By Stephen Pate, NJN Network, Charlottetown, PEI, March 11, 2009
Paul Brandt’s name on the playbill for the Cavendish Beach Music Festival is great choice. Brandt has a warm baritone that appeals to audiences on both sides of the Canada US border. He is also a great entertainer who brings fun to the stage with his easy going rapport with audiences.
Here’s a little music and then some bio. Convoy, one of my favorites brought to life again. Weren’t those great days, truckin’ and CBs?
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQJNnkXSzws
From Cavendish Beach Music Festival we get an interesting bio on Paul.
If walked into “The Barn,” you might expect to see trophies, plaques, and statuettes, evidence of the accolades received by the Most Awarded Male Canadian Country Artist in History. They are there, but with a twist. The poster from the epic movie “Passion of the Christ” hangs in the center of it all. “It’s great to have the recognition, but it’s not my focus,” says Paul Brandt, “It’s the purpose and message behind ‘The Passion’ that inspires me to make music, tour, and be creative.”
Paul Brandt was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and spent many of his formative years in Airdrie, Alberta, which at the time was still a very small town North of Calgary. Paul entered talent contests as a hobby, including the “Youth Talent Showdown” at the World Famous Calgary Exhibition and Stampede. On his third try, he was awarded first prize at that contest, and went on to garner attention from Warner Brothers Records in Toronto, Canada. Not He was offered a development deal that evening, signed the next day.
Within the short time frame of a year, Paul Brandt was making major waves internationally with his music. His debut album “Calm Before The Storm” was recognized as Billboard magazine’s Best Selling New Male Artist Album of 1996, and spawned hits “My Heart Has A History” and the #1 charting “I Do”, which went on to become a wedding standard and was the first song to chart #1 by a male Canadian Country artist since the days of Hank Snow. 1997 was a banner year at the Juno Awards and Canadian Country Music Awards. The consequent seven albums created momentum that has continued to gather steam over the last ten years and set this multi-platinum selling artist apart as the most-awarded male Canadian Country Artist in history.
In 1997, Brandt, formed Brand-T Records and delivered 2002’s ground-breaking live-acoustic album “Small Towns & Big Dreams” producing hits such as “I’m Gonna Fly” and the title track. During the rise in popularity of ‘Small Towns’, In 2003, the Paul Brandt/Steve Rosen penned song “For You” was recorded for the Mel Gibson movie “We Were Soldiers” soundtrack as a duet by rock superstar Dave Matthews and the legendary Johnny Cash. The follow up, platinum-selling studio project “This Time Around” continued the landslide success for the start-up new label spinning off radio hits “Leavin'”, featuring Keith Urban on guitar, “Rich Man”, “Alberta Bound”, and the re-make of the 1974 C.W McCall classic, “Convoy”. The most recent album, “Risk”, has continued the independent label’s success buy taking home the 2008 Juno for ‘Country Recording of the Year’.
After a nine-year stint in Nashville, TN, the Alberta-born-and-raised artist, and his wife Elizabeth, made a path for home. Brandt and his wife and son Joseph currently reside in the foothills of the Canadian Rocky Mountains to the west of Calgary.
Here’s the current line up Cavendish Beach Music Main Stage Artists:
Friday, July 10, 2009
Aaron Lines
Doc Walker
Big & Rich
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Tim McGraw
Tara Oram
Steve Azar
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Reba McEntire
Paul Brandt
Crystal Shawanda
For ticket information see – www.cavendishbeachmusic.com
or www.ticketpro.ca
Leave a Reply