Dean Brody hits the City stage this month at the Westerner Fair and Exposition on July 20 on the Molson Canadian Stage.

“I’ve played acoustic here before but this will be the first time me and the guys will be plugged in.”

Brody says that one of the best things about playing in Red Deer is that people get what he is singing about.

“I’ve played in large metropolitan centres and you get this feeling that the folks listening are wondering what 4-H or a gun rack is.”

The country star is well known for the songs Dirt Roads Scholar, Trail in Life, and Roll That Barrel Out.

The inspiration behind the music comes from what Brody says are life experiences. He says he loves the uniqueness of people’s individual stories and that translates into his music.

“I’ve found even the people who appear to live boring lives have a story that is special and deserves to be told.”

Brody adds some of his inspirational musicians have been from a wide range of genres including Bryan Adams, Guns and Roses, Keith Whitley and Dwight Yoakam.

Brody is happy to be back in Alberta where he says he feels people live the music that they listen to.

“We’ll be plugged in and loud and having a good time with Red Deer. The guys and I really have a lot of fun out there.”

Instrumental moments in Brody’s career have included playing the Grand Ole Opry for the first time alongside Darius Rucker and others. The song Brody played was one of his big hits entitled Brothers.

“A defining moment in my career was when Brothers went to radio. It’s what started it all.”

Brody says he remembered doing the radio tour in the U.S. and in Canada and whenever the band played Brothers it got a surprising response. He adds it was a special song and time for him.

He jokes about the speed with which he made the choice to get into the music industry saying that he had to give music a shot so he wouldn’t always wonder “what if?”

“I was in my second year of pipe design and thought I don’t like sitting at computers. But I do love playing guitar; let’s move to Nashville.”

Oddly enough, Brody only ever took a couple of weeks of guitar lessons and learned mostly on his own by struggling with chords and writing bad songs.

Brody adds it is important to always believe in dreams and to work towards them. As a boy he had wanted to play football and worked extremely hard to go as far as possible.

“It would probably surprise people to learn how many things I’ve tried but failed at. It’s the challenge of doing something crazy that gets me going.”

Brody also has a foundation, the Dean Brody Foundation, that works to help rescue and prevent exploitation of young girls in Brazil.

“It would be nice to accomplish more from music than a nice house and bigger boat. It would mean a lot to see the girls we’ve reached grow up and become inspirations to other young girls.”

Other big upcoming shows for Dean Brody include performances in Dauphin, Craven, and the Big Valley Jamboree.

For more information about the Foundation visit www.deanbrody.com or for a list of performances at the Westerner visit www.westernerdays.ca.

kpalardy@reddeerexpress.com