ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
Southwest Miracles will be celebrating its 15th anniversary later this month, and they will be bringing in some musical friends to help commemorate that anniversary.
Cody Canada & The Departed will be performing at the Southwest Miracles 15th anniversary celebration Saturday, Aug. 24 at the Seward County Fairgrounds. Gates will open at 5:30 p.m., and tickets are $30 ahead of time and $40 at the gate.
As Canada tells it, music has been part of his life for a long time.
“I'd seen George Strait in concert, and his music is completely different from mine, but after that concert at 5 or 6 years old, I was just struck by the bug,” Canada said. “I started teaching myself how to play guitar and then took some lessons for about a year, and then when I was 17, some friends and I started the group Cross Canadian Ragweed, and that was a wild ride for about 16 years or so before we ultimately split up. After that split, I did my own solo thing for about 16 years as well. I was really young when I decided that, I just didn't want anything else. I found something I was good at – I wasn't really great at school, I wasn't really good with authority, so the only thing I was really good at was the one thing I was passionate about, which was music. I pushed as hard as I could as early as I could, and here we are.”
Canada is no stranger to the state of Kansas, and he said he is excited to bring his music to Liberal.
“I've been coming to Kansas and playing for about 30 years, so I know we'll have a pretty good crowd show up. One of my bandmates has family up in Kansas, so it should be a good time for everyone,” Canada said. “I've been to Liberal two or three times throughout my music career, but I've been all around Kansas for my entire career. It'll be great seeing some good friends and it'll be good to hang out. I know a lot of people like our old music, which we have warmed up and ready to go, so we're all excited to play that, and we've also got some new music we'll be playing, which we're excited to have people hear. It'll be a great mix of new and old, so it should be a good time for us in the band and for the audience. It's going to be a fun, fantastic night, and we want everyone to come out and enjoy themselves, and I know we'll definitely be enjoying ourselves.”
Canada said his overall passion for music is what has kept him going for so long.
“For me, it's the passion for the craft. The music business has changed quite a bit since I got started, and there's now more of an emphasis on singles sales than record sales and just other factors like that,” Canada said. “I never really was good at the radio game, but given how things switched a few years ago as far as being an independent artist who could do their own thing as long as people kept listening. I recently performed at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville to a really big crowd that was on its feet and singing back to me during our set, and THAT was amazing. It's all about keeping things going and moving, and that's what's kept me interested in pursuing this.”
However, it is not just the music and touring that has kept him busy.
“Back in 2018, my wife, Shannon – who’s also my manager – and I opened a School of Rock franchise in our hometown of New Braunfels, Texas, and immediately had a bunch of children looking for others who wanted to learn and play music. With performance based music lessons, School Of Rock nurtures the coming generation of artists and hosts live performances as the pinnacle of academic excellence. Our two sons, Dierks and Willy, are students at the school and are in their own band Waves in April that opens a lot of shows for us. Cody and Shannon travel around a lot with their students who have played some very impressive venues and festivals, so to an extent, it’s a family affair.”
As for the future, Canada said there are no real plans to slow down.
“Right now, I'm focusing on some singles, and I've got a live album I'm in the middle of recording. With the live record, we're doing some of that in the towns we're popping into, so that's been an interesting project,” Canada said. “Since it's not a full record thing, I'm planning on sharing singles about every three or four months. We've really enjoyed that project and putting out a live record is always really neat because you can do the same song in multiple different places and have it sound completely different every time. We decided to do the live album because we wanted to have more material – I've re-recorded some of my older stuff, but not necessarily newer stuff, so we decided it was time.”
Overall, Canada said, he hopes everyone who comes to their show later this month will end up having a good time. Canada also said people should keep an eye out for some more future projects.
“We are working on some new music, so everyone should keep an eye out for that. We're really excited about all of that, and we can't wait for everyone to hear it,” Canada said. “The show's going to be an absolute blast, so if you're free that evening, come on out, because it'll be really fun.”
