Brad Johner and the Johner Boys are set to rock Elbow this Canada Day.
Johner said fans heading to the Elbow Rink for the before-fireworks concert can expect a “fun” country and pop show that could feature as many as five of his boys and one of their friends up on stage with him at the same time. He said the Johner Boys first joined him on stage last year for 25 concert dates and this year would see them perform together close to 60 times.
“We’ll do some of my stuff and the boys do their own music as well,” said Johner. “It’s a nice variety and it’s a nice family show. I do some classic country songs. I do some of my songs that have been on the radio for the past 20 years and then the boys do some covers like Bruno Mars, Jason Mraz and Michael Jackson. It’s just a lot of fun stuff.”
The Johner Boys are Brad’s sons Aidan, 8, Matthew, 11, Quinn, 15, Jesse, 17, and Lucas, 19, and their friend Simon, 19. Aidan and Matthew play piano, Quinn dabbles in electric guitar, piano and lead and harmony vocals, Jesse hits the drums, and Lucas plays piano and sings lead and harmony, while Simon is a bass and electric guitar player.
Johner, a fixture on the country music scene in Canada and Saskatchewan since 1991, said he loves taking the stage with his boys and the boys appreciate the opportunity to get out and play some music as well. The four-time Juno nominee and 2007 Canadian Country Music Association male artist of the year said there are not a lot of venues out there right now for kids to take the stage, so using his job as an entertainer to help them get a start is very rewarding.
“It is kind of unheard-of for young people to go out and start playing music and doing concerts on a full-time basis, so they really appreciate that idea that they can go out and play with me,” he said. “I’ve been doing this all my life, so I sort of know what I’m doing and they just like coming along and learning how to do it. They have a great time meeting people and travelling and we all have a good time.”
Johner said after their touring schedule slows down at the beginning of the school year in September, he and his boys are going to be heading into the recording studio “when we have time” to record their first album together. He said until then they’re just going to be continually hitting stages across the province and the country while trying to enjoy their time together.
“It’s real fun playing with the boys. We’ve worked hard the last year getting our sound down and the boys are learning how to play on stage. They’ve come along really well and the response from the public has been great.”