It's been a long time since Jason McCoy has been solo. The country artist is hitting the road with his first solo album in eight years, Everything, and the new tour is celebrating his career in music.
The new album is coming as McCoy's band, the Road Hammers, are taking a break to allow for the members to focus on other projects. Going solo after so long is a bit nerve racking, McCoy says, but it also allows him to get back to a more personal show which he enjoys.
"I'm almost like a politician in a way, in that I'm out there to meet people as opposed to just playing music. I really like it after the show, meeting people and talking to them."
The show itself will be mostly just McCoy on stage, but it wouldn't be accurate to call it simple. The performance will be a walk through of McCoy's music to date, both solo and with the Road Hammers, and a big screen will play the song's videos and allow for virtual duets, along with pictures and personal stories from McCoy's life. He also says there will be surprise guests, who he describes as a Grammy-nominated female artist and one of Canada's top male artists.
"It's fun because the possibilities are endless... I've never done anything like it before," McCoy says.
Taking that trip through the past has been an interesting one, he says, and he admits there are some things he would change if he was doing them today.
"If it was just the music that would be one thing, but there are videos, and you have to be careful what you wear or how you do your hair because it's there forever... It's interesting to walk through and see what you thought was important at one time and how things change."
Going through the past, and poking fun at things like somewhat questionable fashion choices is something McCoy enjoys, because he wants a fun experience and doesn't want to take himself too seriously.
"It's fun because I like poking fun at myself, and that's a new way to do it. Put up a photo from 1995 and you have automatic content."
Apart from that, McCoy says the experience is helping him get a perspective on his life and career, and in planning for the future. He recommends everyone look at their past in some way, since he says it's also given him a better idea of where his strengths lie and what he does best.
"It's neat to look back and find out where you're going. That thing about not knowing where you're going until you know where you've been rings true," he adds.
The new album was recorded quickly, McCoy details, and the songs are an assortment of tracks written since the last solo album. He said he wasn't going for a specific mood or style, but had the goal of recording songs he liked and going by his instincts.
"When I was younger I used to think that everything I did I only got one shot, and when you do that you choke out a lot of opportunities for letting things flow, because you're running on fear... It's like an older person saying to live your life, don't worry about things and just have fun, and I'm at a point where I can look back and say that, and realize that each kick of the can is not the last one. Because when you just kick back and let it flow, that's when the best music comes out," McCoy concludes.
McCoy's Yorkton stop will be at the Painted Hand Casino on March 18.
