The Blake Reid Band brought their tour to the George Layh Theatre on January 23rd. The crowd on-hand was entertained by the band’s blend of “authentic music rooted in the traditions of country and great storytelling”. The band describes their performances as similar to “being back on the farm when after supper they would have a cup of coffee and tell some stories”.
Marion Firby addressed the crowd at the beginning of the show, introducing Blake Reid and showing their documentary “No Roads In”.
The documentary won numerous awards so far and is being shown in over twenty film festivals around the world. It revolves around the five days where the group filmed the album in an old abandoned farm house. The farmstead in southeastern Alberta had no windows and few swindles, but enough authentic willpower to record the entire album there; they were also sponsored by a brewery for the event which Blake said helped. “We found some true inspiration in the middle of an Alberta wheat field.”
After enjoying a quick teaser for the documentary, the group started the show with “Big Train”, a storytelling track about his grand-daddy who “stopped that big ol’ train”.
Blake Reid’s family influence runs deep as they’ve been involved with their family farm since 1902; the band wrote “After the Rain” in appreciation of farmers.
The song states “I used to think my old man was insane, until I learned to love it all again, after the rain”.
Speaking about life, his metaphor of “sometimes you’re on the road and sometimes you’re in the ditch” reflected the emotion that goes into his lyrics. He admits that some great music came out of the times he was “Whisky lonely”; the song “Move On” came out of this period of his life.
Comedy shines through in his song about his John Deer hat, although he admits he won’t wear it on stage.
His humble side was apparent when he highlighted a group of musicians who didn’t get any fame or fortune for playing on hundreds of recordings, even 75 gold/platinum records they were involved in; they did it for their love of music.
The Blake Reid Band hails from the Calgary area and will have a new album coming out in late March.
The crowd on hand engaged in some banter back and forth with the Blake Reid band and it was a memorable experience for the audience.