Gord Bamford talks to Top Country about his brand new album Country Junkie, touring with Reba and how he manages to balance his busy work life with his personal life.
Q
Country Junkie is your sixth studio album, how would you say it compares to your previous albums?
A
Well, we’ve had great success with Is It Friday Yet? and I guess it’s yet to be seen what will happen but if I were betting on it I think we’ve got our best one yet here with Country Junkie. I hope it goes over great.
Q
Can you tell me a bit about the process of creating the album?
A
I wrote a whole pile of songs for this record and I got the chance to write with a few different writers I hadn’t written with before. There’s 14 songs on the album because I couldn’t eliminate any of them, I think we cut about 24 songs and there’s 14 that I loved so much I had to put them on the record. It’s a little bit different, for all the long-time Gord Bamford fans there’s some vintage Gord Bamford stuff on there but there’s also a different type of music on there and I kind of step out of my normal sound and there’s a little bit more contemporary stuff on there, like the first single for example.
Q
What’s a song on the album you’re particularly proud of and why?
A
Well I like all of them, but there’s a song on there called “Unreal”, which will probably be our next single and it’s a love song. I’ve written lots of songs for my kids, but I’ve never written anything about my wife and that song in particular – production and the way it came off was great — it’s one of my favourites.
Q
Why do you think your single “When Your Lips Are So Close” has connected so well with fans?
A
Well, I think with it being a little bit more contemporary it reached out to a bigger demographic of listeners. I think we’re in a good state of county music, the younger generation is really coming around to it in a big way and I think that’s probably the biggest reason. It’s reaching out to a wider fan base.
Q
What was it like working with Joe Diffie on the album’s title track?
A
Joe’s a great guy, I got the chance to meet him a couple years ago and when he said he’d love to sing a song with me I jumped at the opportunity. Arguably Joe could be one of the best country singers to ever live so it was a true honour for me and he did a great job on the track. It’s the title track of the album so hopefully I can get him up to play some shows at some point.
Q
What has it been like performing with Reba?
A
Well it’s great. I got to play a few shows with her earlier in the year so I knew what her show was like. Reba is all class, she puts on a heck of a show and just to be out on the road with her is an awesome thing for me, and great timing for the album. I don’t want it to end, it’s awesome.
Q
Do you have any plans to headline your own tour soon?
A
Absolutely, that’s the plan. This will probably be our last swing as a support act. Fortunately for us we have a lot of songs that we can play that people know, and a lot that we don’t play that people know because we don’t have a lot of time on stage but that’s definitely the next thing for us. Hopefully people see me headlining arenas really soon.
Q
Being as busy as you are, how do you balance your work life with your personal life?
A
Well, I think you have to understand what your main priority is and for me nothing comes before my family and my wife and my kids. It’s pretty easy to balance if you understand where the most important things in your life are and that’s my home and my house and my family.
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