Belwood’s own Ryan Laird has embarked on his first ever headlining tour.
“I’ve done a pile of touring over the years across Canada, getting to open up for a lot of artists … but this is my first headlining tour … which is super exciting for me,” he said.
“I’m going to get an opportunity this time to get a whole band and … share a lot of my songs that I’ve been working on creating.”
The 33-year-old country music artist started his career when he was about 10 years old playing at the Fergus Fall Fair and the Belwood Beach Barbecue.
“I actually had a family band back in those days with my brother on the drums and my sister on keyboards,” Laird said.
It was after winning a spot to play at the Havelock Jamboree when he was about 15 years old that Laird knew country music was his path.
“That was really my first big … gig on a big main country music festival stage in Ontario,” he said.
“I’d always had country music around the farm. I grew up on a farm … and so those performances locally and then eventually to Havelock … that’s kind of where I planted the seed for the whole thing.”
After graduating from Centre Wellington District High School and spending some time at a music college in Toronto, Laird moved to Nashville to pursue his dream.
“I eventually made that first trip there and just fell in love with the songwriting community and just the abundance of talented musicians and people that were like minded … that I could collaborate with there,” he said.
That was more than 10 years ago.
Now Laird is embarking on a two-month cross-Canada tour called Twice the Country. He kicked off the tour on Sept. 8 at the Canadian Country Music Awards in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
The tour will feature Laird with a full band, including a fiddle, a banjo and guitar to name a few instruments.
“We’re going to do a whole bunch of my songs obviously, including my latest single called Gamble on Love, and then we’re also doing kind of a countrified medley of a whole bunch of classic songs – everything from John Denver to, you name it, kind of thing,” Laird said.
“I’m really excited about that. It’s a lot of fun for me to kind of take classic songs and rework them and put my own stamp on them.”
The tour will travel through Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and will finish in Ontario at the end of October.
On Oct. 12 Laird will be performing at the Bull n’ Barrel in London.
“That’s the closest venue of the tour … to home, but having not played in Ontario in quite a while, with the band and everything I’m really excited obviously to get to play there,” he said.
“I’m hoping I’ll get lots of locals out and I’ll see some familiar faces.”
To find out more about Laird’s tour schedule visit www.ryanlaird.com.
