Ahead of his upcoming tour, the griff had the opportunity to chat with country singer Aaron Pritchett over the phone about his supporting acts, performing in Edmonton, and his personal country music style.
Becca Willson: You have lots of fans out here in Edmonton, and in Alberta in general; country music is pretty popular around here. Your Out on the Town tour is coming here on Jan. 31. When was the last time you performed in Edmonton?
Aaron Pritchett: I’ve performed in Edmonton many, many times, most recently at (the tailgate party for) the Grey Cup hosted there (in) 2018, and I’ve actually played Cook County several times as well, so it’s always fun going back and playing for the great fans out there.
BW: Oh, definitely. Do you find you prefer smaller, intimate venues like Cook County or larger stages?
AP: Ah, you know what, it doesn’t really matter. I play pretty much everything I can get my music out to, but it’s always nice to play to, I guess a rowdy but intimate crowd, you know? So that it’s a little bit smaller but you can at least reach them and party with them in that sort of setting which is great. Definitely playing to five, 10, 20,000 people is a rush but the show is no different so I don’t approach it any different at all. Still the same show, same energy, absolutely.
BW: I’m sure all of your fans appreciate your outlook on that. Now, I just briefly listened to your openers on this tour, Kira Isabella and David James, and they both seem to make music that seems right on track with your kind of sound. Have you performed with either of them before?
AP: I have, at festivals and a couple of little fairs in Ontario and, you know, all over the place. I’ve done several shows with both of them but never on a tour, so this is going to be a lot of fun. It’s good, to give that little bit of promotion for (Isabella), and David James is sort of new in the industry as well, (he’s) been around for just a few years. And it’s going to be a lot of fun just to tour with these guys and give them a little bit of mentorship I suppose and some advice and kind of help them avoid some of … those potholes that you can hit in the industry, and hopefully help them avoid some of those negative things and help their careers advance sooner than they might have.
BW: That sounds awesome. My last question is about your new EP coming out, also titled Out on the Town. Can fans expect the same kind of classic country sound that they’re used to from you, or are you taking things in a bit of a new direction?
AP: Well, the theme for this six-song EP that I’m coming out with was diversity. I wanted to show that it wasn’t just about the typical country that you hear from me, and yeah you get the party songs like “Worth A Shot,” and “Better When I Do” is the new single which is definitely that brand of me. But there’s also other songs on there that are sort of not typically me. There’s a song that I co-wrote called “Ain’t Stressin’”. It’s very pop-oriented, not necessarily my vocals but the music behind it. And then … I’ve got that party song called “Drink Along Song,” which hopefully is going to be the next single, that really could be something different for me as well; it could be another “Hold My Beer,” which I’m hoping it is. So it’s just about diversity, which is all about different sorts of feels and sounds that I haven’t done in the past.
BW: Okay, I like the sounds of that; I’m excited to hear it all.
AP: Right on!
Catch Aaron Pritchett in Edmonton at Cook County Saloon on Jan. 31, and listen to his brand-new EP available Jan. 11.
Out on the Town tour tickets and EP information.
Photography supplied.
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