Canadian country music star Aaron Lines doesn’t mind a little help from the audience in his live shows. In fact, he thrives on it.
The Calgary singer/songwriter, who will perform a charity show in Bragg Creek June 11, said he enjoys it when the crowd joins in on one of his hits.
“I wasn’t really born an entertainer,” he said. “I wanted to be a songwriter. Singing and being on stage were kind of secondary to me. I’ve done it through the years and have tried to get as good as I can at it. So for me, songs that have a built in sing-along entertainment value are great for me to sing. I’ve never loved being the centre of attention so I like when I can make it a group effort and make it so we’re all part of the song instead of everybody just staring up at me.”
The 33-year-old Lines said some of the songs which really get the crowd going in his live shows are “Turn It Up (I Like the Sound of That)”, “Lights of My Home Town” and “You Can’t Hide Beautiful”.
However, Lines, who was born in Fort McMurray, said there is one song that stands head and shoulders above the rest in terms of popularity.
“Probably the biggest one I have had, which I never in a million years thought would be my biggest song when I released it, is called ‘Cheaper to Keep Her,’” he said. “I wrote that with a few friends. We were kind of writing it as a joke really. One of the guys I wrote it with had gone through a divorce. He was a really successful guy so he lost a lot of money going through it.”
Lines said he was worried a song which playfully recounts the plight of a man going through financial hardship after his marriage ends would be a hard sell to an important segment of the country music fan base.
“I wasn’t sure how women would react to it,” he said. “Maybe it’s the married guy in me but I never seem to know what’s going to offend a woman. In country music women are a big part of the audience so you don’t want to forget about them. So I played it for my wife, my two sisters, my mother and a few other people and they really reacted well to it.”
Lines has been gratified by the song’s enduring success and said it’s become the most played song on Canadian country music radio in the last 15 years.
A Foothills audience will get to hear “Cheaper to Keep Her” and many other hits from the artist’s five studio albums in the Saving Lives – Changing Lives Gala beginning at 6 p.m. Saturday night in the Bragg Creek Centre. The benefit event for the Cochrane and Area Humane Society will also feature performances by Cochrane musician Robbie Aylesworth and The Coachmen who are well known in Bragg Creek circles.
The concert’s headliner said he is eager to play the show for a couple of reasons.
“I spend most of my time in Calgary,” he said. “So I love being out in Bragg Creek and the fact it’s a humane society fundraiser is the cherry on top.”
As the current owner of a large golden retriever and a guy who had animals while growing up Lines admitted it didn’t take a lot of arm twisting to get him on board for a show in support of finding good homes for pets.
For more information on the gala including details on how to order tickets go to www.cohranehumane.ca
