
Randy Bachman Band or Bachman & Turner Band
In 2008, The Randy Bachman Band (with Colin Arthur Wiebe, Roge` Belanger and myself) was on a small hiatus between tours. During some of these touring breaks, I had started the ‘McRock Skool’ for kids wanting to learn how to play in a band together. I taught that class in a back room of my friend’s store, ‘Toews Music’ in Abbotsford BC about 30 miles East of Vancouver.
Randy knew that I had a steady band myself (Cease & Desist) that continued to work without me while I went out on tour with him. Indeed we had shared the stage with Randy back at the first Earth Day Concert in Vancouver in 1990 and he was quite taken at the time by the vocal power and musicianship of the band. At that time, he had approached us about producing an album with us but nothing came of it.
Before a McRock Skool class one day in July, I was walking across the street to get a quick bite when I received a call on my mobile phone from Randy. He asked me point blank if I thought Brent and Marc would be interested in joining The Randy Bachman Band. I assured him they probably wouldn’t hesitate, but why the change? He replied that he wanted a band that could play with ‘more muscle’ as he put it.
I regularly frequented Randy’s website’s Message Board at that time, and in talking with his fans found that one of the biggest events they wanted to see was Randy playing with Fred Turner again.
Randy spoke to me about the possibilities of that happening the odd time, but never at any level of it being a reality.
When Randy asked about Brent and Marc’s joining and ‘more muscle’, I sensed ‘something’ was up – but at the time I had no clue.
I was sworn to secrecy on the member changes so I wasn’t allowed to say anything to anyone except Brent and Marc. I felt awkward as Roge’ and Colin were very close friends of mine – but like I said, I was sworn to secrecy. (*especially – Colin was/is a very dear friend and there is more about him in these threads – he’s very pivotal in the “How did I come to work with Randy Bachman” story on this site)
A big side of me hoped it wouldn’t happen. I knew feelings would be hurt and The Randy Bachman Band as it was with Roge’, Colin and I was quite a very good act that covered a lot of bases. Colin’s ‘Burton Cummings voice’ meant that we could do The Guess Who material with stunning accuracy and Roge’ sang a couple of the BTO Fred tunes very well.
As the summer turned to fall, I had heard nothing more about it after that call in July as we continued to do dates with ‘the old band’, so I assumed it was just a ‘whim idea’ and had been forgotten about.
Then…we had a big corporate date in Fort MacMurray BC in November of 2008 when I was told that Randy was going to take Roge’ and Colin aside to break the news. I was mortified. Colin had originally lobbied to get me into the band with Randy – I felt like a Judas… yet none of it was my doing. It wasn’t a good feeling.
Our first dates with the new band were in January 2009. The focus was to be more on Randy singing his own songs with Marc, Brent and I more as ‘relief pitchers’ on the odd song. In the past, Colin sang more lead vocals than Randy usually and management wanted that to change… so we were much more deemed ‘sidemen’ in a stricter sense than the last band were.
In middle 2009, I was told that Randy had started to work on a solo album. The idea was to get a number of people to do ‘duets’ with him… Neil Young, Tom Cochrane, Margo Timmins, Shania Twain, Fred Turner etc. etc. etc. The first person Randy phoned to participate was Fred. Apparently when Randy heard Fred’s vocal contribution to one of his songs, he was blown away and immediately phoned Fred to persuade him out of retirement and to do a new album as the two of them with the new band.
Later that year, Randy flew Brent, Marc and I over to his home and studio on Saltspring Island for us to record our parts on the ‘new album’. We loved the songs and the process. It was quite fun and it went very quickly and easily.
In May 2010, the newly dubbed, “Bachman & Turner” gathered in Winnipeg and started to rehearse a live show to tour. We rehearsed for 2 1/2 days in a room at The MTS Centre in the downtown core. We did three warmup dates: One at the Pyramid Club in Winnipeg, The Empire Theatre in Belleville, Ontario and then flew straight to London England to play ‘The Relentless Garage’. From there we flew directly to Sweden to play the Sweden Rocks 2010 Festival to headline with Guns ‘n Roses and Aerosmith. Crazy!!!
The new album was released later that year in September. It sold out quickly and a video we recorded in New York City at the renown ‘Roseland Ballroom’ went Certified Gold in 2012, and then Certified Platinum in 2013.
“Bachman and Turner” has toured very successfully since 2010 to the time of this writing (April 2014)
Bachman and Turner Shows
Future Shows
No shows booked at the moment. Stay tuned.
Past Shows
No shows in the archive yet.
Appearances Prior to 2014:
Mon 05/31/10 — Winnipeg, MB — Pyramid Club
Wed 6/2/10 — Belleville, ON — Empire Theatre
Mon 06/7/10 — London UK — Relentless Garage
Sat 06/12/10 — Solvesborg, Sweden — Sweden Rock Festival Grounds
Fri 06/25/10 — Kettering, OH — Fraze Pavilion
Sat 06/26/10 — Riverside, IA — Riverside Casino
Sat 07/03/10 — Charlottetown, PEI (Summerfest, aka Festival of Lights)
Sat 07/17/10 — Nakusp, BC — Nakusp Music Festival
Sun 7/25/10 — London UK — High Voltage Festival
Wed 07/28/10 –Vienna, VA — Wolf Trap
Thu 07/29/10 — Lehigh Valley, PA — Penn’s Peak
Thu 08/26/10 — Rama, ON — Casino Rama
Fri 09/10/10–Shelton, WA — Little Creek Casino
Thu 10/14/10– Agoura Hills, CA — Canyon Club
Sat 10/16/10–Coachella, CA — Spotlight 29 Casino
Sun 10/17/10–San Juan Capistrano, CA — The Coach House
Thu 10/28/10 — London, UK — Gibson Showroom
Tue 11/16/10 — NYC — Roseland Ballroom
Thu 11/25/10 — Vancouver, BC — Commodore Ballroom
Sun 11/28/10 — Edmonton, AB – Commonwealth Stadium, Grey Cup halftime
Fri 3/11/11 — Toronto, ON — Mod Club
Sat 4/16/11 — Harrisburg, PA – Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex And Expo Center
Sat 4/30/11 — Laughlin, NV – Colorado Belle
Sun 5/8/11 — Ottawa, ON – Southam Hall
Sat 6/25/11 — Des Moines, IA – Water Works Park
Sat 7/2/11 — Santa Fe, TX – El Paso Downtown Street Festival
Sat 7/23/11 — Nashville, TN – Summer Jam ’11 (Gibson Custom Shop)
Sun 8/7/11 — Sturgis, SD – Buffalo Chip Campground
Thurs 8/11/11 — Grand Rapids, MI Rock the Rapids
Fri 8/12/11 — Detroit, MI – Rockin on the Riverfront
Sat 8/13/11 — Three Forks, MT – Rockin’ The Rivers
Sat 9/3/11 — Montreal, QC (Sanair Raceway)
Thurs 9/8/11 — Belleville, ON – Empire Square (with Paul Rodgers)
Fri 9/9/11 — London, ON – Western Fairgrounds
Sat 9/10/11 — Toronto, ON – Molson Amphitheatre (with Paul Rodgers)
Mon 9/12/11 — Sydney, NS – Membertou Trade & Convention Centre
Tue 9/13/11 — Halifax, NS – Metro Centre (Blue Oyster Cult)
Wed 9/14/11 — St John, NB – Harbour Station (Blue Oyster Cult)
Fri 9/16/11 — St John’s NF – Mile One Centre (54-40)
Thur 9/22/11– Thunder Bay, ON – Thunder Bay Community Auditorium
Sat 9/24/11 — Winnipeg, MB – MTS Centre (with Blue Oyster Cult and Paul Rodgers)
Mon 9/26/11 — Edmonton, AB – Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium (with Paul Rodgers)
Tue 9/27/11 — Calgary, AB – Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium (with Paul Rodgers)
Thur 9/29/11 — Lethbridge, AB – Enmax
Sat 10/1/11 — Richmond, BC – River Rock Casino
Thur 10/6/11 — Winnipeg, MB – The Forks – NHL Face-off
Sat 3/24/12 — Red Wing, MN – Treasure Island Resort & Casino
Sat 3/31/12 — San Tan Valley, AZ (Encanterra Country Club Good Life Festival)
Sat 4/21/12 — Lafayette, LA (Louisiana State HOG Rally)
Fri 4/27/12 — Tulsa, OK – River Spirit Casino
Sat 4/28/12 — Biloxi, MS – Hard Rock Hotel/Casino Biloxi
Mon 4/30/12 — Hollywood, FL – Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Fri 6/8/12 — NYC – Iridium Jazz Club – Les Paul birthday celebration
Sat 6/9/12 — NYC – Iridium Club – Les Paul birthday celebration
Thur 6/28/12 — Dauphin, MB – Countryfest
Fri 6/29/12 — Walker, MN – Northern Lights Casino
Sun 7/2/12 — Ashland, KY – Riverfront Park
Sat 7/14/12 — Columbus, OH Lifestyle Communities Pavilion
Sun 7/15/12 — Snoqualmie, WA – Snoqualmie Valley Amphitheater
Fri 7/20/12 — Costa Mesa, CA – Pacific Amphitheater – w Foghat
Sat 7/21/12 — West Wendover, NV – Peppermill Concert Hall
Wed 8/8/12 — Regina, SK – Casino Regina
Sat 8/11/12 — Murphys, CA – Ironstone Vineyards
Mon 9/3/12 — South Woodstock, CT – Woodstock Fairgrounds
Sat 9/15/12 — Salamanca, NY – Seneca Niagara Casino
Fri 9/28/12 — Lawrenceburg, IN – City of Lawrenceburg
Sat 9/29/12 — St. Louis, MO – Veterans Memorial Amphitheater
Thur 1/10/13 — Ft Lauderdale, FL – Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (Rock Legends II Cruise)
Sat 1/12/13 — Ft Lauderdale, FL – Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (Rock Legends II Cruise)
Mon 1/14/13 — Ft Lauderdale, FL – Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (Rock Legends II Cruise)
Sat 2/16/13 — Taupo, NZ – Amphitheatre
Sun 2/17/13 –- Matakana, NZ – Matakana Country Park
Sat 2/23/13 — Queenstown, NZ – Gibbston Valley Winery
Sat 6/22/13 — Atlantic City, NJ – Resorts Atlantic City
Fri 6/28/13 — St. Charles, IL – Arcada Theater
Sun 6/30/13 — Rutland, VT – Vermont State Fair (opening for Doobies)
Fri 7/19/13 — Walker, MN – Moondance Jam
Sat 7/20/13 — Sloan, IA – Riverfest
Fri 8/2/13 — Kenora, ON (Harbourfest) w Sweet and Streetheart
Sat 9/7/13 — Citrus Heights, CA (Sunrise MarketPlace/Sunrise at Night) w BOC
Sat 9/21/13 — Effingham, IL (Mid America Motorworks) – Funfest 2013
Sat 3/8/14 — Glendale, AZ – Jobing.com Arena (Canadafest, w Trooper and Loverboy)
Fri 4/11/14 — Tacoma, WA – Emerald Queen Casino
Mon 5/26/14 — The Royal Theatre, Victoria, BC Canada
Wed 5/18/14 — The Fort Theatre, Nanaimo, BC Canada
Fri 5/30/14 — The Hard Rock Casino, Coquitlam, BC Canada
Sat 5/31/14 — Fort MacMurray, AB, Canada
Mon 6/2/14 — Prince George, BC, Canada
Sun 7/20/14 — Klondike Days. Edmonton AB Canada
Fri 7/25/14 — Caesars Palace, Windsor Ont, Canada
Sat 7/26/14 — Ohio State Fair
Sat 8/23/14 — Albany, Oregon – Northwest Art & Air Festival
Sun 8/24/14 — Alaska State Fair
Thu 8/28/14 — Shaw Millennium Park, Calgary AB Canada
Sat 8/30/14 — The Cannery Casino, Las Vegas, NV
Photos Here
Videos Here