Johnny Reid Interview: Reviving Rock and Roll

Canadian singer Johnny Reid is going through a bit of a musical revival and is working at rebranding his image a little. On his latest CD ‘Revival’, the Scottish-born-Canadian hitmaker is diving back into the soul and rhythm and blues sounds that he grew up on. It’s a strong departure from the mainstream country image of his first couple albums. “Through the years I’ve been called a folk singer, I’ve been called country singer and I’ve been called a rock and roll singer, but at the end of the day, I’m just trying my best to be me,” he told 519 Magazine in an interview during rehearsals for the current tour that brings him to The Colosseum at Caesars Windsor on April 6. “My biggest goal on the new album was to be myself. I just want to be Johnny Reid and for me that means writing and recording music the way that I want to. On this album we have a folk song like Soul Train on it - of course it’s going to be a folk song that’s how I wrote it. Then there’s a song call Whiskey Kisses, which is an country tune, that’s actually an old school country tune. I think you have to be truthful and honest to yourself first, before you can listen to anyone else.”

With an illustrious career spanning more than two decades, the Juno Award winning singer has captured the hearts of fans and audiences around the world. A critically acclaimed vocalist, the blue-collared, soulful singer-songwriter Reid is widely known for his lyrical honesty and musical ability, as demonstrated by his extensive catalogue of hit songs, album sales totaling over 1.5 million units, countless awards and multiple sold out arena tours.

With the release of “Revival”, co-produced by Reid and the legendary Bob Ezrin (KISS, Alice Cooper), the highly praised and top-ranked Canadian star will add to his remarkable catalogue.

“Bob Ezrin and I have worked together before and I got the biggest compliment when we were recording the album,” Reid says. “Bob and I are in the studio and this guy walks up to him and says ‘Hey, Bob what are you up to?’ and Bob goes ‘I’m working on a record man.’ The guy then asks him what kind of record ‘is it a country record, soul or an R&B type of thing?’ and Bob just looks right at the guy and goes ‘No man, it’s a Johnny Reid record.” (laughs). Of all these years, that had to be the best answer that anyone could give – It’s a Johnny Reid record. I think I’m a reflection of the people that buy my record; I think that if you ask anybody what they are listening to, the general answer is a little bit of everything. And that’s what I listen to at the house - a wee bit of this and a wee bit of that, and that’s what my album reflects.”

Along with his cleverly crafted original songs, Reid also chose to record a couple of carefully chosen cover songs for Revival.

“There are some covers on the album,” Reid adds. “’Everytime I Roll The Dice’ is one of those songs I’ve always loved. The first time I heard that song it was performed by Delbert McClinton, who also wrote it. When I heard it, I said to myself, one of these days I’m going to record that song and there it is. ‘Don’t Let the Green Grass Fool You’ was an old Wilson Pickett tune and the last cover on the record is actually a Keb Mo song called ‘She Just Wants to Dance’. Obviously when Keb wrote it and recorded it, it was more like the swampy blues. I just wanted to add a bit of tempo and sorta’ take a more aggressive approach to the song. I’m really happy with how the songs translates.”

As expected for a Johnny Reid album, some of the songs can get very emotional. ‘Cry No More’ for example was a song he was a little too afraid to record earlier in his career:

“Cry No More was a song that I’ve had for years and to be honest, I wasn’t brave enough to record it. It never seemed to fit on any album, but I felt Revival was a great album to put it on. It’s a deep and personal song. It’s about a secret relationship between a woman and a bottle. Nobody knew she was broken and nobody knew until it was almost too late.”

Another song that didn’t seem to work on previous albums is I Don’t Want To Cry No More. Reid says the heavy content of the song was almost too much.

“Some of the songs on this album are true,” Reid explains. “They tell a story and the lyrics really mean something. ‘I don’t want to cry no more. I don’t want to be the only one who knows you’re killing me. I don’t want to cry no more.’ It’s a very, very heavyhearted song and I never thought I’d ever record it. Somehow it just seemed to fit on this record.”

To reproduce the sound of Revival in concert, Reid is touring with an entourage of singers and musicians, including Juno Award winning pop group Glass Tiger, who will join the singer on stage during part of the show.

“I wanted to be able to recreate what you hear on the record, so I’ll have three backup singers, three horns, two guitars, keyboards, drums and percussion,” Reid reveals. “The idea is to keep Revival on stage, but when it comes to the older songs like Women Like You, Dance with Me and Change the World, I’ve rearranged them so they kinda’ fit the vibe of the record. It’s going to come as a surprise to some, because they’re going to hear these song in a way they’ve never heard them before.”

Reid met Glass Tiger in the recording studio and the two of them hit it off. He produced the band’s current album 31, a revisiting of the band’s biggest hits:

“I just finished producing the new Glass Tigers album and it just sorta’ made sense for me. It was as easy as ‘Hey guys do you want to come on tour with me and sing a few of these songs’. So, they’re going to tour across the country with me from Vancouver Island to St. Johns and they’re going to sing a few songs that we recorded together in the studio.” Whether it’s folk, rock, country or R&B, he’s clearly becoming a singer with only one definition – it’s 100% Johnny Reid. Unless of course, you’re joking around:

“I always make the joke that as long as they don’t call me what they used to call my grandfather, I’ll be fine. He was a folk singer anc every time he started singing, they would say “Uhoh, we’re folked.”

Reid performs at The Colosseum at Caesars Windsor on April 6 with special guests Glass Tiger. Tickets are available at Ticketmaster or the Box Office.