JOHNNY REID - Fire It Up

JOHNNY REID is probably the most successful Country performer ever to be born in Scotland.
Yet, he is largely unknown in his homeland, although he is slowly picking up a cult following here.  He emigrated as a teenager to Ontario, and is now the biggest Country star, and a huge crossover artist in his adopted Canada.
Although he’s spent time in Nashville, as a performer, and a songwriter, it’s Canada that has made him a star. He has a unique sound for Country music. He’s certainly not got that pop flavoured Nashville sound.   But it’s not a traditional Country sound.  He has soul, he can rock, and on some tracks, he certainly stretches the boundaries of Country. I see Johnny as being a huge crossover act if he was to get his records released here.
His latest album (his 8th), “Fire It Up” (EMI Canada) offers quite a unique mix. There’s uptempo numbers like “Lets Have A Party”, “What Makes The World Go Around”  and “Dancin’ Shoes”  and ballads like “Dedicated To You”  and “Love Of A Lifetime” . I do prefer Johnny on his ballads, they suit his gravelly voice better, although the catchy “You Got Me” really stands out.
 He has a couple of duets, “Baby I Know It”, with Carolyn Dawn Johnson , and Serena Ryder joins him on “Walking On Water”.
He wrote all twelve tracks on the album, and the album was recorded at various studio’s in Nashville & Toronto.
What I really love about Johnny though, is his lifelong devotion to the land of his birth, even if he hasn’t had the chance to play here.  He calls his fan club, “The Tartan Army”, and, even on this album, he recalls his roots.
In a beautiful ballad, “Right Where I Belong”, he talks about “I was born by the banks of the river back in 1973, raised up in a steel town, surrounded by fields of green. The fires went out, when the steel went south, soon it was time to leave”, recalling his Lanarkshire upbringing.
Then to close the album , “Till We Meet Again” is a beautiful anthem, eclipsed by the arrival of the Toronto Police Pipe Band, who add something really special to the whole album.
Despite his success in his new home (where he’s been for 24 years), the pipes, and the old homeland, still figure in Johnny Reid’s life.
www.johnnyreid.com