Summer 2019
Performing in Seattle in April 2019 with Johnny Orlando
2019 has been one non stop whirlwind! After a brief vacation to my hometown of Cape Town, South Africa in the first few weeks of January, I have been on tour non stop for 6 months and still going strong.
First was a headlining Canadian tour with Scott Helman in support of his Gold selling single “Hangups”. This was an absolute blast and a great success. Last fall we did all of Europe opening up for Vance Joy, so it was a pleasure to play Scott’s own shows in his own country this year.
In between off days on this tour, I was able to play the Juno awards with gold selling Pop/Country duo The Reklaws as well as do some hotel video youtube sessions with Scott Helman, featuring Jann Arden on one and Johnny Orlando on the other.
Right after that tour, I jumped on another bus and went down south to start shows with The Abrams in Arizona on their Sounds Good to me tour. This took me to Arizona, California, Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana and Texas
Without even a day break, I flew to Seattle to play a show with Johnny Orlando and then it was straight into rehearsals for his Teenage Fever tour. This tour took us all across the United States as well as Holland, UK, Germany and France.
The Reklaws have also kept me very busy playing shows and festivals in the summer, opening up for Florida Goergia Line Jason Aldean and headlining their own shows. Recently we have been rehearsing as we gear up to hit the road in the fall as we open up Dean Brody and Dallas Smith on their Canadian arena tour.
Until then, it’s one off shows in the US and Canada and some exciting recording sessions which I will write about in the next blog!
Happy summer!!
2019 so far....
Post soundcheck at the Grey Cup in Edmonton with The Reklaws November 2018
2018 was one jam packed year! I was able to cram in 253 shows with 52 artists as well as enjoy a vacation to my “homeland” Cape Town South Africa at the end of the year. I absolutely loved the tours I was able to do of Canada and Europe with Scott Helman opening up for Vance Joy as well as the US runs I did with The Abrams and Scott. The Reklaws had an INSANE year with their song “Long live the night” being the theme song for Thursday night football on TSN, winning rising star award at the CCMA’s and climbing the charts fast!
This year is turning out even better. The Reklaws had their first number one at Radio in January with their song Feels like that….and at the beginning of February, I got the news THREE of the artists I play for are nominated for a Juno. Scott Helman, Johnny Orlando and The Reklaws.
Today (February 25th) I start in Winnipeg on Scott Helmans Hangups tour, which is headlining venues Canada wide. After the western leg of the tour I head home to perform at the Junos with The Reklaws on March 17th then continue on the eastern leg of the tour with Scott. I then right away head to the US to start a tour with The Abrams across Arizona, California, Texas, Kansas and Louisiana, and then fly directly from New Orleans to Seattle to perform at We Day with Johnny Orlando.
I wil then be in Johnny rehearsal mode for a week before we set out to headline the US for his Teenage Fever Tour. Once that wraps in Vancouver on May 22nd I fly directy to the UK to do a few festival dates with The Abrams before hopping directly over to Paris to start a short Europe tour with Johnny.
Very excited for the months ahead and wishing everyone a happy and healthy 2019!
Summer 2018/The haps
With Scott Helman at the Budweiser Stage during the Vance Joy tour
It’s been one hot summer and pretty much go go go non-stop! It’s nice to come down to a running pace from a sprinting space before I gear up for a heavy touring schedule this fall. First up, a short states tour with The Abrams, covering California, Arizona and Wyoming then continuing on with the Vance Joy tour in Europe with Scott Helman with dates in Spain, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, UK and Ireland. After that, back to Canada for more shows with various artists before heading back to the States for east coast dates with Scott Helman in New York City, Boston, Washington DC, Cleveland, Chicago, Detroit and Buffalo.
This summer has been a great one for the Reklaws, as their song “long live the night” was selected to be the theme song for Thursday night football for TSN. This has led to many epic shows and as a result of all of this, we will be playing at the Grey Cup in Edmonton this year on Nov 25th! We will also be performing on this years CCMA awards in Hamilton on September 9th.
The summer started off with a cross Canada arena tour with Scott Helman opening up for Vance Joy. Man that was fun! His team is so nice and welcoming and we couldn’t have asked for nicer guys to be on the road with!
Of course it has been summer festival season, so I have been busy playing shows like Boots and Hearts, Big Valley Jamboree, Vans Warped tour, Havelock etc, with artists and groups such as Kira Isabella, The Abrams, A is for Arrows, Reklaws etc…..Also played a killer rooftop party down in Nashville Tennesse with The Reklaws for Dierks Bentley’s event called Tennessee Takeover.
Other fun experiences involve playing wicked indie pop shows with a new artist on Sony Called Laye, opening slots for Matt Mays with indie rockers on Warner called Modern Space, shows with latino pop artist Mia Martina opening for Jennifer Hudson and next month opening for Drake….drumming in Meghan Patrick’s upcoming music video for her new single “walls come down” and doing some interviews on podcasts such as 180 drums and Jack chats.
In between these shows, I have been filling my schedule doing as much studio work as time allows, and very excited for a few new albums and tracks to be coming out soon that I played on! I will update on that very soon!
Have a great end of summer/early fall!!
Late winter
Performing on Your Morning CTV with The Reklaws
It’s already March and 2018 is flying by fast. Since returning from my international tour with Warner artist The Abrams midway through last year, it has been non stop festival and show dates with artists such as Alx Veliz, Scott Helman, Kira Isabella, Michelle Treacy, Nefe etc, as well as an arena tour with Alx veliz opening for Latin superstar Nicky Jam.
During this time, I’m very proud to announce that I became an endorsee of Paiste Cymbals, which for me is a dream come true! They have always been my favourite cymbals on the planet. Shout out to Ryan, Chris and everyone there!
Shows in Nashville, Atlanta and Canada wide kept me busy until late December, when I headed to the Philippines for a much-needed vacation with family!
Since returning from the Philippines in late January, things have been rolling forward with TV performances with Universals The Reklaws, as well as a short college tour with them opening for The James Barker Band.
I have also played local CD release shows for artists such as Nashvilles Emma Lee and Toronto’s Ben Kunder.
I will be sure to continue to update as the year goes on, but so far, highlights include a Canadian west coast tour at the end of March with The Reklaws in promo of their new single “long live the night” and a US tour with The Abrams later this year. Festival dates are booked as well, and I will follow up later this year.
Summer!
Performing on BBC Radio 2 in London England
It’s been a crazy past six months! The above picture was taken just before performing on BBC radio 2 with The Abrams on the tour I just finished with them last month.
First, we headed over to Israel where we headlined the well known Jacob’s Ladder festival. After two days performing there, we went to England where we were primarily there to play two weekends at the Big Church Day Out Festival opening for Switchfoot, Michelle Williams etc…Between the festival weekends, The Abrams booked headlining shows which became sold out in places such as Rochester, London, Manchester, Leicester etc. It was a very successful run and can’t wait to do it again in the near future!
Over the past six months, I have also managed to fill my schedule, performing all over the country with 35 different artists so far this year (and still counting)….with live shows as well as recording sessions in studios such as Phase One, Orange Lounge, Cedar Hollow and other home studios. I absolutely love the challenge of bringing the best to every artist I play with and to over delivering for them in every way!
I have also been travelling all over North America, doing shows in Nashville Tennessee, British Columbia and Nova Scotia with Jason Benoit, as well as Cavendish Beach Festival in PEI drumming for both Sykamore (from Calgary) and Endless Summer (from Nashville) who are two brothers from The Moffatts fame of the early 2000’s.
Upcoming highlights over the next few weeks include another trip to Nashville to play a show with The Abrams, festivals such as Boots and Hearts where I will be playing with three different artists, performing in the house band for the female singing competition Honeyjam, festival shows with Michelle Treacy and Kira Isabella, and a tour with Alx Velix, including opening up for latin pop artist Nicky Jam at the Bell Centre in Montreal and the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.