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Gord Bamford can see clearly through the Neon Smoke

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Gord Bamford doesn’t need success in the United States to validate his career.

Bamford, who has been one of the biggest acts on the Canadian country music scene for the past 10 years, moved to Nashville in August, 2015 and took a run at the U.S. market. At the time, he felt it was a move he needed to make.

“I went to the U.S. for a few reasons,” said Bamford in a recent telephone interview from Toronto to advance his Feb. 16 show at the Casino Regina Show Lounge. “No. 1, it was going to be a great experience for my family — what an opportunity to go down there for a couple of years and see a different part of the world. And No. 2, as a songwriter it’s a great place to be when you’re not on the road. I can collaborate a lot down there. Ole has been a good home for me, my publisher for many years, so that part was great and I think it really paid off with this record. And No. 3 was trying to get into the U.S. market.

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“Obviously High Valley seems to be doing it, which is awesome, it’s great to see. But being a Canadian trying to break in down there, I got a bad taste in my mouth from it. There’s a lot of things that go on down there that shouldn’t. We tried it and did it and don’t care to do much more of it, to be honest with you . . . Canada has been my been my bread and butter and the place I call home, the place where I want to raise my children so it’s good to be back, that’s for sure.”

The 41-year-old Bamford is in the midst of a 29-date tour in support of his latest album, Neon Smoke, which was released on Jan. 18. The disc is his eighth studio album and with three of his previous four releases being named album of the year by the Canadian Country Music Association (Tin Roof, 2016; Is It Friday Yet, 2013 and Day Job, 2010), Bamford is aware of the expectations from his fans and Canadian country radio.

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Neon Smoke is unusual in that it contains 15 songs, including duets with Jim Cuddy and Tracy Lawrence. In an age when six-song EPs are the norm, Bamford can’t bring himself to release anything but full-length albums.

“The record has 15 songs on it, which is a little different today,” said Bamford who played the Queen City Ex in August. “Everybody’s got their own opinions on if it’s a singles driven business with albums in the past, no one is buying albums, everyone is downloading stuff or streaming stuff. You’ve got to remember the fans that have been with you since Day 1 and the ones that are coming on, they want a project from you. In my opinion they deserve it.

“I’m not going to put out EPs at this point. I want to take people on a journey and give them enough music that makes them feel they know me a little bit more and they get value for it.”

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Bamford is also sticking with his traditional country sound, something that is quite obvious with Neon Smoke.

“That’s the new Neon Smoke record, there’s steel guitar all over it,” said Bamford. “I’ve got a duet with Tracy Lawrence on the record and that’s ‘90s country. It’s what I love and it’s why I got into country music. It’s what I feel that I’m good at. I’m not any good at that other stuff, the Florida Georgia Line stuff, the Luke Bryan stuff or the Thomas Rhett stuff. That’s just not what I do. I think that it’s good that it all fits under one genre because it brings more fans into the genre but I’m just not good at that other stuff.

“I’ve always tried to be a leader. I don’t follow trends. We tried it a little bit with that Groovin’ With You song I guess but Byron Hill told me years ago to keep it simple and that’s really worked for us. Any time we try and re-invent the wheel or make a song sound like this artist or that artist, it just doesn’t work. You’ve got to be true to what you do and I think that’s how you build a wide demographic of fans and a big fan base to play music as long as you want to play it and to make a living at it.”

jdedekker@postmedia.com

twitter.com/ThePloughboy

Gord Bamford

• with Aaron Goodvin

• 8 p.m., feb. 16

• Casino Regina Show Lounge

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