Canadian country singer/songwriter Tommy John Ehman has unveiled his new single, “Road Band 101”.
According to Albert Einstein, “the only source of knowledge is experience.” Therefore, longtime recording and touring artist Ehman (pronounced ēmn, with a hard ‘e’), needed only to look in his rearview mirror to rediscover the rich road life experiences that have been the most challenging and cherished parts of his career.
Playing gigs all over Western Canada and beyond since 1988 has given the multiple SCMA nominee a great perspective on the passion, commitment and drive it takes to survive, thrive, and be able to give it your all, night after night after night.
“‘Road Band 101’ is about the journey, the life, the music and ‘the road’, where dreams are created and where dreams can be crushed,” Ehman says. “But no matter how hard it can get or how long it can take, the music will always win out when you’re obsessed with it — right down to your very heart and soul.”
A musician’s life on the road is decidedly unglamorous — even punishing at times — and not for the faint of heart. Chasing dreams and feeding his insatiable musical appetite, Ehman toughed it out through eight years as a full-time touring musician in the ‘90s; the first three-and-a-half years on the road with big pressure and four or five sets a night almost did him in.
“I was completely burned out,” he recalls. “I weighed under 130 pounds; was gaunt and white as a ghost.
“It was an amazing run, but I was WAY overdue for a rest.”
After some recuperation at home, Ehman went back on the road for a five-year run with a fresh, healthier approach and an understanding that the music is as much a source of fuel as it is a passionate pursuit.
“It can beat you up, tear you down and completely and utterly tire you out,” he says. “But then there’s the music. Ah, THE MUSIC. That’s what keeps you motivated.”
“I still have an overwhelming number of memories from those early days on the road, some good, some bad, but all part of a musical journey that I wouldn’t change for anything in the world,” Ehman says. “Would I do it all over again? I guess the answer is (and was) yes!”
Check out “Road Band 101” below, and stay up to date with Tommy via his socials.
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