KINDERSLEY - When Jason McCoy hits the stage with the Road Hammers for tonight’s concert at Kindersley’s West Central Events Centre, he might be bringing more than just the expected trailer of trucker-themed country-rock anthems with him.
Or, in other words, opening act Julian Austin might want to keep his head on a swivel.
“I always put Tiger Balm on the mic so their lips go numb,” McCoy said laughing in a phone interview with Â鶹ÊÓƵ. “That’s about the level of maturity you can expect out of me when you see our shows.”
Austin is scheduled to take the stage at 8 p.m. with eight Canadian country music top-20 singles to his name, including 1997’s Little Ol’ Kisses and his cover of the Steve Miller Band’s Take the Money and Run.
The Road Hammers likewise will bring a mix of originals and covers to the stage, including self-penned hits like I’m A Road Hammer, Nashville Bound, Get On Down the Road and Mud, along with Jerry Reed’s Eastbound and Down and Del Reeves’ Girl On the Billboard.
Four Canadian Country Music Association awards and one Juno Award later, it’s all a long way from the most humble of musical beginnings for McCoy.
“My dad taught me three chords on this old guitar we had sitting in a closet,” he said. “It had three strings on it and I wanted a full set of six so my dad said ‘If you can learn a few songs on three strings then I’ll buy you the full set of six’ So I did, and he bought me a full set of strings.”
That guitar, McCoy added, is now on display at the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame in Calgary.
“It was just a beginner guitar but I can still remember spending hours on it and playing until my fingers bled.”
Prior to the Road Hammers’ debut record in 2005, McCoy also enjoyed a successful solo career with six top-5 radio hits including 1997’s Born Again in Dixieland – which he cites as among the songs he’s proudest to have written.
Another, lesser-known, career highlight? The recent return of a vanity license plate that was stolen off his motorhome during a gig in Yorkton some 30-ish years ago.
“I was hosting Country on the Bay in Thunder Bay, Ontario a year or two ago and somebody coming through the crowd passed that license plate up to me,” McCoy said. “It was probably stolen in 1994 or ’95 and the story is that a friend of a friend stole it, and I guess he moved from Saskatchewan to Thunder Bay, kept it in his basement bar, and decided that night ‘Hey man I just wanted to give this back to you.’”
Kindersley town council passed a resolution at its regular meeting Feb. 24 to bring tonight’s concert to town, and another one April 7 approving two payments to artist representatives Karizma Agency for a total of $18,742.50.
Town communications coordinator Anna Polsfut said 205 tickets had been sold for the show as of Thursday morning, with Ticketmaster listing prices (before taxes and fees) between $64-74 per ticket.
