Interview with Dean Brody & Riki Knox
Dean Brody's latest album is called Gypsy Road. It\u2019s easily his most winning and original collection of songs, a fact confirmed by the rollicking, sun-drenched first single, \u2018Upside Down.\u2019 Fitting for a guy already possessed of a boatload of CCMA and JUNO Awards. \u201c\u2019Upside Down\u2019 as well as the song \u2018Monterey\u2019 were written on a ukulele,\u201d Dean explains, adding that the tenderhearted but scorching \u2018Love Would Be Enough\u2019 was sketched out on a banjo instead of his usual guitar. \u201cThere was a point in my career where it seemed like I had invested what might have been wasted time chasing a dream,\u201d Dean offers with trademark candour. \u201cI saw friends and others my age living the responsible suburban life, 2 cars, a mortgage, retirement savings and vacations days stacking up. And I was spending every dollar on a long shot in a country not my own. I had a small family and at points felt completely irresponsible as a father and husband. Now, we have a home on the ocean. Sometimes I walk the land and sit down by the water and think \u2018Wow. This dream actually happened. All those hard and lonely times were worth it.\u2019\u201d\n\n2014 found Riki Knox filling her travel book with trips between Toronto and Nashville, and into Western Canada to lay the groundwork for her forthcoming album in 2015. \u201cI wanted to write songs that really spoke to who I am as both an artist and a person\u201d she explains. Staying true to that statement, she spent time writing with some very notable songwriters, including Willie Mack (Sara Evans, Collin Raye, The Oakridge Boys, Mark Wills), Jason McCoy (The Road Hammers), Duane Steele, Jake Mathews, Patricia Conroy, and Troy Kokol among others. Her latest\xa0single is called Beautiful Thing.