Jamie Warren has been making music for decades, winning awards and charting top ten hits along the way. He’ll be drawing on those experiences and an extensive catalogue when he hits the stage this weekend at Maryhill’s Commercial Tavern.
He is known for singles such as One Step Back, Cried all the Way Home and Sunny Day in the Park, and winning Canadian Country Music Awards, but this show is going to be about his new music.
“Basically, I have had about 52 singles, so what I am going to do is playing a bunch of those hits, but I have also been writing for the last couple of years,” he said of his new music. “This is my first KW show this year, so I will be playing a bunch of new stuff. I am working on a new record, so I have got a bunch of brand new music that I want to introduce to people.”
On Mar. 12, Warren will be joined on stage by a few friends, helping debut his new tunes, but also a few classics. The show is also a chance for Warren to showcase some of his songwriting talents.
“My daughter Katy Warren is going to be there, another artist named Rebekah Stevens, and Rebekah we have been writing a bunch of songs for her record. It will be me performing my songs, and then other artists performing songs that I have written with them. Thomas Wade is another buddy of mine and we are going to do a couple of songs together, too.”
Warren wants the audience to feel like he is playing his music just for them, something he says music lovers can find at Paul Weber’s Commercial Tavern.
“Well, I hope that they are going to have a fun time. I like to make sure that happens in terms of my sense of humour and my approach,” he said, describing the atmosphere at his performances. “I just want them to hear these new songs. That is the idea of the show. That’s the thing about Paul’s place too, the Commercial is authentic. It isn’t just about the size of the place.”
He has performed at the Commercial Tavern before, and is glad to be returning to Maryhill and getting back on the stage at a venue widely known for supporting traditional country music.
“It is a very storied place. I first heard of the Commercial in college when I was at Conestoga College in the early 1980s,” he said. “It is fascinating. I never got to go there at the time. It was later after Paul acquired the place is when I started to play there, and it is a very cool place.”
Warren grew up in Hanover, Ontario, but has been living in Waterloo Region for 25 years, and says he doesn’t play Kitchener-Waterloo shows very often at this stage.
“I am hoping a bunch of my fans will come out and just have a good time,” he said.
He teased an announcement about upcoming shows, to be revealed on Sunday afternoon, but he didn’t want to say too much until the day of the Commercial Tavern concert. Safe to say, Warren and his musician friends will be taking a trip to the vibe of 1980s country music.
“We just want to keep it rockin’,” he said. “I think the audience will appreciate it.”
Jamie Warren takes the Commercial Tavern stage at 2:30 p.m. on Mar. 12. Tickets are $15, available by calling the tavern at 519-648-3644.
