Canadian country artists are discovering an appetite for their music in Quebec.
Tim Hicks, an Ontario-based singer who has had success across Canada with his 2016 album Shake These Walls, is launching a six-date tour of la belle province on Jan. 27. (A winter tour in Quebec?! “That’s when we roll in Canada,” he said.)
“When we announced the Shake These Walls tour, [on Facebook] I saw so many ‘Where’s the Montreal show?’ comments,” Hicks told iHeartRadio.ca. “I called my agent and said ‘I don’t know if there’s anything we can do here but there seems to be a want for us to go to Montreal.’
“So we hooked up the Corona Theatre and it was such a good night and such a positive vibe all around.”
Hicks said he even learned some French to speak on stage and “people seemed to dig it.”
The reception in Montreal lead to plans for shows in Drummondville, St. Hyacynthe, Gatineau, Quebec City, La Baie, and Trois Riveres.
“It’s an exciting time,” said Hicks. “It’s always interesting to bring the genre to places where we’d never expect for people to be receptive.”
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This past weekend, Alberta-born country star Brett Kissel headlined a show at an urban rodeo in the Old Port of Montreal.
“As a country singer, we don’t get the opportunity to play in Montreal,” Kissel lamented on stage. “Very rarely do country singers come here and I think that’s a shame because some of the best fans in all of music are right here.”