When it comes to boot stompin’ good times at the Calgary Stampede, it doesn’t get much better than live music at Nashville North.
This year, an old friend returns to the stage – classic Canadian country star and former Cochranite George Fox.
Fox will be performing at Nashville North July 8. He laughed as he reminisced about the excitement of the Calgary Stampede that he knew growing up in Cochrane.
Fox said he and his parents would make the trip to the big city to see the parade.
“You would always hold off on the haying (cutting hay for the cattle) until the stampede was over,” recalled Fox. He said that once the Stampede was over he would spend the rest of the summer performing that task – something he said he still does out on his ranch in Ontario to this day.
Fox has performed at the Calgary Stampede before – 25 years ago to be exact.
He said he was second billed to a petting zoo at Market Mall in Calgary in 1988. It was a typical Stampede setup in the mall, where he played country music while people passed by and did their shopping.
The following year he had a big break. In 1989, he opened at the Saddledome for one of country music’s biggest stars in the late ‘80s – Randy Travis.
“So there it was going from the petting zoo to the stage of the Saddledome,” laughed Fox. “It jump started my career.”
It is a career that spans over two decades and over 10 albums including two “greatest hits” compilations.
Fox has won several Canadian Country Music Awards and Juno Awards. His last album, With All Due Respect, was released in 2006 and featured Fox covering some of his favourite artists. He has also penned his first book, My First Cow: Ranch Stories.
And, if there is someone who is able to write about ranch stories – it’s Fox.
He calls Cochrane his “Graceland” and is eager to discuss his time spent in the area.
He is shocked when he hears the population has grown to nearly 21,000 – almost seven times what it was when he was growing up in Cochrane. But it doesn’t really surprise him.
“I can see why. It’s a beautiful spot – I remember in my own mind and it was the inspiration for a lot of the early music,” said Fox, who has a road named after him in Cochrane.
Fox now resides in Ontario with his wife and two young daughters, where he said he focuses on being a star at home. Although he is still writing music, he said he is focusing on his family.
“It is really rejuvenating for me to get out and perform. I still have the music in me, and hopefully, I will be recording again,” said Fox, who will be performing new material along with his classic hits for his show in Calgary.
Although Fox said he isn’t sure if he would be able to make a stop in Cochrane, he certainly remembers one local institution fondly and makes sure to give one piece of advice: “Go have an ice cream cone for me.”
