Thanks to the Coors One Horse Town event, Canadian country music stars The Road Hammers will be in town to rock on Sept. 19th.
They will join country star Tim Hicks on the stage for the event, and the two groups are promising to bring a special song made just for the event which will be held in Lacombe’s historic downtown.
“Of course, we’ll do all the singles people are familiar with and all of that but we’re also going to do a couple of new things that we’ve been working on. Also, I think we’re going to team up with Tim to write a song that’s special to the event. I’m really excited about that,” said frontman Jason McCoy.
“We’re working on that and a new record, which is due out early in the spring. It’s funny that this band started to sort of launch my solo career and it was just supposed to be a fun, one-off record but it’s turned into a big thing. There’s never ending inspiration working with Chris (Byrne) and Clay (Bellamy). It’s just a lot of fun.”
McCoy founded the band in 2004 as a way to move along his solo career. He said that he, Byrne and Bellamy expected to only make a single record but that the project turned into something much more. To date, The Road Hammers have released four albums, the most recent being Wheels in 2014.
The band has won Canadian Country Music Association awards as well as Juno Awards, and is nominated this year again. The group is up for the Group of the Year Award through the Canadian Country Music Association, and they were nominated for Country Album of the Year Award for Wheels with the Juno Awards.
McCoy spent time in his early childhood living in rural Alberta, and he said he’s excited to return.
“It’s really neat because I’m from Ontario, so everyone was vying for Shelburne but I did spend some time growing up in Alberta, down south of Camrose. I’ve got two homes – I’m pretty lucky that Alberta is a second home for me,” McCoy said.
“I love the area. My favourite part of the prairies is right around Lacombe, Camrose and those areas. I love the pastureland out there and love the way it all looks. That area has some of my first memories – I love the prairies.”
Hicks and The Road Hammers share a management label and both groups have a close relationship with Country Music Television (CMT). Thanks to the partnerships of Coors, CMT and their record label, the One Horse Town event is sure to rock the region.
“CMT kind of kicked it off and partnered with the folks at Coors. It’s something that each of us has always wanted to do – a contest to give away an impromptu concert in a small town. Coors has a reach that is able to pull that off,” McCoy explained.
“I just want to say thanks to everybody who voted, and to Coors and CMT, and especially Lacombe for having us.”
The song being co-written by The Road Hammers and Hicks is being created especially for the event. In the past, the musicians have spent time together and McCoy said the experience should be a very positive one.
“Doing a song with Tim Hicks is going to be fun. We don’t really know much, but when you go in to record it’s just fun. You don’t know where it’s going to go, but we always enjoy hanging out with him so it’ll be a cool thing to do,” McCoy said.
The group is currently working on new material for an album they will share at the One Horse Town event. The new album is expected to be released in early spring of 2016.
“Times change and recording technology is always changing and it’s interesting. I really enjoy the process of making the records. I’d say where we evolved is our song writing. We have a lot of fun with it now, and we’ve had some success so we don’t take it too seriously. We write and enjoy making records. It’s song-driven and a lot of fun. I’m not even sure how else we’ve evolved but I’m glad we have,” McCoy laughed.
Tickets for the One Horse Town event were limited and are currently sold out, but fans can follow The Road Hammers on social media and other online avenues.
kmendonsa@lacombeexpress.com