When a coworker tells you you’re good enough to be the lead singer of a band it gets you thinking.
At least it did when Chris Goodwin got that bug put in his ear.
The Prince George elementary school music teacher – yes, there is still such a thing – took that notion and ran with it and now he and his bandmates are enjoying their most recent spike in success with their latest release, G n’ R Tee.
Let that sink in for a second. Goodwin said people have tried to put an Italian flare to it like it was a fancy pasta, tried to make it a word but once you know, you know – it stands for Guns ’n’ Roses T-shirt – and then we all nod knowingly as it all comes together.
The back story is even better because it’s all about Goodwin’s girlfriend who stole his old G n’ R tee from his donation pile and the story will put a big ol’ grin on your face, if you like country or maybe even if you don’t like country.
Did I forget to mention they’re a country band? They’re country in the best way with a foot-stompin’ beat and a cheeky grin that goes along with the song’s hook about how great Chris' girlfriend looks in his T-shirt.
The song has been picked up by SiriusXM Top of the Country, channel 171, and is in regular rotation on the 100 per cent Canadian country content station.
“It’s a pretty big deal,” Goodwin said. “So we thought we’d have a little party to celebrate.”
The Chris Goodwin Band will take to the Nelly’s Pub stage on Saturday, Feb. 8 to celebrate their latest song’s release.
“Most of the songs that I write are typical country songs about drinking, partying, love, relationships and my lovely girlfriend of 11 years one day said to me ‘why don’t you ever write a song about me?’ as kind of a joke – in jest – and I said ‘uh-oh, pressure!’ and so I was laying in the backyard one day and I thought ‘what am I actually going to write about?’ and I had an old Guns ’n’ Roses T-Shirt that was gettin’ kinda holey that I was going to throw out and she actually wouldn’t let me and she kept it for herself and still wears it to this day as a pyjama shirt and that was the inspiration for the song.”
The Chris Goodwin Band includes Goodwin (lead vocals/rhythm guitar), Patrick Michaud (lead guitar), Steve Smith (bass guitar) and Chester Hewkin (drums).
“We’re all from Prince George and we’ve all been in the local music scene for years and years and years,” Goodwin said.
They got their start when they performed during RibFest in 2019 hosted by Pacific Western Brewery.
“We all came together as a one-off to play a country music thing and we all got along really well and one thing led to another – COVID happened – and that slowed us down and then coming out of COVID we recorded and released our first song called Shot of Jack Daniels so that went really good,” Goodwin said about the song that was released in 2022.
“It went all the way to No. 2 on the Canadian Independent Country Chart and it also went to No. 2 in the UK on their Indie Country Chart as well.”
Goodwin credits PG RibFest organizer Kyle Sampson for the band’s start.
“If it wasn't for Kyle, there would be no Chris Goodwin Band,” Goodwin said. “He has supported, encouraged, and promoted us, free of charge I might add, as he has done for many other people and organizations in Prince George.”
To keep up with their skills the band rehearses once a week at Sound Factory’s warehouse area and when they record their music that’s also done locally with producer Connor Pritchard with Pulp City Music.
“Most people in our local music scene record with Connor who is a fantastic producer,” Goodwin said. “He does work in all genres. I think we’re his only country act.”
Goodwin said they're really proud of their latest song.
“We had it written and recorded with Connor and he sent us the tape and something wasn’t sitting right with it for me," Goodwin said.
"Everything sounded exactly the same as you hear now except for the guitar solo – it’s completely different now. At the time I didn’t know it was the solo that was rubbing me wrong, I just knew something wasn’t sitting right. We ended up getting booked to open up for a band called Nice Horse at the CrossRoads Street Festival and we were sitting in the green room before the show and it just kinda hit me and I said to Pat, our guitar player, that solo was wrong. It needed to be bigger and needed to be as big or bigger than the rest of the song and I wanted it to be inspired by something Slash would do from Guns ’n’ Roses. It had to be this big standout, run into it kind of solo. Pat said he totally got what I was saying and then I called Connor to say we had to rerecord the guitar solo and Pat rewrote it pretty much overnight and it was like ‘Oh my God! That’s it – that’s the guitar solo right there!'”
When Goodwin heard the solo rerecorded he said he truly believes that’s what took the song to the next level.
“It’s probably my favourite song we’ve done and we’re already at over 10,000 streams on all of the streaming services,” Goodwin said. “It’s going really well for us and I’m quite excited it about it.”
Goodwin wants everyone to come out to join the party at Nelly’s on Saturday, Feb. 8.
“We always have a really good time at Nelly’s and it usually ends up being a party in the parking lot too,” Goodwin said. “So come early to get your spot!”
