaluke and High Valley all made appearances for select songs. For the encore The Hunter Brothers joined Paul and took the classic from C.W. McCall, “Convoy”, to a whole new level. Forget about diesel trucks the trucks in that convoy were supercharged with jet fuel in that performance. Once the trucks were parked Jess and High Valley all returned to the stage for a performance of Johnny Cash’s iconic single “Walk The Line”.

The best way to describe The Journey Tour is: it’s like watching an exciting, fast paced, NASCAR race only you don’t feel dizzy at the end from going in circles for 4 hours. This show will get your heart pumping and the adrenaline rushing through your veins. When it ended I just wanted to get in line to go again. To steal a line from Tim Hicks, that’s what a song should do!

Only 5 dates remain: After a short break the convoy will roll into Oshawa on Tuesday before closing out the tour with 4 shows in a row starting with Kingston Thursday and then wrapping up in Sudbury on Sunday night.

For tickets to the remaining dates visit http://paulbrandt.com/.

Special thanks to Warner Music Canada for setting up the interview and arranging a second ticket for my sidekick, it’s always a special night when you can share music you’ve been listening to for 20+ years with the next generation.

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