Photo by Phil Crozier
If there is one lesson that Nova Scotia’s Dean Brody has learned over the course of six studio albums, it is that nothing is guaranteed. He also knows, however, that he is one of the luckiest guys in Canadian country music.
“I keep waiting for the balloon to pop,” the soft-spoken Brody begins. “With every record I’ve made since my sophomore album, I just hope that people will still be interested in what I’ve got to say with the songs I write. Should there come a time that people decide they don’t want to hear it anymore – which I hope never happens – I’ll just fade in behind the scenes and just keep writing songs. I just have to take it one album at a time.”
Speaking with the Times & Transcript in advance of his show at Moncton’s Casino New Brunswick on New Year’s Eve, if Brody’s previous success if any indication of the future, he needn’t be worried that people are going to be tuning him out anytime soon.
Bolstered by a plethora of gold- and platinum-selling singles and albums, multiple Canadian Country Music Association Awards as well as a pair of Juno Award wins, Brody is nothing short of a bonafide Canadian phenomenon.
The City of Moncton has had a long love affair with Brody and his music.
From his early shows at the Capitol Theatre downtown through sold-out performances at Casino New Brunswick, Brody last performed in Moncton in October 2015, as part of the Road Trip tour with Paul Brandt and Whitney Rose. The 22-city cross-country tour reportedly grossed almost $4 million with an impressive 73,000 tickets sold nationally.
“The Road Trip Tour was something we had envisioned quite some time ago. To see it come to life and the passion the fans brought to the shows each night was great.”
Behind the scenes, Brody says that having the opportunity to share headlining responsibilities with Brandt helped alleviate some of the weight on his shoulders, making for an overall more relaxed approach to the tour.
“It can be a lot of pressure to headline a tour, but because we were sharing the stage with Paul every night, it made the overall feeling a little looser and a lot more fun,” Brody says.
That fun and sense of adventure isn’t something Brody limits to his live show. His most recent studio effort, Beautiful Freakshow, sees the relentlessly creative musician pushing the boundaries of what fans may be expecting.
While the album boasts tender ballads like his latest chart-topper “Time,” while also welcoming a guest appearance from the acclaimed Vince Gill on “Blueberry Sky,” Brody is also an artist that wants to keep his fans on their toes.
Why else would he invite Walk Off The Earth vocalist Sarah Blackwood, former Great Big Sea member Alan Doyle and Halifax hip-hop artist Shevy Matthews to make contributions to his latest record?
“I do my best to take great care to be sure I’m not alienating those that love what I do, but there is also a bit of a restless creative streak in me. I like variety in my music and that’s why I enjoy offering a variety of music on the records I make.”
Brody believes that in today’s singles driven market, artists are afforded the freedom to be more musically adventurous as compared to eras in the past.
“On one hand, you want to be sure you’re creating a cohesive body of work with your albums, but the other side of that coin is that today’s music fans are incredibly open-minded with what they are listening to. They can go from listening to Beyonce to Brad Paisley all within the same playlist,” he says.
What: Dean Brody with guests Ivan Daigle and Tristan Horncastle
When: Saturday Dec. 31, 9 p.m.
Where: Casino New Brunswick, 21 Casino Dr., Moncton
Tickets are $79.95 plus taxes and service charges. Advance tickets are available at the Casino Gift Shop, by phone 1-866-943-8849 and online at casinonb.ca. This event is restricted to those 19 years of age and older.