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.

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