The Sean Taylor Band
April 28, 2024
Centre Culturel Franco-Manitobain, Winnipeg, MB
The Sean Taylor Band, from Winnipeg, Manitoba, held a CD Release Party for their debut self-titled album at the Centre Culturel Franco-Manitobain to a sold-out crowd on April 28. Family means everything to this band so it was held in the early evening so that guests could attend with their young families.
Back in 2022, The Manitoba Country Music Association opened a new category to their awards – Cover/Tribute Band of the Year. This band was nominated but did not win. However, this experience pushed them in the direction to write and perform their own tunes. At The 2023 MCMA Awards Show, The Sean Taylor Band was asked to perform their recently released first single, “Tan Lines” to close off the show. All that led them to this CD Release Party, something they did not conceptualize a mere two years ago.
Onto that party. It was awesome. The high energy the whole band exuded was phenomenal and they performed every song on their debut CD and some of their other favourites. The first song was the first song on their album, “Rolling Stone.” With each song performed, it was proven that this combination of songs and their superb production make for a very strong album.
When Sean Johnston introduced each band member, he did so with so much respect, admiration, love and humour, the audience felt that this band was more than mates – they are family.
The pinnacle of the night was the ballad that the band’s front man wrote, just three weeks prior to the Release Party – a straight from the heart tune in tribute to and in honour of his mom, “Standing There.” Johnston sang it for the first time (he could not sing it during rehearsals or sound check) with so much love in his heart for his mom that he brought the guests to tears. He held his emotions in check until he was finished and then shed a few tears himself.
Another sweet moment of the evening was when fiddle player Blaine Badiuk, played directly to his young daughter, who was dancing the night away close to her dad.
The encore had two covers (“Fishin’ In The Dark” and “The Devil Went Down To Georgia”) that brought down the house! Their final song was the last song on their self-titled CD, “Rocky Top.” With that, the whole band experienced their moment in the sun because of the thunderous applause and the standing ovation they received.
A stellar show and night.
