Press Play> Vol.15 John Showman - New Country Rehab

Every year at the Calgary Folk Music Festival I encounter at least one performer (or two, or three or a lot more) that I have never heard of that knock me on my ass. 

At the 2011 Fest it was New Country Rehab. It started with the guitar player, Champagne James Robertson. I was attending a side stage featuring guitar players, made up mostly of veteran reggae and African performers. He was the lone young white guy at the end of the stage with a green Tele. I thought two things: "Who the hell is he?" and "They're going to eat him alive." Of course he played up a storm. I checked the program, saw he was with a band called New Country Rehab and decided to run to see his them first chance I got. 

John Showman 

Champagne James was joined by lead singer and fiddler John Showman, drummer Roman Tome and bassist Ben Whitley (son of Ken Whitley). The band tore the house down (in this case - tent) with their  alt.country folk rock 'n' roll roots music.  


After digging around to find out a bit more about the band, I have learned that the leader, John Showman it truly a master of many musical forms, an award winning fiddler, a studio musician and teacher and the leading force behind a few other bands that have been making great roots music in Canada for years including the Creaking Tree String Quartet, Celtic group Skraeling, and bluegrassers the Foggy Hogtown Boys. I am pleased that John Showman agreed to take a few minutes to PRESS PLAY>.



What have you been listening to lately? What is on your iPod, CD player, turntable these days?

I’ve been driving through rural Saskatchewan for the past week and I have been listening to Mumford and Sons, Bonnie Prince Billie, Wilco, early Velvet Underground, Deep Dark Woods and Bill Monroe. It has been a good mix of music to accompany the somewhat starkly beautiful winter landscapes. 


On the most recent New Country Rehab roadtrip we had the new Radiohead, Timbre Timber, Avett Brothers, Feist and St. Vincent records rocking away along with countless others but those were the highlights. At home I’m strictly spinning vinyl these days, mostly Merle Haggard, Tommy Jarrell and Justin Townes Earle.

What is the record (okay maybe two or three or four or more ) that influenced your music the most?

I think that Jonathan Richman’s first project, The Modern Lovers, might be the single album that I’ve listened to most. His drawling, lazy delivery on vocals that he imbues with incisive emotion really stood out to me.

The lyrics were a compelling blend of somewhat riddling imagery and stream-of-conciousness. He could stay on topic with a song and really burn you with sarcasm one minute while melting your heart with sincerity the next. The music was very much bare-bones garage rock, but the album made me realize how much music can convey with a simple palette.

Roadrunner - The MODERN LOVERS (Jonathan RICHMAN) by Petite-Rigolote

What was the first record you bought?

ABBA’s Greatest Hits. I was eight. Before that it was mostly classical music that I listened to and ABBA blew my mind. Super Trooper was my favorite track.

What’s your favourite cover tune? (Song and covered by whom?)

Faith No More (from their recording The Real Thing, 1989) singing War Pigs. They stay true to the original but manage to make it their own by playing it with total abandon. Technically, the main difference is in how they shift the tempos between sections of the song. The slow, a capella parts are filled with menace and played much more slowly than the original, and when the guitars come in with the heavy riffs the tempo ratchets up to a tight, head-banging, grunge-filled roar. Mike Patton just kills the song on vocals. (Original by Black Sabbath, Paranoid, 1970) 

What is the record that you count as a guilty pleasure?

Queens Of The Stone Age Era Vulgaris. I guess I like Big Muff guitar sound. My gal does not like that stuff much, so it stays in the car.

Currently, what’s your favourite record to listen to on the road?

I don’t have one – I listen to new stuff constantly. At home, though, it has been Mama Tried by Merle Haggard. It just helps keep things real with my wife and baby and it’s a great vibe with which to fill a little house. (Originally from the Soundtrack of Killers Three, 1968)




Which of your records where you appear as a musician - solo or in a band - is/are your favourite(s)?

New Country Rehab’s album. I’m proud of the material and the performance and the way it came together. We recorded the whole thing in three days and the vibe was great throughout.

Chris Stringer, the engineer, was really good at helping us prioritize what we needed from the album sonically and we didn’t waste any time at al, yet the process never felt rushed.




The New Country Rehab website is here 
Their record label Dollartone Records is here
New Country Rehab on Facebook is here 
Follow New Country Rehab on Twitter @newcountryrehab
Follow John Showman on Twitter @johnshowman
Follow Dollartone Records on Twitter @dollartone