What better way to spend an evening, than to spend it enjoying the neo-honky-tonk sounds of Nudie and the Turks live in person, is what many Ontario folks have found out during this Charlottetown, PEI band’s 2008 twelve-stop Ontario tour through the month of May, which followed seven stops through Atlantic Canada and Quebec. The tour kicked off on May 3rd with a CD release party at The Guild in Charlottetown for the latest album ‘Looking for a good time’ which has received rave reviews and was itunes Canada’s featured album for the week of May 5th. Check out www.nudieandtheturks.com to purchase the album.
Although the band has been to Ontario on previous tours visiting cities such as Ottawa, Toronto and Barrie, this tour has taken the band to a whole new world of music fans with five small-town stops in a region west of Ottawa known as the Ottawa Valley. Packed venues and lengthy line-ups of autograph seekers waiting to get their new album(s) signed, was not an uncommon occurrence. “Country music is not my thing, but I like these guys” says fan Brianne Kerik of the Ottawa area. “They are all accomplished musicians who are very entertaining!” Kerik continued.
One of the highlights of this tour for the band was the opportunity to perform a live on-air concert. Valley Heritage Radio, a community owned, not-for-profit station based in Renfrew, Ontario hosted the show, which was very well received by the studio audience and radio listeners alike. “The station has been on the air for just over a year and has already acquired a substantial listener base!” says station manager Jim Long. “We are happy to help support this great Canadian band by spreading their good honky- tonk sound around the valley” Jim continued. “Performing live on the air is very much the old school way of doing it. This is how it was done in the days of Hank Williams” said lead singer Nudie, as he expressed his gratitude to the station.
In the early morning of May 26th, with performances in Ottawa, Renfrew, Arnprior, Toronto, London, Picton, Pembroke, Griffith and Hardwood Lake behind them, the crew packed up the van and hit the TransCanada highway eastbound. So what’s in store for the days ahead? A couple weeks rest will be welcomed by all, and then on the road again with several dates confirmed around the Maritimes. Kicking things off will be a stop at Fred Eaglesmith’s 3rd annual down east picnic, in Muniac Park, NB.
Morgan Adams
Ceilidh Promotions and Booking Agency
