‘Liquored Up Tour’ coming to Brandon

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This article was published 17/02/2024 (579 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Canadian country star Aaron Pritchett has a soft spot for Brandon and The 40, a popular bar and venue for live music that used to be called the North 40 Saloon.

Pritchett is bringing his show, “The Liquored Up Tour,” to The 40 next Friday night, Feb. 23, and from the way he describes the show, it has all the makings of a huge house party.

“It literally starts off with a bang, what you’re not expecting. And then the show runs hot for two hours and ends with a big, big boom,” Pritchett told the Sun from his “home on wheels” tour bus as it rolled through Alberta, and almost half-way through their 32-city tour.

“So, coming back to The 40 in Brandon, a place that I’ve been to so many times and played over the years, I think this is going to be the most special one for me.”

Sharing the stage with Pritchett are fellow country singers Cory Marks and Matt Lang, but they’re not there for backup or to be opening acts, he said — he wanted them involved “right from the get-go.”

“That’s the way I designed it, I wanted something different. I wanted it to be a big show, not what people would expect,” Pritchett said.

“I did a tour in 2019 and thought it could never be topped. But the shows so far are blowing that out of the water.”

This will be the seventh cross-Canada tour for Marks, a recording artist from Ontario. He’s played with Toby Keith, Brantley Gilbert, Brett Kissel, Gord Bamford — and this is the second time on the road with Pritchett.

“I don’t think there’s really been a Canadian country tour quite like this one,” Marks said. “There’s me, who you kind of call a country rocker. You have Matt Lang, the Quebecois, bringing back that ’90s vibe and sound. And then you’ve got the Canadian country icon — in my opinion, a legend, Mr. Aaron Pritchett.

“It’s just hit after hit with him and, and it’s just a really, really fun tour with everything and anything in between. You might even hear some Shaggy, you might hear some Brian Adams, you might hear some Bob Marley,” said Marks, who just released his own new single, “A Different Kind Of Year.”

Lang was asked to join the tour last summer, after meeting Pritchett at a music festival in Penticton, B.C.

“These guys are super talented, and they’re great guys too, so it’s fun. It’s really fun. And each night it’s a different crowd, a huge party no matter if it’s a Sunday, Monday or Saturday,” Lang said.

“And of course, for the song ‘Liquored Up,’ everybody sings along. When Aaron starts that song, ‘Hold My Beer,’ it’s the biggest party in town.”

The name of the tour is the same as the recently released single, along with the music video starring Pritchett, Marks and Lang.

Pritchett didn’t write the song, and when it was sent to him, he assumed it was written by an American. But as he was preparing to record it, he discovered it was penned by three Canadians — two Albertans and one from Nanaimo, B.C., someone who lived minutes from Pritchett.

“So that’s pretty crazy, and it turned out that song’s been sitting in the archives for 10 years. And Jordan, my oldest son — he produced my entire new record called “Demolition” — he was the one who said, ‘We definitely have to do this song for sure, because it’s going to be the fun one that everybody’s going to want to sing along to,’” said Pritchett.

Pritchett is also offering his fans a golden opportunity to win a house concert during the tour. At each venue there are 300 vinyl copies of “Demolition” for sale, and one of them is coloured gold.

Whoever purchases the gold album wins a personal house concert by Pritchett. And with five shows to go before the tour hits Brandon, the gold album is still up for grabs.

Born on Canada’s west coast in Kitimat, B.C., in 1970, Pritchett became well known in 2001 when he won a singing contest on CMT, the first television channel devoted to country music and music videos.

Since then, he has racked up more than 30 Juno and Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) nominations, with many wins for entertainer of the year and male vocalist of the year. His songwriter of the year award came from CCMA SOCAN, which represents the society of composers, authors and music publishers in Canada.

Pritchett’s song “Better When I Do,” hit number one on the Billboard Canada Country chart, and “Hold My Beer,” “Dirt Road in ’Em” and “Worth a Shot” achieved gold-certified status, selling more than 40,000 copies each.

When asked if his most recent tour in a different city each night was tiring, Pritchett said it was the opposite — it’s energizing.

“I’ll give you a little insight of how things have worked for me over the last 20 years or so. They were a blur, because everything was happening so fast, and I didn’t reflect and look back. And because I recognize that now, I’m enjoying every moment, taking them in and not forgetting,” he said.

“After every show I literally think about all the good things, and things that could have gone a little bit better. Because who knows when the last show is ever going to be at any place like The 40. You can’t just take it for granted, that oh, I’ll see you in a couple of years. You never know. So it is that much more special to me.”

“The Liquored Up Tour” is scheduled for Feb. 23 at 9 p.m. at The 40, 210 18th St. North, in Brandon. For ticket information visit https://bitly.ws/3dpEc .

» mmcdougall@brandonsun.com

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